Thread: Battery monitor
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Old 12-04-2018, 12:55 PM   #13
JRTJH
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Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Gaylord
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To monitor power consumption, to manage electrical use, to "delve" into battery management, then power consumption is required.

HOWEVER, to simply know the charge status of a battery or a battery bank, all that's needed is a voltmeter. Here's all that's required to know when to plug in a charger or whether you are "good to go" until later:

12.6 100% charged
12.5 90% charged'
12.4 80% charged
12.3 70% charged and where the battery "ought to be recharged".
12.2 60% charged and where you really need to stop using power and recharge.
12.0 50% charged and at this point (on a voltage monitor) it's time to pull out the generator and start recharging the battery "fer sure"....

Most of us are "saavy enough to know" that if the battery is at 70% and we didn't make it through the night last night, we won't make it tonight either. And they know that "if the battery voltage is as 12.2, it's not going to be a "warm, well lit night".... That relationship of voltage to battery charge state is all that nearly every one of us needs relate to.

There's no "need" to have an ammeter, a shunt, a series of lights and switches, or anything but a simple "plug it in the cigarette lighter socket voltmeter" or a similar device... All the rest, for the LAYMAN who doesn't comprehend the inter-relationship of amps/volts/relationship of shunts to needle deflection/Ohms law, is more complex than they need to enjoy a dry camping trip and all they need to remember or they can post a small chart) with the above five voltage/charge state numbers and that's all that's necessary.

When you go to the "auto-level control panel", push the button and get an ERROR light or an ERROR lockout, walk inside, look at the voltmeter. If it's less than about 12.1 VDC, it doesn't much matter how many "amp-hours are remaining" or the "power consumption in amps" or the "voltage drop when the inverter comes on".... What matters, to the layman is voltage "right now" as it relates to "battery charge status "right now". all the rest is just "fluff" to the average camper owner whose understanding of electricity is "check the plug if it won't turn on" and after that, call a repairman or get on the forum and ask for help..... Those members don't need the fluff.....

For (my guess) 95% of campers, anything more than a simple digital voltmeter is "overkill"..... YMMV
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