I'd also like to point out that in an automotive or tractor application.. a voltmeter ( especially an analog one with an un marked scale with only a minimum and maximum voltage on either side of the scale, IE.. 8-18v is a very 'weak' tool in judging health of a charging system.
A center 0 ammter is a much better tool IMHO, and can tell you some important things that are hard to interpret from a analog volt meter.
For starters, a good hot battery on a very low electrical load is going to look very similar to a good hot battery being charged. IE.. 13.8 vs 14.4 is going to be hard to interpret on a cheap analog meter. Meaning your alt can die and as long as the load is low, the battery will carry the electrics.. slowly discharging.
On a diesel tractor with out headlamps running.. you might run around all day discharging your battery not knowing the alt is bad becaus ethe volt meter needle is 1 or 2 mm left of where it should be..
On a center 0 ammeter, as soon as there is no net positive current flow into the battery, the needle swings left of 0 showing discharge. if load is low as in above case, the needle will be hovering just barely left or even perhaps right at 0.. in either case.. 0 or left of 0 tells you you are experiencing NO CHARGE. Ideally you will experience a low positive NET charge, thus your center 0 ammeter would normally set just right of 0 except perhaps right after startup when you might see 10-60 a of charge depending on your charge system and battery condition.. etc. untill it tapers off to a small positive net charge into the battery.
Ammeters are also good at helping you determine if a battery has a bad cell. On a voltmeter, as long as the charge device keeps the charge rate high enough, the voltage will be correct.. but as soon as you turn her off you might have a 10v battery that won't start your engine.. but it still 'looked' good on the voltmeter gauge.
On an ammeter you could notice the higher than normal charge current.. IE.. 5-8a vs 3 and realize that you are charging higher than normal, then know that something is wrong.
I just had to run to ga to pick up a stranded family that had they had an ammeter rather than a volt meter their bad battery that was making the alternator charge it's guts out.. well.. they might have been able to stop and get it fixed vs breaking down on the interstate not near a shop. bat was bad.. made alt overcharge .. volt meter on dash looked good.. turned vehicle off.. bat was bat would not restart.. alternator was roasted.. so they had to repalce it AND a battery. An ammeter gauge might have saved them the cost of the alternator as it would have shown unusually high charge current. ( true story from sat night ).
soundguy