Turnigy watt meter for $25

docnjoj said:
it needs to stay powered (4.8-60 volts) to retain the information
Click to expand...

Same deal with WattsUP ...only downside of it i think, needing an auxiliary battery plugged into it..

Hope it keeps working well for you Doc :)

KiM
 
My Turnigy wattmeter is here. Initial test indicates a bit worse accuracy than my Wattsup meters -reading slightly higher- but plenty good enough for my intended use.

The Turnigy is a bit bulkier and the boxier shape I don't like quite as well as the Wattsup. The cover plate appears more water resistant. It has a prominent side seam which might not be water tight but I think a wrap of tape around it should suffice for use in hard rain. I like the slightly thicker wires of the Turnigy better than the Wattsup.

Time will tell if the meter is as robust as a Wattsup. I've yet to fry a Wattsup in spite of having repeatedly done stupid things too them (over voltage, reverse polarity, etc.). I've also operated the Wattsup at very extreme temps, both hot and cold, without trouble.
 
How did you get to a place that gives a button to order it? The page currently accessible to me still shows discontinued and has no order button.
 
there was a link for registered /online users and i clicked it.

i never entered anything and it came up with an invoice dated 5/11/09 for 3 of them.

i figured it may be a mistake but it could be that they had this order sitting there from before, but i thought the sale started after 5/11.

if they say they can't fill it i am gonna demand they replace it with three wattsup for $40 each.

then pay the difference. worth a try.
 
Even when I logged in it still had the discontinued page...but I found a way around it: I had placed it in my wishlist before, and the wishlist has a Buy button. :)

We'll see if it actually processes, I guess!
 
Okey Dokey! First results from the new meter. On an 11 mile ride with 4 // Fatpacks I got the following data:

Vm=35.31
Ap=40.51 (I guess soldering the shunt actually did something!)
181 Wh/Hrs used (this also surprised me as it is less than I thought it would be.) 17 Wh/mi is quite good for my setup and weight.
1506 Wp ( this in a Bafang)
I'm glad the Watts are just peak and not average or the little Bafang would be dead, dead, dead!
The point of all this is that the meter survived and "burned in" all night until I got the data in the AM.
My conclusion: Good little meter!
otherDoc
 
Cool! Now, have you tested it's water resistance yet? :p

You mention soldering the shunt--the one inside the meter? Or do you mean inside your controller, to allow more current thru it?
 
Surely he means the controller, soldering the shunt in the meter would through it's accuracy right off.

Doc 40 amp is a bit high for a bafang. Do you have a taste for peanut butter ?
 
Nah, amberwolf, shunt got soldered in the controller! The 40 amps is a peak, so I hope it is simply an occasional transient spike. Otherwise...............................Skippy! I do have replacement gears, but the newer Bafangs have that "screw (you) off cover that needs a big Channelock. Unless they red threadlocked it. In which case.................John Rob, please can I get a Puma for Christmas early? :oops:
otherDoc
 
Water resistance may be nil! It has a piece of plastic on the front cover (good!) but is has an open grill on the back to let the heat out? I guess it would be bad to mount it bottom up! :)
otherDoc
 
Well, emailing them to ask about it is pointless, they're not even reading the questions. This is their reply:

On 11/5/09 said:
Dear sir,

Thank you for your email.

We are sorry to advise you that we are not trained for technical support or
technical recommendations. Should you have any technical questions, you may
try to find your answers in our forum at;

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbycity/forum/

Please feel free to contact us again should you have any other questions.
Best Regards,
Jee
HobbyKing Customer Support Team
http://www.hobbyking.com

Have you seen our Support & Discussion forum?
Get help &discuss R/C related topics at http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/forum/
Click to expand...


This was my original email:
The item here:
http://hobbycity.com/hobbycity/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=10080&Product_Name=Turnigy_Watt_Meter_and_power_Analyzer
which as far as I know just came out appears to suddenly be discontinued, and the item it points to as a replacement
http://hobbycity.com/hobbycity/store/uh_viewitem.asp?idproduct=6748
has nothing to do with the functions this one performed, and cannot be used as a replacement product for it.

Today *that* item now even shows discontinued, and refers to yet another product as a "replacement":
http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/store/uh_viewitem.asp?idproduct=10328
However this new replacement does not even exist on the site:
http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/store/uh_message.asp?message=Cannot+get+product+details%2E+Please+contact+us+to+request+more+information+about+item

It's very confusing, because the first item says on one part of the page:
"Discontinued item
This item is no longer available and has been replaced by another item."
then below that it says
"Stock updated frequently.
Goods will be avaliable within 30 days"

It's "replacement" item says:
"Discontinued item
This item is no longer available and has been replaced by another item."
then below it says
"Stock updated frequently.
Early -mid Nov"

I have no idea about that item's "replacement" item, because it can't be found on your site.

