Battery Monitors
I've nearly completed my upgrade to my Solar System(Pics coming when I'm done). Thinking(after the fact of course)that I should have considered a Battery Monitor in the upgrade, or at least preparatio...
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I don’t find it complicated or in need of micromanagement. I charged it fully, set the amp hour capacity and 100% charge on the monitor when I first installed it. The solar charge controller keeps on charging slowly after the monitor reads 100% but the monitor doesn’t go beyond 100%. It has recalibrated itself so 100% means charging has replaced all the amp hours used since it was last fully charged. No adjusting ever. No doubt it is getting less accurate as the battery capacity diminishes but I always know when I’ve got a full charge.
The battery monitor is perfectly easy to use and the only convenient means of knowing how charged the batteries are. The voltage method, including idiot lights, is overly optimistic because it reads the charging voltage for hours after charging has ceased and you think all is well until your batteries die. For me, on our first long trip, it was no heat on a cold morning. Fortunately we were near a town on Vancouver Island that had a Costco store where I could get new batteries. Those batteries I bought in 2011 now seem to be as good as new so I figure the $25 battery monitor is doing its job.
The battery monitor is perfectly easy to use and the only convenient means of knowing how charged the batteries are. The voltage method, including idiot lights, is overly optimistic because it reads the charging voltage for hours after charging has ceased and you think all is well until your batteries die. For me, on our first long trip, it was no heat on a cold morning. Fortunately we were near a town on Vancouver Island that had a Costco store where I could get new batteries. Those batteries I bought in 2011 now seem to be as good as new so I figure the $25 battery monitor is doing its job.
