Bosun Higgs
N/A
thinking of installing one. any comments / experiences?
nasa clipper battery monitor
- Thread starter Bosun Higgs
- Start date
bobgoode
Well-Known Member
Does exactly what it says on the box....install where you can see it easily and you get a good idea of when to switch off or plug shore power in or hoist the iron topsail.
Phoenix of Hamble
Well-Known Member
We're delighted with ours.... it isn't perfect on the percentage of capacity used, so you have to use common sense, ie if its reads 75%, then assume its 70-80%... (never saw that as a big deal - but apparently some of the more expensive ones use a clever algorithm that is more accurate)... its close enough as an indicator for me to not care...
It is however very easy to install, extraordinarily useful, and very competitively priced looking at the alternatives
It is however very easy to install, extraordinarily useful, and very competitively priced looking at the alternatives
VicS
Well-Known Member
Be sure to install exactly as the instructions say !
Might be a good idea to read the instructions and wiring diagram downloadable from the NASA website to be sure you know what is involved.
Read the recent thread concerning the BM1 .. it appears some people have some problems
A little more expensive and working on different principles but also consider the Smartgauge With no shunt it is easier to install and it will also give you a voltage reading on the starter battery as well as fully monitoring the house battery. The Nasa BM1 only monitors the house battery.
Might be a good idea to read the instructions and wiring diagram downloadable from the NASA website to be sure you know what is involved.
Read the recent thread concerning the BM1 .. it appears some people have some problems
A little more expensive and working on different principles but also consider the Smartgauge With no shunt it is easier to install and it will also give you a voltage reading on the starter battery as well as fully monitoring the house battery. The Nasa BM1 only monitors the house battery.
morgandlm
Well-Known Member
NASA Battery monitor
I've just finished installing one of these on my Sadler 26 (my Christmas present!). It works exactly as described but I would reinforce VicS' recommendation that you must follow the wiring instructions exactly.
I've little experience of it yet, of course, but I've already found one minor benefit in testing masthead lights. You can see the current drain go up (or not) as you switch lights on. Before somebody points it out, let me just say that I do know that I could have gone outside and looked to see if the light was on! But tricolour ... in bright daylight ... not easy and requires going onto the pontoon.
So far - I really like it.
Morgan
I've just finished installing one of these on my Sadler 26 (my Christmas present!). It works exactly as described but I would reinforce VicS' recommendation that you must follow the wiring instructions exactly.
I've little experience of it yet, of course, but I've already found one minor benefit in testing masthead lights. You can see the current drain go up (or not) as you switch lights on. Before somebody points it out, let me just say that I do know that I could have gone outside and looked to see if the light was on! But tricolour ... in bright daylight ... not easy and requires going onto the pontoon.
So far - I really like it.
Morgan
Georgio
Well-Known Member
I'm pleased that I'm not the only one that does this.
As for the BM1 it does me just fine. I have had one for two seasons and I find it an accurate and easy to use indicator of battery charge.
G12
Well-Known Member
I've got one of these sat in a box. I tried to fit it but you can only fit the shunt on the negative side of the circuit (I checked this with NASA). Not very good if you have multiple batteries and multiple earth returns.
If I could have fitted the shunt on the positive side then it would be fine.
I could do with selling it if anyone is interested.
It does seem to be a nice piece of kit though.
If I could have fitted the shunt on the positive side then it would be fine.
I could do with selling it if anyone is interested.
It does seem to be a nice piece of kit though.
ancientsailor
Well-Known Member
Used one on the service battery bank. Fitting actually very simple.
User settings allowed me to set nominal capacity - which I deliberately set a bit low to allow a margin of error.
Useful to settle arguments about whether we needed the fridge running or not - wife hated it!
User settings allowed me to set nominal capacity - which I deliberately set a bit low to allow a margin of error.
Useful to settle arguments about whether we needed the fridge running or not - wife hated it!
pvb
Well-Known Member
Can't you just daisychain the negatives together?
