Volts Amps Watts Meter RV Generator Load Meter Build

For months you have been asking, well here is a DIY Load meter to track watts, Kilowatt hours, amps and more. Test the load on your RV or generator or other pieces of equipment.
#wattmeter,#loadmeter,#generator,#invertergenerator,#ampmeter
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Johnny's Weekends holds no responsibility or liability, under no circumstances, to whom watches this and tries to repeat/duplicate the item shown here in. This video contains information for viewers, but it is in no way a substitute for a professional. This should be done by a trained professional, with electrical experience.
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[@wally1957]

I installed the Drok meter in my RV. First I disconnected the Transformer on the blue terminal and added about six feet of additional wire and then attached my "main" fuse panel positive wire through the round transformer hole. Second I had to supply power to the green terminal positive and negative. I ran two wires from the green terminal into my fuse box and connected the negative wire to the white ground bus bar. I added the positive wire to the main hot wire coming into the fuse box. Done. All the wires were ran up the interior wall and meter was mounted at eye level in the hallway above the fuse box. I should also state that I went to the main wire coming into the fuse panel because I wanted the meter to show all the power being consumed in the RV. I am also using my pure sine wave inverter and the meter works perfect and is easy to read without my glasses. I am writing this because I wanted to save everyone some frustration that I had to go through.

[@johnnysweekends]

Nice thanks for the tips 👍🏼😀

[@jeffjones4619]

I sure appreciate that you keep your explanations simple and don't get too technical with mumbo jumbo, that most of us would not understand! Thanks for another quality, informative video.

[@johnnysweekends]

Your welcome….😀👍🏼😁

[@johnnysweekends]

I like how you think I’ll get a strike for a little video that’s instructional like 80 percent of the videos out there. Mine doesn’t influence anyone to do anything dangerous. Like so many other channels. You see no fighting, vulgar or hateful language use. No nudity which so many channels are pretty far past KZbin’s community standards. I guess they will have to go after every other single channel that shows electrical wiring. Gosh there are hundreds, maybe thousands that show stuff like this. And some of those channels are dangerous if you have ever watched the work they show. I think my little video showing some basic wiring is not very influential compared to some channels showing them selves doing very dangerous stuff like say, oh being buried alive…! I’m sure that disclaimer would go over well if some kids tried the same stunt that came out with someone dying. Like many channels they all have disclaimers in the video, description below, or home page.

[@johnnysweekends]

What do you think about this little meter? Honestly it has several uses. Sorry it took a while to get this video out but I hope you like it. 👍🏼

[@SharkyZiff-1980]

After watching a multitude of meter build videos, I think I like your recent idea of just getting a base model Hughes Watchdog 30amp unit instead for my needs. The parts cost alone for this 120V build are almost as much as buying the Watchdog unit on a decent sale with the added benefit of also having a surge protector. Keep up the great work!

[@johnnysweekends]

Agree, and it’s more accurate. And like you I needed a new surge protector for my RV…😀👍🏼

[@Tom-In-Ga]

Just saw something very similar on "Gavin's Garage". Big difference between the 2 was you only needed 1 wire nut. Uses far less room in the junction box. Very well done. And now it's off to Home Depot...

[@johnnysweekends]

Thank you…🙏🏼 And where do you think he originally got the idea…😅👍🏼

[@juliogonzo2718]

I would put the little compression nut strain relief things on the cables going in the box so there is no way to easily pull apart the wire nut accidently

[@lesolson2380]

Johnny, I have been quite busy for the past several weeks and have not had time to view any of my favorite KZbinrs’ videos till now. Thank you much for putting this together and showing us how you built your meter!!! Much appreciated!! I wish you a great rest of your summer and look forward to more videos from you!

