12v Battery Meter

[Drama King]

Wondering if anyone has ever set up a meter to monitor the battery level of a 12v battery in their fish house. It would be nice to know instead of leaving the generator running non-stop. The dealer I bought my house from said that he had never had anyone inquire about it. I think it might be as simple as getting a 12v meter for 20-30 bucks online. Have any of you done this?

[Might_B_A_Pike]

the Minn-Kota trolling motor I purchased this last summer came with a battery meter.

Just do a search for minnn Kota® Digital Battery Meter. Should cost around 15-20

[Drama King]

Thanks! I will look into it

[Chad Holst]

What house did you buy? I dont remember the last house i saw that didnt have a battery meter, let alone a dealer that had never even heard of such a request. this is pretty standard in the houses now a days.

heres a picture of the Team Lodge Meter, simple, and inexpensive.

i'll see what i can find on the big auction site, as we need to buy one too for our house build. I'll post what i find.

[Redlineracer12]

I use a voltmeter made for a car and stick it in the 12V outlet. Based on voltage you can tell roughly how well your battery is doing. Mine has colored lights; green/yellow/red indicating charge. By the time it gets down to around 10-10.5V it's time to fire up the generator. I think it was around $12 at the fleet store.

[Drama King]

I bought an ice castle 8x16 gambler. I figured they would come standard in houses as well, but i was wrong! I am looking on hsolist at simple 12v meters/gauges and it seems like they are pretty simple to install.

[Drama King]

I use a voltmeter made for a car and stick it in the 12V outlet. Based on voltage you can tell roughly how well your battery is doing. Mine has colored lights; green/yellow/red indicating charge. By the time it gets down to around 10-10.5V it's time to fire up the generator. I think it was around $12 at the fleet store.

Great idea as well. The house I bought has about a half dozen 12v car charger plugins. Just plug in a voltage meter and keep an eye on it? That would be a simple solution. I plan on running the generator for the 110's most of the time, but at night if we are just listening to the radio, with lights on, it would be nice to give the generator a break and have an idea of where my battery level is at.

[Drama King]

something like this? http://www.hsolist.com/itm/Mini-12V-24V-...=item3f277d7c8a

[Redlineracer12]

Great idea as well. The house I bought has about a half dozen 12v car charger plugins. Just plug in a voltage meter and keep an eye on it? That would be a simple solution. I plan on running the generator for the 110's most of the time, but at night if we are just listening to the radio, with lights on, it would be nice to give the generator a break and have an idea of where my battery level is at.

Yep, that's what I do. I had a semi-loud generator last year and didn't want to run it all day for my neighboring fishermen's sake. I only ran it after dark to charge the battery up good (forced air furnace) and watch a movie before bed. Although I did start it in the middle of the night once to drown out a buddy's loud snoring.

[Chad Holst]

No need to post the results, do a search for 12v meter. the first page has digital, flush mount, multi use meters for $6. red, green, blue displays.

[38bill]

Here is what I used. Got it for around $4 on the big auction site. I have it wired so whenever the battery is connected the meter is on. Its been running 24hrs a day for over a week now and the voltage hasn't dropped at all. It takes very little to power it but you could put in a switch to power it off and on if you wanted.

[FIRECAT]

This is what I got at the discount tool place for 5 bucks, nice to know where your battery is at.

[Pleasant]

my power inverter has a digital display on it, DC voltage, AC voltage and AC wattage, i use it to run 110 volt LED lights and stereo, I use it in the fish house in winter and camper in summer

[Cliff Wagenbach]

I bought Vexilar battery gauges and installed them in my houses.

Fairly cheap and work ok for me.

Cliff

[servocam]

Go to any automotive parts store (Napa, Autozone, O'Reily... or Summit or Jegs) and you can buy an analog volt meter gauge. ~$15-$20?

That digital one above is nice for $4!

2 wires to connect: Positive & Negative to battery.

[Glockwinger]

I bought Vexilar battery gauges and installed them in my houses.

Fairly cheap and work ok for me.

Cliff

I did this as well. Is working so far.