Battery monitor anyone?

[tbrady]

Just wondering if anyone has installed or is using any sort of battery monitor?  Like the trimetric ones... trying to decide whether I want to get one or not.

[thudd3r]

i have seen quite a few battery monitor/usb power port combos on amazon.  seem like a good approach as everyone can use a port to charge their devices from

i am not sure if you got a tank monitor on yours, but our vrv didnt come with one,  so i took care of both the battery monitor and tank monitor by installing an iSeries tank monitor from tankedge -> https://tankedge.com/products.html

[FastEddieB]

I had to go to Amazon to see what a battery monitor was!

I bought a simple digital plug-in voltmeter:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000EVWDU0/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_5nTgzb1PFB7P9

Mine in use:



One important caveat: I tried plugging it into the 12v outlet for the TV, and at that point the voltage measured much less than at the battery - as much as 1/2v, IIRC. That may not sound like much, but makes a huge difference in determining battery state. I think if one wanted a reliable indicator inside the trailer, one might need to run some heavier gauge wire right from the battery.

[tbrady]

I should have been more specific.    I meant something more sophisticated that actually tracks the current in/out of the battery so you don't have to rely on checking the volts.  Which, from what I understand is very limited since you need to have a completely idle battery and let it set for several hours before you check it. 

Something like this - http://www.bestconverter.com/Trimetric-2030RV-Battery-System-Monitor_p_557.html#.WRso2WjytaQ

[tinkeringtechie]

I'm in the middle of adding a new tongue box to the trailer and revamping my battery/monitoring/solar charging setup at the same time. I picked up this little gem for less than $30 off of Amazon:


It shows real-time power along with cumulative usage. The battery meter shows a realistic estimate of remaining capacity based on the battery size that you configure and the usage. It's a shunt based monitor that's rated for 100 amps. I've just been playing with it in a test setup, so no real world testing yet, but I'll report back once I take it for a trip. Warning: must be fluent in chinglish to understand the manual.

[FastEddieB]

Warning: must be fluent in chinglish to understand the manual.

Speaking of which, a $10 LED desk lamp arrived at our house today from Amazon.

I'm not happy with one of the warranty exclusions!



The high salty and the ship I can kinda understand, though!

[thudd3r]

how many rats does it take to constitute a "disaster"?

[tinkeringtechie]

how many rats does it take to constitute a "disaster"?

an "unnormal" amount

[MitchB]

I'm in the middle of adding a new tongue box to the trailer and revamping my battery/monitoring/solar charging setup at the same time. I picked up this little gem for less than $30 off of Amazon:


Could you describe how you wired this into the battery box?  I have the same unit and I'm slightly confused (as I normally am).  It looks like all I need to do is insert the drok unit into the negative side of the battery circuit (ie everything that's currently on my negative battery post goes onto the right post of the drok unit and a new wire goes from the left post of the drok unit to my now empty negative battery post) and then add one small wire to from VIN+ on the drok unit to the positive battery terminal.  Is that all there is to it? Thanks


Mitch

[MitchB]

I went ahead and did what I thought (hoped) was correct and it seems to work. My voltmeter shows .05 volts less than the Drok does and for some reason the battery indicator shows empty even though it's not (upon restart that seemed to fix itself though)   All in all it looks like a very cheap solution to battery monitoring and the wireless aspect is sweet.

Mitch

[DavidM]

MitchB and tinkeringtechie:

I am interested in one of these battery monitors. So, ignoring the wireless feature that many report doesn't work, I presume I install the shunt module near the batteries and run the USB cable from the shunt to the display. Right so far?

I can mount the display inside the camper where it is easily visible.

I will disconnect the battery after each camping trip. Does the unit retain its data for when power is hooked up again?

David

[MitchB]

Hi David,

According to the instructions yes it will retain the measured data if you click the okay button prior to powering it off.  As far as installation, yes you would install the shunt near the battery and if desired run a USB wire to wherever you want to mount the display.

Mitch

[tinkeringtechie]

Keep in mind that it doesn't actually use USB standards for data communication. It uses RS485, so you can pretty much use any decent wire and it should work for a pretty long distance. I plan to hardwire mine inside using some cat5 cable that I ran a long time ago from above the fridge to the battery box.

[MitchB]

Finally stopped raining here in the northeast and I got a chance to install this monitor in my camper.  Here are the pictures.  The shots of the monitor are taken inside the camper in wireless mode, the first of those was with just a few lights on, the second was after I had hooked up my solar panel.  You can see that the monitor indicates discharge amps and charging amps.  That will be very handy.  I noticed also that something runs backwards when it's charging so I imagine if I am charging and running a load I can tell when my panel is providing as much energy as I'm using.  If the unit holds up over time I'll be very pleased with it.

Mitch

Addendum, the wires below the unit are just posts that go through the battery box and hook up to the battery, So I don't have to take the lid off to connect my solar panel.

[charliem]

"If it ain't broke it probably will be soon."
Mitch

Charlie's Corollary: If it ain't broke it wasn't made in China.