Battery Monitor

[Tonks]

Hi all,

Any recommendations on a decent battery monitor at a reasonable price,

Thx.

[NP99]

Have a look at the sidewinder products
http://www.sidewinder.com.au/

Bought mine from him, good product.

[Cuppa]

To call that ABR battery monitor a battery monitor is stretching things a bit. All it is is a digital voltmeter with the ability to read voltages from more than one battery. If this suits the purpose then fine, but it isn't a battery monitor and in my view it is a bit naughty to advertise it as one. As just a volt meter it relies upon only the voltage for the user to estimate the battery's state of charge (SOC). You could do exactly the same with one of these (http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Red-LED-Digital-Panel-Meter-Voltmeter-Gauge-7-20V-2-Wire-No-Power-for-Car-A421-/181145653677?pt=AU_B_I_Electrical_Test_Equipment&hash=item2a2d1f51ad&_uhb=1) connected to each battery, or just one & a switch.

A 'proper' battery monitor is connected to the battery via a shunt so that it can measure the amount of amps going in & coming out. This gives a more accurate SOC reading, although even then there are some complicating factors that can make it not 100% accurate, but it's as good as you can get with a a battery, being a device which works on a chemicall reaction. Good battery monitors are not cheap, costing several hundred dollars. I have a 'mid way' version in my Patrol. It operates via a shunt so gives a real time reading of amps in or out, & with the capacity of the battery set is able to give a pretty good estimation of what capacity remains in the battery at any time. It is a NASA BM1 compact (http://www.nasamarine.com/proddetail.php?prod=BM1Compact), which I bought as a group buy for around $120 from the UK. I think they are around $160 in Australia.
Better still is the Xantrex monitor, which costs almost $500, but which can be bought in a rebadged version for quite a lot less, called Enerdrive. These can be seen & bought here (http://www.fridge-and-solar.net/monitor.htm). Feel free to contact the seller, he's a helpful bloke, as well as being a good mate of mine.

If you want to just stick with a volt meter to give an indication of your SOC, be aware that there are many factors which can mislead, making you think you have more OR less capacity left than you thought. This is not to say that a volt meter is not helpful, but it takes a reasonable amount of experience, an familiarity with YOUR system for it to have any value as a battery monitor.

Cuppa

[NP99]

To call that ABR battery monitor a battery monitor is stretching things a bit. All it is is a digital voltmeter with the ability to read voltages from more than one battery. If this suits the purpose then fine, but it isn't a battery monitor and in my view it is a bit naughty to advertise it as one. As just a volt meter it relies upon only the voltage for the user to estimate the battery's state of charge (SOC). You could do exactly the same with one of these (http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Red-LED-Digital-Panel-Meter-Voltmeter-Gauge-7-20V-2-Wire-No-Power-for-Car-A421-/181145653677?pt=AU_B_I_Electrical_Test_Equipment&hash=item2a2d1f51ad&_uhb=1) connected to each battery, or just one & a switch.

A 'proper' battery monitor is connected to the battery via a shunt so that it can measure the amount of amps going in & coming out. This gives a more accurate SOC reading, although even then there are some complicating factors that can make it not 100% accurate, but it's as good as you can get with a a battery, being a device which works on a chemicall reaction. Good battery monitors are not cheap, costing several hundred dollars. I have a 'mid way' version in my Patrol. It operates via a shunt so gives a real time reading of amps in or out, & with the capacity of the battery set is able to give a pretty good estimation of what capacity remains in the battery at any time. It is a NASA BM1 compact (http://www.nasamarine.com/proddetail.php?prod=BM1Compact), which I bought as a group buy for around $120 from the UK. I think they are around $160 in Australia.
Better still is the Xantrex monitor, which costs almost $500, but which can be bought in a rebadged version for quite a lot less, called Enerdrive. These can be seen & bought here (http://www.fridge-and-solar.net/monitor.htm). Feel free to contact the seller, he's a helpful bloke, as well as being a good mate of mine.

If you want to just stick with a volt meter to give an indication of your SOC, be aware that there are many factors which can mislead, making you think you have more OR less capacity left than you thought. This is not to say that a volt meter is not helpful, but it takes a reasonable amount of experience, an familiarity with YOUR system for it to have any value as a battery monitor.

Cuppa

Ageed, depends on what Tonks defines as a monitor.