Thanks for the feedback. Your question is a good one...and yes you have it correct, source to the solar panels and load to the charge controller / battery bank.
If you follow my forum Franky is posting some info there. But wait for the full review (once display fixed) as it might not have all the features of the other meters.
Hi, I know Franky was having problems sourcing another batch as they had sold out. I think he does have something similar or an alternative. You can contact him on my forum to check. I did follow up with a video soon after this one show the calibration of the meter: T4D #37 Cheers, Martin.
Good question...many of these meters only measure in one direction...I do have one that is bi-directional but it is no longer produced... Thanks for the feedback.
Thanks Franky. I already have one coming from you from the Forum. May I also add, Franky is quick on the draw, I asked to buy one on the Forum and within a few hours he had sent a PayPal Invoice to me and was ready to go.I like that!
Yes, if you go to Martin's forum you will see more information there. He has the link to the relevant thread in the video description. Act quick though as I'm already running out of stock before I even officially offer them for sale! New stock won't be available until many weeks later. Cheers, Franky.
I have the solar panels straight to the meter philstuffs, and the meters load to the charge controllers battery terminal. Then I connect my led lighting to the charge controllers load terminals. It does in deed measure usage via subtracting from the total amh into the battery.
Hey mjlorton, thanks for doing this video. You reviewed a meter that I've seen sold locally :) I'm wondering.. if I wire this between my charge controller and battery, would I be able to see how many power is going in but also how much power is going out? Say at night when I'm using power rather than it going in, would it accurately measure the watts im using? Thanks!
Thanks for review. What is the polarity for the three auxillary power pins on the po8er? Looking at the wires going into your plug I'm guessing the top pin negative & the middle pin positive, bottom pin?? Look forward to your reply. Cheers
nice to use the UT as voltage reference but don't be afraid to use more than one. if a fluke also agrees it's more confident that the equipment under test is the deviant. you can also pick some voltage and current points and note and plot them. hard data is easier to compare and allows visual comparison of all at once
Martin, you never mention what that last power meter is or how to find it. A search on what appeared on the display upon power up (vipr 40 & haikang) returned no useful results. Who makes or sells it?
This is great Martic. Starting toi watch now. Im looking to buy one for use in a Solar setup as well as when I go Mobile with my QRP Rig. I did not want to spend $50 USD for a Watts Up. So lets hope we find an answer in this video! Thanks for the work you do!!
I just wanted to send A Big Shout Out To Franky Tong. I wanted to let everyone know that Franky has just been an EXCELLENT seller from start to finish. He communicates fast, he stays on top of the transaction, he packs the item with care and his pricing is also bjust as fair!. Martin has found us a real jewel to buy from. Have no fear if ordering from Franky.So to Franky and Martin, I say Thank You..... Ron
At first glance, I thought it was hilarious that one of the meters had "Pooper" written on the top.... sadly, my dreams were subsequently shattered when I switched to 1080p :p Awesome video Martin, I hope your move is going well so far and that your new house ends up good for you! Peace brother.
Same iissue as with your other 'watt meter' test: These devices cover a range of 0-60V and 0-100A (and more), up to 6000W. If you want to really test them you need to apply at least voltages up to 30V and currents up to 50Amp. By tinkering around at 2-3A and a few Watts of load you are not using their potential and their operating means. How long will they last if pumping 70Amps through their circuit board? Also: the product V'*A is more important than individual readings for voltage and current; slight errors to each side for A and V may still lead to the proper wattage result, which is the really important feature (along with the time integration for Ah resp. Wh). At a minimum you should also OPEN the cases and show the innards, to compare designs, soldering, shunt resistor types installed etc. Considering the huge price range for these DC power meters (starting at incredible $7 up to $50+ for identically looking models) I wonder how much different they REALLY are, inside and out. Not at the 3rd digit after the decimal point. My educated guess is that the $30 units are IDENTICAL to the $8 budget noname devices, all are made in China anyways. The quality of the shunt resistor is about the only variable I can think of, as most will probably use ths same electronic boards and integrating software. Potential for improvement.
The datasheet of WM-010 Watt meter claims resolutions of 0.01 Amps and 0.01 Volts, but they confused it with the number of decimals on the display. Unfortunately when using it the amps will display in discrete steps 0, 0.12, 0.21, 0,32, .. and nothing in between, so actual resolution is appr 0.1A. The same with the voltage that only changes in steps of appr 0.06V The maker of the WM-010 instrument has put a lot of decimals but is not providing enough A/D resolution to have the last decimal digits resolve. Looks like there is some undocumented "feature" if you hold and press the button for a while it will lock up and show voltage 3.33 and callibrate the present current to zero (it seems). Maybe that is the case with the first WM-010 instrument? The 10-bit = 1024 step resolution theory mentioned by "Jacob Hipps" seem to match both the 60/1024=0.06V and 100/1024=0.1A disapointing resolution experienced.
