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wsmurdoch · 18-07-2019, 15:10

It would be nice if the SG200 were NMEA2000 compatible, could display its data over that system, and could be updated from a MFD, but I guess Balmar's market is more than marine.

Bill

marty9876 · 18-07-2019, 15:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by witzgall

Two-rocks,

The issue you are seeing is something we are aware of, and will address. The Bluetooth gateway is almost ready. When released, the fix for this issue may be in the first firmware update that will be "Included" with the initial app download. If not, it certainly will be in a follow up update shortly thereafter.

Chris

Chris would it be possible to post a list of current known issues?

Would help those of us getting readings which are unexpected to stop chasing our tails.

lateral · 18-07-2019, 15:51

Ken must be having a chuckle.

DOS principle once again.
Or, hope springs eternal.

john61ct · 18-07-2019, 16:13

Does DOS principal mean, best to work from CLI rather than GUI?

lateral · 18-07-2019, 16:24

Nope, far more mundane.
Definition of stupid, or denial of service

Take your pick.

I prefer hope springs eternal as Rod testing was involved in my thought processing.

But, once again specific lab testing is not necessarily indicative of how its
going to perform with multiple variables altered. (butchered)

Which begs the question what was wrong with a decent volt meter a chart for your chemistry and half a brain. (As mentioned by you and a doz others)

Now you mention it the GUI is suprizingly easy to use.
A stern warning could have been included before reset of SOH tho.
Few read manuals, so wizards are good. $'s
As its entry level, CLI is out of the question.
More emphasis should be place on customizing settings to achieve accuracy.
With flow chart.
IMO, needless to say.

rgleason · 18-07-2019, 17:53

Dear Chris,

I had understood when I purchased the SG-200 from Peter Kennedy, that when the Cell phone app became available, it would be free to early adapters.

Quote:

Post #501 http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ml#post2933003 written by Chris W.
Updating will take a BT gateway. I am sure there will be updates that will add functionality into the future. We certainly have some improvements we are working on. For those that don't want the gateway otherwise, It can be plugged in and then removed after updating, if dock mates wish to share. Chris

This is an interesting wrinkle. If a laptop supports bluetooth I assume that is a "bluetooth gateway". There are usb bluetooth adapters available for $8 to $14 for older laptops that don't have BT. Once the SG-200 is "linked" to bluetooth, how or what are the steps to update?

Now I've found this on the Balmar website, which actually means that the SG200 that I have does not have builtin bluetooth and appears to require purchase of another Balmar Component "SG2-0300".

"Optional Smartphone/Bluetooth® Gateway
Coming Soon, Free iOS and Android Apps (Requires Bluetooth® Gateway PN SG2-0300)
View All Parameters on your Phone
Download Product Updates"

So I'll just ask, what is PN SG2-0300 "Bluetooth Gateway" going to cost the user? I do hope that it is kept at a reasonable price, as buyers will be comparing features and cost with other prominent manufacturers devices.

I purchased expecting and looking forward to use the cell phone app and it was not clear and I did not understand the full device would cost additional money.

I see the app as potentially a very valuable control, alert and history recording of multiple readings, beyond what is available in the display. I believe the app could be the answer for those who are still interested in counting coulombs or wishing to know and perhaps even use trailing current for alerts or other physical actions.

Sincerely, Rick Gleason

ayates · 18-07-2019, 21:27

Received my first photo of the SG-200 in action. No idea if the 100% is correct or not. All I can tell is that the battery chargers were in the absorption phase at the time. The 22A charge current is about 3% of the 740 AH 20-hour capacity.

Allan.

CatNewBee · 18-07-2019, 23:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by ayates

Received my first photo of the SG-200 in action. No idea if the 100% is correct or not. All I can tell is that the battery chargers were in the absorption phase at the time. The 22A charge current is about 3% of the 740 AH 20-hour capacity.

Allan.

What is the reason of installing an SG when having the fully configurable Victron environment next to it?

Ist it because of the bigger letters on a pixel graphic color screen, or is there any other reason? You have already high quality and accuracy gauges, there are bt dongles available for them if not already built-in.

But maybe it is the + in SOC+ you had been missing, it is always better to have an SOC+ than just SOC I guess. With the next FW update, I bet, you'll get 100.5% SOC++ for free!

ayates · 19-07-2019, 06:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by CatNewBee

What is the reason of installing an SG when having the fully configurable Victron environment next to it?

I am placing my money, literally, on the SG being automatically a more accurate indication of when the house battery bank needs to be charged, especially as the bank ages and loses capacity.

on your other commentary.

Allan

john61ct · 19-07-2019, 09:01

Yes to me even if both are equally accurate for SoC they are complimentary. If not, then a sanity check is helpful for troubleshooting.

If the SG-200's SoH indicator is accurate, that alone is well worth the price for many setups.

And a meter that can guesstimate SoC reasonably with less reset / calibration fussing is well worth helping to get there.

The BMV can then show the "live" current reading, and totalize Ah in & out for those that like that info.

two-rocks · 19-07-2019, 09:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by john61ct

The BMV can then show the "live" current reading, and totalize Ah in & out for those that like that info.

The SG200 shows a nice live current reading - and is accurate. Comparing the solar input (Victron MPPT) with SG200 and the delta confirms all this.

My issue is with the SoH and mine is now stuck at 100% (almost a week now) for very old batteries (7+ years). If the calculation is as such then any calculation based on that error is completely irrelevant. So it's a nice ammeter that lacks the ability function as a totalizer.

sailah · 19-07-2019, 10:58

I can confirm that the ammeter is very accurate. I bench tested mine on my $20k Keysight DC power analyzer (which can resolve down to nanoamps) and it's pretty spot on for boat usage. Admittedly I did only test a small amp draw (500mA) so larger loads I just assume it would be similar accuracy.

However my Victron solar controllers are not very accurate. I am running 3 of them for self contained Industrial IoT gateway installs. When I bench tested the current on my device it was 305 mA average over 24 hours. When reported by Victron Bluetooth app, it fluctuates between 0.2A and 0.3A.

Further, over 24 hours, it reports my gateway consumed 80Wh/daily when I datalogged gateway on my Keysight it reported 92.192Wh over 24 hours, and this was measured every 1ms.

So I'd say take your Victron readings as a rough estimate of harvested power since they do not agree with my calibrated instruments.

A fun toy to have when you get down to harvesting mV from thermal sources. Here I'm harvesting heat through a Peltier device (8C differential) enough to power my industrial sensor 5x more than I need. This device does not have a battery, just harvesting to supercap. I've done similar with $2 solar cells. Probably same as Garmin does with their windex device I would think.

The green board with all the wires etc has MPPT built in which is pretty cool and the actual IC is about the size of a grain of rice.