Balmar SG-200 Battery Monitor

[rgleason]

New version of Balmar Battery Monitor

SG200 Battery Monitor | Balmar


Look for "Click Here to Download the SG200 Battery Monitor Manual"

• State of Charge (SoC%)
• State of Health (SoH%)
• Charge/Discharge Current Flow
• Time Remaining
• History, Faults & Alerts
• Support for all common battery chemistries
• Including Lead Acid, Lithium (LifePO4), Standard AGM, TPPL AGM, Carbon Foam AGM, and GEL Batteries
• Supports 12V-48V Battery Banks

Maine Sail's post about the monitor:

https://forums.sailboatowners.com/in.../#post-1485710


One of his observations about the Monitor:

"The LiFePO4 packs I've tested the SG-200 against were all within 1% - 2% accuracy for state of health (usually closer to the 1% end)!"


It appears to be available at $239


PS: From the manual:


CHARGING - Charge Termination and Charge Efficiency
The CHARGE VOLTAGE and TAPER CURRENT are used together by
the SG200 to determine when charge termination has occurred. This
is indicated on the Display when a “+” sign shows on the SoC Display.
Charge Termination is defined as when the battery is fully up to 100% of it’s present capacity. Each of these values have defaults that are set per chemistry, but can be changed if required.


Good Alerts
Alerts
Alerts are used to notify the user when a particular threshold on a parameter is
passed. For instance, an alert can be set for when the State of Charge ex-
ceeds 90%, but also when it drops below 50%. High and low values can be set
for most parameters. Alerts can also be disabled entirely. For instance, most
users won’t need an alert to signify when a low current level is reached. The
default for each alert is disabled.
Alerts can be set for the following conditions:
Alerts (User Defined)
Min/Max State of Charge (SoC%)
Min/Max Current (A)
Min/Max State of Health (SoH%)
Min/Max/Voltage (V)
Min/Max Aux-1 & Aux-2 Voltage (V)
Min/Max Mins Left (minutes)

[rgleason]

Fault thresholds are set for all types of batteries, and are not user configurable.
LiFePo4 faults which also show up in the history are

• High Voltage 14.3
• Low Voltage 13.0
• Low State of Charge 5
• Low State of Health 40
• High Current (scales with multiple smart shunts in parallel)

[rgleason]

I was wondering how this could be so accurate without having a temperature sensor?

[rgleason]

Here is the English Smartgauge website which has a page discussing Merlin Smartgauge VS Measuring Amp-Hours meters.
The SG200 now does both types of monitoring, because it has a "Smart shunt"
It seems logical that the newer SG200 would be designed by Merlin but I found no reference to it on this website.

[Paul L]

Its about time they added the shunt. The original SG just didnt give you the info you need as a cruiser. Adding the shunt enables a much better monitor.

[john61ct]

Note Balmar had nothing to do with the SG design.

SG is an SoC meter and does not use a shunt, because it doesn't try to integrate AH flows.

So adding an AH counter to the SG is like combining a charger and inverter.

Many people use both.

[rgleason]

Well it sure looks like a shunt and it measures amp hour too

[john61ct]

By SG we mean the original Merlin SmartGauge, invented by Chris "Gibbo" Gibson, and resold in the NA market by Balmar.

No shunt, not an AH counter, only shows SoC for one bank, voltage for two.

And currently the most accurate and easiest to use SoC meter on the market.

Only works with lead.

The SG-200 is under development by Balmar, and I look forward once it is released, to getting hands-on reports from Bruce @ OceanPlanet if it gets included in his SoC meter comparison study,

and from MS of course.

[rgleason]

Yes, to be perfectly clear, the Smartgauge does not have a shunt, while the new Balmar SG-200 does have what is called a "smartshunt". The SG-200 will support multiple smartshunts to monitor multiple locations and allows multiple 2" dia display heads.

[a64pilot]

Only question I like to ask them is why did they not use the same mounting hole for the new monitor?
Be nice if you could remove one and replace with the other, but you can’t .

[ayates]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Only question I like to ask them is why did they not use the same mounting hole for the new monitor?
Be nice if you could remove one and replace with the other, but you can’t .

Well, the original Smart Gauge (I use one) does have a "non-standard" mounting. For the amount of information being presented to the user, a "standard" 2 1/2" mounting hole does make the most sense. I read that they are planning on producing an adapter plate for people wanting to upgrade.




Allan.

[rgleason]

a64pilot wrote:

Only question I like to ask them is why did they not use the same mounting hole for the new monitor?
Be nice if you could remove one and replace with the other, but you can’t .

I did read in the mainsail thread (see the link in the previous post) down below his post, with Chris from Balmar responding to the same question, that they will have a metal panel to accommodate the opening. So they will have that covered.


I like the round dia, because I believe that will replace my very old round "Link 10" which was an "Emeter" before that.

[rgleason]

Allan wrote:

Originally Posted by ayates

Well, the original Smart Gauge (I use one) does have a "non-standard" mounting. For the amount of information being presented to the user, a "standard" 2 1/2" mounting hole does make the most sense. I read that they are planning on producing an adapter plate for people wanting to upgrade.
Allan.

Incorrect, the SG200 is setup for a 2" Diameter mounting hole.

[john61ct]

If truly at Alpha, anything can change between now and production.

[Tillsbury]

So, given that MS seems positive, are we to understand that these are the things to have once they’re available? Us non-experts just want to know what the right thing to buy is