I installed a battery monitor in our camper. It cost less than $20.00, and gives far more information than the OEM battery monitor. Among its various features is an alarm to indicate when the battery voltage drops below a set level. The monitor is mounted on an interior wall that is near the converter so I could access the necessary connections. It must be connected to the battery's positive terminal, and a shunt (included with the monitor) installed in series with the wire directly connected to the battery's negative terminal. The other end of the shunt also connects to the monitor. The shunt enables the it to determine the total current being supplied by the battery. I used telephone wire (remember when the phone was hardwired and bolted to the wall?) to connect the display. It requires a total of 4 light weight wires. Telephone wire is perfect because it conveniently consists of 4 color coded wires in a single cable and it only costs 19 cents a foot! The monitor displays the instantaneous battery voltage and current (amps). Form these values it calculates the instantaneous power (watts) and calculates the cumulative energy (watt-hours) used since the monitor was last reset. It has a switchable backlite to illuminate the display if needed. The picture was taken with everything OFF. The .2 amps therefore is the total of the parasitic loads (Propane/CO detector and radio).

I just did the same thing! It gives quick and easy information.Hardest thing was tracing the battery negative wire back to the terminal block. Actual time about 1 hr.

4-in-1 DC Electricity Usage Monitorthere is different current ones available to select there

shastagary wrote:4-in-1 DC Electricity Usage Monitorthere is different current ones available to select thereThank you... I've been thinking about installing one of these but I was unsure exactly what to get

Battery Monitor Install | Good Sam Community

ADK_Camper
Explorer
Sep 25, 2020
Hey SpeakEasy, good luck with your planned installation. Because you reference a "clean" installation (a man after my own heart) may I offer some additional information that may be helpful. If you plan to install it in an interior hollow wall as I did you may be able to cut the opening using a jig saw. However, when I tried this it worked fine at the beginning, but I discovered there was a wire inside the wall that was in danger of being cut. I switched to a utility knife for the remainder of the cut. The camper walls are so thin that I actually got a nice clean cut with no difficulty. The only additional recommendation I have is that you make the hole as accurately as you can to ensure a nice snug fit. There are little plastic tabs on each end of the monitor that will compress when you insert it and hold it in place. So a sloppy fit might not hold very well.
SpeakEasy
Explorer
Sep 24, 2020
Thank you for posting this. I've purchased one and am in the process of installing it now. I want a "clean" job, so I had to order a couple of ring terminals large enough to put on the negative wire coming in from the battery (6 AWG I think) for the connection to the shunt.

-Speak
KMLsquared
Explorer
Sep 17, 2020
Those things are super cool, I actually have 2, one for the charger power and one for power used in the RV. I also added a simple $20 Bluetooth monitor for battery voltage. So I can lay in bed and see if I need to get up are charge the batteries. Also it has very good data logging that I can scroll back thru for many months. Highly recommend one of those as well.
ADK_Camper
Explorer
Sep 17, 2020
If you are considering installing one of these monitors, here is some information that may help.

Before you begin, disconnect shore power, and disconnect your battery. You can probably access all the necessary connections in the wiring behind your converter. So if you can access that area it is the place to start.

This is a picture of the back side of my converter. As you can see neatness is not a priority during factory assembly! Look for a bus bar that gangs many of the negative returns from various camper accessories (lights, fans, refrigerator etc.) One of these wires will return to the battery negative terminal and so carries all the current from all the camper's electrical systems. This is the wire to disconnect and connected to the shunt. You must supply another wire (8 gauge) between the other shunt terminal and the disconnected bus terminal. It might be tricky to find the correct wire to disconnect from the bus. In my case it was the only wire from the bus that went through the floor so that's something to look for. To verify you have the correct wire disconnected, reconnect your battery and check that no 12 volt accessory works.

The positive 12 volt connection should be easier to find. At the back lower left of my converter are a red and black wire. If you remove the converter front panel you will see these are tied together at a terminal labeled +12 volts.
deltabravo
Nomad
Sep 17, 2020
I installed this one.

It will display info on my tablet or smartphone with Bluetooth connectivity and an app.
dodge_guy
Explorer II
Sep 17, 2020
That's cool. Love that the little box charges the batteries. I need to get me a monitor too!
punomatic
Explorer
Sep 17, 2020
I put one of these in a year ago. It's nice to have more complete information. Installation was pretty easy. I recommend one, especially if you dry camp.
CavemanCharlie
Explorer III
Sep 17, 2020
Cool :C
path1
Explorer
Sep 16, 2020
shastagary wrote:
4-in-1 DC Electricity Usage Monitor

there is different current ones available to select there

Thank you... I've been thinking about installing one of these but I was unsure exactly what to get
shastagary
Explorer
Sep 16, 2020
4-in-1 DC Electricity Usage Monitor

there is different current ones available to select there