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Battery Monitor - recommendations

3K views 8 replies 6 participants last post by  JLovett 
#1 ·
All,

I am seeking recommendations on battery monitors. I am currently looking at Xantrex Link Pro and the Sailor's Solutions DMM -1 - B.

I have a house battery bank consisting of four 6V gel batteries and a 12V starter battery that are wired to a 1/2/both/off switch

Charging is provided by a balmar alternator/AR-4 regulator and a single Airex wind generator.

please reply,
 
#2 ·
Victron BMV 600.
 
#3 ·
Like the OP, I have (or soon will) 4, 6v GC batteries, in series/parallel for the house bank and a separate starting battery.

I've looked at the install sheet for the Victron and it seems to monitor the house bank you would tap the positive terminal of one pair of GC batteries, and the negative of the other pair, so you'd see the condition of the whole house bank. There doesn't appear there is a way to also monitor the starting battery though it would be of little concern to me.

Can anyone confirm my ASS-U-M(e)-tion?

The Victron does look like a really nice piece of instrumentation at a price that would entice me to bite.
 
#4 ·
MLS—

Are you going to have an ACR/DuoCharge/Echocharge unit installed with the new battery monitor? If so, then the SOC of the starting batteries is really not all that necessary to monitor past looking at the voltage on it once in a while. Unless you run the house loads or some other loads off the starting battery, it should stay relatively well charged, since the demands on it are relatively minimal.
 
#6 ·
MLS-

Are you going to have an ACR/DuoCharge/Echocharge unit installed with the new battery monitor? If so, then the SOC of the starting batteries is really not all that necessary to monitor past looking at the voltage on it once in a while. Unless you run the house loads or some other loads off the starting battery, it should stay relatively well charged, since the demands on it are relatively minimal.
SD, The boat has a Newmar 12-45 charger already installed and I intend to keep it.

I actually got the batteries in yesterday and all went well. For some reason, there seems to be a ton of room on my boat compared to pictures I've seen of similar boats. Others have had to cut a notch in the seat to fit 4 GC batteries in the underseat area, but I found mine fit with room to spare. I think the original owner may have modified the box for GC's then the second owner dowsized to the group 31's. Whatever the case, I was able to fit 4 GC batteries with no issues.

Everything seems to be working fine so now we'll see about these Sam's Club batteries.

It did turn out that one ground cable was too short so I had to use a power terminal and a jumper to complete the ciruit. It will make a perfect place to install the shunt for the battery monitor so I'm taking it as a sign that I need to proceed on that.:D
 
#7 ·
I have a Xantrex XBM monitor. It's installed so that the on/off rocker switch can be depressed - when it is the start battery is connected and I can take readings for it.
Effectively it is a dual bank monitor.
It's also recommended by PS.
 
#8 ·
Chuckles,

Are you re-programming the monitor for Ah capacity each time you toggle and re-calibrating it? Clearly your house bank and start bank are not the same size nor at the same state when you flip the toggle?

The XBM would only be able to give you a volt reading unless you physically re-programmed it each time you toggled. Clearly I am missing something, though this would not be the first time.;)

Victron makes a 602 model that will monitor bank 2 voltage, as does the Link Pro, but neither will do two banks of Ah's, state of charge etc..
 
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