Battery monitor question
I am about to replace my battery with 4 6 volt batteries. (I have another post with some other questions about this) When I do this, I plan on adding a Victron battery monitor. It looks like it w...
Forum Discussion
BFL13 and dieseltruckdriver,
The main problem with pretty much all amp-hour counters is that the capacity of the battery bank has to be known. Unfortunately, capacity is a "moveable feast", so a six month old battery, even if maintained beautifully, has a different amp-hour rating than one that is brand new out of the box. In some cases it might actually be higher than the new one, and in others much lower.
BFL13 is one of the very few folks who actually does do capacity tests. For myself, I'd really rather watch paint dry. *grin*
The Victron with Puekert may more closely reflect the capacity, especially if a large inverter is in use. But it is still "just a guess" (perhaps a slightly better one).
The Victron has two other advantages besides the Puekert. It has a smaller foot print, and is cheaper than the Trimetric.
The only one that becomes more accurate with use is the Smartgauge. It measures the batteries something like 50,000 times per minute. Two issues. COST and it won't work with li jars.
I do not use an amp-hour counter because my dc loads are of only 2 types. Extremely low, and pretty much sky high. I do use a watt meter for the sky high stuff. But even after an inverter alarm would sound, the low level loads could still be carried for many days without causing the fridge to shut down.
In fact, because I have a modest solar charging set up, the low level loads would essentially be carried "forever" and the battery bank would gradually come back up to fully charged. Even under 2 inches of snow I do get some charging. (not sure about 6 inches)
The main problem with pretty much all amp-hour counters is that the capacity of the battery bank has to be known. Unfortunately, capacity is a "moveable feast", so a six month old battery, even if maintained beautifully, has a different amp-hour rating than one that is brand new out of the box. In some cases it might actually be higher than the new one, and in others much lower.
BFL13 is one of the very few folks who actually does do capacity tests. For myself, I'd really rather watch paint dry. *grin*
The Victron with Puekert may more closely reflect the capacity, especially if a large inverter is in use. But it is still "just a guess" (perhaps a slightly better one).
The Victron has two other advantages besides the Puekert. It has a smaller foot print, and is cheaper than the Trimetric.
The only one that becomes more accurate with use is the Smartgauge. It measures the batteries something like 50,000 times per minute. Two issues. COST and it won't work with li jars.
I do not use an amp-hour counter because my dc loads are of only 2 types. Extremely low, and pretty much sky high. I do use a watt meter for the sky high stuff. But even after an inverter alarm would sound, the low level loads could still be carried for many days without causing the fridge to shut down.
In fact, because I have a modest solar charging set up, the low level loads would essentially be carried "forever" and the battery bank would gradually come back up to fully charged. Even under 2 inches of snow I do get some charging. (not sure about 6 inches)
