The Car (and jeep)

[lozz]

The battery volts thing is a Good idea mate,

think idont need out like that tho My battery as a thing on it where it shows Green when its Fully charged,
(Handy item to have tho when Your running alot of leds and stuff in the car )

you could run 1000 LEDS in your car and it wont effect the battery much
powerless .

lolol by the time farmer p as finnished a solderin bulbs he will need a tractor battery in the boot

iused to have alot of lights in my old car it drained the battery Quickly if it wasnt running,

[FarmerPug]

but my lights only come on when they are supposed to, its not as if im turning on every single appliance i add, when the cars off. or on for that matter, they just get used now and then when needed.
But on the issue of saving power, i fitted the replacement relay circuit, so now the realy is only powered when the courtesy light is powered on. But better still is ive mounted it in more permanently:

mounted with all the wires clamped down properly:

siliconed like mad round the wires, it means they sit in the slicone jelly and therefore dont make noise.
the empty space where these bits will be sitting and therefore not rattling on anything:

[FarmerPug]

Now for the instalation of the battery tester. Well heres the circuit after being sprayed with plastidip:

so ive decided the place to put this is on the fuse box lid, seems quite relevant, so off it comes, and with the digital calipers i measured where i wanted to mount the switch and LEDs, on the same line which can be scored with the point on the calipers, but just a light score so damage doesnt occur on the calipers:


The switch needs a 12mm hole, but i started with a 5mm bit:

then did it again with a 12mm bit:

trim the edges of the drilled hole, to allow the switch to fit flush, put it in and tighten the nut at the back:

now measure the places for the leds, i left 10mm between each one:

i drilled the holes out to 5mm, its big enough for the leds but ill be using proper led holders when they arrive which may mean 7mm holes. anyhow the leds look like this:

Then to mount the circuit i decided just on the lid of the fusebox itself, so on with a blob of sticky glue:

press the circuit down:

then tidy up the wires as well, ive clamped them down onto the underside of the fuse box with cable tie points:

this means that the battery tester will have a neat plug on the end of it. A +ve and -ve from the battery. Which is available within the fusebox, supplying the LED lights for under the bonnet.
But for now i have a fusebox lid which looks like this on one side:

and this on the other while the glue sets:

[Gary406]

its a good idea that farmer ..

im gonna get one of the ones off ebay,

since i have a large audio system , it gives me an indication when the battery will be getting low when im listening to the music with car not running

[FarmerPug]

this isnt off ebay its off that website quasar electronics:
http://www.quasarelectronics.com/
but i got a build it yourself kit, because i enjoy the bit of soldering, a ready made on on ebay is probably better if you want it already made. Although were now moving into multimeter territory.

[Gary406]

I hate to tell you this but http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... SA:GB:1123

I always use a fag lighter for heat shrink, they don't burn down all the time and burn your fingers

well mines ordered. fit it wen it arrives IF its not raining, hasnt stoped raining ehre for 3 feckin days

[Gary406]

good thing with the ebay one as well is it says you can switch mode on the back so you can indicate if the alternator is charging the battery correctly

[lozz]

I hate to tell you this but http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... SA:GB:1123

I always use a fag lighter for heat shrink, they don't burn down all the time and burn your fingers

well mines ordered. fit it wen it arrives IF its not raining, hasnt stoped raining ehre for 3 feckin days

been hectic up here pissin down & Gail force winds,

the rain ican handle but its not fun being a Greyhound trainer taking dogs for walks in strong winds.

cars back in the garage so ican get some jobs done it.. no chance of anything getting done on it whilst its outside id be soaked in 5 secounds.
ihate working on cars indoors sooner be outside ..roll on summer

[Gary406]

i know. summer is coming

[FarmerPug]

well my led holders might arrive some time before christmas if im lucky.
Youll need a picture of this thing, i hear talk like microprocessors in something that small i find it hard to believe.

[FarmerPug]

on the draining electricity front, which im not doing with anything ive added, theres this:
http://www.quasarelectronics.com/4063-s ... er-12v.htm
mount this above the cover that slides over the suroof, i wonder how much clearance there is up there.

[lozz]

sorry to sound rude farmer p.
but idont see the logic in where youve placed the Leds for the battery level,
if the leds where inside the car ithink it be a good thing but. on the battery cover dont see the logic.
easier just to put a battery on the car that as the Green bubble window,

[Gary406]

ive only got 1 because ive got a large audio system that i sometimes leave on for 45 minutes wen im waiting for the kids come out of school

and i sometimes wonder if the battery will be going flat, well now i can keep an eye on it with the indicator

[Gary406]

on the draining electricity front, which im not doing with anything ive added, theres this:
http://www.quasarelectronics.com/4063-s ... er-12v.htm
mount this above the cover that slides over the suroof, i wonder how much clearance there is up there.

nah you dont need that for LEDs. LEDs use very very little power . so you could add hundreds and it wouldnt matter

[FarmerPug]

exactly so i dont have any worries about draining power.
My suzuki with the 1.3 and the knackered altenator, could run with all the lights at one go, 12 spots when they hadnt been smashed, i even tested it more, with the handheld spot also on, and a torch charger on, the heater, and courtesy light all at once, and it made no difference to the brightness of the other lights, there was just a bit of a squeak from the altenator, and the idle speed went up a tad. So if it can do all that, anything can run extra stuff. Especially since it bypasses the BSI and ECU.