Which Battery Monitor ?

[dkall]

I believe the EMON montors watt-hours but I don't really use that function. Ample Power Company Home Page

I have no connection to the company except that I use a goodly number of their products.

[GordMay]

FWIW:
The “new” Xantrex Battery Monitors:

LinkLITE:
Xantrex Technology Inc. - LinkLITE Battery Monitor - Product Information

LinkPRO:
Xantrex Technology Inc. - LinkPRO Battery Monitor - Product Information

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by Extemporaneous

Anyone??
Still Looking.
Surely there is one out there.

Extemp.

F04 Toggle Display Between Ah and kWhr

Default:

Off

Range:

Off = Ah display mode; On = kWhr display mode.
When this function is On, the Ah display is changed to a
kilowatt-hour display.
Kilowatt-hours are a very precise measurement of energy
removed from or returned to the battery bank. The Link 1000
uses kilowatt-hours to determine whether 100% of the energy

consumed from the battery has been returned.

[Rick]

Just a technical point to clarify kilo-Watt-hour measurement (either in or out of a battery). Such true energy measurement is independent of temperature. Temperature info is used to infer energy available from the battery. It is also used to control a charger acceptance and float voltages when the monitor controlls an inverter/charger.

Without temperature sensors interfaced to the monitor the Link series uses manually set (or default values) temperature settings in place of an external sensor. In practice the internal battery temperatures do not change rapidly unless one exceeds the Amp-hour "law" (three-step charging regimen as a first approximation to that). In general when crusing one merely changes the manual set temperature as the seasonal or water temperature change if one does not have the sensor option.

[Sandero]

Is anyone using the Quad Cycle monitor? I had one a long time ago and I thought it was quite OK. I sold it and changed to a Link20 which I don't think is any better.

[Rick]

The Quad Cycle was good in its niche application. The link 20 is much more accurate and has better internal resolution and is far more stable. In addition, the Quad Cycle did not measure kilo-Watt-hours as does the Link 20. The Link 20 was not designed to control an alternator regulator so, in that sense they are two different animals. The Link 2000R included a controlled alternator regulator.

The Quad Cycle did not utilize Peukert's equation for determining decreased energy availability versus rate of discharge as do the Link series.

[Extemporaneous]

Originally Posted by dkall

I believe the EMON montors watt-hours but I don't really use that function. Ample Power Company Home Page

I have no connection to the company except that I use a goodly number of their products.

You mentioned this earlier in the thread. I checked then and I just checked again. I have no idea which product that you are talking about. I'm looking for a battery monitor that can display watt-hours AND utilizes a temperature sensor to accurately calculate capacity of the battery bank.

Thanks,
Extemp.

[Extemporaneous]

Originally Posted by Rick

Just a technical point to clarify kilo-Watt-hour measurement (either in or out of a battery). Such true energy measurement is independent of temperature. Temperature info is used to infer energy available from the battery. It is also used to control a charger acceptance and float voltages when the monitor controlls an inverter/charger.

Rick,
Of course you're right, I misspoke.
That said, battery capacity (Watt-hours available or Ah's availible) will go up and down depending on temperature.
An electrical devices apparent power usage will go up and down depending on temperature and Peukert's equation if measuring in Ah's (even if load is consistent).
An electrical devices power usage will always be the same regardless of temperature and Peukert's equation if measured in Watt-hours (provided the load is consistent).

At least this is my understanding. Trying to be careful with my words.
Correct me if I'm wrong.

Best Regards,
Extemp.

[Extemporaneous]

Originally Posted by GordMay

FWIW:
The “new” Xantrex Battery Monitors:

LinkLITE:
Xantrex Technology Inc. - LinkLITE Battery Monitor - Product Information

LinkPRO:
Xantrex Technology Inc. - LinkPRO Battery Monitor - Product Information

Originally Posted by Extemporaneous

I've looked at Xantrex (only one I found was link 10 which is discontinued). Some others, nope.
I'm hoping 2 requirements can be fulfilled.

