Battery Meter

Do you need any additional USB outlets?
Do you plan to get solar in the future?

I have something similar to this. It gives you USB ports, cig lighter, and voltage on a switch.

Dont buy the model i posted. The 2.1A USB is really old. The last USB port i bought was 3.0a and does fast charging. There might even be a newer style.

https://www.amazon.com/Kohree-Charger-Waterproof-Cigarette-Automotive/dp/B07T9HC65T/ref=sr_1_6?dchild=1&keywords=12v+power+panel&qid=1612998095&sr=8-6

I used one of the inexpensive ebay meters in my previous 5er, and put the BMV-702 in this one and I like the Victron MUCH better.

theoldwizard1 wrote:
Victron Battery Monitor. Several different models, some with Bluetooth. Not cheap, but probably the best one out there.

Ditto. It's the BMV-712.
Best one available in my opinion.

Here's mine

Tri Metric 2030RV. Ive been using it for more than a decade to monotr my Trojan 125's flooded wet cells. %charge, Amps, Voltage, works great. My batts are $900 for the 4 so its a worthy investment.

Doclocke,

I have this discussion with owners all the time.

You can get a 3-1/2 display that will tell you the Terminal Voltage of t the bank and not much else. Or, you can install a real battery monitor like Bogart or Victron and know what is really happening.

The entire existence of a 12V bank is between 11.9 and 12.8 VDC. If it gets outside of those, there is something wrong and a the voltage tells you is how much trouble you are in at this moment.

Matt

deltabravo wrote:
Ditto. It's the BMV-712.
Best one available in my opinion.

Here's a giant screen I installed over the weekend to read the BMV-712 data via the Bluetooth Victron Connect app

This tells me all I need to know:

I was considering a nice flush mounted voltmeter to monitor the house battery. I even bought one which didn't work (got my money back). I eventually bought a portable cigarette lighter voltage monitor to plug into a cigarette lighter connected to the house battery.



The advantage of this unit is it's portable, and can be removed if the plug needs to be used to power something else. It doesn't require modifying the Systems Monitor, or cutting a hole to mount a more permanent meter. It can also be plugged into the dash cigarette lighter to check the chassis battery charge/status.