Bongo Fury

The dip switches just mean the range on mine can be adjusted ( I think ) but it shows that it can be connected in parallel ok - ie, should be ok when the split charge relay kicks in.
What about about having it on a push to make switch rather than the ignition?

have just had a quick go at connecting the red and black wires to the main battery and it lights up , so that seems ok.
so i will try and get it connected via switched live and see what happens, if it works great, if not will buy one like Kirsty's and start again.

Bet you're glad you started this thread aren't you Dave

I absolutely love this type of chat on the forum, nothing nasty, just good info with a bit of banter thrown in.
loads of HELP and things i never even thought about.
LOVE IT, LOVE IT, LOVE IT.

Manny's right but does it matter - surely the main purpose of the display is to see what the LB is doing when the vans stopped and the engine is off................

dandywarhol wrote:Manny's right but does it matter - surely the main purpose of the display is to see what the LB is doing when the vans stopped and the engine is off................

YIP THAT'S WHAT IM AFTER, just turn ignition to on, without starting the engine, then read what power ive got left in the LB.

I believe i'm correct when i say that the gauge has two wires that takes its input... One pos, one neg... If connected to the l/b, then it reads the voltage there surely? Why would it read it from elsewhere?

teenmal wrote:http://cgi.ebay.com/3-1-2-Blue-LCD-Digi ... m153.l1262

Hi Dave,we contacted Virtualvillage re the solution to the back light problem.
They said they would forward it to the product department.
So far no response from the product dept.
In the mean time we have had this E-Mail from an other interested party.
Read down to the Q&A and i think this will solve the problem.
We are interested in these products purely for Health And Safety reasons..

Mal..

I have had a chance to connect the unit up and try it out. bit disappointed really . the first one i tried did not work, so that's going back, the second one that Ive pinched off BDC works, but is giving me a bit of a headache as to what its reading.
here goes an explanation (forgive any grammar and spelling errors).
connected red wire to + .black to - on main battery, switched ignition ,so far so good, lights up the display reading either -1 or 0 it kinda fluctuates.
now the weird bit, connected the green wire to + on leisure battery and white wire- onto earth no reading at all ,or rather still reading minus one or zero. if i disconnect the earth wire from the LB i get a reading of 3. 20 which rises and falls ,which i think depends on what is switched on. took the bongo for a run thinking the LB was not fully charged, didn't make any difference to the reading.
a bit puzzled as to what is going on ,so back to you whiz kids with any suggestions.

ERM.......

daveblueozzie wrote:I have had a chance to connect the unit up and try it out. bit disappointed really . the first one i tried did not work, so that's going back, the second one that Ive pinched off BDC works, but is giving me a bit of a headache as to what its reading.
here goes an explanation (forgive any grammar and spelling errors).
connected red wire to + .black to - on main battery, switched ignition ,so far so good, lights up the display reading either -1 or 0 it kinda fluctuates.
now the weird bit, connected the green wire to + on leisure battery and white wire- onto earth no reading at all ,or rather still reading minus one or zero. if i disconnect the earth wire from the LB i get a reading of 3. 20 which rises and falls ,which i think depends on what is switched on. took the bongo for a run thinking the LB was not fully charged, didn't make any difference to the reading.
a bit puzzled as to what is going on ,so back to you whiz kids with any suggestions.

Not a whizz-kid I'm afraid. Haven't a clue what I'm doing, but I've tested mine "off-bongo" if its any help. If I connect Red and Green to +ve and Black and White to -ve on the same battery I get a reading of -1v. Instructions say to use a different power source for the backlight, so I'm not surprised by the result.

If I connect Red to +ve and Black to -ve on one battery and Green to +ve and White to -ve on another battery, I get 12.49v. This corresponds to the reading I get with my multimeter. So, it seems that mine is working. I'll try it in my Bongo when I get chance, which has the Willinton kit.

i am begining to wonder if i have the right unit for the job,
dvisor do you have the link for the unit you have.

That looks very similar to the ones I bought:





I've got two meters fitted, although the ammeter for the LB is not wired up yet. The switch has 3 positions: off / on / on with backlight. I have another switch on the dash which controls a relay to alternate between SB & LB for items such as the radio, interior lights, etc & the voltmeter is connect to the output. Therefore, I can see the charge in each battery dependant on which battery is powering them.

Now, I think the solution is to change it for the two wire version which is powered from the same supply as it is measuring. The one you have (I believe) is designed to have a completely isolated supply from the voltage being measured, so you cannot share the common -ve supply. Digital panel meters generate their own precision reference voltage from the supply, which is then compared to the voltage being measured. By having both connected together, you get incorrect readings or the '1' or '-1' which is known as the 'over-range' indicator. The other advantage of the two wire version is that (generally) they can be wired up either way round, so it's pretty much impossible to blow one up, unless you exceed the specified voltage.

daveblueozzie wrote:i am begining to wonder if i have the right unit for the job,
dvisor do you have the link for the unit you have.

Yup - the one I got is http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 0293702479