battery meter on 29.5

[robert]

has anyone installed a battery meter on the 29.5. where did you put it and how did you wire it.

 

[Bill Murray]

In the gull wing locker

In the starboard gull wing locker where the batteries are. I wanted to minimize the wiring leads to avoid voltage drops to the meter and have it protected from weather. I have to open the locker to check, but since my batt charger, batt swich, shore power, and 110 inverter and batteries are all in there it seems to work well and be a logical choice.Bill MurraySV Good Faithh29.5 #175

 

[Tim McCarty]

Bill, any chance of posting a pic...

I too would like to install a battery meter, but, had some worries about hydrogen ignition (coming off the batts). Also, did you wire it to the battery switcher, or did you do it some other way?

 

[Bill Murray]

wire to the batt switch

wire DIRECTLY to the batt switch terminals.If you are using a solid state unit or a simple gauge I would not worry abouthydrogen. There shouldn't be any sparking caused by this type of installation once it is all installed. Lots less to worry about than having the charger in the compartment with the batteries (as it is wired at the factory) don't you think?Just follow the directions that come with the unit. These are really pretty easy to do.

 

[Bill O'Donovan]

Related question

Do I understand correctly that when the charger meter is down to zero that the batteries are fully charged? That is, that it's a step-down charger. This is for a 29.5 from 1995. Thanks.

 

[Tim McCarty]

OK, Bill M...not a learned desciple....

when it comes to electronics. How does one wire the meter directly to the batt terminal(s)? Feel free to email directly at timmccarty860@hotmail.com as I'm really interested in this thread. If you're ever down Lake Erie way, feel free to stop by. I actually have some friends at Port Sanilac, but have never, myself, been up that way.PS: any other Hunter owners in this locale are always welcome to stop by and say hi and drink a beer (if I have one available).I just painted the hull (a thankless job), so, I'm getting cranked up for sailing...