If I do it again ... forget the AMP and Volt Meters!

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acefaser

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These things are junk!
I am about half way through the build and was testing my meters out and noticed the Volt meter powers up, but doesn't read voltage. :mad:
The AMP meter never worked to begin with...
Even one of the adjustable DC converters didn't even work. New stuff is on the way but annoying and tired of waiting for crap parts from China.
Ok, rant over.
 
Same for me, both the meters haven't read since I powered up the panel, one only flashes meagerly, and the other is 100% dead. I am thinking about just covering the two cutouts with a name plate for my brewery rather than spending another $40 and waiting 3 weeks...
 
ya its the panel mount meters. My tools work fine.
Funny thing is the Ebay guy I bought the volt meter from sent me a wiring diagram that is exactly opposite of what is on the back of the volt meter. He wanted me to wire it up using the diagram so I did. Turned on the power and POP! I just hope the replacement works...
The idiot Amp meter guys want me to send a picture of the amp meter not working so they can try to fix my problem. I have told them how I wired it but they insist on a picture. I sent them a picture of the meter mounted in my panel with no power to it. I think they are just stalling. I have a few more days to register a complaint with Ebay for my money back.
 
I'd skip these too if I had to do it all over. Single most challenging (read frustrating) part of the entire build. Ended up going through about 3 of each before I got two that worked. Does add a bit of bling to the panel, but not much needed data/info.
 
These things are junk!
I am about half way through the build and was testing my meters out and noticed the Volt meter powers up, but doesn't read voltage. :mad:
The AMP meter never worked to begin with...
Even one of the adjustable DC converters didn't even work. New stuff is on the way but annoying and tired of waiting for crap parts from China.
Ok, rant over.
I'm assuming you're following my design...

How do you know they did not work when received? You may have hooked something up wrong and fried something without even knowing it (you won't always have a 'pop' or have smoke come out).

Not defending the sellers or their crappy documentation but the odds are very much against it. The odds of receiving 4/4 defective products ordered from 2-3 different places is almost zero.

The amp/volt meters are the things that people have the most difficulty in wiring up right. I get tons of emails about them. The poor documentation they come with certainly doesn't help. I would throw out the instructions and follow what's on the product itself.

If indeed you truly did receive 4/4 bad products, go out and buy a lottery ticket today! :)

Kal
 
3 bad parts: 1. Volt meter 2. Amp meter 3. 1 DC power supply.
Don't think I hooked any up incorrectly, however the volt meter said 5 volts for the power supply and the ebay auction instructions said use 12v. I started with 5 to be safe and it didn't power up until I increased it to 12v. I don't think trying it at 5v would hurt the meter. It powered up fine at 12v but wouldn't read voltage.
I don't think I caused any of the items to fail, however you never know...
Had I done a search on your forum or other forums,i probably would not have incorporated them into the build due to the problems people have with them. Even people in this thread and your forum have ordered multiples of the same meter because of the problems/faults.
I agree they look good and give it some bling so maybe I won't be so bitter once my build is complete.
 
Glad I decided not to include these. Although they are definitely cool, I couldn't justify the extra cost for something that isn't needed.
 
i never understood the usage of a voltmeter on a brew controller... amperage maybe (even still- you only need to figure out how many amps you are pulling once, not continuously), but voltage should not matter to anything, it shouldnt be different from the rest of the house wiring.
 
i never understood the usage of a voltmeter on a brew controller... amperage maybe (even still- you only need to figure out how many amps you are pulling once, not continuously), but voltage should not matter to anything, it shouldnt be different from the rest of the house wiring.
Absolutely correct.

The biggest reason why I added the amp/volt meter were because (a) I had room, (b) I thought they'd look good and match the blue power light nicely (yes, vain), (c) the cost is negligible in the grand scheme of things, (d) and because they can help to troubleshoot at a glance if needed (though this is questionable).

I originally thought about adding the ammeter mostly because I was unsure about the actual total max draw. If you look only at the specs for example, a March 809 pump is said to draw 1.2 amps so two should draw 2.4 amps.

In practice however the two running only add 1 amp to the current draw. The 5500W element draws just under 23A. Other things in the panel draw basically nothing.

The voltmeter also lets me see how crappy the city supply is in the heat of the summer when things are running heavy. I don't think I'd never *not* brew if it was too low but at least I don't feel like I'm straining the grid if I see something near 240V. ;)

Kal
 
I used this and this.

The voltmeter is self powered. I used the Auber counter/timer, and it has a 5v tap on the back, which works perfectly to power the ammeter. Takes a bunch of stuff out of the box, and a lot less that can go wrong.

309sbqh.jpg
 
I agree with Kal, having three failures is odd. I followed Kals procedures and the only problems I had involved my wiring. The diagram on ebay and the diagram on the back of the voltmeter were not the same. I agree that I don't see the point of having a voltmeter. An amp meter for me is very important. I definitely want to see how much current I'm pulling. I have a fluke amp meter (inductive), but a panel meter is much nicer and adds some brewers bling.
 
In the grand scheme of YOUR thing, I would totally agree. Adding a $20 meter in a more minimalist system could represent 5-10% of the electronics costs. :D
Yes, I meant for my control panel. Correct. For someone else it could indeed be more.

Kal
 
Let's face it, you can get away with a LOT less of everything and still make beer. The panel meters are just a nice touch on an already over the top system.

