BATT meter question.

K

kendall

Senior Member
i was searcing posts but couldnt find an answer to my question. ......i am rewiring my 49 pickup and want to use original gauges. (6v to 12v) i know all about reducing the volts to keep the guages.....question is, the BATT meter,.... on my meter there is nothing to connect the "hot wire" to, just a loop to run it thru. from past posts guys say that no volt reducer is needed, ok no problem, soooo the wire that i run thru the loops, where do i connect the wire to if there is no terminals on the gauge? im going with a fuse block so i will not be using the stock breakers on the back of the guage panel......long story short, how do you wire the batt guage on a 49 going from 6v to 12v
 
By your description of the gauge it is an ammeter. With it disconnected (no wire through the loop) is should be centered (0). Being an ammeter it is not sensitive to voltage. A wire is run thought the loop from the battery or battery side of the starter solenoid to the main feed of the fuse block or cicuit breaker. If memory serves me right the battery side of the wire feeds in from the plus side of the gauge. All the wiring diagrams I have seen show a 10Ga yellow insulated wire for this purpose. Do NOT strip the wire were the loop is. It may be a good idea to look at or get a wiring diagram for your year truck. Everything I have is for earlier models.
 
thank you for your reply. i have another question. so from what i am hearing, would it be possable to run the "hot" wire that powers the key switch in the dash thru there? or do i have to run another wire.....in other words, to get the gauge to read, when i run the wires under the dash, run it thru the loops on the ammeter before i run it to the key swicth and connect it there.
 
You want the wire that comes from directly from the battery before it gets branched to the ignition, lights and etc. You want to see the status of charge/discharge through that main line.
 
Ok, i think i have this figured out.......found this on the hamb. as i was reading posts, there was a lot of talk not to use ammeters, go to voltmeter.....does anyone know where i can find a volt meter that will fit in a 1949 f1 and still look original?





genwiring.jpg
 
countinued from may last post.....the guys on the hamb are saying there is a good risk of fire from the ammeter gettting hot if i dont do this right. but i want to keep the original look.
 
There is nothing that can cause your meter to get hot. It uses an inductive loop. Any time electricity runs through a wire you create a magnetic field. The more current going through the wire the stronger the field. The loop that wraps around your wire on the back of your gauge picks up this magnetism and translates it to a gauge reading.

When you convert to 12 volts your system now only needs half of the amperage to run the accessories(see Ohm's Law). You will actually be putting less of a "load" on this gauge than you would using 6 volt. Just remember to run your wire the same direction through the inductive loop on the gauge as the one that came out. The gauge will read backwards if you run it through the wrong way.
 
On another note. An ammeter really is a better indication of what you charging system is doing. You just need to understand what it is telling you. It can tell you the state of charge of your battery, and how much load you are pulling. A voltmeter simply tells you voltage.
 
darrenct83 said:
When you convert to 12 volts ... remember to run your wire the same direction through the inductive loop on the gauge as the one that came out. The gauge will read backwards if you run it through the wrong way.
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If he's converting from 6 volts positive ground to 12 volts negative ground, the heavy yellow wire must go through the loop on the ammeter from the other direction.
 
it will be 12 volt neg. ground, but all the original wiring is brittle and is coming out. i got a wiring harness from E-Z wiring, a simple and small harness.....it maybe E-Z to some, but not me.....im learning. i just dont want to fry anything. do i have to run a 10 gauge wire thru the ammeter loops? or will any size do?
 
The gauge will sense current from any size wire that fits in the loops. Be sure the insulation is intact on that run.
 
do i have to run a 10 gauge wire thru the ammeter loops?
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If you study the wiring diagram referenced on post no. 11 above you will see heavier wires from the battery through the ammeter to the circuit breakers as this is the path for all the charging current, and most of the loads, so yes you want 10 gauge there.
 
kendall said:
i just dont want to fry anything. do i have to run a 10 gauge wire thru the ammeter loops? or will any size do?
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This wire is your power source to all your vehicle systems off of the battery. Additionally all power from your generator going back into recharging your battery goes through this wire. This means bigger wire is better to carry the load. Use the same gauge wire as was on before. If you use a smaller wire you risk overloading/overheating it.
 
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