Banggood sells these dual voltmeter/usb charger things for under $20:

http://www.banggood.com/Motorcycle-Dual-USB-Charger-Adapter-With-Voltmeter-
Socket-p-940589.html

http://goo.gl/axRGNo

If you remove them from their case, they fit (almost) perfectly into the
place where the cigar lighter is in the dash of the vanagon. A bit of work
with a round file gets you from almost to perfect.

I have the USB charger in there now and it is very useful, a far better
solution that the usual lame plug-in things and the crappy lighter socket.

I am next going to drill a similar hole right beside that, and install the
volt-meter. I have some �on-off-on� toggle switches and intend to mount
one in between the two gadgets, so that I can power (and see the voltage
of) from either battery AND turn them both off when necessary.

I can confirm that they draw next to no power when not in use - I�ve had
them in there, unswitched, for a while. But the glow from the LEDs is non
trivial in a dark camp-site, and being able to turn them off is important
for that reason.

I hadn�t thought of connecting them to the �key in the ignition� but
that�s an option too, if you don�t want to charge while parked.

Weirdly, banggood has the same thing, but with all three (voltmeter, USB,
and socket) for less than the dual setup. Might as well get that one, save
$2, and keep the socket for some future project.

http://www.banggood.com/Dual-USB-Adapter-Charger-Cigarette-Lighter-Sockets-
Digital-Voltmeter-p-949446.html

http://goo.gl/Ffd6Rb

..r

On 2015-06-06, 12:44 AM, "Dick Wong" <sailingfc@DSLEXTREME.COM> wrote:

>http://tinyurl.com/nwqjzfp
>
>I picked up one of those digital voltmeters you see on Amazon and ebay
>from
>a buddy of mine.  Thought it would work well in the Syncro instead of a
>round dial gauge in or on the dash.  Came up with this idea and wanted to
>share what I did.  Now I have the rest of the weekend to figure out how to
>wire it up.  I am thinking of using a continuous duty Bosch relay, that I
>have, that will be switched by the "key in ignition" circuit, to power
>this
>meter as well as my add-on multi-socket/USB power splitter.
>
>-Dick Wong-
>78 Scirocco
>Original Owner
>87 Vanagon Syncro 2.5 (Blaze)
>Third Owner
>12 Golf TDI
>Original Co-Owner