Hi Roy,

On 11-Oct-03, Roy J. Tellason wrote to Greg Mayman:

 GM>> Which is a useful indication that the alternator is putting out
 GM>> current -- on most cars, about the only indication.

 RJT> I'm used to vehicles with ammeters...   Most of the old mopar
 RJT> stuff I've been driving for years has had them in there.  Except
 RJT> this last one,  which for some dumb reason has a voltmeter,
 RJT> instead.  Why they started doing that is beyond me

Cost! :-(. A supressed zero voltmeter is cheap and easy to wire, just
a wire from somewhere just after the ignition switched point. An
ammeter has the extra cost (probably more then the cost of the meter)
of a high capacity shunt in the main feed to/from the battery (which
means the starter _has_ to have a totally separate feed) and two wires
from the shunt to the meter itself which have to be isolated from the
rest of the vehicle wiring. A voltmeter keeps those who know very
little happy, but in reality for an auto is more-or-less useless. All
it tells you is if the alternator is regulating, not the useful bit of
information, how much charge the battery is taking.

George

--- Terminate 5.00/Pro