BEP Battery Monitor

[Anonymous]

I bought a BEP Battery Monitor (600-DCM) from Merlin at the Southampton Boat Show to find when I got it back that the bilge pump monitoring facility featured in the sales literature is not present in the unit they sold me (they are waiting for supplies to come in from New Zealand, where they are made). Not very impressed since I specifically queried that point on the stand.

Meanwhile, I am looking at the installation. The wiring arrangement that Merlin showed on their stand doesn't make any sense to me - they have shorted-out twisted pairs negating the CMR benefit of a twisted pair and, further, instructed me to leave off the screen. Has anyone else bought one of these and got it working? Is is any good? Any tips on installation your could share? Does the bilge pump monitor work OK?

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[Talbot]

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.bepmarine.com/PDF/600-DCM2_MONITOR_2.pdf>Installation Instructions</A> seem quite straightforward. How much did it cost?

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[Anonymous]

I paid £179-99 on the Merlin stand. Yes the instructions do seem straightforward but they do not give details of the bilge monitoring facility said to be "new for 2004" and the installation example on the Merlin stand was not in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions.

When I queried this, Merlin were adamant that their wiring was the correct method - though it flies in the face of long establshed electrical practice. The trouble is that we are talking about very small signals in a very noisy environment and it will be hard to prove whether or not it is being affected.

Furthermore, running the wiring is straightforward but will take a long time to do properly on my boat - the best part of a day, I estimate.

Incidentally, the module has a ridiculous rectangular teminal block on the rear so you can't mount it straight onto a flat surface, you have to make provision for the cut out. This isn't clear from the literature and I was told on the Merlin stand that you could mount it flush without a cutout...they aren't very clued-up or whatever.

On my boat, the wood is 30mm thick (sic) where I want to mount it so cutting the hole is not going to be easy. I will not be a happy chap if it doesn't work out after all that!

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[Talbot]

I think I would trust the installation book rather than what you were told at the stand - you would certainly be in a much better position if soomething were to go wrong!

As regards the cut out for the terminal block. That will be very easy using a forstner bit in a drill, cut down to the required depth the number of times need to do the length of the block, and then trim up with a chissel, or if you have the space, use a router.

I have thought about installing one of these, but otherthings have had the priority, and anyway the wiring would have to be different to that shown, so I will have to discuss it direct with NZ.

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[Anonymous]

>>That will be very easy using a forstner bit in a drill, cut down to the required depth the number of times need to do the length of the block, and then trim up with a chissel, or if you have the space, use a router.<<

The distance from the edge of the block to the edge of the meter is only around 3mm and in wood as thick as mine, it will be anything but easy, I'm afraid. I don't have a router - most of my workshop tools had to go when we sold the house to live aboard, due to lack of space. It is a stupid, thoughtless design and could easily have been made with flying leads instead of the terminal block.

>>I will have to discuss it direct with NZ.<<

Good luck. I emailed them to the technical support address given on their website on Tuesday, and although I got a read receipt for the email I have had no reply.

However, they have replied to Merlin, so Merlin tell me, but they haven't answered my specific queries other than to confirm that the unit I was sold would not do what the literature claimed. It's not a terribly good start. I imagine that not too many have been sold since Merlin had no idea that the devices would not do what they claimed of them. Or maybe nobody gets round to installing them, or cares??

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[Talbot]

your bio does not give sailing area.

even with only a 3mm gap, I would use a <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/sea/searchresults.jsp;jsessionid=IPAO0DITAXAHBCJO2C3CKTQ?_dyncharset=UTF-8&q=forstner+bit&n=&pn=1&pd=1&pi=1&cn=1&cd=1&x=0&y=0>forstner bit </A>

For me, poor support = no sale. Shall have to look at a Link 20

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[Anonymous]

At the moment we are in Chichester Marina planning to sail to the Med in the spring. What benefit would a forstner bit give? The terminal block isn't terribly wide and I could easily drill holes with HS twist drill but since the wood is so thick it would be difficult to finish it off nicely. However, I can do it but it won't be that easy due to the silly design.

I looked at the Link range (I only have one large house battery bank of 400 Ahr so I would have a Link 10) but the BEP offers voltage monitoring of two other battery banks or one other battery plus a bilge watch system that records the total time the bilge pump has run and the number of cycles, since last reset. That is very important information that I would like to have, in any case. The BEP is a more modern-looking instrument that should look better on my panel - the Link instruments look like something out of Quatermass!

But as you say, it's all useless unless they support the product. If they don't pull their socks up I'll let them have it back.

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[Talbot]

you can overlap a forstner bit so that there is less to cut out with the chisel, and it gives a much better and neater cut. Before the square cut chisel tools were available for power morticing, it was normal to use a forstner bit for this task, as it was the best way to get a neat finish.

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