I was doing a triple line pull on the Warn 8274 off a tree with FrankenJeep (my Willys) having to also pill a fully laden CJ7 with a dead Ramsey winch (we now call these Ramsey winches 'allnighters' because we spent the night on top of this mountain and had to wait until morning the mud to dry to a goey clay rather than the porridge we were trying to drive in before)
The conditions were severe , really deep wheel ruts left by 36" equipped rigs which swallowed our 32" tyres and meant that both jeeps were dragging there chassis and diffs through the mud
The ammeter started to smoke and then sparks started flying out and FrankenJeep was blinking like a Christmas tree from the intermittent dead short
Luckily the ammeter stayed in one piece even if the glass was covered in vaporised and then dried brown melted electrcial insulation and the needle pegged off the scale to the right , it didn't go complete dead short and I nursed the winch the remainder of the trip by doing double line pulls
I had one bad electical fire once where the ammeter got shaken apart from off road vibrations and it took out the engine bay wiring harness in FrankenJeep - so the ammeter is a real potential immobiliser and possibly Jeep killer
The winch is taking power straight off the battery
The alternator is a 120amp 14V Bosch unit out of a Mercedes 300e and I am running 2 x 80amp hr batteries
The ammeter has a max rating of 60 amps which is the largest I could find locally here
Tonight I am bypassing the ammeter and I am trying to find a 300 or 400 amp ammeter off one of the old aircraft ground power units in the airport scrap yard
Does anyone else have these problems ?
__________________
Tony G, an expat Aussie in the jungles of Java since 2000 , Jakarta Indonesia
Oh yeah - I forgot to mention - it was a 15 to 20 deg hill about 250m long - we started at 9:30pm and we climbed the hill around 7am after calling it quits and breaking out tents at 2:30am starting again at 6am
I was so tired I slept in the passenger seat with my legs extending out on the bonnet - too tired to pitch a tent !
__________________
Tony G, an expat Aussie in the jungles of Java since 2000 , Jakarta Indonesia
Dont feed it direct current, create a small meter circuit that only has a % of the real current following through it and calibrate with the appropiate resistors
This is how a ammeter in a multi meter works. It can not handle more then a few milliamps but with the meter you can measure amps !!!
__________________
A Crowded lift will always smell different to a midget
As you found out putting 120 amps through a 60 amp don't work to well.
Similar problem in a ute I had - fixed by putting in a ammeter that could take/show higher readings and some heavier wiring - got one from a marine supplies outlet cause hard to find in automotive places - no problems since - also not being much of a sparky had it wired up by auto electrician. - could also try a truck place maybe
AJOR does not vouch for or warrant the accuracy, completeness
or usefulness of any message, and are not responsible for the contents of any
message. The messages express the views of the author of the message, not necessarily
the views of AJOR or any entity associated with AJOR, nor should any advice
be substituted as technical advice replacing that of a mechanic. You agree,
through your use of this service, that you will not use AJOR to post any material
which is knowingly false and/or defamatory, inaccurate, abusive, vulgar, hateful,
harassing, obscene, profane, sexually oriented, threatening, invasive of a person's
privacy, religious, political or otherwise violative of any law. You agree not to post any copyrighted
material unless the copyright is owned by you or by AJOR. The owner, administrators
and moderators of AJOR reserve the right to delete any message or members for
any or no reason whatsoever. You remain solely responsible for the content of
your messages, and you agree to indemnify and hold harmless AJOR, the administrators,
moderators, and their agents with respect to any claim based upon transmission
of your message(s). The use of profile signatures to intentionally mislead or misdirect any member on this forum is not acceptable and may result in your account being suspended. Any trip that is organised through the AJOR forum is participated
at your own risk. If you or your vehicle is damaged it is your responsibility,
not that of the person that posted the thread, message or topic initiating the
trip, nor the organisers of AJOR or moderators of any specific forum. This forum
and associated website is the property of AJOR. No user data is harvested and no information supplied in your registration will be sold for profit.
Ammeter problems - smoked and crispy
