12v guru's...help my pick out a voltage meter (digital or analog)?

[Bocephus]

i want to install a permanent voltage meter in my 5th wheel. im sick of dragging my multi-meter around when camping haha! and the "empty, 1/3, 2/3, full" meter just isnt cutting it....

if i get a digital meter i would imagine i would have to wire it into a button (like the oem meter) so it isnt on all the time and using power to run itself. but i could live with an analog meter as well. if i would go with an analog meter like this NEW 12V 15V DC 12 15 V VOLT ANALOG VOLTS PANEL METER RV VOLTMETER CLASS 2.5 | eBay , do they draw current to "run themselves"? i would like to be able to glance at the meter and see what my voltage is. i know pushing a button isnt that hard, but it would be nice to have it on all the time. this is the only reason i am considering an analog gauge. if the analog gauge uses power to run itself, then i will just get a small digital meter and hook it up to a button....

any advice is appreciated. thanks.

[RPAspey]

all meters will have a circuit burden. some more than others. an analog volt meter will have a very low burden. in the scheme of things, its almost nothing for either analog or digital. look into a cigarette plug in type meter for autos. it's about $15 bucks at AutoZone or advanced auto. and you can remove it if you wish. I had one, never removed it unless I needed the 12v outlet.

[LadyWindrider]

In theory, an ammeter is a dead short, 0 resistance. An ohmmeter supplies a voltage and current, and a VOLTMETER is infinite resistance, therefore they draw no current from the circuit they are measuring. Most VOLTMETERS are running about 1 meg ohms per volt, so at 12 volts, the resistance would be 12 meg ohms, and would draw about 1 micro amp, provided it had a battery to operate the display, or run the meter. Now if the the measured voltage also provided the display voltage, as in the cigarette liter version, about a milli amp per segment, so to display 12 would be 7 milli amps, or .007 amps. All of this is theory, real life may be different.

I don't know anything about about electronics, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

[jar3316]

In short Yes, it will drain the battery ssslllooowwwlllyyy just like the radio LEDs and other items in the trailer; non lit digital will be less than a analog but all this depends on the quality of the meter. Cheap meters tend to use more, but we are talking about small amounts the real key here is, even built in gauges have a duty cycle they are not designed to run 24/7 forever.

The cig lighter type plugged in while camping would be best in my opinion remember more bells and whistles more energy.

[RPAspey]

yep, like i said, "very little in the scheme of things."

[donn]

For around 8 bucks on ebay you can find a XX.XX digital in your choice of colors. For another three dollars at radio shack you can find a momentary push button to turn it on. For around 15 dollars fron the same vendor you can get a matching ammeter.

[VinceU]

Swe attached photo includes AC, Coach and Chassis. All disconnect with power supply. Can see from front of coach.

sent from i phone (can you tell?)

[SinkorSwim]

I declare Vince the winner of the "purdiest electrical monitoring setup"

[VinceU]

Thanks, who else participated?

[Bocephus]

thanks guys. i got a cheep digital meter, along with a small rocker switch off of an electronics web site. i was going to go with a momentary push button switch, but i decided on a small rocker switch so i could leave it on if i wanted to. thanks for the help!