The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay amp meter

We have a 1955 1st series with the gauges rebuilt for 12V SBC engine, using a Kwik wire harness and an alternator with an external voltage regulator that still has an amp meter instead of voltage gauge. What would be the simplest way to wire that so the amp meter works?

the ammeter should be wired in series with all the power the truck uses except for the current going to the starter motor itself. for negative ground vehicles, the positive lead from the battery goes to the starter (or solenoid). do not disturb that wire. from there the current is routed to the rest of the vehicle. it is in this lead that the ammeter should be inserted, that is this wire should be interrupted by the ammeter as it is common to all current drawn except for the starter. so this wire should go from the starter/solenoid terminal to the + terminal of the ammeter, then from the - terminal of the ammeter to wherever the interrupted lead went before the ammeter was added.

Easy to check which way to hook up to ammeter, if headlights are turned on with the engine idling or off, and the meter shows discharge(-) then it is hooked up properly, if (+) then switch the wires on the meter.

Ed