[@johnnysweekends]

Thank you Les appreciate it. Many more coming but may be a small delay as I took a vacation to and am waiting on a couple things but soon…👍🏼 Thanks for being a loyal sub, always appreciate the the comments 👍🏼😀

[@tomm3338]

Great video and I really appreciate that you added the Amazon links 👍🏻

[@johnnysweekends]

No problem, and thank you 😊 make sure to go with the fully enclosed plugs 👍🏼

[@echeverriaemilio]

Excellent explanation

[@pigmy]

Thanks for this video. I built a meter today following your instructions. It works great! It will be very helpful in measuring the idle/running power consumption of items plugged in to our grid.

[@johnnysweekends]

Awesome glad I could help…😀👍🏼

[@leonfisher]

Thanks, that was very helpful.

[@johnnysweekends]

You’re welcome glad I could help…👍🏼😀 And thanks for watching 😁

[@broderp]

No strain reliefs and at a minimum you should have wrapped the plugs exposed wires.

[@johnnysweekends]

Yea I could have done some plastic strain relief nuts but the plug I mentioned do not do and use the plug I had listed so there would be exposed wires. As I use mine to play around with stuff and I’m switching it to different plugs often.

[@jamesjusick1462]

You have very good, well presented content on all of your videos. Your view count should be much higher for your quality but the subject matter limits the audience size. Since I am in the intended audience, THANK YOU for these!

[@johnnysweekends]

Your welcome and yes I agree but when people see small subscriber count you are not pushed up much in the algorithm but slow and steady, and just keep putting out content people like……😀 Thanks for the comment and thanks again for watching 👍🏼😉

[@patricksmith2193]

I mean this is perfect, but a lot of reviews were saying that those meters weren't accurate at all.. so I'm not sure what to do I would love to have something like this hooked up though but it has to be accurate

[@johnnysweekends]

The meter is not to far off. Down low it can be a little bit, after several checks it would only be off by about .1,.2 amps. But still works good for basic checking. But I have a $400 meter as well. Well and cheaper ones

[@frankpaglianite4158]

Johnny good informative video, but you were making one mistake. The induction coil needs to be on the black wire, not the white neutral.

[@johnnysweekends]

Yea I realized that after I made the video and ran it several times. Was surprised it still was pretty accurate but I think that’s mainly because I use it on generators and with a floating neutral well, it’s one in the same really.

[@briancollora481]

my generator uses l14-30r plugs, with 4 prongs on it, how would the wiring be different with a 4 wire cable vs a 3 wire cable

[@slarsen6653]

I think you would have to have two meters, one for each load wire (red and black)

[@Ben-md9yx]

Could I make one that has 2 read outs for a 240/50A outlet? For example: Leg 1 and Leg 2. I have a 15KW Generator and plug it up to my house. Just want to make sure I am not pulling too much load from one leg or the other.

[@johnnysweekends]

I would not see why not. But you would tire into same neutral and power of each leg so wonder how that would work for the sensor… May just have to try

[@walterking5210]

If you use 2 phase 240 with no neutral you'll get the same reading on both legs they will be the same. So when you wire the meter you would hook a 120 line to each side of the meter instead of a 120 hot and a neutral like he did.

[@blackmennewstyle]

@@walterking5210 You are correct but i think you meant 2 poles (split phase) 240V, which is 2 hot wires both carrying 120V, mostly specific to the US because the rest of the world mostly uses 1 phase 240V, which uses 1 hot wire carrying 240V :)

[@johnnysweekends]

Yea the US still likes to do things differently with 120-240 options 😂 That’s why some of the manufacturers are like you need what?? The bigger Genmax I think with have a 240v single on the 9000 model.

[@radioace318la]

6:05 "you want this on the supply side" Okay, You are connecting the wire back together. So wouldn't the sensor give you the same reading no matter where on the neutral you install it?

[@jaimemartinez1095]

I like it! I'm wanting to wire this permanently on the side of my house for my generator. You think I can add it in line between where the interlock breaker is and the inlet box? I wouldn't want to have it attached to a wire that haul out every time I lose power. Hope that made sense?

[@johnnysweekends]

Yes you could easily add a wire and separate box and have it mounted right on top or next to your generator inlet box. Just tie into the wires from the inlet box and run it to the new box and meter. Get a covered box as you don’t want it getting soaked.

