Smartgauge vs Mastervolt Easyview-5 vs Simarine Pico

[MichelleWhy]

I cannot confirm a .2 up to .4V difference compared for example with a Victron BMV-702.
Don't forget that a Victron MPPT measures it's voltage not on the battery terminal but on the chargers output. Cable length and size can add to the difference.

For me the Pico does what I expect it to do. I've got attracted by it's design and ability to show more than just Battery info. So everything is fine on that side. Using it together with my Victron GX and BMV. SoC is quite different as a result of difference in the maths used by each device. Current counter is almost the same and since my batteries are cycled almost every day through PV while never below 90%, SoC has become less important for me.

But I'm definitely unhappy with customer support. I've had a hard time getting in touch with them. And once you're in contact, it can take forever to receive a reply with vague content.

Still waiting for the long time announced N2K modul, which probably never will make it. Meanwhile I started a process to reverse engineer the protocol used by the Pico for integration with my other devices through Signal K.

[Kenomac]

Rene,

Excellent! Thanks for sharing your info. I also double check things using my Fluke meter.

[Kenomac]

We replaced the single dead or dying Trojan T105 battery two days ago in Dubrovnik at the Solarshop, right by the customs dock for $230 USD, it only took them two days to get it in. Excellent service!

Now everything works as it should, you just can’t beat these Trojan 6V house batteries which are now 8 years old.

[cpt-c-lover]

I just can't believe that after all this time that no one has called the emperor out for not having any clothes. I read all the beautiful, glowing reviews for the Simarine products. I got sucked in just like everyone else by the beautiful and simplistic display, and so I shelled out $600 + to get all the gear to fire up only to find out that this whole time it's been nothing but a lie. This unit is nothing but an over-glorified voltmeter. There is no history. There is no data beyond real time. There is no trending. There is nothing with which to make an informed decision about overall usage. You get a snapshot of existing real-time data and that's all. Reviewing all of the documentation available on the web, including many forum discussions just like this one, there have been multiple promises as far back as 2017 that show "oh, those features are coming". I even got the same response from their technical support when I pinged them back in early July after having got it all installed and left wondering where the data was, I was told the new release would be out in 10 days. That was July. This is now the end of August. If you look at their history they have only had one software release as an update since they initially released the product in 2017. That update was in October of 2018, fully one year after release. There has been nothing since. There's no fixes (the barograph still dies after two days), there's no improvements, there's no nothing, and yet no one has seemed to notice or care. Except MichelleWhy

They're a bunch of liars.

[ReneJK]

Originally Posted by cpt-c-lover

and yet no one has seemingly discovered this except me.

They're a bunch of liars.

did you actually read this thread ? I dont believe I gave glowing reviews , I even complained about the non-existent history and other things , and yes , ive been waiting for a f/w upgrade as well

[cpt-c-lover]

You made a con list with zero mention of this fact.
You made no mention of contacting them about the feature being missing.

You simply agreed with MichelleWhy.

[cpt-c-lover]

People should be shouting this on every forum. WE'RE BEING LIED TO.

[ReneJK]

Originally Posted by cpt-c-lover

You made a con list with zero mention of this fact.
You made no mention of contacting them about the feature being missing.

You simply agreed with MichelleWhy.

I dont believe I have to share every contact I (tried) to make with them ?
but here's what I posted in this thread about the missing data logging

[john61ct]

If you are talking about the SoC metering functionality, I think the low accuracy with many bank types to be a much more fundamental flaw.

For lead, a Merlin Smartgauge is a much better choice.

But does not feature logging.

[CatNewBee]

There are very few, that do log history properly.

Victron Smart MPPT has a history of 30 days built in, the BMV only logs the extremes reached during life time or after reset, like deepest discharge, total Ah or kWh, lowest/highest voltage and the like. No drill down detailed data.

Victron CGX / Venus uses the Victron cloud for history and more in-depth view, also not ideal, because you need internet connectivity there. There are some open-source projects for data loggers, but I am not aware of a good commercial product worth recommending yet.

[ayates]

Originally Posted by CatNewBee

TVictron CGX / Venus uses the Victron cloud for history and more in-depth view, also not ideal, because you need internet connectivity there.

The Victron CCGX will log, essentially indefinitely, to an SD card. The backlog of data is automatically uploaded to the Victron cloud when internet connectivity is available, or the SD card can be pulled and manually upload from a computer with internet connectivity. On the ship I work with, I log data for 2-3 months over the summer, and then grab it at the end of the summer.


Allan.

[noelex 77]

I have found the Pico excellent. It is the “geek’s” battery monitor. With so many features and options it is in many ways the exact opposite of the Smartgauge

My biggest criticism is the battery statistics are displayed as %SOC and time remaining instead of AHrs, but this is somewhat personal preference.

I have still not explored all the options. For example, the multiple temperature displays and alarm values would make an excellent check on engine exhaust temperate to warn if there is an early restriction in the cooling water.

There have been a number of software updates since I purchased the unit. The long term SOC graph would be nice, but this was never suggested as an option when I bought the monitor, so if it appears as a software update in future, that will be a bonus. This feature is not listed on the Simarine website, but obviously some people have bought the unit on the expectation that this will be offered in the near future so I hope it becomes available.

When I purchased the unit I was concerned with a new product with so much complexity the software would be unstable. Fortunately this has not proven to be the case. It has never crashed or needed resetting and I hope the developer resists the urge to incorporate these extra features before they are thoroughly tested.

[Dockhead]

Has anyone tried Balmar's re-engineered Smart Gauge? Apparently it integrates amp hour counting and current measurement with the old SG algorithm -- sounds interesting and might be the answer for people with solar, who can't use the classic SG.



I'm not sure I would be all that interested in logging this data. I may be nerdy, but I have better things to do than obsess over the whole history of my batteries. I don't want to spend that much time with them.


Another pet peeve -- I wish that battery monitors would harmonize precision and accuracy somewhat. It is silly to have a battery monitor which reads 78.3% SOC when it is not accurate to more than +/- 10% say, or even 5%.

[ReneJK]

Originally Posted by john61ct

If you are talking about the SoC metering functionality, I think the low accuracy with many bank types to be a much more fundamental flaw.

do you have some real world examples so I can compare my pico ?

[ReneJK]

Originally Posted by noelex 77

My biggest criticism is the battery statistics are displayed as %SOC and time remaining instead of AHrs, but this is somewhat personal preference.

if you move all the shunts to a different screen instead of the home screen you will suddenly see the Ah' . this feature is not explained in the manual but I think it has to do with display real estate and what can be shown at once