Battery monitor
My current battery monitor is a voltmeter and a chart to tell me percent batteries are full. Looking around it appears there are devices that would do a better job and provide other info as well. Wha...
Forum Discussion
Hi ktmrfs - I enjoyed your post and thinking. I am interested in the extra features you found on the Trimetric battery monitor.
It seems to me that the battery monitor and battery charge controller ought to be combined so charging is smart - higher voltage and current when the state of charge is low and lower when near full charge. I know charge controllers are supposed to do that but how can they do it well without knowing the state of charge?
It would be nice to have more aggressive charging on vehicles, too. We drive ours such short distances that they don't fully charge after a start. Then the current drawn by computer, remote radio, etc overnight often pulls the battery down to an unhealthy state. The alternator is more than capable of recharging fully in half an hour but I don't think it knows it needs to. I live in a cold climate so this is a serious problem.
It seems to me that the battery monitor and battery charge controller ought to be combined so charging is smart - higher voltage and current when the state of charge is low and lower when near full charge. I know charge controllers are supposed to do that but how can they do it well without knowing the state of charge?
It would be nice to have more aggressive charging on vehicles, too. We drive ours such short distances that they don't fully charge after a start. Then the current drawn by computer, remote radio, etc overnight often pulls the battery down to an unhealthy state. The alternator is more than capable of recharging fully in half an hour but I don't think it knows it needs to. I live in a cold climate so this is a serious problem.
