Forum Discussion

alexey75's avatar
alexey75
Explorer
May 28, 2022

Battery monitor 100A vs 350A

Hello folks,

I am looking to install Aili battery monitor. There are two versions 100A and 350A.
I have one group 27 battery and one solar panel.
In next few years I am looking to add another three solar panels and maybe another battery.

Is there a reason or benefit to go with 350A version or 100A will be plenty for me?

Thanks
Alex
  • What battery information doesn’t your solar charge controller give you? Did you wire large enough to add three solar panels?
  • Alex,

    If you plan to run a microwave some day, then go for the 350 amp.
  • pianotuna wrote:
    Alex,

    If you plan to run a microwave some day, then go for the 350 amp.


    Thanks Don, just to clarify, to run microwave through inverter, right?
  • The 100A shunt is only good for small MW, and you need more amps for most MW --120A to 150A draw with inverter, roughly.

    Mostly the issue is the 100A shunt reads to two decimal places in volts while the 500A does it to one decimal place. (The other choice being 500A, not 350A, which I am not familiar with.)

    I recently got a Renogy 500A with the 500A shunt, which works great. One decimal place for volts is "good enough" and if you need two, you already have your digital multimeter (of course) to get that with.
  • alexey75 wrote:
    pianotuna wrote:
    Alex,

    If you plan to run a microwave some day, then go for the 350 amp.


    Thanks Don, just to clarify, to run microwave through inverter, right?


    yes
  • I went with the 350A version. It wasn’t much more and it gives you more than you need.
  • And the cheapo Amazon ones like you’re planning, are essentially the same price for either, so get the larger one. It doesn’t cost you more and you’re set up for future larger loads, if it lasts that long.