Appearance - Our newest digital meter is designed to be smaller and more compact than most other meters you'll find for motorcycle use. It's fashioned to allow for flush panel mounting so it looks like original equipment rather than something unsightly as a plastic box clamped to a handlebar and sticking up in the air. Rating - The Impera unit reads more than just what the alternator is supplying to the battery. We built this one to handle 150 amps which is well high enough and ideal for reading, directly from the battery, the starter motor cranking amperage and voltage of today's modern higher power engines. You can perform a true battery load (stress) test which is the only way to determine battery condition to warn you well before a battery failure.
Gold Wing 1800 - on fairing panel is suggested location.	Harley Ultra Classic and Road Glide use original volt meter location.

 

Important Shipment Information

It's been nine (9) years since our last Amp/Volt meter was produced (sold for $310 at that time). We've had numerous requests over these past years for us to produce a meter. Testing has been completed and we've finished up on the waterproofing of the glass lens. Right now we're waiting for arrival of sealed switches. Shipments should begin in the first part of the second quarter with May as a target date. This will be a limited production item and orders will be filled only with units as they are built.

 

Product Information

IMPERA Digital Amp and Voltmeter Specifications: 2 ¼" face diameter 2 3/8 " case width/height, 1.3 depth All metal - anodized aluminum construction. Front face plate - CNC machined anodized alum. Plus or minus 150 amp range. Range: 8 volts to 32 volts Operating Temp. -25C to +60C Accuracy +/- 1% of full scale 14V Backlighting (orange as shown) LCD SUNLIGHT READABLE DISPLAY Resolution: .1 volt (eg; 14.2) Resolution: .1 amp (eg; 30.2) 84" wire harness. Includes sensor with 6" cable for the battery. Connects to the positive side of circuit.

Our Impera digital meter provides those who want more in depth information about his charging and electrical system by monitoring both voltage and amperage. Voltage by itself is a generally a limited indicator of the battery charge when the engine or power source is not operating. Voltage doesn't provide any accurate information about the actual power being supplied to the battery or if the battery is even accepting a charge so this is when reading amperage is necessary.

Once the engine is started and the alternator begins to produce power the voltage reading on a meter is only that of the voltage regulator, not the battery, and doesn't tell us if the battery is actually accepting a charge. In fact, when a motorcycle has been sitting idle in the garage for a number of years the old battery reads zero volts but it will will read 13-14 volts when put under an applied charge. Ride the motorcycle all day if you want but as soon as you shut it down and try again to start it you'll discover the battery is still dead. An old worn out battery can be jumped to start a vehicle and even though the voltage from the charging system is high enough to operate the lights and accessories the battery won't charge. It's simply a lost cause. How do we know if the battery is accepting a charge and if it's the proper amount?

For that answer here's where an ammeter does it's job by reading the actual amount of power, or current, that flows into or out of the battery. After starting a motorcycle a good battery will take a charge somewhere around 10 - 20 amps before it starts reducing as the battery is recharged. If it won't take this amount it's a real safe bet that the battery is on it's last legs. Today's batteries often seem to work fine and then the next start is either just a series of clicks or the starter motor slowly grinds without turning the engine fast enough to start. How can that be? It started just fine earlier in the day! Using an ammeter to monitor the battery is the proper method of determining if it's charging. Just to explain the importance of an ammeter in some applications, small airplanes often don't have a voltmeter but are required to have an ammeter for certification. The early automobiles didn't have a voltmeter but rather were equipped with an ammeter as standard equipment but in later years these were removed due to the cost. I'm trying to make a point here, a voltmeter by itself is better than nothing but not anywhere ideal. Adding an ammeter is the next step up. Of course those little LED colored voltage indicators aren't even worth consideration in this discussion.

There are two components of electricity. Voltage and amperage. Your doctor looks at the two components of your blood pressure to make a good assessment. If you're not reading both components of your electrical system then you cannot gauge the health completely. A good battery shop will test a battery using a load test which reveals if the battery recovers properly. Using an ammeter you can do this test yourself by placing a high load on the battery by cranking for 20 seconds without starting or turning the engine off as soon as it starts and repeating this procedure several times. After this heavy drain the engine is then started and the charge rate in amperes is checked. If the battery only accepts around 5 amps then the next stop should be to purchase a new battery before you find yourself in front of a restaurant or the open road with a bike that won't start. In other words, an ammeter can offer an early warning of an impending battery failure. Don't start that long trip without doing that all important EKG (health check) on your battery.

Should an alternator fail while your riding you won't know it until the engine quits running which isn't much fun in the left lane on a crowded Interstate Highway and a different story on a country road with one car every four hours. Using only a voltmeter you will eventually notice a voltage drop but it's not nearly as early as an ammeter. An ammeter will "instantly" indicate a failure. If the reading of the battery charge changes from a couple of amps plus (+) to an immediate negative (-) that's the moment of failure. At this point there's may be enough current left in the battery to turn around and head back to the motorcycle shop in that town you just past. Of course without advance warning of any kind you can always wait until the engine stops and use your cell phone to call a tow truck so you can make use of that road side service you signed up for this year while on your trip across the nation or Canada on the way to Alaska.

We've had numerous riders over the years who owned our first digital meter and called just to let us know that it saved the day for them. Many of these same people have called over the last several years hoping to purchase one for their newer motorcycle but we had discontinued production so they were left without. With today's new technology we can offer a new style design which allows us to cover a much broader market so we feel the time is right to bring something back to the market.

Construction: We wish this was as simple as offering some downloaded software for $99 but this unit is a physical object you can put your hands around, built with high grade materials along with machine and man hour costs.  It's made out of aluminum, bead blasted, anodized and laser etched. The Impera meter in not molded plastic. The lens is set into a machined cavity in the back of the face plate to permit a waterproof seal. In fact, we've designed it to be protected in a salt fog setting so it even fits in the marine environment but the motorcycle version is slightly different than our marine version which has some additional electrical functions. This piece is of such high quality and beauty it will be something you'll be proud of for many years to come.

Electrical design features: Our Impera digital meter connects to the positive side of electrical circuits which is ideal for monitoring alternator/regulator output our just about anything electrical. Most digital meters are designed for connection to the negative side of a circuit which creates some limitations. Our original meter connected to the negative so this time we wanted to go the extra mile and design a meter that fit directly into positive circuits rather than requiring additional equipment for converting to positive.

Installation information:
The AV1415 digital Amp-Voltmeter is designed to mount behind a flat panel or in a fairing. Our ammeter design enables you to install it without running heavy wires to the meter. All you do is plug in a simple four (4) wire harness, into the back of the meter, which contains two wires that connect to a small sensing device attached to the battery, a meter ground and connection to a 12 volt source (accessory) for back lighting if you want this feature. Wiring from the meter plug is 84" in length so you can easily reach the connection points. A separate wire from the sensor cable is connected to the 12 volt accessory to turn the meter on and off with the ignition key. Wiring is straight forward and easy with excellent instructions.