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On 22 May 2002, at 8:04, Martinez, Leon wrote: > On the VW generator, where do you place the ammeter, I am thinking of > purchasing one myself . Do you place it between the thick red gen cable and the > + on the generator ? The usual place to install an ammeter is in the line between the VR and the battery. Thus it will measure just the amount of charge/discharge in/out of the battery. This will show a small discharge with the key ON, engine not started, and then show a medium charge once the engine is running and the RPMs are up. Under normal driving conditions, this hookup will just show zero, meaning that the battery has been recharged and the generator is supplying all the current necessary to operate the car. If you hook up the ammeter the way you suggest, you should see a current which is almost always positive, but it doesn't ever tell you when the system is happy (like the other way does when it reads zero.) Both ways have their advantages, but the first way is the standard way. BTW, try to find a meter with small scales. You'll probably find one out there that reads 60-0-60 or 100-0-100, but for our cars those will barely ever flicker off zero. Best if you can find one that is just 30-0-30. I know an engineer who put a 200.0A digital meter in his battery ground strap so that he could see EVERYTHING. He could read 200A of cranking current, or 0.5A of discharge. That worked, but it's pretty extreme and beyond the capabilities of most of us. I assume you're talking about a permanent installation in your dash. If you do this, use wire even bigger than that which is in the wire you interrupt, because you are carrying a lot of current and don't want any more voltage drop than necessary. - ******************************* Jim Adney, jadney@vwtype3.org Madison, Wisconsin, USA ******************************* ------------------------------------------------------------------- Too much? Digest! mailto:type3-d-request@vwtype3.org Subj=subscribe