Amp vs Volt Meter

Am thinking of changing my amp to a volt meter. Any
thoughts as to which would give a more informative
reading. Would there be an advantage to having
both?

6 or 12 volt tractor?

amp meter shows you net charge current.

if you are in a slight discharge situation.. you will know it.

if you have a load or short ... at shutoff you will know it.

if you have a battery with a cell going bad, demanding more charge current, or needing high current for indefinate time during running... you will know it.

A voltmeter shows voltage.

most of the frightened volt meters i see are using an 18v scale.. and the difference between a static battery charge of 12.6 and a 'charge' rate of 14.4 ( 6.3 / 7.2 ) may be REAL hard to tell on a jittery gauge bouncing around a field.. that means you could be running off battery.. and as we know.. a lead acid battery that gets to 90% of static voltage is pretty much dead and useless... well.. again.. that's hard to gauge on a volt meter, unless it's a nice one with numbers on the graduated scale.. and not just a handfull of lines and an 8-12-18 scale... thus you could shut down then not be able to restart.. and unless you paid REAL close attention.. you would not know it til the solenoid clicked. On a ammeter all you have to see is which side of the meter the needle deflects too.. if negative you immediatley know there is an issue and you have to stop. if way + for too long than normal, then you know you have to fix it...

if I could only have 1? an ammeter.

if I could have both? sure.

I'd also take an ammeter over a charge idiot lamp as well.

I know some people here will take a volt meter, as they are used to working on cars and modern auto's.. etc.

when's the last time you saw tractors on the highway, and not tied down to a trailer.

12 volt

Both are valuable for different reasons. I took advantage of some space down lower and put in the 2nd meter.

(quoted from post at 23:17:35 03/07/13) Am thinking of changing my amp to a volt meter. Any
thoughts as to which would give a more informative
reading. Would there be an advantage to having
both?

Click to expand...

A voltmeter is the FIRST WEAPON OF CHOICE for any electrical diagnostics... It offers all the info needed for daily operation no need to keep one eye on the gauge ,,, a amp meter is only needed if you get into serious diagnostics are have a sub-par 6V system that needs to be adjusted to run a simple headlight...

Unless someone can explain the difference Volts and amps are the same car, truck are tractor any year model....

Volt and amp meter complement each other,,, A voltmeter will tell you more about the health of your electrical system each and every time you use it than a chitty amp meter ever will...

I spec the # one issue folks have is a no crank the most important info needed is the voltage reading of the battery. Any diagnostics you do to the electrical system requires a volt reading the battery is the heart of the electrical system...

If you need a amp meter put yer old one were you can find it if you need it (it will be a rare occasion)...

I have to say voltmeter. I can turn on the key switch and see I have 12 volts and when charging the meter will stay between 13-14 volts. Before I changed to 12 volts I never did like the ammeter, you could tell if you were charging or discharging but you couldn't tell if you had the full 6 volts. But that's just my opinion.

Have yet to see my gauges jittery plowing snow on my gravel road but I sure do like the lighted gauges at night time.

I just have an ammeter because my multimeter only reads milliamps, so not useful for measuring current - does fine on volts & ohms.

(quoted from post at 21:49:10 03/07/13)

(quoted from post at 23:17:35 03/07/13) Am thinking of changing my amp to a volt meter. Any
thoughts as to which would give a more informative
reading. Would there be an advantage to having
both?

Click to expand...

A voltmeter is the FIRST WEAPON OF CHOICE for any electrical diagnostics... It offers all the info needed for daily operation no need to keep one eye on the gauge ,,, a amp meter is only needed if you get into serious diagnostics are have a sub-par 6V system that needs to be adjusted to run a simple headlight...

Unless someone can explain the difference Volts and amps are the same car, truck are tractor any year model....

Volt and amp meter complement each other,,, A voltmeter will tell you more about the health of your electrical system each and every time you use it than a chitty amp meter ever will...

I spec the # one issue folks have is a no crank the most important info needed is the voltage reading of the battery. Any diagnostics you do to the electrical system requires a volt reading the battery is the heart of the electrical system...

If you need a amp meter put yer old one were you can find it if you need it (it will be a rare occasion)...

Click to expand...

I'm inclined to go with Mr. Rosser and a charge warning light. All my Kubby has is the light which is dual purposed as a fan belt warning light ;-)

TOH

They both have their uses. Ammeter tells you whether you're charging or discharging, voltmeter tells you how much voltage your battery is putting out. Of course, if your voltmeter reads low, obviously you're not charging.

An ammeter will be more useful with a 6 volt system due to the limited availability of the smaller scale volt meters. Most volt meters are ranged for 12 volt systems.

Detroit moved away from ammeters due to the potential fire hazard they posed behind the dash. Volt meters are safer and carry less liability.

My personal choice would be an ammeter because it tells you immediately when you're charging system is acting up - With the large amp hour capacity of modern batteries, there will be a delay in registering a problem with a volt meter.

Now let's talk about converting to electronic ignition.......... ;-]

I tend to agree on the idiot light.
The post 1965 Fords had neither an ampmeter nor a volt meter from the factory. No oil pressure gauge either.
Just idiot lights.
Even if you become complacent about watching gauges it is very hard to miss a red light glaring at you.