[@jaimemartinez1095]

@@johnnysweekends really appreciate you getting back to me so fast! Thanks man!

[@johnnysweekends]

No problem and thanks for watching 👍🏼😀

[@risbill1]

Any idea if the wires can be extended to mount this a few feet away from the point where the transformer is installed? Would like to put it closer to eye level in our RV instead of down at the floor.

[@johnnysweekends]

Yes you can make it longer 😀👍🏼

[@meetim2931]

You didn't do anything to prevent the cables from being yanked out of the housing. Bare minimum could've put zip ties or hose clamps on the inside, best case proper waterproof clamping grommets.

[@johnnysweekends]

Yes wire grommets or Electrical tape inside or a zip or something can be used which I mentioned as I was building it. For mine because I change stuff a lot for testing I did showed the basic build of it. Which you can go to the black wire or white it won’t matter. Or now someone decided to just copy what I did and refined it. Lol here look amzn.to/3MGTIEi

[@bluecerulean]

How can I monitor my 220v as well to get total amps used ? It’s working great for the 120

[@johnnysweekends]

You have to build a double meter one for each load line. Or buy this amzn.to/43DI6Hd

[@bluecerulean]

@@johnnysweekendsthank you ❤ordered

[@johnnysweekends]

😀👍🏼👊🏼

[@realJacobLane]

Awesome tutorial!

[@johnnysweekends]

Thanks 😊

[@patrickford18]

I'm guessing I could do the same thing, with a larger box and two meters to test a 240v 50 amp power cord from my generator, using one meter on the red wire and another for the black wire? I could just run two pigtails, one to each meter. Is that right?

[@johnnysweekends]

Yes each meter would get a hot/load wire.

[@gusaguire9182]

did it work Patrick

[@findacureforwokness8127]

that black wire connection should be soldered.

[@myhockeyplayers]

excellent video! Does the meter readings (importantly power consumption) reset when the plug gets disconnected or if there is a power outage?

[@johnnysweekends]

Thank you 😀 No the meter will accumulate hrs till you hit the little reset. The one I use for testing is continuing to go up in kWh. 😀👍🏼

[@patrickford18]

Sorry... Another question or two. What size wire are you using for the accessory wire? Would that be the same wire used to extend the sensor wires? If I was to connect this monitor to a transfer switch, couldn't I connect the neutral wire directly to the bus. For good or ill, your great video got me thinking of multiple possibilities.

[@johnnysweekends]

These can easily be hooked to your home distribution panel. I did one for fun just on one side. I’m using 10gauge braided wire. The sensor wire is small like 16g it just needs to pick up a signal. But yes you could use for multiple things to keep track of loads. Just run the hot wire thru it and you’re good.

[@busterhyman6633]

With this set up are you measuring both legs or one? Does the Amp reading represent total amps on the genset? I also watched Gavins and noticed he has two meters. At the end of the day I have the reliance dual leg meter set up near the panel however I would rather have this at the genset and the digital is much easier to read when the lights go out.

[@johnnysweekends]

Yea this is for a 120 volt set up and measures just only one line. Gavin made a dual set up as well so he could have a 240 volt. I found after much testing I wanted something a little more accurate hence I just bought a watch dog unit in stead since I needed one anyway. I had trouble with accuracy sometimes on the very low ended and upper ends.

[@Theferg1]

Great video sir!! It was exactly what I was looking for!! I do have one question where did you get those wire strippers? I really like those strippers I’ve never seen a pair like that? Thank you sir and happy holidays!! Thanks

[@johnnysweekends]

Thank you, glad I could help. Here is a link to the best strippers I think for the price!! amzn.to/3yT96Vj Let me know what ya think.

[@E67CHope]

Nice..

