BEP DCM2 Battery monitor head scratch

[NickRobinson]

On the boat, doing some jobs, LEDs fitted in saloon fittings, really good.

The boat has a BEP monitor and I have the manual.

Volts fine, I'm not too bothered about 'capacity remaining', that can come later.

My problem is getting the amps to zero, there's 'zero amps' and 'amps calibration' in the device menu but 'zero amps' is called 'amp hour capacity reset amps' in the book and has a default value of 5A (not Ah) Odd current values show up when these values are adjusted.

I'd like accurate amps so I an see how my inverter and shiney new leds are eating joules.

(I've a voltmeter but no ammeter... it's sitting in my garage at home...)

Nick (Rivendell)

 

[pvb]

Is your monitor a 600DCM, like this?

 

[NickRobinson]

Is your monitor a 600DCM, like this?

Appearance identical- manual says BEP600-DCM2, so possibly a later version.

After rereading the manual, I think I need to use an external ammeter to monitor current at a certain load then use the menu to match the reading on the monitor. Seems rather complicated, no idea why the amps should need calibrating, it's what it does after all...

Nick- in a very sunny Fleetwood

 

[alan]

BEP DCM Battery Monitor

I have one of these. With no loads the Amps reads zero. I do not use the Ah. I do not remember calibrating the amps when I installed it ... but it was four years ago! I will have a look at the manual when i go down to the boat later, to see what it says.

Alan.

 

[pvb]

I don't think you read the manual carefully. You want to zero the amps; to do this, you turn off everything (except the 600DCM) and follow the instructions at the start of the Set-up section of the manual.

If you do this, it will zero the amps reading.

The "amp hour capacity reset amps" which you referred to is something completely different. When the batteries are being recharged, the 600DCM monitors a number of things, to decide when the batteries have been properly recharged. Basically, if the voltage is higher than 13.5v (factory default) and the charge current has dropped below 5A (factory default) and both these have been maintained for 5 minutes, it resets the Amp Hour Capacity to the Battery Capacity figure.

The manual tells you to change the "amp hour capacity reset amps" from the 5A factory default to 4% of the battery bank's Ah rating. To do this, you follow the menu down to "amp hour capacity reset amps" and enter the nearest whole figure.

 

[NickRobinson]

Thanks all-

Hi PVB and all-

Your manual is worded differently to mine- I wished I'd known about zeroing the amp menu.

I've done it now. However, another amps menu is now on zero and can't be changed. The Amps range on usage now says 'out of range'... ho hum..

Volts ranges ok.

I've disconnected both batteries in the hope it resets to default over the next week or two, but I bet it's got a CMOS ram and internal battery.

WHY is it so complicated?? (yes, I can answer that myself)

Nick

 

[NickRobinson]

For info-

I've found a later manual on the BEP wsite which has a troubleshooting section. (I wonder why?)

It seems the 'out of range' message can only be reset/changed if you apply a >10A load before entering that menu page....

Obvious, innit.....

Nick