Member Contributer BrittC Posted February 21, 2010 Member Contributer Share Posted February 21, 2010 I've been looking for a voltmeter, and ran across a BMW owner who built his own that I liked a lot..... so I figured I would replicate his work. I rarely ride in the dark so I don't need an LED unit. I was interested in LCD, and the Datel works great for my needs. And I didn't want to cut up my dash so it had to be a surface mount unit. I bought a BUD Potting Box (part number: 563-PB-1558).... .... a BUD potting box cover (part number: PBC-1558-CN).... ..... and a Datel LCD digital panel meter (part number: 20LCD-1-DCM-C). All were from from Mouser Electronics and arrived extremely quickly - www.mouser.com I carefully measured and using a razor, cut an opening for the unit in the potting box. The Datel unit slipped right in. I used 5 minute epoxy around the edges of the Datel unit to hold it in place as well as waterproof it. I took a charger from an old Nokia phone, cracked open the transformer to get at the wires, cut off the other end, and wired that to the terminals on the Datel unit. I used my multimeter to compare voltages at the battery and used the adjusting screw on the Datel unit to calibrate it. Cut a slot to fit the cord through, epoxied it in place, and then epoxied the potting box cover on the back of the potting box. I am fairly confident that water cannot get into the box. I mounted the box to my dash with 3M Dual Lock velcro. Here is the meter with the engine warmed up and idling: Here is the meter at 3000 RPM: I have found my voltage readings to be very consistent at any RPM over idle (pretty much 14.7 volts at any RPM above idle). I purchased a VFRness but have not installed it yet. Maybe I won't need to but now I feel better about being able to keep my eye on my electrical system. Credit for this project goes to: Surface Mount Datel LCD Voltmeter Install Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veefer800Canuck Posted February 21, 2010 Share Posted February 21, 2010 Oh DO install the VFRness, you'll be glad you did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer FotoMoto Posted February 21, 2010 Member Contributer Share Posted February 21, 2010 Nicely done! :comp13: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer BrittC Posted March 24, 2010 Author Member Contributer Share Posted March 24, 2010 Scratch this idea! I washed the bike the other day and barely got the LCD screen wet... and suddenly it's showing that my bike is only putting out 9 volts. Once it completely dried out, it consistently shows that it's getting over 15 volts. My multimeter tells me that my custom voltmeter is lying to me... Oh well, it was a $30 learning experience! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer AnikMankar Posted March 24, 2010 Member Contributer Share Posted March 24, 2010 Scratch this idea! I washed the bike the other day and barely got the LCD screen wet... and suddenly it's showing that my bike is only putting out 9 volts. Once it completely dried out, it consistently shows that it's getting over 15 volts. My multimeter tells me that my custom voltmeter is lying to me... Oh well, it was a $30 learning experience! guess it picked some moisture during the washing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tightwad Posted March 24, 2010 Share Posted March 24, 2010 The standard Datel meters are water resistant, and hold up pretty well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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