In a message dated 97-11-19 17:10:54 EST, hapkejs@cig.mot.com writes:
> It's probably not a conventional volt meter. I would guess that current
> flowing
> through the meter heats a bimetallic spring, which bends to move the meter
> needle.
Barry and Jeff:
This is indeed the case. The TR6 voltmeter works the same as the fuel and
water temp gauge. Because of the heating/cooling required to move the
needles, they are rather (very) slow to respond. On a cold morning, the fuel
gauge will read less gas than it did the night before when you parked it,
even though you still have the same amount of gas. When it is very cold, it
takes more current to heat the strip, so the readings are low.
The voltmeter is not polarity sensitive, so hook it up either way. One lead
goes to ground, and the other goes to any green wire (all green wires are hot
when the key is on, and they are fused). You do not want the voltmeter to be
connected to a purple wire (hot all the time, and fused), because it would
then be on all the time, and place a small but constant drain on the battery.
When connected to a battery in a good charge state, and the engine not
running, the voltmeter should read about 12.6 volts. When the engine is above
idle, and the alternator is working properly, you should read about 14.6
volts.
Dan Masters,
Alcoa, TN
'71 TR6---------3000mile/year driver, fully restored
'71 TR6---------undergoing full restoration and Ford 5.0 V8 insertion - see:
http://www.sky.net/~boballen/mg/Masters/
'74 MGBGT---3000mile/year driver, original condition
'68 MGBGT---organ donor for the '74
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