Forum Discussion

RobWNY's avatar
RobWNY
Explorer
Apr 13, 2017

Trimetric Battery Monitor with Battery Shutoff

For those of you that have both a Battery Shut Off and a Trimetric Battery Monitor, do you use the shutoff after each camping trip and re-program the Battery Monitor after turning the batteries back on or do you only use the shutoff at the end of the season when your camper will be in storage for a while? It seems to me that using the shutoff between trips and having to re-program the battery monitor each time would be a pain in the neck, especially if you take several trips each camping season. I plan on leaving my shutoff alone when I return home and having my camper plugged into shore power in-between trips to avoid having to do the re-programming but I've read a couple of articles where some re-charge their batteries when they return home and then shut them off and re-program the battery monitor when departing on their next trip. Just trying to get a feel for what others do. Thanks in advance!
  • BFL13's avatar
    BFL13
    Explorer II
    Apr 13, 2017
    I don't use a shut off, but on shore power the Tri AH counter keeps running and at 13.6 volts that means the AH count keeps rising. (The batteries take amps just to keep charged) So the drill is to reset the AH counter every time you start out on a new trip. That is if you have disabled the auto-reset because you have solar.
  • hedge's avatar
    hedge
    Explorer
    Apr 13, 2017
    Are you sure you lose your settings? My Victron doesn't as it saves it into flash memory, I would have thought the Trimetric would work the same way.
  • RobWNY's avatar
    RobWNY
    Explorer
    Apr 13, 2017
    I don't know for sure if I would lose my settings. I just got it and I'm in the process of installation. I just assumed if no power was going to it that it would lose the previous settings that were entered. I haven't read about any internal flash memory nor have I seen anything online about that. I better send an email to the company and ask about that.
  • BFL13's avatar
    BFL13
    Explorer II
    Apr 13, 2017
    If you disconnect the Tri pos from the battery power the display goes black. Restore 12v to the Tri and you get your three zeros. The AH counter has reset even if you have disabled auto-reset. But your programmed settings are still good, such as that auto-reset disabling.

    Your rig's battery disconnect can leave the LP alarm and radio memory still on. Plus some other items remain live. You can attach the Tri 12v line either side of the disconnect switch, so on the battery side the Tri display stays lit, and is another parasitic draw. No big deal.

    If you need to cut off the parasitic draws that badly, you disconnect the battery bank itself (But first disconnect your solar panel from the solar controller using the switch you cleverly installed for doing that.)
  • RobWNY's avatar
    RobWNY
    Explorer
    Apr 13, 2017
    I installed the shutoff switch so that everything will be off when I turn it off. Everything will be on when I turn it on. As long as the settings remain (Voltage setting, Total Amps of the battery bank, whether I want to read Amps or Watts, etc.) that's all I really care about. As for solar, I bought a 200w suitcase solar set up so that will be unplugged and put away before leaving the campsite.
  • mapguy's avatar
    mapguy
    Explorer
    Apr 13, 2017
    Is your disconnect on the positive or negative?

    Mounting the shunt properly should resolve this issue. Battery negative to shunt, then shunt to negative buss. All negative connections before shunt. This is the only way to capture all in/out movement of energy by the batteries.

    Memory has it that the positive side of shunt needs energy(very small parasitical load) to maintain the ongoing soc calculations but I would have to go back to the documentation to verify.

    The documentation for the Trimetric should cover this issue - but a phone call or email to Bogart should net the answer you seek.
  • RobWNY's avatar
    RobWNY
    Explorer
    Apr 13, 2017
    Shut off is connected to the Negative. Some use the Positive but I chose the Negative. I'm certain all my wiring is good. My best friend is an Electrical Engineer and together we made a diagram of what went where. I sent an email to Bogart Engineering to ask about whether the settings remain with power disconnected.
  • MrWizard's avatar
    MrWizard
    Moderator
    Apr 13, 2017
    I don't have the trimetric
    But if the meter is connected at the batteries, the disconnect goes between the batters and the house, not disconnecting the meter
    Then it won't be turned off

    My 'poor man's meter' has a battery capacity setting, and stops counting when the amp hours have been returned,
    I do reset it, every few months, if the return counting seems off
    But it has been doing very well

    The meter wiring is such that the battery disconnect does not disconnect the meter
  • hedge's avatar
    hedge
    Explorer
    Apr 13, 2017
    Just a heads up... probably obvious but thought I'd point out that if you want to use the meter to measure the current from your portable panels you'll have to connect the portable panel to the correct side of the shunt, if you connect directly to the battery the meter won't 'see' it.

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