DIY BYO Build Your Own Power Monitor

Call 480-266-4444

Free Plans

$15 Solar Oven

Events & Shows

Videos

Bike Blender

Buy Now

School Activities

Charge Batteries

Test Results

Human Powered TV

Measure Current

Measure Power

Using AC Inverters

Home

FAQ

Guestbook

Contact

Links

 

   

Bicycle Generator Power Monitor Video Clip Of School Science Fair Night

 WATCH NOW-->  http://youtube.com/watch?v=QM8W76nGc0o

 

#

Descriptions for above picture 

1

This is the input side of the voltage/current/ power monitor.  You connect this side directly to the generator.

2

This is the output side of the power monitor

3

This is where you hook into the LabJACK data acquisition unit.

4

The red box is the LabJACK data acquisition Unit which captures the voltage and current waveform with sampling rates up to 8,000 times per second.   The data is transferred to your computer via a USB cable.   It  talks to the WattsVIEWprogram on your laptop.  At has the capability of sampling 10,000 times per second to give you actual waveforms of your power.

To get a free download of the WattsVIEW software and find out instructions on how to hook it up go to

 

 

 



 

 

Buy a power monitor

If you want to buy a power meter here are some options that I recommend:

 

The Astro Flight Digital Watt Volt Meter shown  (Order information here)   I bought two of them and they work pretty good.  It is limited to 60 Volts and you will have to be able to change the connectors on the ends to meet your needs.  Take a look at the specifications below.

 low cost power Watt Meter easy to use showing DC voltage current and power

Maximum Voltage 60 volts
Minimum Voltage with no receiver battery 4.5 volts
Minimum Voltage with receiver battery Zero Volts
Maximum Amps while discharging 70 Amps
Maximum Amps while charging 10 Amps
Maximum Power 4,200 Watts
Current resolution 10 Milliamps
Voltage resolution 20 Millivolts
Power resolution 0.1 Watts
Maximum amp hours 94 Amp Hours
Amp Hour resolution 0.01 Amp Hour
Current Consumption 10 Milliamps
Standard Connectors Astro Zero Loss
Optional Connectors Deans Ultra

If you just want to measure how much AC power is being used by something in your home like a computer, TV, or refrigerator, then you might want to get one of these AC wall plug power meters.  They are great and inexpensive - cheap way to measure power coming out of your wall socket:

Wall socket AC Watt Meter for wall plugs measureing Watt Hours P3 International Kill-a-Watt Electricity Usage Monitor  

  Energy Meter w/ LCD Display - EM100  Energy Meter Wall Plug KiloWatt Meter for TV or Computer Wattage