So this guy was selling an open box Balmar smart gauge on fleabay. They are expensive and I go by voltage to gauge my batterys by that. Well he had a make offer price so I lowballed @ $140. He didnt budge and relisted a month later. I offered him $150 and he counter offered $170. All said and done we settles on $160 buck. Thats the story of how I aqired this gauge.Do I want it? IDKHence why I didnt cut the hole in the wall yet... LOL. I should just do it.Well im running a load 7.5 amps from the batts. It was suggested to do each battery seperate, but I dont have the patience to unhook all the wires..I have 150 ah, I assume 75 ah usable. But the batts are 5 years old. But not abused too much.We will see how it goes, and how this balmar box of Sorcery worksTook 13 lights on and the stove top exhaust fan to get 7.5 amps.Ran 12 gauge wire to batts. Just need to cut the hole.Started with a 1.275-77 SG about 12.8 v.Big voltage drop @ only 7.5 amps... Hmmmmm..

I just added more on the testing in the other thread. 12.25 initial drop is not the end of the world, but you are right to say, "hmmm". See the other thread for details.I have no idea what that gizmo is or does, but you can't have too many gizmos! :)

Beware of that status gauge. You can see if it tells the truth once you do your test.To be clear, you will get to 50% by SG and voltage readings after a certain time. So if it takes 8 hours, that is 8 x 7.5 = 60AH for 50%. So your 100% full is 120AH. Rating as new is 150AH so you are at 120/150= 80%Same as 8 hours instead of 10, so you can just use the time to get your percentage of rated SOC.I am thinking that gizmo is going to give the wrong answer unless it already knows what the actual AH capacity of the batteries is, and how can it know that, when you don't yet?

BFL13 wrote:I just added more on the testing in the other thread. 12.25 initial drop is not the end of the world, but you are right to say, "hmmm". See the other thread for details.I have no idea what that gizmo is or does, but you can't have too many gizmos! :)Gizmo supposed to tell SOC without a shunt.So Gizmo says 82%. Its been a bit over an hour. That gizmo needs a few charge/discharges to get more accurate..Ironically the voltage went up after an this first hour. Im up from 12.3 to 12.4 now. Still running 7.5 amps.SG about 1.270?82% 12.4vConflicting voltage meters. Ill get a reading right at batts to verify.

I am thinking that gizmo is going to give the wrong answer unless it already knows what the actual AH capacity of the batteries is, and how can it know that, when you don't yet? Its smarter then me!!!!! LOLhttp://www.balmar.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/PDS-44-SG-1224.pdfhttps://marinehowto.com/smart-gauge-battery-monitoring-unit/

Just take notes and keep going. It will take hours if the batts are any good. Beware of single decimal point voltages. Can be misleading when they "round up". If you have a meter that reads to two decimal points you can get a better idea if 12.3 means 12.35 or if 12.4 means 12.35.Battery temperature changes can mean different voltages. So will SG readings change. IMO ignore all that because the margin of error in those won't change the big picture you are after.EDIT--that gizmo is not smarter than you. Some folks on here have been led astray by believing their AH counters and SOC meters, when they should have been checking their batteries. :(This ten hour test (which might not take that long) will tell you the truth. Then you can calibrate the meter if it can be calibrated.

Balmar smart gauge and 10 hour AH testing | Good Sam Community

lawrosa
Explorer
Mar 25, 2018
BFL13 wrote:
lawrosa wrote:
Just a side note. Actual volts @ batts are 12.45. So MT50 showing 12.4 is closer to accurate. The balmer shows 12.35 v..

Probably the 11 feet of 12 gauge wire for the balmer. Where the MT50 is off the solar controller with RJ45. And the controller is 4 ft from batts with 8 gauge.

And thats how I usually gauges it when boondocking. If my inside meters read 12.2 or 12.1 I can be assured the actual batt voltage was/is higher

I hope the solar controller is not connected to the panels while you are running this test!

No nothing is connected
BFL13
Explorer II
Mar 25, 2018
lawrosa wrote:
Just a side note. Actual volts @ batts are 12.45. So MT50 showing 12.4 is closer to accurate. The balmer shows 12.35 v..