(quoted from post at 18:21:14 03/08/13) They both have their uses. Ammeter tells you whether you're charging or discharging, voltmeter tells you how much voltage your battery is putting out. Of course, if your voltmeter reads low, obviously you're not charging.

An ammeter will be more useful with a 6 volt system due to the limited availability of the smaller scale volt meters. Most volt meters are ranged for 12 volt systems.

Detroit moved away from ammeters due to the potential fire hazard they posed behind the dash. Volt meters are safer and carry less liability.

My personal choice would be an ammeter because it tells you immediately when you're charging system is acting up - With the large amp hour capacity of modern batteries, there will be a delay in registering a problem with a volt meter.

Now let's talk about converting to electronic ignition.......... ;-]

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1) "Ammeter tells you whether you're charging...."

You can show amps but still have a low charge...

You are 0 for 1

2)"voltmeter tells you how much voltage your battery is putting out."

The battery is a place to store power a voltmeter will show you the state of charge of the battery and the charging system...

You are 0 for 2

3)"if your voltmeter reads low, obviously you're not charging."

You are 1 for 3


4) "An ammeter will be more useful with a 6 volt system due to the limited availability of the smaller scale volt meters. Most volt meters are ranged for 12 volt systems."

2 for 4

6) "Detroit moved away from ammeters due to the potential fire hazard they posed behind the dash. Volt meters are safer and carry less liability."

If you say so thats worth a haft point

You are 2 1/2 for 5


6) "My personal choice would be an ammeter because it tells you immediately when you're charging system is acting up"

That's not a completely true statement it depends on the state of charge of the battery and the demand of the electrical system...A voltmeter does the same thing but will tell you more about the state of charge of the battery and gen/alt output...


You are 2 1/2 for 6...

Theirs also a chance and it happens often were a voltmeter are a ammeter will show a low charging state... Sometimes a battery will not accept a charge the regulator is satisfied so you have a low voltage/amp output but suffer from a slow no crank condition from the battery and starter... This is reverse of what folks would think and the hardest condition to diagnosis...
I have also had battery's that would not fail a load test and never show signs of failer... The complaint was low volt/amp output with the gauge are the charging light on...


Its like a compression test the test leads you to your next move I could not imagine trying to diagnosis a charging/starting system using a amp meter only are using a amp meter as my fist weapon... Like a compression test a voltmeter leads me in the direction I need to go its valuable info I must have... Are I will chase my tail waist my time and the customers money and not make a wild guess like you normally see... To bad voltage questions were not on the guru test...



This information is provided for those that want to strengthen their diagnostic ability,,, YMMV...


Ammeters vs. Voltmeters



Ammeters and voltmeters are the opposite of each other not only in terms of construction, but of circuit placement.

Ammeters must have current passing through them in order to measure it, and so must be placed in series inside of a circuit. Polarity must be observed, and their positive and negative leads must be connected to the positive and negative sides of the circuit, respectively. Also, their internal resistance must not be large or it will block too much current, and this will affect the way the circuit functions and hence the reading.

Voltmeters should not have any current passing through them, and so are placed in parallel with the circuit they are to measure. Their leads are placed on each side of the component of interest, and as with ammeters, polarity must be observed. If their internal resistance is too small it will not block enough current, and this will affect the measurement.


Ammeters vs. Voltmeters



Ammeters and voltmeters are the opposite of each other not only in terms of construction, but of circuit placement.

Ammeters must have current passing through them in order to measure it, and so must be placed in series inside of a circuit. Polarity must be observed, and their positive and negative leads must be connected to the positive and negative sides of the circuit, respectively. Also, their internal resistance must not be large or it will block too much current, and this will affect the way the circuit functions and hence the reading.

Voltmeters should not have any current passing through them, and so are placed in parallel with the circuit they are to measure. Their leads are placed on each side of the component of interest, and as with ammeters, polarity must be observed. If their internal resistance is too small it will not block enough current, and this will affect the measurement.

Ampmeters must have current passing though them in order for them to measure it (not of much help on a no crank)

http://www.egauges.com/ATM_Tips.asp?TipPage=voltmeterammeter.htm

You are 2 1/2 for 6...

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Scoring my posts? - Really!?

[b:b61bef0df5][i:b61bef0df5]Unless someone can explain the difference Volts and amps are the same car, truck are tractor any year model...[/i:b61bef0df5].
[/b:b61bef0df5]

I'll take your opinion with a grain of salt but at least I know there's a difference between volts and amps

Your turn.

(quoted from post at 13:01:21 03/09/13)

You are 2 1/2 for 6...

Click to expand...

Scoring my posts? - Really!?

[b:a73919d5d7][i:a73919d5d7]Unless someone can explain the difference Volts and amps are the same car, truck are tractor any year model...[/i:a73919d5d7].
[/b:a73919d5d7]

I'll take your opinion with a grain of salt but at least I know there's a difference between volts and amps

Your turn.

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Volts have always been Volts, Amps have always been Amps (in my lifetime) What year make and model did volts and amps change...

If you base you diagnostics on amps alone you will chase your tail... It will get ya a GURU patch tho....

Voltmeter, my dad always said "take care of the volts and the amps will take care of themselves". You have a voltage regulator, not an amperage regulator.