How to monitor battery state of charge
Based on advice I recently got here I upgraded my TT battery setup to two golf cart batteries. I won't be upgrading my converter or any other parts of this system (or adding solar) at this time, alth...
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A true battery gauge will involve a shunt to measure the current in and out of the battery. You program the device for the AH of your bank and it will keep track of how many amps have gone in and out over time. This is a far more accurate than a simple volt meter. A battery's voltage fluctuates based on whether it's being charged or discharged when the volt reading is taken.
One simple and fairly inexpensive battery gauge is the TriMetric. They make several different model, the TM-2030-RV would be the one I'd look at. Link10 is another gauge that is worth considering.
If you do plan to ever get a nice inveter/charger most manufacturers also make a battery meter. They typically will plug into the communication bus of the inverter/charger and allow you to see the battery level on the same display keypad. Magnum, Outback, and Xantrex all offer these; I think Victron has one too.
A hydrometer is really the best way to know how your batteries are doing but that can get messy and is best left for occasional check ups at home. A simple volt meter, or worse yet the idiot lights that come with most RVs, is a very simple, inexpensive, and rather inaccurate way of trying to determine battery state of charge.
One simple and fairly inexpensive battery gauge is the TriMetric. They make several different model, the TM-2030-RV would be the one I'd look at. Link10 is another gauge that is worth considering.
If you do plan to ever get a nice inveter/charger most manufacturers also make a battery meter. They typically will plug into the communication bus of the inverter/charger and allow you to see the battery level on the same display keypad. Magnum, Outback, and Xantrex all offer these; I think Victron has one too.
A hydrometer is really the best way to know how your batteries are doing but that can get messy and is best left for occasional check ups at home. A simple volt meter, or worse yet the idiot lights that come with most RVs, is a very simple, inexpensive, and rather inaccurate way of trying to determine battery state of charge.