[@pb4610]

The wattage is way off. Ohms law states Power (in Watts) = Voltage (in Volts) x Current (in Amps) P = V I

[@mattrowe1229]

so this is not a 220 volt split phase then,since you are only using the 1 hot wire, your just using an rv plug though most rv plugs use 220 volts, 2 legs,2 hot and 1 ground, no neutral is used, so if i wanted to mionitor both legs or phases i wouild need 2 meters

[@johnnysweekends]

Yes you would need two meters or you can look into buying something like this and it does the same. You can buy prewired as well…amzn.to/3IadPHn

[@mattrowe1229]

@@johnnysweekends thanks

[@hoochthefireman]

Once in the meter is in the enclosure, is it fairly water resistant? The meter itself I mean. I'm curious if I could leave it plugged in and outside?

[@johnnysweekends]

I would, just because I don’t think it’s sealed very well. So I would add a cover door to it .

[@adammiller8415]

If you used a proper weather tight cord connector like he shouldve for the 10/3 soow and placed a bead of silicone under the meter when installing it then you would probably be ok. Still would recommend trying to keep it dry

[@fgonzalez78959]

I thought 30 amp required 3/10 included ground? Red black white and ground

[@johnnysweekends]

Red black white and green is basically your 50 amp circuit. Red= load 120 volt Black =load 120 volt White = neutral Green = ground 240 volt circuit. 👍🏼

[@rickbraden4272]

Very nice.

[@johnnysweekends]

Thank you…..👍🏼 And thanks for watching 😀

[@ag-gaming6893]

This would be awesome if it was wireless!!

[@johnnysweekends]

Technically they max something similar that is Bluetooth but it’s about $280 or so depending which one you want, 30 amp or 50 amp.

[@wally1957]

I swear you said connect the round transformer thing to the negative wire which did not work for me. I had to attach the round transformer to a positive wire.

[@johnnysweekends]

Pretty sure it was load wire or neutral ..🤔 It’s been a while

[@wstewart5532]

Nice. I'd like something similar to track the 240v wattage pulled from my RV generator. Know of any of those multimeter units that come with dual CTs?

[@johnnysweekends]

Unfortunately I don’t know a dual set up but I am looking into some and wanna try out a couple things. Just been busy so it’s a back burner thing.

[@michaelblodgett4704]

That's what I was hoping this video contained. Most generators are 240.

[@nikofabic5721]

How would I secure the thick wire better so it would not slip out of the box when in use?

[@johnnysweekends]

Electrical tape after you you get it connected and find where it resets make a mark and wrap a few times or a good zip tie in each end. Hope that helps

[@nikofabic5721]

@@johnnysweekends Also do you know any other junction boxes that will work? Because the one that is linked is currently out of stock.

[@johnnysweekends]

You can buy the double but then its bigger than it needs to be. If not I would go to the store and make sure you get a box of equal size. It’s mainly inside and some differ.

[@miks3263]

So this went on the Neutral? I would have figured the Hot leg

[@johnnysweekends]

I thought the same.

[@Itzdavide]

In this case it doesn’t matter, but I would naturally place the hall sensor on the hot leg (Black wire). You are measuring the current of the circuit. The current should be the same for the hot and neutral wire.

[@saadatkhan9892]

Can we extend ct wire length if yes then how many feets maximum?? And which wire should we use

[@johnnysweekends]

You can but I don’t know how much. Several feet I would assume

[@saadatkhan9892]

@@johnnysweekends almost 40 feet..i want to place my ct at my distribution box and extend its cable to my room where energy meter would be installed..which wire should is use .

[@johnnysweekends]

I would assume 12g is fine. It’s not a load carrying wire. But I would double check things a few times

[@saadatkhan9892]

@@johnnysweekends please help me in this regard ..i am waiting brother

[@anthonymattei2378]

Thank you for this video! I see from the comments I would need 2 meters for a 2 pole / 240v circuit. But I have 2 questions: 1) Why can you not cut and splice the hots? In your video you just spread the coating of the black wire and wrap the pigtail around it...why not cut and splice with a wire nut? 2) For my situation I have a NEMA-L14 plug for my generator (2 hots, neutral, ground). In this case would I run 2 pigtails spliced off the neutral then for having 2 meters? one neutral for each meter? In the case of your video this would be the red pigtail. So I would have 2 reds and one for each meter? Thank you for any response I would really like to get this load meter to read my generator while in use backfeeding my house in power outages. @JOHNNY'S WEEKENDS

[@johnnysweekends]

When running 240 your have two hot wires sharing a neutral verse on the 120 generator the load and neutral will show the same results . But 240 you need a meter on each load wire black and red to get the correct readings off each to be accurate.