VicS
Well-Known Member
It is difficult to imagine why you cannot fit a monitor, although you are the one in the best position to judge.
Why not post a diagram of your battery wiring and see what suggestions the forum can come up with. It sounds like the sort of challenge we enjoy.
peteK
Well-Known Member
Why not just fit a 12v panel meter from ebay less than a fiver from China/Hongkong
There are ones available that will read volts/amps ok not as complex as BM1 but a fraction of the price.Well pleased with mine,you can even see the volts "drop" when switching masthead light on! You need to type in 20v panel meter.
There are ones available that will read volts/amps ok not as complex as BM1 but a fraction of the price.Well pleased with mine,you can even see the volts "drop" when switching masthead light on! You need to type in 20v panel meter.
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pvb
Well-Known Member
But the big difference is that they can't work out Ah figures, so they can't show capacity information. That's why the BM1 costs more.
Bosun Higgs
N/A
You have a pm.
Heckler
Well-Known Member
Ive just installed one today, am well pleased with the ease of installation, ease of setup etc. Just one point Vic, you can connect the orange wire to the starter battery to monitor the voltage only.
Stu
Heckler
Well-Known Member
I agree Vic, mine is a 4 battery bank, I had taken note of other debates about where to put the out going cables and had put them in the middle of the bank. I just reset them to the end battery so that they were daisy chained and put the lead to the shunt off the end battery. My solar panel in and inverter out (which bypass the main switches, fused I may add!) I put on the "upstream" side of the shunt so any in and out is measured.
Stu
VicS
Well-Known Member
I think that's a recent improvement. It's not mentioned in the on-line manual or shown in the online wiring diagram but it does ring a faint bell in the back of my mind.
Apologies if you have already seen it or knew about it but in the tech info section of the Smartgauge website there is quite a bit about interconnecting multiple batteries into a common bank so that voltage losses on the interconnecting cables do not result in the charging and loading being unevenly distributed between the individual batteries.
It's not light reading but I understand the author to be a highly respected electrical engineer in the field so I accept what he says rather that trying to follow all the reasoning !
When connecting up a BM1 not only must it be wired exactly as described in the instructions but, and this may not be clear from the manual, there must be no other connection to the negative terminal of the battery or to the battery end terminal of the shunt. Every thing must be connected to the end of the shunt furthest from the battery as you have done with your solar panel and inverter.
Appropriate to pop in the diagram I did for someone's benefit recently
( now you have reminded me about it I'll have to add the starter battery monitoring connection I suppose
.. another day!
Tex
Well-Known Member
I am about to install one of these and am surprised at the short length of cable supplied for connecting shunt to battery.
Does anyone actually use this in the purpose described in the manual as the shunt would have to very close to the battery?
I am hoping to position the shunt quite close to the negative bus bar and therefore use the supplied cable for this connection and my existing cable for battery to shunt.
Does anyone see any issue in this approach?
Thanks
Does anyone actually use this in the purpose described in the manual as the shunt would have to very close to the battery?
I am hoping to position the shunt quite close to the negative bus bar and therefore use the supplied cable for this connection and my existing cable for battery to shunt.
Does anyone see any issue in this approach?
Thanks
G12
Well-Known Member
I fitted mine in the end. I put the shunt in the engine compartment. I agree that the cable supplied is short - It's also rather thin. I will be changing mine sometime in the future.
The unit works well though. I am not interested in it's capacity readout because it's just not accurate enough but the Volts/Amps will be very useful indeed.
The unit works well though. I am not interested in it's capacity readout because it's just not accurate enough but the Volts/Amps will be very useful indeed.
Heckler
Well-Known Member
Do what it says in the box, dont second guess it or you will be on here like the other guy asking for more advice!
I followed the instructions to the letter, it is superb for the price.
Stu
Tex
Well-Known Member
Thankyou for your input Stu but what is the problem in me using the supplied cable the way I propose?
The set up would be exactly as per the manual but using the short NASA cable on the other side of the shunt.
