Updated February 11th 2009

Ammeter gauge

An ammeter gauge reads both discharge and charge. Most automotive ammeter gauges read between +/- 30 to 60 Amperes. Ammeters have been be used in vehicles such as cars, trucks and also in boats.
It's a device that measures, or reads, electricity flow, the current, whether it be negative (discharging) or positive (charging).

What does an ammeter do?

An ammeter checks the current, and as for automotive ammeters, in the car electrical system. Using an ammeter may have risks due to the very high currents. If the cables are not heavy enough and cannot handle the currents then there will be heat. Poor cables must not be used, heavy gauge wires with a professional installation is required.

Until somewhere around the early 70s, ammeters were used in many cars where the electrical systems were not very stable. 15 - 20 amp generators were common, and up to 35 amp were "large" alternators. The charging systems were unreliable (mechanical regulators and generally lower standards).

Another ammeter type is the inductive ammeter, that eliminates the need to break the battery connections.

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Using a voltmeter is easier.

When ammeters became less used as mentioned above, voltmeters became more common. Using a voltmeter is simpler because it only requires small cables, it does not tap more than milliamperes. Voltmeters are safe and easy to install. Many people prefer the voltmeter monitoring over using ammeters. With ammeters, there is a safety risk, and the more for 30 amps or more. Therefore they must be professionally installed.

Some old cars with an older electrical system, as written about in this article, "used old-fashioned generators to charge-up the battery, ammeters did a pretty good job monitoring the electrical system.". Ammeters may be used in such cars.

Automotive ammeters

The automotive ammeter gauges below are close to or exactly actual size when viewed at screens 19''/1200x1024/0.294mm and 15''/1024x768/0.297mm.

Sunpro Ammeter gauges

Sunpro are popular and quite cheap ammeter gauges.

CP7954 - User manual	CP7981 - User manual
CP8204 - User manual Sunpro CP8204 user reviews	CP8214 - User manual

VDO Ammeter gauges

The two models 190103 and 190031 are also each available for other currents. 190 104 with 60A, 190105 with 100A and 190302 with 30A and 190304 with 100A.

190031 - 60A	190077 - 30A
190103 - 30A 190104 - 60A 190105 - 100A	190301 - 60A 190302 - 30A 190304 - 100A

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