Battery Monitoring

"Come with a Through-hole Current transformer, it doesn't require shunt."

Possibly a form of clamp ammeter ?

The art will be setting it up to reflect the battery capacity, and the science will be interpreting the readings and having confidence in them. Could be cheap and cheerful and good value.
 
dolabriform said:
Thanks..

Any recommendations then?
Click to expand...

There was a longish thread on another forum about a similar meter , though think it had a shunt but similar price. Came out well, accuracy enough to be very useful. Can't find the thread though, sorry.

400A/300v could well mean the much lower currents/voltages we're most interested in won't be accurate enough to be much use. Some of the ebay offerings can be very accurate, maybe not that one for the lower values though. I'll see if I can find that other thread. Even without current logging, accurate volts at the batteries and current in can tell you a lot. Even just volts, I've a cheap ebay voltmeter direct to the batt terminals visible from most lounging positions, well worth a few quid and hour or so to wire.
 
I bought this little monitor for under £20 and it works quite well.
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/100A-wireless-Bl...wer-Timer-battery-Monitor-tester/152473084160

I already have a SmartGauge and other meters but this was cheap and quite useful. It doesn't attempt to be a battery charge monitor, just gives Watts, Ah, Volts etc. via display or Android app. Accuracy is adequate for my needs.

e.g. Today it says I got 1.633Wh or 127Ah (It was cloudy and batteries only got back to 90%).

Other meters tell me I had 15Ah (Wind) and 94Ah (Solar) giving 109Ah.
I had the engine on for approx. 30 mins. with output around 35A and that would be the missing 18A. Everything adds up reasonably well.
Useful piece of kit.

Came with no instructions but supplier did provide electronic documents in Chinese when asked. Mine came with 4 wires, not 2. This allows a 2nd battery to power the unit whilst getting V reading from another. I just wired in pairs to get +/- supply from domestic bank and also measure Voltage.

Bluetooth works well but shuts off if not being used. I put a switch in supply line to allow a reset if Bluetooth stops. Readings aren't lost so it isn't a big deal.

Supplier provided files for a simple Android app, but you do need to ask.

I just wired it to one battery switch (via fuse) on cable from Domestic. I made a short bridging piece as current sensor was too small to fit over end connector. Just a piece of 22mm copper pipe, flattened and folded again in a vice. Hole either end and shrink wrap in the middle.
 
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