Battery charge levels up and down like a yoyo

[GHA]

Having spoken to the MD I know they will never do that because they don't need to,

They do if it's on a cruising boat. Smartgauge might be very good at what it does but it's no more than a useful add on gadget on a self sufficient cruising boat, not something you fit first. No point in knowing how full the bucket is if you don't know how much has been going in or out or how big the bucket is.

 

[sailinglegend420]

They do if it's on a cruising boat. Smartgauge might be very good at what it does but it's no more than a useful add on gadget on a self sufficient cruising boat, not something you fit first....

You missed the point again.

SmartGauge doesn't need a shunt to make it more accurate. As I said they know that most of the time a shunt is likely to be installed wrongly and so would make the SmartGauge inaccurate.

No point in knowing how full the bucket is if you don't know how much has been going in or out or how big the bucket is.

No point in being told how much is in your bucket if the information is incorrect. All you need to know is if the bucket is half empty you must fill it up, and if it is full you can stop charging.

I said before, and I say again, buy a Digital Amp meter as well if you buy a SmartGauge.

 

[GHA]

. All you need to know is if the bucket is half empty you must fill it up, and if it is full you can stop charging..

Not on a cruising boat. Nowhere near enough data.

And you've said yourself the Smartgauge is inaccurate with regards to displaying fully charged.

Do they pay you?

 

[MikeBz]

Having spoken to the MD I know they will never do that because they don't need to

Always buy a cheap Digital Amp meter with the SmartGauge.

As a (potential) customer I find those two statements contradictory

 

[sailinglegend420]

Not on a cruising boat. Nowhere near enough data.

And you've said yourself the Smartgauge is inaccurate with regards to displaying fully charged.

Do they pay you?

No they don't pay me - I bought one cos my BEP was not accurate enough. The SmartGauge is still more accurate when charging than a shunt Battery Monitor.

As a fulltime liveaboard a SmartGauge and an amp meter is perfect - it gives you the same information using a shunt as a Battery Monitor without trying to be clever! If its wired incorrectly it won't give you false readings about your batteries State of Charge being too high or too low.

A comment on your earlier post - a Battery Monitor doesn't tell you how much is in the bucket. That's one of its main problems. It takes a very expensive instrument to tell you the real Ah capacity of your batteries. So what more DATA is your battery monitor giving you that a SmartGauge and an amp meter can't give you?

Read this post by Maine Sail on his test results:

http://www.pbase.com/mainecruising/smart_gauge

 

[GHA]

As a fulltime liveaboard a SmartGauge and an amp meter is perfect - it gives you the same information using a shunt as a Battery Monitor without trying to be clever!

You forgot to put "IMHO" after that sentence
And I'm probably not alone in disagreeing. It doesn't. A good example would be overnight usage, with an amp counter it's easy, a glance to see how much has been used overnight so as you head south it's simple to adjust to fridge to a little less cold if you can't afford the increased amps it's using. If your fitting a shunt for a meter anyway it seems silly not to spend a little more on something which will make a note of how much has been used as well. The "people wire them wrong" argument is a non starter, "don't buy one cos you'll wire it wrong and won't set it up right" is more than a bit on the negative side, on the more positive there are a few very interesting posts by mainesail as stickys here... (including wiring and installing a battery monitor)
http://forums.sbo.sailboatowners.com/forumdisplay.php?f=135

It takes a very expensive instrument to tell you the real Ah capacity of your batteries.

Maybe but for twenty quid even someone with limited electronic and programming skills like me can build a data logger to do a capacity test, again why so negative?
Everything seems to be "smartgauge is the only way", amp counting can be extremely useful and I would say definitely necessary before investing in the very tempting smartgauge. Which unfortunately I can't justify the cost or find a space to mount.

Also, an accurate voltmeter connecter directly to the posts of each bank is extremely useful, they can be bought for under a tenner from eBay.

 

[sailinglegend420]

....with an amp counter it's easy, a glance to see how much has been used overnight ....

You are showing you ignorance again. A cheap amp meter will also show amp-hours and volts and watts, and a whole range alarms.

 

[GHA]

You are showing you ignorance again. A cheap amp meter will also show amp-hours and volts and watts, and a whole range alarms.

So rather than trading insults we are agreed apart from semantics.

Could you post a link to one?

 

[pvb]

I'm pleased that sailinglegend420 has reactivated his signature. It's so apt.

 

[GHA]

A cheap amp meter will also show amp-hours and volts and watts, and a whole range alarms.

Has anyone found one of these? Nothing coming up on eBay.

 

[GHA]

You are showing you ignorance again. A cheap amp meter will also show amp-hours and volts and watts, and a whole range alarms.

I'm pleased that sailinglegend420 has reactivated his signature. It's so apt.

Ignorance isn`t what you don`t know, but what you think you know that is incorrect.

Actually, it would be lovely to be proved wrong, cheap amp counters would be great onboard, I'd buy a bagful. Unfortunately they don't seem to exist,I can't find any anyway.