Hi Martin, just a though; can you use the display from your Arduino as a temporary fix? Maybe it won't be compatible but worth a checking out. My Arduino display has a 16 pin count so who knows. ~ Jason
Yes, that $50 mark is just too much. If Franky can find us something in that $25-$35 shipped range, he would really have something. Thanks to you, I know that cheap is really not better so far. I just want something like the second meter reviewed, but a tad more accrate. Also, can you ask Franky when Meter 3 will be ready for order, because I am ready right now!! Thanks Martin.
1. Did you try measuring the voltage at "load" connection? At least then you would know if the problem is in uncalibrated voltage reading or it's simply the voltage drop.. Also before putting any load you were already reading 30mA. when putting load on it read that 30mA extra.. maybe try powering the device on aux first? Would make things objective..
Actually, I explained that wrong. It's like this. Solar panel to Watts up meter source, Watts up load to charge controllers solar terminals, charge controllers battery terminals to 12 volt battery, charge controllers load terminals to LED lighting. Since the battery has to power the load via the charge controller the Watts up subtracts from the total Amp hour added to the battery. Hope that helps.
Does the small Aux power connector have a name/style number so I can look for one on-line to purchase? For example: 'Amphenol 249' style. Also, do you know why there are 3 wires on the Aux connector? I should think a pos and neg would all that should be needed normally. Would a 9volt battery be fine for the aux power source? Thanks for your vids. I enjoy them.
14awg is good for 20Amps, the meter electronics can measure up to 100Amps, but the leads are undersized to cut costs. You can try to re -solder larger cables if you like.
Hi Martin, great video! It´s possible to connect a Watt´s Up meter on a 48 Volt Go Kart? Im using 4 Seal Lead Acid batteries in series, a Sevcon Millipak controller and Permanent Magnet Motor. Thanks
where do i get an cheap cheap cheap watt-meter or something, i can test my computer watt usage, and if maybe calculate how much iam using in my apartment and then calc, for money usage ;)
Hi Martin, this is a great review especially for a "Noob" like myself. I just built my 1st solar back up system and I wanted to put a Watt's Up inline. I have a question: the "source" hookup i'm assuming goes to the solar panel and the "load" goes to my battery bank? Sorry for being a "Rookie". Again, Great review!!!!!
thx for the video.. but aint that useally how it goes with budget-meters able to carry higher amps like in the 3digits, that a good part of the precisement is gone to some degree..and also some of the reason why we aint seeing high-amps-possiblelities in most multimeters..I have just jumped on the GT-power150amp watt-meter.. Im aint expecting miracles, for 9 USbucks including shipping but the cords seems decent awg, but are generally needing an wattmeter for getting some battery-esc insigt into my new collective pitch quad and overall Im a sucker for insight and values... btw Im missing that you actually tested these watt-meters in regards to there primaryfunctions and higher amps & amps-peaks like we see in RC and if there specs are doeable for high-watt-rc-measurements...(simply there primary-functions and not solely single digits low watt measurements.. most of your measurement are under 1.0amp and around 0.5amp) and your maxing out at 2.7amp on these (nahh not really relevant for RC and on a rc-watt-meter.. crank that mtf'er up' .. -its an RCwatter-meter-review.. i assume you got the equipment..?
you aint stating specs on the last one.. judging from small wires, and the precisement.. assume it aint high watt-meter, and if you wanting meter for under 3amps, and numerous digits then go for the new YZXstudio1270 where you getting 4decimals on all, (it aint cheap and in another league and obviusly a lot newer then these) but it itwould manage under 3amp just fine and 4-24, and in my view the best USB-meter on the market atm.. happy with mine.. mjlorton 'have you review that model, I would imaging thats one franky tong carries in his yzx sortiment, so I would assume its one that have passed thrue you??
The meters are unstable and inaccurate, and nonlinear. This means if you attempt to try to calibrate the meters if possible, the voltage and currents reading error will drift, I found the higher the load current the more accurate the reading. Also the meters vary from meter to meter too of same make and model. So you can review a good performing meter then post "get this one" we you tuber viewers buy based on you're results only to find the accuracy varies from meter to meter which it does. I've found most of the cheap in-line and digital panel meters on ebay are considerably inaccurate and unstable, and the results vary a lot.
