DIY: L.E.D Based Battery Monitor and In-console Integrated 5Volt USB Charger

[ghpk]

Ah, after some wait and patience a couple of new DIY stuff goes in my Santro with 47°C this project was delayed and delayed as it was difficult to
sit in the garage and do such stuff.

1). L.E.D. Based Voltage Monitor which is assembled using a I.C. LM324.
2). Integrated & Reliable USB Based charge to charge the Blackberry, Android etc on the go.
3). Added separate Switches for L.E.D. Lights I had.
4). Organized the Wire Mess.

collected parts for Battery monitor to my surprise this monitor was real cheap to build, If I am not missing anything its under a dollar, may be around Rs.30/-.

The charger integrated is a Belkin charger @ Rs.169/-
Additional Toggle Switches Rs.36 for 3.

A normal car owner would not give a damn about the battery voltage but a DIY insect like me would be worried as I have lots of stuff in car which is powered from same battery which is required to crank the engine so if a extended music or lights sessions drains your battery juice you would need to jump start or beg passers for push start which is risky too, and thats what urged me to install this circuit in the car.

My Setup has different color L.E.D. to show the battery charge condition.

Here Goes the Battery Color Scale :-
1). White Light, start looking for a jump starter cable or start begging as your Battery is giving only 11 volts

2). White & RED Light, You better stop playing the HU + AMP or turn off under-Dash L.E.D which consists of 75 L.E.D. as your battery is 12 volts.

3). White, RED & Green Light, Good to go with some experiments, you can listen to music and still Crank the engine as your battery is around 13 volts.

4). White, RED ,Green & Blue Light, Usually will glow when engine is running
and your battery is getting charged as Battery will be reading 14+ volts.
if anyone interested in building this here's the link to Simple circuit.


Had couple of lights hooked to one switch so now have 6 switches so each light, mobile charger, etc has individual on/off capabilities.

the last pic shows the wiring mess before I organized the cable using the hose pipe kinda sleeve, it was dam cheap, @Rs.10 - 15 a meter IIRC.

Not difficult to say, Installing so many D.I.Y. stuff is risky, I have used proper fuse inside the Gear console and its a sensitive fuse if there's a accidental Electric short due to any of these stuff, it would blow instantly.

A Blown fuse is cheaper and less risky than a Blown CAR.

Enjoy the pics.


belkin Car USB Charger recently purchased from ebay.in


Took the Gear Level Console to my room
this is side I'll install the stuff.


Drilling holes


Electronic Components


Circuit assembly in progress


Circuit ready


Holes Drilled, I should have taken care with drill machine
it has put some minute circular dent when it went through.


Installing


Installing, applying InsulationTape


Toggle Switches @Rs.12/each


Integrated Cellphone Charger Works


Testing the circuit


Everything Installed and ready to go live.


Switches and Battery Monitor Closeup.


Lights on Seat are small lights useful as coin finder if you drop it under seat. Its a plastic sleeve.


Thats my JVC Amp with L.E.D. Happy Legs


Night time view of DIY L.E.D. Lights


Under-dash and cup holder Lights in Action.


Oh I am gonna miss the wire mess..

[GTO]

Thread moved to the Mods section. Thanks for sharing!

[swarnava.m]

Congrats..

Fantastic DIY!! It certainly gives me great ideas to do to my car!!

Thanks for the inspiration.. I owe you one!!

BTW.. Where does the terminals from the circuit board go? I mean how does it detect the battery level? I guess there is some A2D converter involved somewhere, but cannot figure out from what line it takes the level input..

[ghpk]

Originally Posted by swarnava.m

Congrats..

Fantastic DIY!! It certainly gives me great ideas to do to my car!!

Thanks for the inspiration.. I owe you one!!

BTW.. Where does the terminals from the circuit board go? I mean how does it detect the battery level? I guess there is some A2D converter involved somewhere, but cannot figure out from what line it takes the level input..

Thanks for your kind words.

