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Wiring the casporttouring voltmeter

  • Thread starter Thread starter andrewclaycomb
  • Start date Start date
A

andrewclaycomb

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dig_vlt_mtr.jpg


Where have you all hooked up the third power wire? The one that only gets power when the bike is running.

From what I've been reading it's found in the mess of wires behind the headlight bucket, but how can I track it down without peeling back insulation and testing on every wire until I get lucky?

And I was planning on just wiring the other two directly to the battery. Would this not be wise?
 
On my 550B ('77) I connected the two power wires by stripping back the insulation a tiny amount on the two wires that go to the ignition switch plug. The one on the wiring loom side, not the ignition switch side. The red wire is the one that has 12v on all the time. The orange wire is the one that has 12v when the ignition is turned on and the earth wire just goes to any earth inside the headlight bucket. I attached mine to the blinker earth inside the bucket. Hope this helps. If it does not make much sense get back to me and I will try to clarify a bit more.
Cheers. Don
 
andrewclaycomb said:
Where have you all hooked up the third power wire? The one that only gets power when the bike is running.
Click to expand...

havent done this myself, but why not wire it to the headlamp (if your headlamp is on as soon as the ignition is on)?
 
On my wife's '82 850L, there are accessory terminals at the end of the fuse panel. I don't think your bike would have them, so yes, connect the two wires to the battery, connect the third to a headlight or tail light wire. You can do all these connections at the fuses, if you wish.

Just a note for anyone not acquainted with this little meter...it's a nice unit, but it's not waterproof. Give it a couple coats of clear polyurethane spray to seal the display. The two wires power the meter and keep the clock going. The third wire only turns on the pitiful excuse for a backlight. If you are concerned about battery drain, forget it. It only takes just a little more power than a wristwatch, and look at the size of its battery.

.
 
database

database

OK.... now that I know that lots of riders out there have these niffty voltmeters installed, lets get a data base of just what is a "normal" voltage reading for a fully charged battery going down the road at 4000 RPM. Mine settles out at 12.7 volts after a couple of miles at 4K.

ps. I?m using stock Suzuki regulator and rotor/stator on ?80 GS 1000 with 70,000 miles.

cheers
 
psyguy said:
havent done this myself, but why not wire it to the headlamp (if your headlamp is on as soon as the ignition is on)?
Click to expand...

In Australia the headlight does not come on with ignition on these earlier models. That is why I gave the explanation to wire it up as I did. In the US it could be wired up as others suggest if you have lights on all the time.
 
north49 said:
OK.... now that I know that lots of riders out there have these niffty voltmeters installed, lets get a data base of just what is a "normal" voltage reading for a fully charged battery going down the road at 4000 RPM. Mine settles out at 12.7 volts after a couple of miles at 4K.

ps. I?m using stock Suzuki regulator and rotor/stator on ?80 GS 1000 with 70,000 miles.

cheers
Click to expand...


Mine is up about 14.7 and sometimes over 15. At idle its about 12.5

Both my orange wires go to the fuse box and its on all the time.
 
Does your bike have the brown wire that terminates into nothingness in the bucket? I was reviewing the 80 wiring diagram, and mine has this wire that goes from the ignition switch splits into two; one that terminates into an empty connector in the bucket, and one goes to the brakelight... I was thinking this might work when I install it.... any thoughts anyone?
 
That sounds like it could work.. that brown wire is for folks who have the daytime running lights on their bikes...I have this guy on my 750 and it works really well...13.0 volts at idle with headlight on 13.3-13.9 with it off... ofcourse when cruising...I replaced my harness with a newer one and I have found a rather large drain on my bike voltage drops really bad...those little wires on this thing ugh.. I hate them...so brittle
 
Electrically challenged

Electrically challenged

OK, I know this post is quite old but I am trying to get this volt meter wired up on my 1100gl.When I hit the starter I must be getting a voltage spike or loss that is causing the meter to give the beeping alert for ice, I assume and it is also intermittently causing the clock to reset to 12 AM, I also lose the function of the thermometer with the engine running.

I have tried wiring it with the 12V constant and the ground to the accesory terminals on the fuse block and the orange wire to the headlight. I have also wired it with the orange and red to the positive together and also with the negative and red and orange directly to the battery. Each way I wire it I have the same result.

Has anyone else come across this problem or have any idea why this is happening?

Thanks for any help, Parker
 
My first guess would be to look at the ground connection. Try a direct ground to the battery negative terminal.
 
Matchless, thanks for the fast response. My latest attempt to get this thing working properly was to make all connections directly to the battery. I still get the same result. Clock resets and my thermometer display goes blank. Maybe I got a bad unit?
 
something new

something new

OK, I don't even have to start the engine to have the problem occur. As soon as I bump the starter the temp display goes blank. So the problem is in the starter wiring?
 
How long ago did you acquire it and from where? Showchrome had a batch of bad units from the factory.
 
dr_fosg8 said:
When I hit the starter I must be getting a voltage spike or loss that is causing the meter to give the beeping alert for ice, ...
Click to expand...
Chances are that you are NOT hearing the beeping for ice. Just to be sure, that alarm can be turned off.

What you are most likely hearing is the low voltage alarm. If the voltage gets below 11.5, it will beep.
If you are losing contact somewhere, it is beeping as it dips below 11.5 on its way to zero.

If your meter is dying when it's connected straight to the battery, you have a bad meter.

.
 
Thanks!

Thanks!

I am convinced of a bad gauge myself also. It is already boxed up and on its way back to dennis kirk.

J_C, I just got it last week from Dennis Kirk.
 
Maybe not a bad unit after all

Maybe not a bad unit after all

I think I may have found out why the digital clock and thermometer wouldn't work properly once the engine fired.

I just recently did some maintenance to the bike and a part of that was new plugs and wires. I got the dyna copper core wires from z1 and used the caps supplied with the wires, which are NOT resistor. My plugs are also non-resistor.

Would this cause this problem. Just something that crossed my mind while pulling a plug to check mixture.
 
Not sure about that. But I do know that my meter was fine when the bike was off, but the moment it started up the alarm starting going on and off, and power cut in and out of the unit. They told me on the phone they had a bad batch, so the let me keep it for the time being. 3 months later or so they sent me a new one which Ive rewired but haven't tested yet. I should know if it's aok on Monday when I get down to work on the bike again
 
dr_fosg8 said:
I think I may have found out why the digital clock and thermometer wouldn't work properly once the engine fired.

I just recently did some maintenance to the bike and a part of that was new plugs and wires. I got the dyna copper core wires from z1 and used the caps supplied with the wires, which are NOT resistor. My plugs are also non-resistor.

Would this cause this problem. Just something that crossed my mind while pulling a plug to check mixture.
Click to expand...

My dad (Roadrash) wired up one of those on his GL. I believe it to always be on and he said that if he hits a hard bump it looses time as well.

I run just a battery gauge, nothing else and it has performed flawless.

I also hooked my gauge to my coil relay mod, but bwringer told me that you can also use your oil pressure sending wire as well.

http://www.denniskirk.com/jsp/produ...re=&catId=&productId=p406981&leafCatId=&mmyId=

Kuryakyn L.E.D battery gauge is what I use.

Don't forget if you're down in Wilmington, you need to come out and ride with us J-town folks this year.
 
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