Panel Current Meter shows only dashes

[dan77062]

I am having trouble with a Panel Current Meter - 0 to 9.99A[ID:574]
The meter only shows three dahses --- regardless of the current flow
through it (tested at 0.5 amps). That is true both in the configuration
where the meter is independently powered and also in the low-side sensing
circuit. I tested this with a calibrated power supply.

I think it is a defective meter and should be returned, but customer support said to post here, so suggestions are welcome.

[adafruit_support_bill]

Post a photo showing how you have it hooked up.

[john444]

Hi Dan,

I have several of the panel meters operating from a solar panel charging some large batteries.
If the supply voltage gets higher than recommended, they go into some kind of shut-down.
Are you by chance powering them with more than 30-V?

[dan77062]

Nope, just 5V power.

See the photos; they show a power supply providing 5V and 160 mA, with dashes on the meter.

I did notice that if I bring up the voltage very slowly, I can see 0.00 and then something like 1.86 at around 3 volts, then it goes to dashes. Stays at dashes with the voltage up to 12V and 1 amp (had to use a serious resistor for that!).

By the way, this was a painful process. First I have to set things up to get the photos, save them. Then this site will not allow files > 1.0 MB to upload, so I have to go into GIMP and save the files with lower resolution, then upload and tag them.

shows the meter with a power supply displaying voltage and current

adafruit current meter with power supply low res.jpg (87.57 KiB) Viewed 849 times

close up of the wiring configuration

adafruit current meter closeup low res.jpg (74.03 KiB) Viewed 849 times

[dan77062]

Well, those are impossible to see, so I scaled the images again.

current meter with power supply

adafruit current meter with power supply low res.jpg (24.35 KiB) Viewed 848 times

wiring close up of current meter

adafruit current meter closeup low res.jpg (18.92 KiB) Viewed 848 times

[john444]

Dan,

Does the same "- - -" happen when you power the panel meter
using a separate supply like a 9v battery?

[adafruit_support_bill]

Is that resistor lead soldered, or just looped around the meter lead? Make sure you actually have a solid circuit there.

[dan77062]

Yes, same behavior with a 9V battery and in both wiring configurations, as mentioned in the first post.

That particular resistor is just folded over but this was the same behavior as in my nicely soldered circuit and also, note that the power supply shows 160 mA current, which was correct for this resistor.

[adafruit_support_bill]

OK. contact support@adafruit.com with a link to this thread and ask for a replacement meter.