Guess what I just came back from Garage after fine tuning the battery level indicator, One thing which was making me wonder whats going wrong after install, the 14 volt L.E.D. was not lighting up, it was due to the battery monitor is connected from AUX power output where the original Car cigarette lighter had its supply, and as it mostly gives regulated voltage it was never crossing 13-13.5 volts, while when I made the monitor, I tested it by directly connecting it to battery under the bonnet. and it was giving correct visual output as I kept a multimeter along.

So the power leads need to be connected to power source which runs directly from battery, in my case I would connect it to AMP +ve which is coming from Battery directly and is handy as Amplifier is under front seat itself, and for other users they need to run a good insulated wire from battery itself, else they will only be able to see 11, 12, 13 volts output in most cases.

[swarnava.m]

Originally Posted by ghpk

Thanks for your kind words.

Guess what I just came back from Garage after fine tuning the battery level indicator, One thing which was making me wonder whats going wrong after install, the 14 volt L.E.D. was not lighting up, it was due to the battery monitor is connected from AUX power output where the original Car cigarette lighter had its supply, and as it mostly gives regulated voltage it was never crossing 13-13.5 volts, while when I made the monitor, I tested it by directly connecting it to battery under the bonnet. and it was giving correct visual output as I kept a multimeter along.

So the power leads need to be connected to power source which runs directly from battery, in my case I would connect it to AMP +ve which is coming from Battery directly and is handy as Amplifier is under front seat itself, and for other users they need to run a good insulated wire from battery itself, else they will only be able to see 11, 12, 13 volts output in most cases.

Okay, I understand now. However, there is another question. The car battery is 12V right? So how does it give a 13/14V output?

[ghpk]

Originally Posted by swarnava.m

Okay, I understand now. However, there is another question. The car battery is 12V right? So how does it give a 13/14V output?

Normally atleast 12 volts is required for operation of electric and electronic parts in car, however to charge the battery, alternator generates 13-14.5 when engine is run, most battery issues start when your battery charging volts are below 13.5.

My installed L.E.D.'s would let me know if my car battery is not getting proper voltage and couldn't charge itself.

[classicselva]

It is a good motivation for all and interesting. Thanks for Sharing.

[swarnava.m]

Originally Posted by ghpk

Ah, after some wait and patience a couple of new DIY stuff goes in my Santro with 47°C this project was delayed and delayed as it was difficult to
sit in the garage and do such stuff.

I am going to do this soon now, and hence I have a few queries. Any help regarding this would be appreciated.

1. You mentioned a fuse in the entire setup. What kind of fuse is it, and of what rating? And where exactly in the entire setup is it to be connected?
2. What are the 3 toggle switches for? If I understand correctly, you would need 1 for the USB charger (which I am not going to install, btw), but what are the other two for?
3. Since I don't have an amp, I am planning to run cables directly from the battery through the firewall into the setup. Is this fine? And exactly what cables should I ask for at the store?

Any other precautions/points that I need to keep in mind??

Thanks in advance.

[ghpk]

Originally Posted by swarnava.m

I am going to do this soon now, and hence I have a few queries. Any help regarding this would be appreciated.

1. You mentioned a fuse in the entire setup. What kind of fuse is it, and of what rating? And where exactly in the entire setup is it to be connected?
2. What are the 3 toggle switches for? If I understand correctly, you would need 1 for the USB charger (which I am not going to install, btw), but what are the other two for?
3. Since I don't have an amp, I am planning to run cables directly from the battery through the firewall into the setup. Is this fine? And exactly what cables should I ask for at the store?

Any other precautions/points that I need to keep in mind??

Thanks in advance.

1). use a small 1 or 2Amp cartridge tube type fuse available on most electronic spare parts shop, do take the holder and insulate it well.
You should Place the fuse near the battery itself, this should minimize risks.

2). you would need only one toggle switch, I've lots of L.E.D. stuff in my car so I have that many switches installed.

3). please use any reliable wire, the ones used in under wall wiring in our homes would work too, 20-30 or similar, I am not sure about thickness you would need but using any fire-resistant wire would work, will be more better if you buy a sleeve or two to double cover it under the hood.

I think if you search the ICE section you can find wire specs, however as the Battery indicator would draw only a couple of mw you don't need thick wires like in case of Amp installs, but the wire should be heat resistive to avoid shorts.

Best of luck for Assembling.