FITTING AN AMMETER

[FORTUNATA]

Hi all,

I recently kind of inherited a very neglected canal cruiser that needs a lot of work, rewiring, painting and interior decoration. It has an inboard volkswagen diesel and is just over 20 foot long.

I'm now fitting an ammeter as the old one was cracked and missing a bulb. Just a simple question if anyone has time:

The old ammeter was connected to three, thick brown wires, 2 of the brown wires joined and connecting to one terminal only. There were no external wires on the old ammeter - just the terminals with the 3 brown wires fixed on.

I removed the wires and noted where they were connected and purchased a new ammeter. The new one comes with 2 thin wires (red and black) that are visible externally (unlike the old ameter). There are instructions for fitting but these seem to be intended for cars and offer various scenarios as to fitting.

At this point, I should stress I don't intend to try and start this boat up till I'm certain the wiring is O.K. so I'll probably check with an electrician.

But I'm wondering if I can't go far wrong if I simply copy the old wiring and just connect the brown wires on the same terminals as I found them originally. The only problem is that would leave me with 2 external wires (I presume may be for the bulb).

Presently I'm painting the dashboard and then plan to rewire the whole mess of rusted, broken, damp wires (the wiring is still intact but bad connections).

[Bones]

I must make it totally clear that I know nothing about electrics, but I do know that when I thought I did I created sparks and smoke! Anyway, here is a website that might be interesting for you were you to check out your own electrics

 

http://www.tb-training.co.uk/cover.html

 

Also - the narrowboat builders handbook has a good electrical wiring guide that might help you - but I don't have an image of it with me...............................

 

I am sure you will get more assistance from other members!!!!

[Carrie]

Hey Bones - that looks a great site for me, thanks! I can actually understand bits!!!!

[Keeping Up]

Hi all,

I recently kind of inherited a very neglected canal cruiser that needs a lot of work, rewiring, painting and interior decoration. It has an inboard volkswagen diesel and is just over 20 foot long.

I'm now fitting an ammeter as the old one was cracked and missing a bulb. Just a simple question if anyone has time:

The old ammeter was connected to three, thick brown wires, 2 of the brown wires joined and connecting to one terminal only. There were no external wires on the old ammeter - just the terminals with the 3 brown wires fixed on.

I removed the wires and noted where they were connected and purchased a new ammeter. The new one comes with 2 thin wires (red and black) that are visible externally (unlike the old ameter). There are instructions for fitting but these seem to be intended for cars and offer various scenarios as to fitting.

At this point, I should stress I don't intend to try and start this boat up till I'm certain the wiring is O.K. so I'll probably check with an electrician.

But I'm wondering if I can't go far wrong if I simply copy the old wiring and just connect the brown wires on the same terminals as I found them originally. The only problem is that would leave me with 2 external wires (I presume may be for the bulb).

Presently I'm painting the dashboard and then plan to rewire the whole mess of rusted, broken, damp wires (the wiring is still intact but bad connections).

You're almost certainly right in your guess that the two thin wires are for a lightbulb; I'd say at least 99.9% probability. If you leave them disconnected (if they've got bare ends, tape them up so they can't short to anything) and connect the thicker wires to the main terminals in the same way as they were on the old ammeter, everything should work just fine.

[DHutch]

I assume this is one of the 2" round non-shunt automotive type meters, with a bulb backlight. (ie, one of the durite ones)

 

I which case, yes, you can just conect the wire's to the same two terminals and it will work fine.

- The two small leads will indeed be for the bulb, which can be safly left un conected, or you can wired then up if you want the light to work.

 

 

Daniel

[FORTUNATA]

That sounds about right. The new one has 2 terminals that fasten to the dashboard via a clamp that's fixed with nuts on the other side. I guess I could just leave the bulb wires disconnected for now and maybe ask an electrician to check it over for me at a later date.

Such is the neglect of my poor old boat, I decided to change the horn-switch, all the spade-terminals, the switches and the ammeter (an old Lucas model). Added to that, I'm painting the dashboard before I refit all the instruments.

The hardest job was changing the cambelt (due to a crack) since I couldn't get a mechanic to touch it. Finally my cousin (who's a mechanic) did the job. Didn't dare risk it myself.

 

 

 

I assume this is one of the 2" round non-shunt automotive type meters, with a bulb backlight. (ie, one of the durite ones)

 

I which case, yes, you can just conect the wire's to the same two terminals and it will work fine.

- The two small leads will indeed be for the bulb, which can be safly left un conected, or you can wired then up if you want the light to work.

Daniel

[dor]

Another good site for electrickery....

 

http://motoren.ath.cx/motoren/index.php

 

Scroll down to the bottom of the blue pane on the ledft hand side.

[FORTUNATA]

The instructions that come with the ammeter are definitely weird. They outline 4 scenarios which are:

(A) Magnetic starter switch case scenario.

( Separate horn relay mounted terminal case scenario.

© Starter solenoid mounted on starter motor case scenario.

(D) With control or regulator box case scenario

So, my boat has a dashboard with ammeter, ignition and horn.

If I understood the instructions correctly, it seems to suggest joining the bulb wires to the terminal wires I disconnected already via a terminal block.

I guess I need to take care over the idea of duplicating the former wiring as I notice the old ammeter had apparently been on fire at one point in time. I suppose someone might have been guessing and plugging up wires any old way. It's possible, given the condition of the boat when it passed over to me. So, I'll try and check all the information I can gather and will pass on whatever I find to anyone else who may be thinking of fitting an ammeter or replacing one.