What a let down on the first meter it looked like it could have been useful. I also use a few of the watts up meters and found that a "Turnigy" meter is almost identical but is back-lit and also has the same type of accuracy as the watts up.
Why is it that nearly all the questions I need answers to, no one on here or anywhere else answers them. And it is not like they do not have the information being that they are the most common operations people have the equipment for. Why do a bother.
The meters are unstable and inaccurate, and nonlinear, do not use them to set or monitor you're battery charge voltage, as the voltage can be off by a 200mV or even more.
On the first (square) meter, it looks like it is using a 10-bit ADC over the entire range (no "auto ranging" like a DMM would use.) Thus, it looks like you have about a +/- 0.06V granularity. 10-bits = 1024 values. 1024 * 6 = 6144 (61.44 V). This is just my conjecture, but most definitely that "0.01V" and "0.01A" rating is a flat out lie. Not to mention it looks to not be calibrated at all!
A very impressive video, as usual, the Chinese product is poor quality and very inaccurate I was looking forward to the last one such a shame about the display but it did look good and would be interested in purchase but I am in the UK are you going to review it again in full please Thanks Bob
Too bad the RCSky Watt meter is a joke like most of these garbage meters aimed at the RC hobbyist as it's segmented display WITH temperature input is great for dealing with electric motors and ESCs and it gives all the needed info at the same time on the same screen, and in the second screen you get your maximums with max temperature which is exactly what is needed. But it's so far off (and the one you get might be worse) that it's useless. What a shame....
Thanks for the feedback. Your question is a good one...and yes you have it correct, source to the solar panels and load to the charge controller / battery bank.
Ron...thanks, this kind of feedback is great and certainly appreciated...I have passed it on to Franky. Cheers, Martin.
If you follow my forum Franky is posting some info there. But wait for the full review (once display fixed) as it might not have all the features of the other meters.
Thanks for the quick reply, it's appreciated. Now I have to make the choice of buying two or else which way to put the meter!
Thanks for the input Dacian...just about to watch your video post now.
Hi, I know Franky was having problems sourcing another batch as they had sold out. I think he does have something similar or an alternative. You can contact him on my forum to check. I did follow up with a video soon after this one show the calibration of the meter: T4D #37
Cheers, Martin.
Thanks for the feedback. I used a Watts Up in my solar powered QRP rig...but $50 is a bit pricy...
Good question...many of these meters only measure in one direction...I do have one that is bi-directional but it is no longer produced...
Thanks for the feedback.
Thanks Franky. I already have one coming from you from the Forum. May I also add, Franky is quick on the draw, I asked to buy one on the Forum and within a few hours he had sent a PayPal Invoice to me and was ready to go.I like that!
Yes, if you go to Martin's forum you will see more information there. He has the link to the relevant thread in the video description. Act quick though as I'm already running out of stock before I even officially offer them for sale! New stock won't be available until many weeks later. Cheers, Franky.
My pleasure Dimitri.
Thanks...I'll double check that.
Hi Jason....good thought, but my Arduino displays are serial enabled....so different to this one. Cheers, Martin.
Hello, u know where i can audio current watt, max and ohm info display?
I have the solar panels straight to the meter philstuffs, and the meters load to the charge controllers battery terminal. Then I connect my led lighting to the charge controllers load terminals. It does in deed measure usage via subtracting from the total amh into the battery.
Hey mjlorton, thanks for doing this video. You reviewed a meter that I've seen sold locally :) I'm wondering.. if I wire this between my charge controller and battery, would I be able to see how many power is going in but also how much power is going out? Say at night when I'm using power rather than it going in, would it accurately measure the watts im using? Thanks!
You can find more info on Martin's forum.
Thanks for review. What is the polarity for the three auxillary power pins on the po8er? Looking at the wires going into your plug I'm guessing the top pin negative & the middle pin positive, bottom pin?? Look forward to your reply. Cheers
On the po8er wich side was + and wich - in auxiliary ?
nice to use the UT as voltage reference but don't be afraid to use more than one. if a fluke also agrees it's more confident that the equipment under test is the deviant.
you can also pick some voltage and current points and note and plot them. hard data is easier to compare and allows visual comparison of all at once
Thanks for the post good man!
Martin, you never mention what that last power meter is or how to find it. A search on what appeared on the display upon power up (vipr 40 & haikang) returned no useful results. Who makes or sells it?
This is great Martic. Starting toi watch now. Im looking to buy one for use in a Solar setup as well as when I go Mobile with my QRP Rig. I did not want to spend $50 USD for a Watts Up. So lets hope we find an answer in this video!
Thanks for the work you do!!
