Who makes a decent volt meter that isn't a $100+ dollars.(No SMD) I'm gonna order one soon, and just looking for opinions on who makes a decent meter. What are you guys using, and has anyone used the stinger meter are they decent? Or the 99 cent ones on eBay are they even worth the trouble to hook up? 

There isn't one worthwhile on the market for 90% of the reasons to have one.  That may be different for your reasons though, what is your goal with having one?

I don't use one,my 80prs has one on screen. With that being said I don't fully trust it either. I use my ddm if I want to check it.

Alot of people use the stinger

I havent had one in years and damn sure need one myself. I miss having my Audio Control Epic Center since it had a volt meter on it. I know stinger has been used by many but over the years less people use them, im guessing since other options are readily available.

 

Tuned in

Edited October 6, 20168 yr by jcarter1885

10 hours ago, ///M5 said:

There isn't one worthwhile on the market for 90% of the reasons to have one.  That may be different for your reasons though, what is your goal with having one?

I just want to keep a eye on my voltage. I'm right on the line of maybe having to much wattage for stock electrical. Stock with a second battery in the trunk I should say but I haven't done the big 3 or 4 and I'm on stock alt to. I think I'm ok I never have shut downs or to much light dimming just want something cheap to keep a eye on it. If I get to much voltage drop I might add a high output alt but don't think I will need to.

The stinger is cheap solution to monitor voltage, just don't expect it to be super accurate. If you are just needing one to monitor a rough estimate on voltage it does okay. The last one I had could be adjusted if it was inaccurate but it did need to be adjusted frequently. It will also depending on where you are monitoring. Where do you plan on wiring it to?

We have our DioGuardo Engineering order in to carry the USainVolt shortly.

Have used the damore and or usainvolt meters in almost every build weve done.  Both are the best out imho. Had a dakota digital in my old build in my car back in the day. Was nice also. 

 

Now, we Have a high volt damore one in the burb up front watching the high volt side. Also, 2 cheap ones off ebay in the rear to watch 12v and 16v sides in the rear. Just for quick monitoring.

With all that, we still never go anywhere with out our fluke, and keep in plugged in at all times, set to MIN/MAX when testing, and in the lanes to see exactly whats going on. All depends on how much ya wanna spend, and how dork you wanna get. If you just want a "quick" refernce, a cheap ass meter will "do".  If you want to see exactly whats up, nothing beats a DMM imho. Love the min/max option. 

Use to love watching my old analog meter dancing around. Can't remember the brand though.

I thought about experimenting with an Autometer gauge. 

Good luck with your search.

7 hours ago, Kylar96 said:

Have used the damore and or usainvolt meters in almost every build weve done.  Both are the best out imho. Had a dakota digital in my old build in my car back in the day. Was nice also. 

 

Now, we Have a high volt damore one in the burb up front watching the high volt side. Also, 2 cheap ones off ebay in the rear to watch 12v and 16v sides in the rear. Just for quick monitoring.

With all that, we still never go anywhere with out our fluke, and keep in plugged in at all times, set to MIN/MAX when testing, and in the lanes to see exactly whats going on. All depends on how much ya wanna spend, and how dork you wanna get. If you just want a "quick" refernce, a cheap ass meter will "do".  If you want to see exactly whats up, nothing beats a DMM imho. Love the min/max option. 

Yes I just want a cheap one $20-50 bucks just to let me know if the status qou has changed. I guess I'm gonna get one of those stinger meters and wire it up to my amp so I can see what it's getting after the 2 battery's. I looked at that usainvolt and it's to rich for my blood right now anyways. 

On 10/6/2016 at 2:21 PM, Kylar96 said:

With all that, we still never go anywhere with out our fluke, and keep in plugged in at all times, set to MIN/MAX when testing, and in the lanes to see exactly whats going on. 

Only real valid answer....but would be better if it logged the voltage over time with a fast refresh.  Beyond that any super el cheapo would do the quick has something changed, but that something changed won't be shown when you need it most which is when you are playing shit full bore.  

17 hours ago, Aaron Clinton said:

We have our DioGuardo Engineering order in to carry the USainVolt shortly.

I thought it was a joke. I googled it and ...it's a real product !

I like it, but it's way too expensive for me.

I need a cheap one. (I like the one  you just plug in the cigarette lighter input.)

 

9 hours ago, ///M5 said:

Only real valid answer....but would be better if it logged the voltage over time with a fast refresh.  Beyond that any super el cheapo would do the quick has something changed, but that something changed won't be shown when you need it most which is when you are playing shit full bore.  

Could not agree more.

 Something that "plotted" over time, you could go back and look at would be cool. Thats cool you say that. I have an older fluke 96b meter. Had it for some time. Never really got to deep with it. 

 

My understanding is ( after i finally downloaded the manual and did a quick sniff around) its somewhat capable of recording, over a set time, peaks and valleys. Im not exactly sure how it works, or what exactly it shows. I need to play with it A LOT more. TBH, its a bit over my head.

I have a bunch of data acquisition stuff and am biased, but it would be easy enough to make a simple voltage divider and record it on a sound card for analysis later.

*assuming a sound card that goes to dc

41 minutes ago, ///M5 said:

I have a bunch of data acquisition stuff and am biased, but it would be easy enough to make a simple voltage divider and record it on a sound card for analysis later.

*assuming a sound card that goes to dc

Easy for you maybe, but might as well be going to the moon for some of us. Lmao 

If you are at all into audio you should download Audacity. SUPER easy to use and REALLY useful.

Had some time on the plane here to peak and regrettably the low cost u.s. based sound cards I would normally recommend cannot deal with DC.  Sucks as you could have a more then 40000 sample acquisition system to really evaluate where you are.