I am now fondly remembering boiling 2 gallons of thick extract wort on the gas stove in 3 gallon pot.....
 
I used the Auber counter/timer, and it has a 5v tap on the back, which works perfectly to power the ammeter. Takes a bunch of stuff out of the box, and a lot less that can go wrong.

Damn, I wish I knew that. I went with the transformer and variable voltage supplies like the instructions said. How do you wire the Auber timer (ASL-51, right?) to use the 5 volt tap? This would have made things a bit cleaner inside my box.

Klaus
 
Damn, I wish I knew that. I went with the transformer and variable voltage supplies like the instructions said. How do you wire the Auber timer (ASL-51, right?) to use the 5 volt tap? This would have made things a bit cleaner inside my box.

Klaus

Yes I would like to know how to use the 5v on the timer also. I see the 5v marking on one of the terminals, but do not see a DC ground.
 
I blew my transformer that I used to power my amp meter, would be awesome if the counter could power it from my auber timer, please tell how!
 
Okay, I looked up the instruction manual - section D of the Abuer ASL-51 lists terminal 3 as 9VDC output, and 4 as common. I used those two to power my Ammeter. I wired completely from the hip, and it made sense to me at the time. Has worked great for two test boils and two batches of beer so far.

Keep in mind my Voltmeter is self powered - aka there is only the AC input.

Kal has a very specific reason for using separate power supplies for each meter, which made sense when I read it, but don't remember since it didn't apply to me.
 
burglar said:
Okay, I looked up the instruction manual - section D of the Abuer ASL-51 lists terminal 3 as 9VDC output, and 4 as common. I used those two to power my Ammeter. I wired completely from the hip, and it made sense to me at the time. Has worked great for two test boils and two batches of beer so far.

Keep in mind my Voltmeter is self powered - aka there is only the AC input.

Kal has a very specific reason for using separate power supplies for each meter, which made sense when I read it, but don't remember since it didn't apply to me.

I saw it was an 9v dc output, did you get a 5v amp meter. So you wires dc + to that terminal and dc ground to common? Might give it whirl.
 
I called auber yesterday and the tech guy said the 9v tap could not be used to power anything. It is ment for the proximity sensor feature. Since its 9v I don't think I will be able to use it anyway.
 
I saw it was an 9v dc output, did you get a 5v amp meter. So you wires dc + to that terminal and dc ground to common? Might give it whirl.

Yes, exactly how I hooked it up. Keep in mind I bought different meters than Kal uses. You can see in the picture that the brightness matches perfectly on mine.

EDIT: Yes, mine says right in the instructions 8-12V AC/DC input. I originally was going to power it with a 9v battery until I saw that tap when I was wiring.
 
Kal has a very specific reason for using separate power supplies for each meter, which made sense when I read it, but don't remember since it didn't apply to me.

See: http://www.theelectricbrewery.com/control-panel-part-2?page=9

Quote:

Because of the way this particular volt meter is designed (one of the AC inputs is tied to the DC ground), separate power supplies and transformers must be used in order to isolate the meters from each other. Trying to use one power supply and transformer to power both meters will destroy the meters (ask us how we know how!) even through the supplied instructions said this was possible.

Kal
 


Kal,

Ive read your instructions about using independent power supplies for each meter, but I was wondering if youve ever tried a converter to direct convert 220v ac to 5v dc, just like the one bellow. So that, we will use only one power supply (5v) to both meters.

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/AC-110V-220V...118816?hash=item5b17406020:g:~sMAAOSwT6pV1v8e

I know that you have the knowledge and hands on this subject, but dont you think that this could work?
 
I know this thread is ancient and someone resurrrected it but Could it be that the stuff just isnt installed correctly in most of these cases due to the poor directions? If I had a nickel for ever time a thread popped up where the volt amp meter was assumed broken when in fact it was just wired wrong and fried by the time the op realized their mistake and rewired it...

I have bought about 5 different types of the cheap volt and amp meters for my panels I have built as well as about 8 of them for a solor power project and my experiences where good with them all except the 2 I fried by miswiring the shunts.

BTW these run off of the panel voltage and are super simple to wire up...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/LED-Digital...512884?hash=item20eb0df0f4:g:dWAAAOSw7NNT9ad5
 
Kal,

Ive read your instructions about using independent power supplies for each meter, but I was wondering if youve ever tried a converter to direct convert 220v ac to 5v dc, just like the one bellow. So that, we will use only one power supply (5v) to both meters.

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/AC-110V-220V...118816?hash=item5b17406020:g:~sMAAOSwT6pV1v8e

I know that you have the knowledge and hands on this subject, but dont you think that this could work?
You posted this same question on my forum but I might as well answer here as well...

Yes, we used to use exactly something like that for our pre-built panels. Example:

50_amp_2.jpg


We stopped because most required an internal board modification because of the way they were built. Most times you cannot just use them as is because of the non-isolated way the insides are wired - the same issue with sharing a single power supply/transformer with both meters. So I don't recommend them unless you have a good understanding of what sort of low level circuit board changes may be required and are willing to make those changes. Given that all brands are different detailed instructions can't be given so you have to have a good understanding of electronics to be able to reverse engineer the combined specific power supply you're looking at.

You'd still need to use separate supplies for the reasons previously stated.

Good luck!

Kal
 
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