• Monitors watt-hours.
• Utilizes temperature (via actual sensor) to calculate energy input and output. battery capacity

If you know one that does both, PLEASE let me know.

And Thanks,
Extemp.

LinkLITE does neither and LinkPRO only does the temperature thing but not the watt-hours.

Regards,
Extemp.

[dkall]

Some may want to look at the AmplePower docs for battery care and charging. The Battery Charge Process .

[Sandero]

When I decided to do the refit, I chose to use the MaxCharge 612 which is an external smart 4 stage regulator with temp inputs for alternator and batteries. The Quad Cycle had an external 4 stage regulator with the capacity to equalize batteries - which I don't think the MaxCharge 612 does. But the 612 seems to be more sophisticated and can be set to many charge parameters and battery types.

The Link20 seems to do everything the QuadCycle did with a lots of options for monitoring different batter types and capacities and the ability to covert AH to KW which has little interest to me. Most marine items are rated in amps except my windlass which I believe is in watts. No biggie.

I am fine with the link, but like the MaxCharge drilling down into the menus is a pain in the butt. This, of course, is common when you have a few buttons which can access multiple commands and menus. Plotters and MFD displays suffer the same problem for users. It's all there, but how do I find it? Some units are better than others. The MaxCharge requires a magnetic tipped screwdriver and an acuired skill to use the hidden mercury switch. How weird is that? VERY.

I don't know the way out of this. Instrumentation comes packed with more and software, suib programs, and so forth these days, yet the trend is to FEWER buttons. Witness the iPod as an example. Apples GUI sure helps and seems to be easy to learn. Marine equipment manufacturers have a long way to go to make their hi tech gear more user friendly.

[Extemporaneous]

Originally Posted by Extemporaneous

Rick,
Of course you're right, I misspoke.
That said, battery capacity (Watt-hours available or Ah's availible) will go up and down depending on temperature.
An electrical devices apparent power usage will go up and down depending on temperature and Peukert's equation if measuring in Ah's (even if load is consistent).
An electrical devices power usage will always be the same regardless of temperature and Peukert's equation if measured in Watt-hours (provided the load is consistent).

At least this is my understanding. Trying to be careful with my words.
Correct me if I'm wrong.

Best Regards,
Extemp.

After reading this again tonight, I don't know that I should have included "and Peukert's equation" above and so have crossed it out. Then again, if you were monitoring a devise when your batteries were full, it may read X Ah draw and when the battery is say, 60% discharged, Peukert's equation may come into play (X+ Ah draw due to a higher proportional draw compare to power available) as far as what Ah's your monitor says the devise is using up??
Can someone confirm that I've got this right and fix me if I'm wrong?

Thanks,
Extemp.

[chala]

Nick
“Wasn't there a version that used a clamp-on sensor instead of shunt? Anyone like that one?”
Clamp-on sensors suffer from remnance and they are not cheap.

In this thread, listed battery monitors are pretty basic and a programmable controller will do a better job but will cost more.
Many of the monitors require the shunt to be installed in the negative, which is a pretty old and unsuitable technology.
It is about time that the manufacturers of these battery monitors pull their socks up and design proper power supplies and do not let their sales representatives fill us up with gobbledygook.
I like the SmartGauge approach.

[s/v Jedi]

Chala: I know I read somewhere that there's a battery monitor that uses clamp-on sensors instead of shunts and it was a positive experience with the monitor. But I can't find the info anymore.

I used to have a Fluke clamp-on like you show... lost it somehow and replaced it with a Sperry clamp-on integrated in the multimeter. But that's not what the monitor I mean uses (they are simpler, fixed permanent install sensors).

ciao!
Nick.


cheers,
Nick.

[wayneskid]

I'm a new member as of today. This looks like a place to find lots of answers and info.

My current question is about battery monitors. I'm specifically interested in these: LinkPro, TriMetric, Clipper BM-1.

The last post to this thread was over a year ago and I'm wondering if anyone has anything to add re. choosing a good battery monitor. I have a very simple system but want something better than just voltage to give me a picture of SOC and condition of my batts.

Thanks,
Wayne in AK