Watts Up cabling connector any suggestions?

[Fordulike]

I've got a Turnigy Watts Up meter arriving soon.
I plan to mount the display on the handlebars, with the cabling running along the frame to the battery/contoller, which is just in front of the rear wheel (Cyclamatic)
It looks like the Watts up meter has a pos and a neg wire exiting the unit from both sides with about 2 inches in length.
I will need to extend the wires from both ends of the meter wires to the battery/controller.
Not sure of the wire guage from the meter, but will use the same to extend.
Can anyone suggest a neat connector solution for joining the wires together?
I would prefer a connector that can be disconnected but not essential.

 

[banbury frank]

Hi you have a problem as you need to run the cable from between the battery and controller to the Handel bars and back again so the loses are quit high

I would use 15 amp chock block the strip terminal that comes in a strip of 10 then you cut off what you need you can bye from BQ

As for cable you need 4 mm This link is for eBay this seller has red and black in 5 meter lengths

HIGH QUALITY WIRE 5M CABLE 4mm 41A RED uk seller 12 AWG on eBay (end time 01-Apr-11 12:35:11 BST)

this is the eBay item number 260645685092


Frank

 

[jbond]

Do a search both on here and on ES for modifying the Turnigy meter so the shunt is remote. The actual measuring bit then goes in the battery-controller leads and a thin 3 wire cable then goes to the meter. Doesn't seem to be that hard if you're reasonably competent with a soldering iron.

Alternatively mount the meter close to the battery-controller and just look at it occasionally. You probably don't need the real time display.

 

[Fordulike]

Thanks banbury frank and jbond, i'll mount it as close to the battery and controller as i can get.
Do you recommend any plug in connectors or would crimping the wires together suffice?

 

[Deleted member 4366]

If you're handy with a screwdriver and soldering iron, you can convert it to remote operation so that you can mount the meter on the handlebars without needing heavy wire. It's very similar to this one:
Remote Watt meter :: Power analyser picture by d8veh - Photobucket
Photos have instructions underneath and are in reverse order

 

[jbond]

Here's the ES thread with instructions.
Endless-sphere.com • View topic - Mounting Turnigy Watt Meter

 

[tangent]

I connected up a Watt meter using Deans connectors - male for power in, female for out. I then run 12AWG Deans terminated cables to it. However, if I was doing this again I think I would use EC3 connectors instead. These are based on 3.5mm bullet connectors and are easier to solder as well as connect and disconnect.

 

[Fordulike]

Thanks d8veh and jbond, the mod sounds good in theory but i'm not confident enough to carry out the work

I connected up a Watt meter using Deans connectors - male for power in, female for out. I then run 12AWG Deans terminated cables to it. However, if I was doing this again I think I would use EC3 connectors instead. These are based on 3.5mm bullet connectors and are easier to solder as well as connect and disconnect.

tangent, does yours run up to the handlebars, and if it does, do you reckon the length of cable affects the accuracy of the reading?

 

[tangent]

I did run to the handlebars, but it was fairly useless in my case. I was trying to monitor the power on my Giant Lafree, which is a crank drive system. However, the current and voltage vary considerably as the current is drawn with each pedal thrust and is proportional to applied torque. The meter could not keep up! In the end I just put the meter in a pannier. I use it infrequently now, just looking at cumulative Ah usage at the end of a journey. I sometimes use it during charging to check what is going in and the final voltage level.

I am not sure what the voltage drop will be for 10-15A along a few meters of 12AWG cable, but I am sure it is negligible. I certainly did not notice any drop in performance.

I usually buy my connectors, etc. from here http://www.component-shop.co.uk/. I cannot recommend them highly enough. They will even make up cables for you for a minor charge. Just email them what you want and they price it and add it to their site. They soldered up a 9Ah NiMH battery for me for less than the component cost and did a far better job than I would have done. I sometimes use a couple of 12V NiMH RC packs they provided on journeys up to about 10 miles. Excellent value and weight for a 4 to 5Ah battery pack and no balancing hassles usually associated with lithium batteries.

 

[Fordulike]

I usually buy my connectors, etc. from here http://www.component-shop.co.uk/. I cannot recommend them highly enough. They will even make up cables for you for a minor charge. Just email them what you want and they price it and add it to their site. They soldered up a 9Ah NiMH battery for me for less than the component cost and did a far better job than I would have done. I sometimes use a couple of 12V NiMH RC packs they provided on journeys up to about 10 miles. Excellent value and weight for a 4 to 5Ah battery pack and no balancing hassles usually associated with lithium batteries.

Sweet, bookmarked the link, thanks

 

[piotrmacheta]

I use Anderson Power connectors (30A ones) as they are small, cheap (off the bay) and easy to solder or crinp the terminals. They can be arranged in any configuration and easy to connect series packs if required.
There are better connectors (eg gold plated contacts) where you need reliability (eg electric heli) but they have worked fine for me in all weathers.
As usual there are lots of options for connectors.

 

[Scottyf]

I've just brought one So i will pay quite close attention to the mod posted earlier on in this thread.

Failing that I only really want to record peak amps for a furture custom build...