Do I really need a $200 Battery Monitor??
Been reading and looking at battery monitors. Seems like they come in all sizes shapes and prices, some with a shunt and some without. Do the roughly $200 monitors like Trimetric, Bluesky, Magnum, X...
Forum Discussion
Gary,
From what I am reading from your comments and plans, yes, you want one. If you can do it for less than 200$ - Great. Just make sure that you at least get the bi-directional totalizing capability. I have done a lot with lead/acid banks and have found that the Peukert exponent function has little effect in general life.
What I have been trying to post over the last day or more.
We did boat electrics until the depression made the effort to stay in business fruitless. I looked at the instrument referenced many times, I even bought one as that was the only way to access the documentation.
If you NEVER dry camp, you don't need one. If you do or if you doondock for more than one day at a time, think about a good monitor. (One of the ~200$ kind, it could save you that much in replacement batteries.)
What I learned:
These are cumulative in one direction only. That cumulative register has to be manually reset.
That means you can record charge total ampere-hours
OR
you can record and display discharge total ampere-hours.
NOT BOTH
What you cannot get is the current remaining ampere-hours of the connected bank. And it sure won't give it back to you as a percentage of the bank capacity. (This what you really NEED to KNOW.)
The entire functional life of a 12 lead/acid bank is between terminal voltages of 12.0 to 12.6. Even if you have a voltmeter, if it is only 3 digit (i.e. 12.3) you are not able to accurately judge the state of charge. If a L/A Bank is discharged below 50% (~12.0V) it will be damaged and it will loose capacity.
If this does not answer why you should consider a real bank monitior, then maybe you don't need one. Not every one of my clients did. The powered boat people that never ever anchored out sure didn't. That same goes for FHU "campers".
Now, the device Mr. Wizard referenced from E-bay, just might work. My problem and why I won't recommend it right now, is that the owner/install manual is not on-line and I have not been able to
read it. The others I know.
Matt
From what I am reading from your comments and plans, yes, you want one. If you can do it for less than 200$ - Great. Just make sure that you at least get the bi-directional totalizing capability. I have done a lot with lead/acid banks and have found that the Peukert exponent function has little effect in general life.
What I have been trying to post over the last day or more.
We did boat electrics until the depression made the effort to stay in business fruitless. I looked at the instrument referenced many times, I even bought one as that was the only way to access the documentation.
If you NEVER dry camp, you don't need one. If you do or if you doondock for more than one day at a time, think about a good monitor. (One of the ~200$ kind, it could save you that much in replacement batteries.)
What I learned:
These are cumulative in one direction only. That cumulative register has to be manually reset.
That means you can record charge total ampere-hours
OR
you can record and display discharge total ampere-hours.
NOT BOTH
What you cannot get is the current remaining ampere-hours of the connected bank. And it sure won't give it back to you as a percentage of the bank capacity. (This what you really NEED to KNOW.)
The entire functional life of a 12 lead/acid bank is between terminal voltages of 12.0 to 12.6. Even if you have a voltmeter, if it is only 3 digit (i.e. 12.3) you are not able to accurately judge the state of charge. If a L/A Bank is discharged below 50% (~12.0V) it will be damaged and it will loose capacity.
If this does not answer why you should consider a real bank monitior, then maybe you don't need one. Not every one of my clients did. The powered boat people that never ever anchored out sure didn't. That same goes for FHU "campers".
Now, the device Mr. Wizard referenced from E-bay, just might work. My problem and why I won't recommend it right now, is that the owner/install manual is not on-line and I have not been able to
read it. The others I know.
Matt