[@anthonymattei2378]

@@johnnysweekends OKay thank you I understand that, thanks for the clarifiation on the 240 vs 120. But also, what about my questions #1 & #2 above? Why not splice the hots with a wire nut? and for a 2-meter-setup...you would take 2 pigtails off the neutral correct? one for each meter? Thank you again, this has been a massive help in explaining this...

[@johnnysweekends]

The wire nuts just take up room in the box is all. So instead of cutting and adding more stuff I just spread the wire. Both work. And for two meter you need just the hot it each for the CT or Hall sensor. The power wires could use the load or neutral wires as they will both have power. Does this help

[@anthonymattei2378]

@@johnnysweekends Awesome thank you this helps!! Great job!!

[@danielnaveda8096]

Is there any similar to buy online ? Does anybody know ? Thanks 🔦

[@johnnysweekends]

I have not seen one like this that is plug and play. Maybe someone is working on one but if you want something more expensive watch dog makes a rv one that keeps track of some info.. See here amzn.to/38n7DxU

[@iMakos101]

Will I be able to build something like this for 240 v 50amps that uses both a red and black hot wire? Or how would I wire it? Im trying to build it for my back up generator that is coming into the house.

[@johnnysweekends]

Yes but you’ll need two meters one for each load wire.

[@iMakos101]

@@johnnysweekends do you add the wattage together then?

[@johnnysweekends]

Yes that will give the total draw. Or amps together.

[@iMakos101]

@@johnnysweekends perfect thank you! That's what I need.

[@johnnysweekends]

Let me know how it goes. I would like to try one meter into the neutral of the 240 to see how accurate it is. May have to look into that..🤔

[@gabrielflores741]

Is it possible to use the same set up for a 4 wire cable

[@johnnysweekends]

No you’ll need two meters

[@gabrielflores741]

Even if it’s a 3 pole twist socket? And if 2 meters are used do you just add the 2 number to find overall power usage?

[@johnnysweekends]

You want to run a 50amp setup..? 240 volt? Each meter gets one load line.

[@johnnysweekends]

Why do you have 4 wires on a 3 pole twist ?

[@gabrielflores741]

It came like that on my RV A 2019 Sabre 36bhq

[@interdimensionaldrift]

How accurate are the readings?

[@johnnysweekends]

+/- 1 percent from what I have seen. I have seen 25 amps and my $400 dollar meter would should 24.7…. And some times it would be .1 off. It’s a nice general meter but if you need something more accurate I would find something better and more accurate but that will also cost more.

[@interdimensionaldrift]

@@johnnysweekends Thank you!

[@jsimanella]

No solder???

[@johnnysweekends]

?

[@jsimanella]

You wrapped the smaller wire around the larger wire and taped it without soldering. Also, the manufacturer of that meter you linked specifically states not to use it on anything other than utility power. You have a good channel, but you're encouraging unsafe practices.

