Is this car battery voltmeter (plugs into 12V lighter) good?

[shet]

I am planning to buy a voltmeter which could be plugged into the 12V cigarette lighter to monitor car battery voltage at no load and load

Any experience with the "Equus 3721 Battery and Charging System Monitor" available on Amazon ?

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Equus+3721+Battery+and+Charging+System+Mo nitor

Any other suggestions?

[BamZipPow]

As a voltage monitor...it would seem just fine. I believe you can git that at Walmart as well. If you have any problems with it, you can always return it there. If you order from Amazon, yer paying shipping...both ways.

I have a temp monitoring system and a voltage monitor as one unit. It plugs into the cig lighter but at least it's not bulky and in the way.

[toyomoho]

Should work fine.

[shet]

Originally Posted by BamZipPow

I have a temp monitoring system and a voltage monitor as one unit. It plugs into the cig lighter but at least it's not bulky and in the way.

Thanks. Do you happen to remember the name of your system so that I could lookup? If its smaller than the Equus gauge I would be interested in that even though I do not need the temperature monitoring.

[djb2]

It's convenient, and that might be worth the cost to you.

You'll get better information and more flexibility from the $3 meter from Harbor Freight. Or splurge and go for the $4 one that adds a backlight. They have "3 1/2" digits of precision e.g. 12.43V instead of 12.4V. The extra digit lets you spot trends -- how quickly your battery recovers after starting.

No inexpensive meter measures peak and dip voltages when you start the car. It's useful to know the minimum voltage when cranking and how high the voltage spike is when the alternator starts charging or the headlights are turned off.

[ghettosled]

ever consider buying a regulator multimeter instead? this would give you the ability to test anything electronic on your car. personally, i dont see a need for a cigarette plug-in one to be constantly on, other than just as a toy to watch the electricity flow in the car as you drive. you will know when your alternator goes out without one.

[shet]

Originally Posted by ghettosled

ever consider buying a regulator multimeter instead? this would give you the ability to test anything electronic on your car.

I have one already but a voltmeter in the dash would be more convenient especially if it gives me both load and no load voltage

[shet]

[quote=djb2;2631768]
You'll get better information and more flexibility from the $3 meter from Harbor Freight. Or splurge and go for the $4 one that adds a backlight. They have "3 1/2" digits of precision e.g. 12.43V instead of 12.4V. The extra digit lets you spot trends -- how quickly your battery recovers after starting.
quote]

Thanks. Was not aware that HF too has those and that too at 4-5 dollars.

[djb2]

Originally Posted by shet

Thanks. Was not aware that HF too has those and that too at 4-5 dollars.

That's the sale price, but at least one of the two models is always on sale. I think the $2.99 model is at that sale price about 51 weeks a year.

I've probably bought 20 of them, leaving one at every place I might need it and just giving one to anyone that asks to borrow. My expensive Fluke meter sits safely in a drawer, unused.

The only downside to the meter is that it doesn't have a buzzer for checking continuity. You have to look at the display. And there is no easy way to cut it apart and turn it into a source-powered panel meter.

[shet]

Check out this "Battery Bug Starting BB-SBM12 Battery Monitor" on Amazon.com...$30...seems much better than any meter....

http://www.amazon.com/Battery-Bug-St...2163172&sr=1-2

[jdog721]

I'd recommend Battery Genius.

http://www.battery-genius.com

It's $17 bucks in the store, $21 if you order online, plugs right into your cigarette lighter and constantly monitors voltage for the battery and alternator.

I tested it's readings against my Fluke and it's pretty accurate. I have 2000 tacoma which started having alternator problems a while back. First my battery went dead so I just replaced the battery as it's not unusual for a battery to go dead after a few years. About 8 months later a second battery went dead which was unusual. My fluke showed good readings on the alternator and the 3rd battery, but a few months later I started having cranking troubles again. I saw the battery genius while on vacation, picked it up and plugged it in. After a while I started getting low charging voltages shown while driving. It was fine while starting up but after driving a while was when the problem was occurring. If I'd had this from the start I could have replaced my alternator 2 batteries ago lol.

[SexieWASD]

I had the equus when I was running a ford alternator in my camry. It was quite handy for letting me know when to turn down the volume on the stereo because the ford alt didn't put out much power at idle. It was accurate and decently quick.