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15th July 2014, 06:48 PM
#1
Travelling Podologist
Cheap Battery monitor.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/180957166...84.m1423.l2649
These look like a useful bit of gear. Monitors that do what this one does usually cost $200 to $400.
Comes with the shunt & shows voltage, amps in & amps out, battery percentage (State of Charge), time to full charge (at current charging rate) & more.
In fact it does all that my NASA BM1 ‘Compact’ monitor does which I bought at a bargain price of $140 (usually closer to $240).
I have no direct experience of these units but do know of one person who is using one successfully & he is not someone likely to accept rubbish.
2006 4.2TDi ex-Telstra Remote area Camper. 425w roof mounted solar, 360Ah Aux batts, BCDC1240, Onboard hot & cold pressurised & filtered water, (25 litre hot water calorifier), ARB fridge, ARB freezer, Built in kitchen, heaps of easy access storage, 240v, 3” Genie exhaust + dynotune, 2” lift, 3900kg GVM upgrade, second glovebox, ROH Blaktrak steel wheels, Bridgestone D697's (now Toyo RT's), Redarc gauges/pillarpod, Hema HX-1, Icom 450 CB, dual rear view cameras, Onboard 30amp Victron mains charger, second glovebox, dual seat conversion, TPMS, Boss PX7 onboard air with 9 litre tank, 350w inverter, Steel bullbar, Harrop Eaton diff lock (front), Warn winch, Snorkel, Dual spares , 160 litre water tank, 180 litre fuel in two tanks (approx 1200km range) 2010 Tvan Tanami. (incl another 70 litre water tank) with matching wheels/tyres (& 3rd spare)
A Nomadic Life (Blog)
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The Following 12 Users Say Thank You to Cuppa For This Useful Post:
Bloodyaussie (15th July 2014), Family4x4 (15th July 2014), Gavshe (26th May 2015), graeme1969 (15th July 2014), Hodge (15th July 2014), krbrooking (15th July 2014), macca (15th July 2014), Maxhead (15th July 2014), mudski (21st July 2014), my third 256 (16th July 2014), oncedisturbed (31st July 2014), Yabb (15th July 2014)
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15th July 2014 06:48 PM
# ADS
Circuit advertisement
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15th July 2014, 06:58 PM
#2
Worth a punt at that price...
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15th July 2014, 07:08 PM
#3
Patrol God
Well spotted Cuppa. Since i'm doing my dual battery system as I type this, I was after something like this. Hmmm Buy button is.... tempting.
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15th July 2014, 07:21 PM
#4
Patrol Guru
Thanks Cuppa would this unit be able to monitor both batteries? Would it be as simple as adding a switch if it doesn't?
In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.
Theodore Roosevelt
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15th July 2014, 07:33 PM
#5
Originally Posted by
Hodge
Well spotted Cuppa. Since i'm doing my dual battery system as I type this, I was after something like this. Hmmm Buy button is.... tempting.
Do it mate one of us has to be the Guinea pig lol I'll be curious to see how it goes
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15th July 2014, 07:37 PM
#6
Originally Posted by
Family4x4Fun
Thanks Cuppa would this unit be able to monitor both batteries? Would it be as simple as adding a switch if it doesn't?
The switch would probably depend on if when switching the unit between batteries it turns the unit off then you will have to reset the ah capacity of the batteries loosing your current place but it looks like there are two pos inputs so one may be for the amps reading and power and the other volt reading.
I think it would work looking at it closer.. But maybe put a momentary switch on the pos powering the shunt so you don't forget to switch it back..
Last edited by megatexture; 15th July 2014 at 07:41 PM.
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The Following User Says Thank You to megatexture For This Useful Post:
Family4x4 (15th July 2014)
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15th July 2014, 08:18 PM
#7
Travelling Podologist
Originally Posted by
Family4x4Fun
Thanks Cuppa would this unit be able to monitor both batteries? Would it be as simple as adding a switch if it doesn't?
Not really. The way that these monitors are able to be used as a ‘Battery fuel gauge’ is by first the capacity of the battery being set by the owner. Eg. 100Ah. When the battery is full (determined by voltage) any usage draws Ah’s from it. The monitor can then tell how much of the capacity, as a percentage, has been used. Likewise it can add Ah’s when being charged.