[@johnnysweekends]

The small wire is a pick up wire…. Doesn’t do anything besides provide signal and a pinch of power. Manufacturers of about everything, including your motorcycle tell you not to use it a certain way. Do not modify the motorcycle under any circumstances and never ride faster then your ability or the speed limit. Make sure you follow your manuals break in period and all service intervals to not void warranty. Replace all items if they don’t meet spec and only use OEM parts and fluids to not void warranty. Do you see where I’m getting at. Legal material to make sure the company is not liable for anything. Many items for Ac is not soldered just wire nuts, or blocks and more. There are thousands of channels, and some really do some unsafe stuff with no experience at all. Which if the viewer they do not know or are not comfortable with anything they see in anyones video they should consult a expert. Like with all my videos they are for entertainment purposes only and JOHNNYS WEEKENDS IS NOT RESPONSIBLE, for viewers who don’t consult experts first or have proper knowledge or skill. See what I did there…. Utility power is sine wave at 60hz and so are all of these generators. I should show you the generator diy natural gas trick video….. that guy is gonna kill a whole neighborhood hood

[@KuntalGhosh]

6:10 that's not a hall sensor that's a current transformer , u need hall sensor for dc measurement only and still they are very inaccurate .

[@johnnysweekends]

A Hall effect sensor has a ton of uses for ac and dc. They use them in so many items now thanks to microprocessors and small computers they can detect multiple things in both ac and dc currents. A hall sensor detects the Hall effect. Which this sensor thanks to the world of technology it can convert the data into speed, current , and more to measure other forms of magnetic fields. That data is ran thru a small computer to give the information we wanna see. Hall effect sensors have been around in many applications in gps, cell phones and medical devices and more for a while. I don’t know every everything but I try to read and research items that way it’s I guess somewhat accurate…😅😀👍🏼👊🏼

[@johnnysweekends]

You could also call it a current sensor as well as they do the same thing.

[@KuntalGhosh]

@@johnnysweekends yes but in your display meter that is a current transformer. U pass the wire through it and it has a coil wound to the toroid & when current goes through it , it produces a small voltage at the other coil and the meter reads it to calculate the current and waveform for power factor. A hall sensor can be just taped to the wire , check some of those dc current clamp meters .. in proper installation they use current transformer (ct) for ac current measurement and shunt for dc current measurement. The hall effect sensor is not accurate & u will find that in spec sheets of dc clamp meters.

[@KuntalGhosh]

@@johnnysweekends if u have an oscilloscope , u can connect that current transformer to it and measure current wave form of stuff in ur home & if u provide the scope with a voltage wave form u can calculate power factor and see how different loads pull current like capacitive , inductive or resistive loads. Even a cheap oscilloscope will show u pretty good representation of mains frequency wave form and current wave form .

[@johnnysweekends]

I’ve been meaning to buy one to verify some of the wave forms, even though now I think with current technology even cheap products can produce pure sine wave easily. For the most part I understand what you are saying but In the video I try to keep things simplistic for viewers as a majority don’t care about more of the technical aspect. And these meters you buy are always advertised with a Hall effect sensor when you purchase them. You can even just buy a current sensor but will be advertised as a hall sensor. Basically the ring you pass the wire through will be advertised as hall sensor and you can just buy that with a pigtail. But Hall effect sensor will pull up both items. A current sensor ring and a hall sensor that looks a little more like a shunt but with leads coming off it. So for viewers it’s just easier to not get to technical, because I know there are several electrical engineers who know way more then I. Which seems you are a few steps ahead. But thanks for the conversation…👍🏼😀

[@maxum3300]

Can i purchase a meter like this?

[@johnnysweekends]

Only the meter it self but I have not seen one that is built and ready to go. I bet at some point someone will..

[@adammiller8415]

First off no wire not even SOOW cord should be run through a box even if its plastic. It has to have either a strain relief, nm connector, or weather proof cord grip if used outside. Second no voltage of wire gets connected by wrapping another wire around it and wrapping that with tape. That's stupid and how shit shorts out and causes fires. Wires get cut, stripped, twisted together with lineman pliers, and then wire nutted to secure the twisted connection. Third the signal wire should be 10 gauge as it has the same load on it as the rest of the cord. However, as that meter can't fit a 10 gauge wire a minimum of 12 gauge should be used as in the NEC code book it can be used for 30 amp although still not recommended. You absolutely do not 14 gauge or 16 gauge wire.

[@adammiller8415]

@@JC-gd3cc we’ll see how nice you handle it when someone builds it gets killed