Home made power meter / CA alternative

[TheBeastie]

Hey guys.
I having been wanting but unwilling to buy a proper CA yet, a few reasons that come to mind are it looks complex to install, I don't know if I really need one, I am building a second ebike anyway and I dont want to spend the money.

So enter my home made ebay bought alternative setup, home made is a bit of a exaggeration but whatever... I just thought someone might be interested in seeing it or having a laugh
I bought one ebay a "cell phone front tube bag " $4.39
Then this power meter which shows a variety of things $30 http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/GT-Power-130A-High-Precision-Watt-Meter-and-Power-Analyzer-BK320-/280969181704?pt=AU_Toys_Hobbies_Radio_Controlled_Vehicles&hash=item416b117a08 View attachment 1
Then 2 cell-logs for each side of my RC Lipo battery.

Then after a bit of professional bullet connector soldering View attachment 4

The result is this: View attachment 3

How it looks from a bit more distance.

More high res pics here: http://sdrv.ms/QL2aSN

 

[dogman dan]

Nothing particularly wrong with that setup at all. But I would disagree that a stand alone CA is in any way hard to install. You aren't required to hook up the speedo, but even if you do it's not that hard or complicated.

One nice thing there, is you have a cell level voltage display. I couldn't read it on the fly myself, (old blind fart) but I often stop, pull a cellog out of my pocket, and take a look at a pack I already know is showing a weakness. I even added two 8s plugs to my ping so I can keep a close eye on it when I need to do a 100% discharge. Nearly 3 years old now, I find myself trusting that bms less and less.