Scirocco-l Digest, Vol 16, Issue 68 (Gauges)

[gforbess at attglobal.net (Gordon Forbess)]

On Thu, 22 Jun 2006 10:03:03 -0400, "Dan Bubb" <jdbubb@verizon.net>
wrote:

>So, a shunted ammeter uses a shunt!!! ;^)
>A shunt is a high current, low ohm resistor that is put in series between the battery and any load you want to measure.
>Then the meter is wired in parallel to the shunt. So, most of the current goes through the shunt but some of the current, in proportion to the ratio of the shunt resistance to the meter resistance, goes thru the meter.
>Sounds like a cleaner solution. Unfortunately, a shunted ammeter costs about 4 times what a normal ammeter costs!
>Does anybody care about this?

I can see that measuring current draw is a useful tool in
troubleshooting individual circuits and devices or chasing a mystery
drain on your battery when the ignition is off.  I can't see much
value in permanently wiring one (shunted or not) to measure overall
current draw.  

Gordon
75 Mk I/Drake 1.9
http://pws.prserv.net/gforbess/scirocco/scirocco.htm