battery monitors

[Jaxfishgyd]

As most of you know, I installed all new batteries,& an inverter ( I know the wrong one, but it's doing great) over the summer... Now I want to install battery monitor(s) to show the 3 different banks.
Want a digital readout....
Have seen some on Ebay and Amazon that run under $20 each....

 

[Scottbee]

What information do you want to show? Just voltage.... or complete bank information like SOC (State of Charge), current, TTG (Time To Go), etc... ?

 

[Jaxfishgyd]

simple seems better... but open minded to what the rest of the Hatt fleet uses

 

[davidwigler]

With an inverter you really need the state of charge and amphour functions. If it saves you from one deep discharge it will pay for itself. I just installed a Victron 602 which is very easy to install and less than $200 for full battery monitoring functions for one bank, and voltage for another. I'm very pleased.

 

[Scottbee]

I'm a big fan of the Victron BMV-602s. I'm running one for my house bank also.

 

[GJH]

Trimetric 2025 does the same thing as the Victron 602 for 50 bucks less, since money is an object. Also, it is an American company.

 

[jim rosenthal]

Anything but Xantrex... which don't last long, and their customer service is rotten.

 

[bobk]

My Victron inverter is supposed to shut it self down before the batteries get too low. Am I missing something? I got six years out of them and it shut down twice in that time mostly near end of life.

Bobk

 

[Scottbee]

My Victron inverter is supposed to shut it self down before the batteries get too low. Am I missing something? I got six years out of them and it shut down twice in that time mostly near end of life.

Bobk

I don't think you're "missing anything"... Some folks like to be able to look at a lot of information regarding their craft. Personally, I like to monitor the current going into the bank, current coming out (especially handy when looking for problems and parasitic drains), State of Charge (to verify that the charger is working and I'm "ready to go") and Time-to-Go (so I can figure out if/when I'll have to fire up the genny or find shore power). There is certainly some "geek factor" involved.

Some folks want a full dash full of gauges and indicators... some just want a single "check engine" light. Nothing fundamentally wrong with either approach.

 

[Jaxfishgyd]

See the Victron can only work on 2 banks...but does have all the bells and whistles and at $200 is a good price.. Can use that for the inverter bank and house bank... Then buy a basic monitor for the 3rd bank, which is for the port bank that only starts the port engine and runs the windlass...

 

[Boatnut]

How about installing a switch so you can monitor two banks depending where the switch is set.

 

[Scottbee]

See the Victron can only work on 2 banks...but does have all the bells and whistles and at $200 is a good price.. Can use that for the inverter bank and house bank... Then buy a basic monitor for the 3rd bank, which is for the port bank that only starts the port engine and runs the windlass...

The BMV-602s will only give you the voltage on the second bank (usually the starter battery), so you're really not getting full monitoring on two banks.

 

[Scottbee]

How about installing a switch so you can monitor two banks depending where the switch is set.

That doesn't work with totalizing monitors since they have to constantly be looking at the current flow in order to do the accumulation calculations.

I don't know if anybody makes a true multi-channel monitor that will give full information on 2+ banks. I would think somebody does...

 

[davidwigler]

A switch would work to toggle the second bank voltage monitor on the Victron between two starting banks, but as stated would not work for the state of charge monitor.

 

[GJH]

See the Victron can only work on 2 banks...but does have all the bells and whistles and at $200 is a good price.. Can use that for the inverter bank and house bank... Then buy a basic monitor for the 3rd bank, which is for the port bank that only starts the port engine and runs the windlass...

Again, the Trimetric 2025 does at least what the Victron does for $20-30 less including whatever shunt your system needs.

http://www.bogartengineering.com/products/TriMetric

For $300, the NewMar DCE will do the same thing, plus monitor voltage on a third bank.

http://www.newmarpower.com/Digital_Instruments/Digital_Instruments.html