 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
Car Forum / Driving, Maintenance, Tuning / RVs / March 2008Battery monitor?
Well, it's time for me to get serious about a battery monitor. Yes, I've searched but looking for advice from folks who have used systems. Our unit is on our property in the Adirondacks, in the boonies. And I mean boonies. No shore power. Hell, cell phones don't even work. But that's a good thing :D I run 2 29 series batteries in parallel and charge them with a Honda EU6500IS generator (great generator, btw) I need a battery monitor for 'em. At the end of last year I was looking at the Xantrex and it seems to be a decent system. I'd probably get the temperature sensor was well considering where we are. Any new opinions? A link to what I'm looking at: http://preview.tinyurl.com/24c77f Thanks, Steve Google with quotes: "Off grid battery power" for more suggestions. Tom J > Well, it's time for me to get serious about a battery monitor. > [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > Thanks, > Steve > Google with quotes: > "Off grid battery power" > for more suggestions. > > Tom J Been there Tom. Having been in the computer business for 34 years, I'm well acquainted with google. "google it" isn't always a good answer, especially in this case. I was inquiring about any personal experiences, good, bad, ugly. ;-) -- Steve >> Google with quotes: >> "Off grid battery power" [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > -- > Steve I too am looking for a "good" monitor. But they are either really really fancy, or just really plain jane. Isn't there something in-between?  SignatureZyp > I too am looking for a "good" monitor. But they are either really really > fancy, or just really plain jane. Isn't there something in-between? I bought a Fluke<r> digital multimeter and, if I'm really dying to get an "exact" level-of-charge on my battery, I use it. I consider a modest version of this tool an essential part of any RV toolkit. The most accurate measurement, of course, is a sample of the battery's electrolyte measured with a hydrometer and doing the thermal (ambient temperature) conversion math. No, thanks. I have no REAL need for that degree of accuracy. My travel trailer is equipped with a cheap, 4-LED systems monitor that I find satisfactory. It is surely microprocessor-controlled with "gates" at pre-set voltages. Given that, I believe that it is accurate and reliable enough for regular use. When only two LEDs illuminate, it's time to recharge. Determining the actual voltage, down to a tenth of a volt, isn't necessary for this purpose. If they haven't already, someone will surely come along shortly and post the requisite URL to Darden's battery FAQ website. Signature:) JR >>> Google with quotes: >>> "Off grid battery power" [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > I too am looking for a "good" monitor. But they are either really really > fancy, or just really plain jane. Isn't there something in-between? Well, I think I've pretty much decided on this one. http://tinyurl.com/24c77f -- Steve >>>> Google with quotes: >>>> "Off grid battery power" [quoted text clipped - 21 lines] > -- > Steve That would be fun, but it is far more money than I am willing to spend for my purposes. ..... > That would be fun, but it is far more money than I am willing to spend for > my purposes. If your needs are modest and you don't want to invest a lot of money, for about $25-30 you can build yourself a digital amp meter. A digital millivolt meter and a 50A shunt wired together can result in a current meter that will read current flow in and out of the battery to the nearest .1A, +/- 50A. It's not a $200 meter but knowing flow in and out of the battery I can estimate about how long a charge is going to last and when charging (I have a charge wizard on the charger) I can get a good indication of how close to being fully charged the battery is by watching the the inflow current. It more than meets my needs. If the battery has been sitting unused for a few hrs, a voltage reading along with a chart can tell you the state of charge within 10%. Lot closer and easier than using a hygrometer. A battery rated at 100Ah & fully charged, if I see I have a steady 8A discharge rate, it doesn't take any effort to know I'm good for about 6 hrs use to get down to the 50% charge state. I run the genset some every day so I never let the battery get too discharge that it take hrs and hrs to fill the battery again. Mickey
|
Reply to this Message |
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2008 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.