11.0A panel volt meter

[Mark Maulden]

I have a panel voltmeter made by shurite which seems to indicate 16V all the time. I've opened it up and don't see any thing obviously wrong inside. Has anybody ever replaced these meters and with what? A meter with a little more granularity would also be nice....Tnx

 

[Roger Long]

Search Maine Sail's section for the threads on battery monitors. For the price of a Victron, it would be silly to put anything else in. Mine saved me cooking $400 worth of AGM batteries before I even put the boat in the water.

 

[Mark Maulden]

Thanks Roger, you did get me thinking...I think one would even fit in the hole. However, I'm sorta at a loss about the batteryl capacity thing. How does it know what the initial capacity is? Do you have to input that per the battery specs? And, batteries deteriorate after a few yrs. How do you factor that in? Obviously, I'm a little ignorant here about battery monitors. (I'm even a EE but I probably shouldn't admit it!!) 12 yrs ago, when I last left sailing, they didn't exist that I remember.... I've always been able to use a good voltmeter......

 

[Roger Long]

I'm sorta at a loss about the batteryl capacity thing.

You have to do some programing and get some specs from you battery manufacturer, but it isn't difficult. You also have to synchronize it about once a week when you know the batteries are at full charge such as after a long power run or being plugged into shore power. Takes about two seconds.

If all mine did was display the voltage and amps being drawn, which is all I have used if for so far, I would already consider it worth the money. A digital ammeter and voltmeter of equal quality would have taken up more space and cost nearly as much.

The Victron manual is so small as to be unreadable without a magnifying glass. I got a pdf version online and removed the foreign language sections.

You can download it here:

http://www.cruisingonstrider.us/images/VictronMonitor.pdf

 

[DanM]

Roger,

Not to get to far off on the Victron tangent, but the monitor will automatically syncronize itself when your charger goes into float if you are on a charger that does that. I've never had to manual sync mine.

Take a look at H10 next time you've been away from your boat after use and recharging your batteries. That field should increase each time your batteries are brought back up to float voltage. If it's not you may need to adjust the tail current or charged voltage parameters (or both).

What I don't know is how well that fuction would work for folks on moorings without chargers on shore power, I have no experience with that kind of sailing.

But like you said, if you do have to manually sync it it takes just seconds.

I agree though that for the cost of the Victron monitor and the amount of information it provides over a volt meter it's a very good upgrade. Easy to install. You have to tell it your batteries amp hour capacity which is probably labeled right on the battery and for most accurate information you input the Peukert Exponent of the battery (I had to email the manufacturer but quickly got a response). Other than that the default settings have worked very well for me.

DanM.

 

[Mark Maulden]

I found a panel voltmeter that works. I play aeronautical engineer by day and I don't want to play maritime engineer otherwise. The voltmeter along with good maintenance has worked for me with three previous boats in the last 30 yrs.... Also, my charging system is manual battery switches. If the automatic electronic charging systems fail, are there manual workarounds???? For me, it's simplicity and reliability..and go sailing!!!