I've designed (subject to modifications as required) a battery indicator circuit, I am wondering though what sort of output is best....
it is a 3 state indicator plus a flashing warning led for overcharge/voltage.
should I have 3+1 leds in a line ? in which case should the leds stay on as the next state is reached so that they go up in a bar or just the current state be lit ?
or would a tricolour led + a warning flashing led be better ?
I know its more down to personal choice and thats why I'm asking...
Me too. I can post a circuit of what I built for my airplane. Single Bicolor LED: Red for overvoltage, Green for alternator charging, Amber for Alternator off-line;battery discharging.
No flashing, I used steady Red to indicate a runaway alternator condition such as might happen if the VR output transistor shorts and applies full-on field current to the alternator. I set the trip point to 15.2V, which is what the full-on 60A output from the alternator would drive the battery to fairly quickly.
I used 12.8V as the trip point to indicate that the alternator is off line. If the alternator is on-line, the battery voltage rises to above that value almost immediately... Amber= <12.8V, Green = 12.8-15.2V, Red = >15.2V.
I built the entire circuit on a postage stamp sized circuit board. I drilled a hole in the end of the bi-Led and inserted an clad optical fiber. The circuit is mounted behind the panel. All that comes through the panel is the fiber itself, so only a tiny hole had to be drilled in the panel. I cut the fiber with a sharp razor, and it transmits sufficient light to clearly visible even in daylight.
actually I was asking about my own project, I can do it so that the tricolour led stays on whilst the warning led flashes or i can do it so that the tricolour led goes off and just the warning flashes, I think this may be more visual as there is the loss of one and the lighting of another