Battery Monitoring System for CT

Sandy

I have recently purchased and installed a NASA BM-1 monitor into my caravan, and found it easy to install, read and use. Purchased on Ebay , prompt service and supplied tracking number with Australia Post.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/250920073250?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

No connection, just a satisfied customer.
Regards
Athol

Sandy,

I'm surprised you find the Redarc BMS hard to read. I've found it to have a very straight forward display that incorporates a State of Charge over 24 hours and the last 30 days. You can easily assess your hourly output be scrolling backwards through the hourly figures and then, if you wish, work an hourly average off the daily total consumption. In terms of displaying just what power is left in the battery, what's coming out, how long you can run on current consumption and low voltage alarms, the BMS is exceptional.

Yep it is expensive but considering the multi function role it plays, it ends up being a lot cheaper than trying to integrate a lot of separate systems, gauges and shunts to provide the same level of functionality. It's user friendly and pretty much set and forget and most importantly it's Australian made.

There is a heap of feedback on the Ctek/Redarc products on the forum so suggest a quick search using the forum search feature and then grab a cup of tea and settle in ;-) You'll have plenty of reading.

Good luck.

Redarc BMS and BCDC review


Mick

Hi Sandy,

Sorry I don't have first hand knowledge of either of these units but after looking at their respective sites I would think that the Setec BMS-001 would suit your needs pretty well. Plus it looks like it mounts easy too.

We have a Synergex 6 meter and it has capacity in Ah and %, Ah usage, volts and does the job just fine for us.

crd

Alternate suggestion Sandy

When you get into this stuff you find out that its not as straightforward as it seems.

Many people would be better off buying a simple voltmeter with good performance and simply not letting it get below 12v

The product though has to be simple and easy to use and have no hassles and I suggest the following $18 item jaycar qp2220 (also available elsewhere)

As a bonus you can have a couple of these and they only draw 12ma each so can be left plugged in all day.

http://jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=QP2220&keywords=battery+monitor&form=KEYWORD

One of the problems with ANY system that purports to show or predict battery capacity or state of charge is the wide variability of battery performance.

People want to know exactly how much energy is in the battery, just like the fuel gage in their car......plenty of people will sell you a device that will "tell you exactly how much energy is in your battery"........but it is a fantasy......they are telling you what you want to hear.

Batteries are far from exact devices

Type, brand, age, temperature, dischage rate, start & end points of charging and other stuff can vary the actual capacity of the battery...and it may change from day to day and hour to hour.
Temperature alone can change the amount of energy available from a battery a huge amount.

The amount of energy in a battery is not as simple as the amount of water in a tank.

The only thing we can reasonably rely upon is the terminial voltage giving us an INDICATOR of how the battery is going...and then there are arguments and variables.

If I was in a hire business that involved lead acid batteries, there are only two things I would install.

An accurate voltmeter
and
A low volatge cut out.

The voltmeter will give you and the customer something to look at, the low voltage cut out will protect your battery from the customer who may not care or understand.

Save the money you would spend on a fancy monitoring system.

As for how much your fridge consumes on average...again there are so many variable factors...again an accurate measure of a fridges energy consumption is a fantasy.......it will vary considerably from day to day.

If you realy want to improve customer satisfaction and the life of your batteries, spend the money you would have spent on a fancy voltage management device, on bigger batteries.

cheers

Sandy, there is a Victron in our Bushtracker to monitor the battery. It is good that it can monitor or even set alarm at a certain level. If you have a capability to disconnect then all the better. Wet cell batteries drop the voltage as the power is used so you can normally get an appreciation of the amount of power remaining.

Our battery supplier wanted the measurement across a shunt where all amperage in and out were monitored.

There is a review on the Camper Trailers site here at the review

Thanks everyone for your responses. Sometimes I don't see the woods for the trees (also I like fancy gadgets). Bantam is right a volt meter and a low voltage cut-off is the way to go. This covers off my most important need and that is to protect the battery.

If I was going to go for one of these I would choose the NASA BM-1 monitor, which I did not know was available, but I think having a device to turn off the load automatically is the best option.

Thanks again and now I am off the look through the threads for which LVD is the best.

Sandy