The wires of Po8er can handle 100 amps ? whats is thw diameter of them ?
I just wanted to send A Big Shout Out To Franky Tong. I wanted to let everyone know that Franky has just been an EXCELLENT seller from start to finish. He communicates fast, he stays on top of the transaction, he packs the item with care and his pricing is also bjust as fair!. Martin has found us a real jewel to buy from. Have no fear if ordering from Franky.So to Franky and Martin, I say Thank You..... Ron
At first glance, I thought it was hilarious that one of the meters had "Pooper" written on the top.... sadly, my dreams were subsequently shattered when I switched to 1080p :p
Awesome video Martin, I hope your move is going well so far and that your new house ends up good for you!
Peace brother.
Same iissue as with your other 'watt meter' test:
These devices cover a range of 0-60V and 0-100A (and more), up to 6000W.
If you want to really test them you need to apply at least voltages up to 30V and currents up to 50Amp. By tinkering around at 2-3A and a few Watts of load you are not using their potential and their operating means. How long will they last if pumping 70Amps through their circuit board?
Also: the product V'*A is more important than individual readings for voltage and current; slight errors to each side for A and V may still lead to the proper wattage result, which is the really important feature (along with the time integration for Ah resp. Wh).
At a minimum you should also OPEN the cases and show the innards, to compare designs, soldering, shunt resistor types installed etc.
Considering the huge price range for these DC power meters (starting at incredible $7 up to $50+ for identically looking models) I wonder how much different they REALLY are, inside and out. Not at the 3rd digit after the decimal point.
My educated guess is that the $30 units are IDENTICAL to the $8 budget noname devices, all are made in China anyways. The quality of the shunt resistor is about the only variable I can think of, as most will probably use ths same electronic boards and integrating software.
Potential for improvement.
how can i reset an watt meter
The datasheet of WM-010 Watt meter claims resolutions of 0.01 Amps and 0.01 Volts, but they confused it with the number of decimals on the display. Unfortunately when using it the amps will display in discrete steps 0, 0.12, 0.21, 0,32, .. and nothing in between, so actual resolution is appr 0.1A.
The same with the voltage that only changes in steps of appr 0.06V
The maker of the WM-010 instrument has put a lot of decimals but is not providing enough A/D resolution to have the last decimal digits resolve.
Looks like there is some undocumented "feature" if you hold and press the button for a while it will lock up and show voltage 3.33 and callibrate the present current to zero (it seems). Maybe that is the case with the first WM-010 instrument?
The 10-bit = 1024 step resolution theory mentioned by "Jacob Hipps" seem to match both the 60/1024=0.06V and 100/1024=0.1A disapointing resolution experienced.
Hi Martin, just a though; can you use the display from your Arduino as a temporary fix? Maybe it won't be compatible but worth a checking out. My Arduino display has a 16 pin count so who knows. ~ Jason
Yes, that $50 mark is just too much. If Franky can find us something in that $25-$35 shipped range, he would really have something. Thanks to you, I know that cheap is really not better so far. I just want something like the second meter reviewed, but a tad more accrate. Also, can you ask Franky when Meter 3 will be ready for order, because I am ready right now!! Thanks Martin.
1. Did you try measuring the voltage at "load" connection? At least then you would know if the problem is in uncalibrated voltage reading or it's simply the voltage drop.. Also before putting any load you were already reading 30mA. when putting load on it read that 30mA extra.. maybe try powering the device on aux first? Would make things objective..
Actually, I explained that wrong. It's like this. Solar panel to Watts up meter source, Watts up load to charge controllers solar terminals, charge controllers battery terminals to 12 volt battery, charge controllers load terminals to LED lighting. Since the battery has to power the load via the charge controller the Watts up subtracts from the total Amp hour added to the battery. Hope that helps.
Does the small Aux power connector have a name/style number so I can look for one on-line to purchase? For example: 'Amphenol 249' style. Also, do you know why there are 3 wires on the Aux connector? I should think a pos and neg would all that should be needed normally. Would a 9volt battery be fine for the aux power source? Thanks for your vids. I enjoy them.
As asked before, how the hell can it handle 100 AMPS @ 60 Volt with 14 AWG wire ? Nobody seems to question the manufacturers ?
Ask Solar City - the people there are full of alternate facts.
14awg is good for 20Amps, the meter electronics can measure up to 100Amps, but the leads are undersized to cut costs. You can try to re -solder larger cables if you like.
Can you do a video on a pzem-051 please. I want one to monitor my solar, cells. and one to monitor my wind turbine out put, please !!! ED !!