Probably the 11 feet of 12 gauge wire for the balmer. Where the MT50 is off the solar controller with RJ45. And the controller is 4 ft from batts with 8 gauge.

And thats how I usually gauges it when boondocking. If my inside meters read 12.2 or 12.1 I can be assured the actual batt voltage was/is higher

I hope the solar controller is not connected to the panels while you are running this test!
BFL13
Explorer II
Mar 25, 2018
lawrosa wrote:
Just a side note. Actual volts @ batts are 12.45. So MT50 showing 12.4 is closer to accurate. The balmer shows 12.35 v..

Probably the 11 feet of 12 gauge wire for the balmer. Where the MT50 is off the solar controller with RJ45. And the controller is 4 ft from batts with 8 gauge.

And thats how I usually gauges it when boondocking. If my inside meters read 12.2 or 12.1 I can be assured the actual batt voltage was/is higher

Yes, cross-check everything. You get to "know your rig" and can then tell if something isn't right. Another thing is when your meter's battery gets low, the voltage reads higher, and it happens over time so you don't notice right away and get wrong info for a while until you do notice. Cross-checking helps with that.
lawrosa
Explorer
Mar 25, 2018
Just a side note. Actual volts @ batts are 12.45. So MT50 showing 12.4 is closer to accurate. The balmer shows 12.35 v..

Probably the 11 feet of 12 gauge wire for the balmer. Where the MT50 is off the solar controller with RJ45. And the controller is 4 ft from batts with 8 gauge.

And thats how I usually gauges it when boondocking. If my inside meters read 12.2 or 12.1 I can be assured the actual batt voltage was/is higher
BFL13
Explorer II
Mar 25, 2018
Just take notes and keep going. It will take hours if the batts are any good. Beware of single decimal point voltages. Can be misleading when they "round up". If you have a meter that reads to two decimal points you can get a better idea if 12.3 means 12.35 or if 12.4 means 12.35.

Battery temperature changes can mean different voltages. So will SG readings change. IMO ignore all that because the margin of error in those won't change the big picture you are after.

EDIT--that gizmo is not smarter than you. Some folks on here have been led astray by believing their AH counters and SOC meters, when they should have been checking their batteries. :(

This ten hour test (which might not take that long) will tell you the truth. Then you can calibrate the meter if it can be calibrated.
lawrosa
Explorer
Mar 25, 2018
I am thinking that gizmo is going to give the wrong answer unless it already knows what the actual AH capacity of the batteries is, and how can it know that, when you don't yet?

Its smarter then me!!!!! LOL

http://www.balmar.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/PDS-44-SG-1224.pdf

https://marinehowto.com/smart-gauge-battery-monitoring-unit/
lawrosa
Explorer
Mar 25, 2018
BFL13 wrote:
I just added more on the testing in the other thread. 12.25 initial drop is not the end of the world, but you are right to say, "hmmm". See the other thread for details.

I have no idea what that gizmo is or does, but you can't have too many gizmos! :)

Gizmo supposed to tell SOC without a shunt.

So Gizmo says 82%. Its been a bit over an hour. That gizmo needs a few charge/discharges to get more accurate..

Ironically the voltage went up after an this first hour. Im up from 12.3 to 12.4 now. Still running 7.5 amps.

SG about 1.270?

82% 12.4v

Conflicting voltage meters. Ill get a reading right at batts to verify.
BFL13
Explorer II
Mar 25, 2018
Beware of that status gauge. You can see if it tells the truth once you do your test.

To be clear, you will get to 50% by SG and voltage readings after a certain time. So if it takes 8 hours, that is 8 x 7.5 = 60AH for 50%. So your 100% full is 120AH. Rating as new is 150AH so you are at 120/150= 80%

Same as 8 hours instead of 10, so you can just use the time to get your percentage of rated SOC.

I am thinking that gizmo is going to give the wrong answer unless it already knows what the actual AH capacity of the batteries is, and how can it know that, when you don't yet?
BFL13
Explorer II
Mar 25, 2018
I just added more on the testing in the other thread. 12.25 initial drop is not the end of the world, but you are right to say, "hmmm". See the other thread for details.

I have no idea what that gizmo is or does, but you can't have too many gizmos! :)

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