Recommendations wanted for AC & DC voltage gauges

You might try searching for "Volt Meters", either digital or analog. They are NOT referred to as "voltage gauges" in the industry.

I use these for voltage meters:  https://www.amazon.com/85L1-V-...oltage/dp/B007Q9VW4Q  and I use these for amp meters  https://www.amazon.com/uxcell%...cell+ac+panel+meters

Marty

I used ones similar to Martin's above, only they were from ebay and 0-30 for voltage and 0-15 for amperage. I have looked for digital meters and have not found any matching ones in the proper ranges for both Volts and amps. I have not looked for a while, but it seems like the digital amp meters were the ones I could not find.

I will be watching this thread for any of the digital meters anyone posts about. It may be time for another ebay search as well. Probably been at least a year or more since I last looked.

I have three of these for DC

I should have added to my above post that it's the AC digital meters I have had trouble finding. DC meters seem to be more readily available in the ranges we usually use for our trains, although I have not really tried looking for any DC digital meters.

Not to hijack the thread but what purpose would a voltage meter serve if you are delivering fixed voltage to the rails and/or the accessories?  I get the amp meter, would be nice to know what is being drawn by the locos but I believe my transformer when it states 10v or 14v fixed output.

necrails posted:

Not to hijack the thread but what purpose would a voltage meter serve if you are delivering fixed voltage to the rails and/or the accessories?  I get the amp meter, would be nice to know what is being drawn by the locos but I believe my transformer when it states 10v or 14v fixed output.

Very good points/questions. I have found that the digital Volt and Amp meters on the Z4000 transformers work just fine for our layout.

necrails posted:

Not to hijack the thread but what purpose would a voltage meter serve if you are delivering fixed voltage to the rails and/or the accessories?  I get the amp meter, would be nice to know what is being drawn by the locos but I believe my transformer when it states 10v or 14v fixed output.

I am using PowerHouse 180's (VAC) and switched DC powersupplies.  There are no meters on these.

George

G3750 posted:

necrails posted:

Not to hijack the thread but what purpose would a voltage meter serve if you are delivering fixed voltage to the rails and/or the accessories?  I get the amp meter, would be nice to know what is being drawn by the locos but I believe my transformer when it states 10v or 14v fixed output.

I am using PowerHouse 180's (VAC) and switched DC powersupplies.  There are no meters on these.

George

OK, but the Lionel 180 bricks are NOT adjustable; we use two of them on our layout (one for the steam engines terminal and another one for the yard & yard lead). They put out about 18 volts, period. So long as any and all the locomotives operate fine, I don't care what the 180 bricks do.

Some of us just like all these gizmos & doo-dads and we like fiddling with them.   Actually, I enjoy fiddling with the electronic stuff as much as I do the trains. I don't know as much as a lot of the more knowledgeable folks around here so I try to follow their posts to learn, then experiment with the things they post about. A good way to learn. Also, the costs are so low on some of this stuff it's sometimes hard to pass up. It's a very diverse hobby and keeps me puttering around in retirement (maybe that should be putzing around?). Anyway it's fun (added play value)!

Do be aware that some digital meters require an independent power supply.

Noticed that but there are a lot of meters that if you are measuring over 4 vdc, will power up on the measuring voltage. It's hard to get the info off the ebay listings, sometimes you have to go to the other sellers for the same (almost) item to find out how to use it.

Also, some of the ac meters that do 100 amps do read 18 amps nicely...it would be nice to have 0.1 resolution, but my ZW meter doesn't have it and they work ok. It's really hard to find digital ac voltmeters that read 0 to 25 volts though. Most of them are marketed for the house line voltage ranges.

necrails posted:

Not to hijack the thread but what purpose would a voltage meter serve if you are delivering fixed voltage to the rails and/or the accessories?  I get the amp meter, would be nice to know what is being drawn by the locos but I believe my transformer when it states 10v or 14v fixed output.

I use a digital volt meter mostly for conventional operation.  IMHO the volt meter can assist you when you are trying to run your conventional stuff as slow as possible.  It can also be a troubleshooting aid depending on how it is wired to the layout.  I have all Lionel power at this point so I chose a digital volt meter that has an upper limit of 20vAC.  

The difference between analog and digital is mostly personal preference.  But being a techie for many years I have a preference for both, it depends on the application.  If I want precise measurements, I will always go with digital.  If I were looking for an accurate representation of what is going on (like an AMP meter for track power feeds), I would choose analog (kind of like the same reason analog speedometers are my choice).   

Tony

Cjack,

I am using 0-200 vac digital meters in my voltage box car (actually it's a copy of GRJ's). They work very well, but did require a totally isolated power feed as RJR mentions above. I had some 0-20 vac digital meters to begin with, but they failed rather quickly because my power was not totally isolated. Fortunately, they were only about $6 each, but were no longer listed when I went to get replacements so I got the 0-200 instead. This was 2-3 years ago.

I've run the AC meters with 9 vdc batteries. They last an ok length of time. Probably better for LCD than LED ones.

A cheap wallwart would run the meters and you wouldn't need to ever replace it.

Good idea...would be the best. I was running my meter on a car around the track so...

Not as easy, but it can be done.   This one has meters on each side so you can see them most of the time.

I'll bet you thought I didn't have an answer for that one.

gunrunnerjohn posted:

Not as easy, but it can be done.   This one has meters on each side so you can see them most of the time.

I'll bet you thought I didn't have an answer for that one.

That's what I use only it's a blue N&W version.. lol

Mine is a caboose frame with a meter facing each side and a calibrated distance meter and a 9 v battery ��

Calibrated distance meter?  I can pull mine with an MTH locomotive and check the mileage.

DIY Lionel...

GRJ's picture is what I copied, meters on both sides, but mine is a brown UP boxcar. It runs on track power and GRJ helped me with the 'totally isolated' power part, after my first attempt failed. This one is still working just fine after 2-3 years.

Hi guys, I have been buying a lot of panel meters from Marlin P Jones company and the work great! http://www.mpja.com/mobile/Dig...-Meters/products/52/

They also have great pricing on a lot of other electronic products as well, my favorite place to shop! 

John