Hi Martin, great video! It´s possible to connect a Watt´s Up meter on a 48 Volt Go Kart? Im using 4 Seal Lead Acid batteries in series, a Sevcon Millipak controller and Permanent Magnet Motor. Thanks
These things look like the toys, they miss spikes, so I prefer analogue meter, but where you can find it?
where do i get an cheap cheap cheap watt-meter or something, i can test my computer watt usage, and if maybe calculate how much iam using in my apartment and then calc, for money usage ;)
Kill-a-watt meter on Amazon.
Great info, just what I've been looking for - thanks :)
Hi Martin, this is a great review especially for a "Noob" like myself. I just built my 1st solar back up system and I wanted to put a Watt's Up inline. I have a question: the "source" hookup i'm assuming goes to the solar panel and the "load" goes to my battery bank? Sorry for being a "Rookie". Again, Great review!!!!!
thx for the video.. but aint that useally how it goes with budget-meters able to carry higher amps like in the 3digits, that a good part of the precisement is gone to some degree..and also some of the reason why we aint seeing high-amps-possiblelities in most multimeters..I have just jumped on the GT-power150amp watt-meter.. Im aint expecting miracles, for 9 USbucks including shipping but the cords seems decent awg, but are generally needing an wattmeter for getting some battery-esc insigt into my new collective pitch quad and overall Im a sucker for insight and values... btw Im missing that you actually tested these watt-meters in regards to there primaryfunctions and higher amps & amps-peaks like we see in RC and if there specs are doeable for high-watt-rc-measurements...(simply there primary-functions and not solely single digits low watt measurements.. most of your measurement are under 1.0amp and around 0.5amp) and your maxing out at 2.7amp on these (nahh not really relevant for RC and on a rc-watt-meter.. crank that mtf'er up' .. -its an RCwatter-meter-review.. i assume you got the equipment..?
you aint stating specs on the last one.. judging from small wires, and the precisement.. assume it aint high watt-meter, and if you wanting meter for under 3amps, and numerous digits then go for the new YZXstudio1270 where you getting 4decimals on all, (it aint cheap and in another league and obviusly a lot newer then these) but it itwould manage under 3amp just fine and 4-24, and in my view the best USB-meter on the market atm.. happy with mine.. mjlorton 'have you review that model, I would imaging thats one franky tong carries in his yzx sortiment, so I would assume its one that have passed thrue you??
The meters are unstable and inaccurate, and nonlinear. This means if you attempt to try to calibrate the meters if possible, the voltage and currents reading error will drift, I found the higher the load current the more accurate the reading. Also the meters vary from meter to meter too of same make and model. So you can review a good performing meter then post "get this one" we you tuber viewers buy based on you're results only to find the accuracy varies from meter to meter which it does. I've found most of the cheap in-line and digital panel meters on ebay are considerably inaccurate and unstable, and the results vary a lot.
What a let down on the first meter it looked like it could have been useful. I also use a few of the watts up meters and found that a "Turnigy" meter is almost identical but is back-lit and also has the same type of accuracy as the watts up.
@Dimitri Pappas
U want to sell one
Why is it that nearly all the questions I need answers to, no one on here or anywhere else answers them. And it is not like they do not have the information being that they are the most common operations people have the equipment for. Why do a bother.
you make good videos
Good professional job, but I think you can do this faster ( too much ).
The button over hyuh!
The meters are unstable and inaccurate, and nonlinear, do not use them to set or monitor you're battery charge voltage, as the voltage can be off by a 200mV or even more.
On the first (square) meter, it looks like it is using a 10-bit ADC over the entire range (no "auto ranging" like a DMM would use.) Thus, it looks like you have about a +/- 0.06V granularity. 10-bits = 1024 values. 1024 * 6 = 6144 (61.44 V). This is just my conjecture, but most definitely that "0.01V" and "0.01A" rating is a flat out lie. Not to mention it looks to not be calibrated at all!
A very impressive video, as usual, the Chinese product is poor quality and very inaccurate I was looking forward to the last one such a shame about the display but it did look good and would be interested in purchase but I am in the UK are you going to review it again in full please Thanks Bob
Too bad the RCSky Watt meter is a joke like most of these garbage meters aimed at the RC hobbyist as it's segmented display WITH temperature input is great for dealing with electric motors and ESCs and it gives all the needed info at the same time on the same screen, and in the second screen you get your maximums with max temperature which is exactly what is needed. But it's so far off (and the one you get might be worse) that it's useless. What a shame....
Get out the way.. I could be predicting the overall capacitor is always on dial. Erming 8 for all body shop rate sig.n.os