Automobiles
Some automobiles are fitted with a battery condition meter to monitor the starter battery. This meter is, essentially, a voltmeter but it may also be marked with coloured zones for easy visualization.
Many newer cars no longer offer voltmeters or ammeters; instead, these vehicles typically have a light with the outline of an automotive battery on it. This can be somewhat misleading as it may be confused for an indicator of a bad battery when in reality it indicates a problem with the vehicle's charging system.
Alternatively, an ammeter may be fitted. This indicates whether the battery is being charged or discharged. In the picture on the right, the ammeter is marked "Alternator" and the symbols are "C" (charge) and "D" (discharge). Click on the picture to enlarge it.
Both ammeters and voltmeters individually or together can be used to assess the operating state of an automobile battery and charging system.
Read more about this topic: Battery Indicator
Famous quotes containing the word automobiles:
“Automobiles are free of egotism, passion, prejudice and stupid ideas about where to have dinner. They are, literally, selfless. A world designed for automobiles instead of people would have wider streets, larger dining rooms, fewer stairs to climb and no smelly, dangerous subway stations.”
—P.J. (Patrick Jake)
“Uses are always much broader than functions, and usually far less contentious. The word function carries overtones of purpose and propriety, of concern with why something was developed rather than with how it has actually been found useful. The function of automobiles is to transport people and objects, but they are used for a variety of other purposes—as homes, offices, bedrooms, henhouses, jetties, breakwaters, even offensive weapons.”
—Frank Smith (b. 1928)