The only two things I found on your site even close to the original item's functionality are this:
http://hobbycity.com/hobbycity/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=6380&Product_Name=Watt_Meter_&_Power_Analyzer_/Watts_up_(Ver._2)
for twice as much money, and a number of known issues when used for ebikes (lack of weatherproofing being a major one, losing all of it's data when disconnected from the battery is another major problem, both of which appeared solved by the Turnigy version), and this:
http://hobbycity.com/hobbycity/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=6553&Product_Name=TURNIGY_Multi-F_DC_Watt_Meter_75A
which *maybe* might do some of the things the item I'm inquring about would have done. Can't say for sure, since there's no manual for it linked there, or screenshots or listings of what data it actually displays.

When are you going to replace it with an item of comparable function & price & quality, so that I can order them? I was about to order at least one when I found the discontinued notice, and was just asking a couple of friends if they wanted to order one as well.

I suspect there are a lot of others that also want one, as the results of using them were expected soon on the Endless Sphere ebike forums. Once those results were in, if favorable, you would have had a slew of orders of these.
Click to expand...

EDIT (ADDED): I also posted this in Hyena's thread I found over on their forum:
http://www.hobbycity.com/hobbycity/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=4348&PID=25950#25950
since HK basically said to ask there, too. I doubt there will be any answers from HK.


BTW, for anyone that wants to try, if you had added this item to your wishlist before it was discontinued, you can use your wishlist Buy button to order it, and then hopefully they'll fill any actual orders already made for it.
 
Yeah I saw that, fingers crossed. Maybe they weren't discontinued at all and someone just ticked a wrong box in the website programming or something ?
If they do come back I hope it's soon, I was planning to place an order in the next few days
 
Wouldnt mind a couple myself actually, i have a WattsUp and a Drain Brain ATM But
will need two of something for Garys lipo balancer setup and would prefer to use two of the same meters, so ill have to buy another WattsUP or two turnigys (which would still be cheaper than one WattsUP :-S definitely keepz us updated if you order Hyena :)

KiM

p.s Tell you what AmberWolf...if I can get hold of two Turnigys (will be ordering first lot of lipos from HC THIS Thursday) ill donate my WattsUp meter too you if you still need something for your monitoring so hold off for a few days mate ill even spring for postage ;) Reid Welsh donated the Drain Brain too me which i will use for pack monitoring. I know your in similar boat as me as far as finances go and would like to help you out as others here have helped me out with donations.
 
AussieJester said:
definitely keepz us updated if you order Hyena :)
Click to expand...
Will do, I have one in my cart now and I'll wait it out for a week before I remove it from the order and just get the other stuff sent.
I also have a wattsup meter on my other bike so I'll do a direct comparison
 
I just ordered one.

I use 60v of SLA batteries. Can I use the meter with that or will I have to drop down to 48v to be safe? Will it read 63v or whatever I'm running at?
 
If the internals are the same as the watts up it should be fine. I put 63v through my wattsup daily (although only for a minute or 2 then the voltage dips down to 60 or below)
 
I've put 66 volts through a Wattsup and it runs fine but only shows 60 volts or slightly over on the display. I've put 80 volts through a Wattsup and the display stays blank but no smoke comes out.

I don't know about the Turnigy though. I expect the internals are a little different. I didn't intentionally torture the Wattsup and don't plan to abuse the Turnigy either, but if it should happen by accident I'll pass on the results, good or bad.
 
Hyena said:
Yeah I saw that, fingers crossed. Maybe they weren't discontinued at all and someone just ticked a wrong box in the website programming or something ?
If they do come back I hope it's soon, I was planning to place an order in the next few days
Click to expand...


I just checked and they are back at $24.95

I'll try getting one.

Carlos
 
So after using my Turnigy some more I think the accuracy for my unit is about the same as the WattsUp. There's some variation between my 3 Wattsup meters, +-0.05 volts near max voltage of 60 volts. And this Turnigy falls in the middle.

The biggest difference that nobody has commented on much is the display. The Turnigy display is lit with a blue glow (led?) At night this feature is really welcome as it makes the meter reasonably easy to read in the dark. However, during the daytime, the glow often washes out the display making it much more difficult to read. I have mine handlebar mounted. Unfortunately, the angle isn't perfectly perpendicular unless I lean forward a bit. Which is what I find myself often needing to do to see it in daylight.

As for the back vent, I've taped over mine and the unit doesn't get warm at all at 20 amps.
 
Thanks for the update. That accuracy is perfectly acceptable for ebike use.
Given these units are easy to open (unlike the welded wattsup cases) it woudl be easy to add a switch to turn the LED off in the day if it's really an issue.

Still no stock at HK :(
 
Just noticed this post about a similar product

http://www.endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=14077&p=210722#p210722

$27 USD delivered from ebay, making it the cheapest watt meter available at this time. As an added bonus this one also has a balancer built in too

Check it out kids :)

DSCF6144.JPG


http://cgi.ebay.com/Dual-Voltage-Watt-Meter-Checker-2-6s-balancer-x1_W0QQitemZ110456304931QQcmdZViewItemQQptZRadio_Control_Parts_Accessories?hash=item19b7b57523
 
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