They are smart enough to recognise charging & usage at the same time. It is not uncommon for my monitor to show +ve amps from the solar whilst the fridge is running for example, because there is more coming in than is going out.
The problem with switching between two different batteries is that each battery capacity would likely be different, meaning the monitor would need to be reset. Even if they were exactly the same it would still take a little while for the monitor to suss out the other battery’s SoC. So not really practical. Besides I can see no point monitoring a start battery in this way. As long as it has sufficient voltage to start the vehicle that is all that is needed, & most dual battery systems have a means of protecting against draining the start battery.
For setups with more than one aux batteries, this meter could monitor both if they were connected to each other (would see them as one large battery). If it is desired to not connect them together then a separate monitor for each battery would do the job.
Last edited by Cuppa; 15th July 2014 at 10:49 PM.
2006 4.2TDi ex-Telstra Remote area Camper. 425w roof mounted solar, 360Ah Aux batts, BCDC1240, Onboard hot & cold pressurised & filtered water, (25 litre hot water calorifier), ARB fridge, ARB freezer, Built in kitchen, heaps of easy access storage, 240v, 3” Genie exhaust + dynotune, 2” lift, 3900kg GVM upgrade, second glovebox, ROH Blaktrak steel wheels, Bridgestone D697's (now Toyo RT's), Redarc gauges/pillarpod, Hema HX-1, Icom 450 CB, dual rear view cameras, Onboard 30amp Victron mains charger, second glovebox, dual seat conversion, TPMS, Boss PX7 onboard air with 9 litre tank, 350w inverter, Steel bullbar, Harrop Eaton diff lock (front), Warn winch, Snorkel, Dual spares , 160 litre water tank, 180 litre fuel in two tanks (approx 1200km range) 2010 Tvan Tanami. (incl another 70 litre water tank) with matching wheels/tyres (& 3rd spare)
A Nomadic Life (Blog)
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The Following User Says Thank You to Cuppa For This Useful Post:
Family4x4 (15th July 2014)
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15th July 2014, 08:27 PM
#8
It would be able to switch for volts
Last edited by megatexture; 15th July 2014 at 09:17 PM.
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15th July 2014, 08:30 PM
#9
Travelling Podologist
Originally Posted by
megatexture
I would be able to switch for volts
Yes you could switch just for a reading of voltage & real time amps in or out, but could also achieve this with a simple volt/ ammeter. The same seller has such combo meters too.(& they are cheaper).
Last edited by Cuppa; 15th July 2014 at 08:36 PM.
2006 4.2TDi ex-Telstra Remote area Camper. 425w roof mounted solar, 360Ah Aux batts, BCDC1240, Onboard hot & cold pressurised & filtered water, (25 litre hot water calorifier), ARB fridge, ARB freezer, Built in kitchen, heaps of easy access storage, 240v, 3” Genie exhaust + dynotune, 2” lift, 3900kg GVM upgrade, second glovebox, ROH Blaktrak steel wheels, Bridgestone D697's (now Toyo RT's), Redarc gauges/pillarpod, Hema HX-1, Icom 450 CB, dual rear view cameras, Onboard 30amp Victron mains charger, second glovebox, dual seat conversion, TPMS, Boss PX7 onboard air with 9 litre tank, 350w inverter, Steel bullbar, Harrop Eaton diff lock (front), Warn winch, Snorkel, Dual spares , 160 litre water tank, 180 litre fuel in two tanks (approx 1200km range) 2010 Tvan Tanami. (incl another 70 litre water tank) with matching wheels/tyres (& 3rd spare)
A Nomadic Life (Blog)
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The Following User Says Thank You to Cuppa For This Useful Post:
Family4x4 (15th July 2014)
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15th July 2014, 10:26 PM
#10
Originally Posted by
Family4x4Fun
Thanks Cuppa would this unit be able to monitor both batteries? Would it be as simple as adding a switch if it doesn't?
What were you trying to achieve? Car dual battery or a camper setup ?
I'm tempted to get one just to see what its like lol . HMmmm
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