Blue Seas OLED Voltmeter

[Kenneth K]

I never cared much for the analog voltmeter on my DC panel. All I could ever tell was that the voltage was somewhere between 12 and 12.5, not really yielding much information.

I picked up one of these digital gauges up on Amazon. It was an easy install, but I had to make a round face plate to replace the old rectangular gauge.



If I had a fancy battery monitor, I wouldn't need it, but that's not in the cards right now. I won't put one of those in until I redo the DC panel. Putting this meter in finally got me to take a look what's behind the panel.





That's going to have to wait until next year. I promised myself no new projects this year--going to try to get some sailing done.

 

[nquigley]

//
Putting this meter in finally got me to take a look what's behind the panel.
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That's going to have to wait until next year. I promised myself no new projects this year--going to try to get some sailing done.

Yup - been there, deep in that bowl of spaghetti.
I mounted a neg bus bar on the left side of that area to reduce some of the clutter behind the switch panel. Then I got carried away with my label-maker tagging each pos wire that leaves the panel to begin its mysterious journey through the partly inaccessible spaces behind the boat's various linings. Then I got a bit more anal and bundled some sets of wires with zip ties - nice and neat! But, instead of making it easier to push (force) the panel back into place against the wood panel, the bundling made it impossible! ... lead to the inevitable project expansion phase ... I made a ~1" deep wood frame around the original cut-out to make more room behind the panel when it's screwed in place. But, that frame had to be wedge-shaped to angle the panel away from the chart table lid. A simple labeling neatness urge lead to a whole lot of other things!
Moral: be careful what you wish for.

 

[bigd14]

Nice install. I need to do something similar I am tired of using my multimeter to test voltage. The wiring rat nest looks depressingly familiar. Wiring wasn't Ericson's strong suit in the production department was it!

Nquigley- Scope creep/law of unintended consequences... The very definition of a sailboat project! I can totally relate!

 

[toddster]

In a similar vein, I replaced the analog Volt and Amp meters on my panel not long ago. It seemed to me that the range of both meters was too wide for my system, and I couldn't really read the values well within the small range that they actually fluctuated. Most of my gadgets seemed to draw "some" power, but I couldn't say how much. At least I could see if the total was getting large. By the way, both of these are available to a good home. I probably won't use them again but they're too valuable to throw away... (seen in the "before" picture here.)

Last year when I had a little cash but no time, I bought presents for the boat, to show that I still loved it. So I got the Victron battery monitor to replace the analog gauges. First I thought I'd just replace one of the gauges (but which one?) Then I "discovered" that it wouldn't fit in the old hole. Wrong - there are two mounting systems in this thing, one of which (rather obviously) is a plastic ring that screws onto the body of the gauge, behind the panel. It fits in the standard hole after you remove that ring. (Duh) But the face also screws onto the front. Anyway, the frame of the old panel was cracked, so I ended up just making an all new panel. And there is even a little room left for expansion. And I got to remove a few redundant wires from behind the panel.

The only drawback to this thing is that you have to scroll through the menu to see all of the information, instead of just glancing at it. Oh, or log into the app on your phone, of course. I usually leave it set at "percent of charge remaining" and have to push the buttons to see volts or amps.

BTW, one of those cheap Asian-import power meters shown on the extreme left displays most of the power data, for a fraction of the cost. But they don't have the capacity for the whole system. I put those in to monitor the solar panels.

 

[Kenneth K]

That's some fancy woodwork, Toddster. Nice job.

 

[Tin Kicker]

Love the hinges.

 

[Teranodon]

I like my twin DVMs. I tried to find ones that only show three significant figures, but couldn't find any. I left the analog meters in, for looks. The ammeter never worked anyway.

They draw little current and can be left on (although I did put in a switch).

 

[footrope]

Ken,
Getting that battery switch with the fat wires off of that panel looks like it would be a big help when working behind the DC panel. I'm not sure what your options might be when you get around to the project. Wrangling heavy battery cables in tight spaces is challenging. I'm considering a dual digital voltage gauge for the engine panel, so I could also monitor the house bank charging status from the cockpit. The analog voltage gauge for the start battery is drifting high and has made itself a target for replacement.

 

[Norwester]

Another winter project checked off the list today: Replacing the analog Ericson factory installed voltmeter with digital.
Purchased @Kenneth K modeled model: Blue Sea Systems Min OLED Meter (marine).

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www.bluesea.com

I've installed other digital voltmeters, purchased at prices far below the $40 some for the Blue Sea System model; however, this one definitely had more mass/weight to the product than others. (don't know why)...anyone?

I used someone's technique of sandwiching two black plastic squares with appropriately drilled-out sized holes for meter's body to cover up the large square void in panel, (Sorry, I'd recognize the helpful member, but I'm unable to find the thread now).
Removed the existing wire ends from panel-side and replacing them with blade female ends to match the voltmeter terminal male blades (vs .Ken's work of screwing the existing panel wire ends to the voltmeter's male terminals...both work fine).

Just saved half my sailing life I used while waiting until the analog needle fell somewhere between 11 and 13.