ran a dakota digital voltage gauge yesterday. it was pretty easy to run. right now i have it powering off one of my accessory wires and the "sensing" input is tapped into the power wire as well. mounting was pretty easy, but i'm planning to make it flush with some vinyl pieces to cover up the whole pocket.

question though, while you look at the pics.....right now it's testing my voltage based on that accessory wire. it is to my understanding that generally speaking, voltage is the same throughout the whole car. with that said, should i keep the sensing input where it is (merely tapped into power, as per instruction of dakota digital) or should i tap it at the amp, mounted all the way in the trunk. my goal was technically to check the voltage at the sub-amp because it's been shutting off when running off full bass.

also, if it IS better to wire to the amp, am i creating a problem by running this "sensing" wire all the way from the dash to the trunk.

one friend says no need because voltage throughout the car should be the same. but i think because the amp is causing the fluxuation, an acurate reading can only be done wired directly to it. thanx for anything guys. and also, what do you think of it?

pics:

 

Nice, how much are those? And why is it useful?

 

not sure if you serious or joking since you put that smilie but i'll answer anyway

these are $89 at dakota digital website. stingers round ones are a little under $60, but they're round and they don't fit in my din, those would fit more in a gauge pod, if you're into that.

usefullness, i prefer to know what voltage readings i'm getting. if they get too low, i can lower the bass or work on upgrading something. it's like having a thermometer in the house, who cars waht the temp. is, you feel it if you're hot. well that's why i have this, it's good to know what my voltage reading is.

 

I think you should seel off the pocket, and flush the guage and the level control...but it looks ok. I was looking for the Dakota Digital website just the other day, what is their web address? I need that guage and an amperage guage for my friens trunk...

 

http://www.dakotadigital.com/

planning on flushing the whole pocket
this was installed late last nite...i was anxious...GIMME SOME CREDIT!!

 

Voltage at the amp should be different because of the difference in line loss between the two cables, although, they should be pretty close. If you run the sense lead to your amp it should not load down the circuit if the gauge has a high enough input impedence.

 

Yes, voltage will vary throughout the car, but not much at all. Maybe .1 volts at most. You can test it with a digital voltmeter, if you are really curious, but I wouldn't worry about it.

Who's the guy with the stock stereo facade over his eclipse deck? He has three Dakota Digital gauges in his clock shroud, looks sweet.

Anyone know where we can get a deal on those Dakota gauges? They aint cheap. I wouldn't mind getting a couple, but seeing as they are almost purely superficial, I can't justify the price.

 

yeah, very
i suggested an idea for them. i would like a single din unit made, pretty much the size of a headunit, that would containg 2 current readers, 1 voltage reader, and a temp. reader. even though this does take up space, having it take up the size of the headunit is possible. one screen to control all of them, and then a button to change to the different inputs, with the final screen scrolling the values around. i thought that would be nice, but they said it wasn't feasible. we're working with an auto standard, a single din size, it's very much feasible. whatever, as much as i dind't want to spend th money, i sucked it up and bought it, i'm happy enough with my voltage only.

so the final say, should i go through the trouble of taking this apart again and wiring up the sensor lead from the dash all the way to the power terminal at the amp or am i good where i'm at.

 

Only if you truly want to measure the true voltage at the amp in real time...Hey, is't that the point of the meter.

 

My vote is don't bother. And you're not nessesarily measuring the voltage the amp is seeing, you are measuring the system voltage to know if something is wrong, such as alternator or battery. The voltage at your amp doesn't really do you much more good. So leave it.

But like I said, if are really curious as to how different it is, bust out your digital voltmeter and test a few spots. You prolly won't find any difference.

 

UPDATE:
i emailed dakota digital and inquired about a voltage drop if it was wired that far. they smacked me in teh back of the head.....since the dakota digital runs off seperate power, the sensing input doesn't have any current going through it, so the voltage drop would be so minimal that even the %error in the unit itself would not catch on to it. after feeling dumb, i ran the new wiring, then i took most of your advice here and did my own pocket. it went well until i cracked the dash trim. sux, but ehy, the job is done, and here's a pic.

dakota, bass remote rotary ****, switch to enable/disable the dvd screen (in case a cop is checkin me out)

 

That looks really good! Sucks that the dash trim cracked. Good job!!!

 

Ouch!! Thats a $100 peice of plastic man. Looks good tho.