Analog Voltmeter Beside Factory Battery Status ind
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Category: R-pod Discussion Forums
Forum Name: Podmods, Maintenance, Tips and Tricks
Forum Discription: Ask maintenance questions, share your podmods (modifications) and helpful tips
URL: http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=2647
Printed Date: 24 May 2025 at 1:29am
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Topic: Analog Voltmeter Beside Factory Battery Status ind
Posted By: smarsh102
Subject: Analog Voltmeter Beside Factory Battery Status ind
Date Posted: 08 Jun 2012 at 11:57pm
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Hello Everyone, I have ordered a Analog Expanded Voltmeter that I would like to install beside the Factory LED Battery Status indicator. I am guessing that there is a wire behind that panel that comes directly from the Battery + and a good Gnd somewhere nearby. I would like to Splice my new meter into those wires and am wondering if anyone has or knows where I can get a Wiring diagram with wire colours? This is the meter I will be installing: http://bluesea.com/products/8003 Thanks, Sean |
Replies:
Posted By: kmcmurph
Date Posted: 09 Jun 2012 at 12:57am
| I have worked on my 177's wiring quite a bit, and I don't think there is any rhyme or reason to coloring of circuits. When you get behind the led status indicator, I am sure the hot and ground will be right there to tap into. |
Posted By: smarsh102
Date Posted: 09 Jun 2012 at 1:37am
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Ok that's good to know. I will double check everything. This is the start of a bunch off mods I would like to do to be able to dry camp for weeks. Including an Inverter, Solar panel, Bigger better batteries and larger propane tank. Cheers. |
Posted By: kmcmurph
Date Posted: 09 Jun 2012 at 2:02am
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This is the voltmeter I installed in our 177.  I think you will find a bunch of the r-pod 12v wiring is like lamp cord, the hot and ground are sort of molded together and you can sort of peel apart. Karl
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Posted By: smarsh102
Date Posted: 09 Jun 2012 at 2:07am
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Thanks Karl. Looks good. I decided to go with the analog meter to save power. All the digital ones I could find had a bigger current draw than I wanted. Did you have any troubles running wire through the walls? |
Posted By: kmcmurph
Date Posted: 09 Jun 2012 at 2:20am
| No, there was a ton of real estate. I done some pretty heavy mods, but they are posted on the other forum under my same user name. |
Posted By: Alex&Marie
Date Posted: 09 Jun 2012 at 6:04am
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Seems like a wiring diagram and a plumbing diagram would go a long way to help us understand the pods and would make trouble shooting more straight forward. A lot of the questions I have had would have been answered with a sketch. Why doesn't FR offer them??? ------------- Alex and Marie 2012 R-pod 177 2006 Toyota Tundra 
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Posted By: kmcmurph
Date Posted: 09 Jun 2012 at 1:28pm
| A plumbing diagram would be pretty straight forward, but FR used mostly white wiring for the 12V circuits on my 177. So, once it leaves the convert and goes thru the floor, it would be hard to tell what is what. |
Posted By: techntrek
Date Posted: 09 Jun 2012 at 10:31pm
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You can look at the wires attached to the side of the water tanks, underneath, to see what colors are used for the sensors. Process of elimination should let you figure out what the power wires are.
------------- Doug ~ '10 171 (2009-2015) ~ 2008 Salem ~ http://www.rpod-owners.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=1723 - Pod instruction manual 
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Posted By: elko.mike
Date Posted: 09 Jun 2012 at 10:44pm
This is exactly what I was thinking. This is a comment that deserves to be in the section of things we would like from FR. ------------- Mike, Linda & Doxies 2013 Hood River Edition r-pod 171 Tow Vehicles: 2012 Dodge Ram 1500 (Linda's) and a 2003 Dodge Dakota (Mike's fishing truck) |
Posted By: smarsh102
Date Posted: 10 Jun 2012 at 2:35am
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Thanks Again Karl. And agree with the comments that a wiring diagram would make Mods/Troubleshooting much simpler The must use something at the Factory?? |
Posted By: Alex&Marie
Date Posted: 10 Jun 2012 at 7:18am
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Thanks Mike. It is the engineer in me. I am pretty confident in being able to trouble shoot stuff if I have accurate documentation. Where can I post the request to FR? ------------- Alex and Marie 2012 R-pod 177 2006 Toyota Tundra
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Posted By: TIDALWAVE
Date Posted: 12 Jun 2012 at 9:55am
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You may also wish to Purchase a "Kill-A-Watt (tm)" meter if you are worried about the AC voltage coming from the site outlet. It simply plugs into an AC outlet. It is quite accurate...reads to one tenth of volt, and also allows you to plug in an appliance to check on amperage used.
------------- TIDALWAVE |
Posted By: smarsh102
Date Posted: 18 Jun 2012 at 1:54pm
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FYI the site that makes the Monitor panel has some information including a wiring diagram http://www.kibenterprises.com/monitorpanels-mm.html Cheers. |
Posted By: HuronSailor
Date Posted: 18 Jun 2012 at 2:05pm
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I like the idea of a voltage meter. I had one of these for each battery bank in my boat since we tended to spend a lot of time swinging on the hook (boondocking.) They only pull 3 mA max. If I did a lot of rustic camping I'd add one to the pod too.
------------- .: Mark & Beth :: Silverado 5.3L :: 2018 rPod 180 :. |
Posted By: elko.mike
Date Posted: 18 Jun 2012 at 2:26pm
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For checking the charge on my fishing boat's battery, I use one of these http://tinyurl.com/6t89qxw on my boat and tied it into this device with a cigarette lighter plug. On the boat I mount the thing on the hull with velcro. I've put a block onto the hull for wiring things together. I was thinking of doing something similar on the pod. Velcro would not be my choice for a mount on the r-pod. I'm not sure how I want to mount this stuff yet. Another option is to buy a battery box with a built in meter. http://tinyurl.com/7u4amar ------------- Mike, Linda & Doxies 2013 Hood River Edition r-pod 171 Tow Vehicles: 2012 Dodge Ram 1500 (Linda's) and a 2003 Dodge Dakota (Mike's fishing truck) |