Handy Voltmeter / USB panel add-on

[Begreen]

The Roadtrek's status panel is near useless except for a general guess as to state of the house batteries. I found a nifty combo on Amazon and just installed it yesterday. It's neat and provides a current voltage reading at a glance. It also has a USB ports and a 12 v outlet. I mounted it adjacent to the narrow side shelf so that one can leave a cell phone or tablet plugged in for charging. I relocated the smoke detector to just below the warning label.
Amazon Link:
http://www.amazon.com/Tocas-Motorcycle- ... H4VQX51GR7

[Boxster1971]

Nice job -- thanks for sharing.

- - Mike

[Begreen]

Thanks!

[booster]

Is it on continuously? If so, did they list a current draw?

[Begreen]

Good question. I measure 25ma, but am not positive that is correct. There is a house battery bank switch that can turn off the house bank, but if that is switched on then the parasitic load for this panel is there, together with house sensors for CO and CO2. One could add a micro-switch on the panel to disconnect power if this is a concern. We're often charging phones at night so this load would be even higher during that period.

[Boxster1971]

The typical parasitic draw for a dual slot USB plug is 15mA. Blue Sea spec sheet at this link.
https://www.bluesea.com/products/1016/D ... ger_Socket


- - Mike
2013 Airstream Interstate from 2012 Sprinter 3500 tall & long

[Bruceper]

It wouldn't be too hard to install a shut off switch to disable the panel. The hard part would be remembering to shut it off.

[Begreen]

Originally Posted by Bruceper

It wouldn't be too hard to install a shut off switch to disable the panel. The hard part would be remembering to shut it off.

Well yeah, there's that. But it isn't too hard to forget with the bright red LED voltmeter display right behind the driver's seat. My normal shutdown procedure is to turn off house 12v power so hopefully I won't forget too many times.

Boxster thanks. Looks like I was reading the mulitmeter correctly when it said 25mA for the USB + voltage display. To protect the backside of the plugs and the wiring behind the unit I found a small bamboo organizer box and screwed it on to make a wiring cover.