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Post by Clinton Cool on Nov 1, 2016 20:42:00 GMT
I have the ammeter on my battery charger to work out when the amps are steady at less than 1. Also an ammeter on the solar controller. I'm aware that loads will change this but I've spent so much time staring at the damned things that I know exactly how each device increases amps going in when charging. 1 light .5 amps, computer charging 1.2 amps etc. etc. If I have a badly sulphated battery, which I think I have, what's the trick to made sure the Smartguage is set up correctly? I was thinking along the lines of ensuring that the battery is fully charged before setting up the guage. Then I presume if I use 10AH of a battery that was originally 110AH but is now 30AH because of sulphation; the guage would read the battery as 70% charged. Is that it? Ricco, all of your problems with sulphation are related to undercharging of batteries, waiting too long to fully charge them. I really cannot see how a smartgauge is going to help you charge your batteries fully to reduce and hopefully stop sulphation. All a smartgauge will tell you is how much of the remaining capacity you have used. Cheers Graham I already have 2 ammeters. One is on the tracer controller meter, the other on my Sterling battery charger. I prefer to charge the batteries with the generator and battery charger rather than the main engine. The gene was cheap, easily replaced, the main engine isn't. That ammeter in the main battery feed is to me from experience important if you don't want to spend the money on it and install it then I see this all happening in a year's time. I wish you good luck and I am hoping I am wrong |
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Post by tonyqj on Nov 1, 2016 20:43:14 GMT
No more so than any other method. Depends on battery type No, measuring a battery's capacity does not depend on the type. |
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Post by smileypete on Nov 2, 2016 0:00:14 GMT
Would have thought just a voltmeter and ammeter are fine for quote:
My power usage is very low. I have a gas fridge, 5 watt lights, only ever have 1 on at a time. I listen to the radio a lot, backlight off on the t.v. draws 4 watts. I don't watch a lot of t.v. but when I do it draws 16 watts. My little netbook draws 12 watts. I'm possibly about as power efficient as I could possibly be and calculate that I use under 30 AH daily. For this reason I saw no point in having (and replacing!) 2 leisure batteries. I now have one 110 AH leisure battery.
Especially so with a Trojan type battery, they don't mind going to 20% SoC, so anywhere around 50% is no problem at all.
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Post by canaldweller on Nov 2, 2016 0:38:11 GMT
Would have thought just a voltmeter and ammeter are fine for quote: My power usage is very low. I have a gas fridge, 5 watt lights, only ever have 1 on at a time. I listen to the radio a lot, backlight off on the t.v. draws 4 watts. I don't watch a lot of t.v. but when I do it draws 16 watts. My little netbook draws 12 watts. I'm possibly about as power efficient as I could possibly be and calculate that I use under 30 AH daily. For this reason I saw no point in having (and replacing!) 2 leisure batteries. I now have one 110 AH leisure battery.Especially so with a Trojan type battery, they don't mind going to 20% SoC, so anywhere around 50% is no problem at all. I think I remember Gibbo saying something similar. |
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Post by tonyqj on Nov 2, 2016 7:10:49 GMT
Would have thought just a voltmeter and ammeter are fine for quote: My power usage is very low. I have a gas fridge, 5 watt lights, only ever have 1 on at a time. I listen to the radio a lot, backlight off on the t.v. draws 4 watts. I don't watch a lot of t.v. but when I do it draws 16 watts. My little netbook draws 12 watts. I'm possibly about as power efficient as I could possibly be and calculate that I use under 30 AH daily. For this reason I saw no point in having (and replacing!) 2 leisure batteries. I now have one 110 AH leisure battery.Especially so with a Trojan type battery, they don't mind going to 20% SoC, so anywhere around 50% is no problem at all. I think I remember Gibbo saying something similar. There are very many who get quite vociferous in their arguments that that's all that's required. However they're only useful for someone who wants to take the time to learn exactly what they're telling him. Many folk don't want to be bothered with 'all those volts and amps and stuff', hence the market for battery monitors. |
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Post by smileypete on Nov 2, 2016 20:15:20 GMT
There are very many who get quite vociferous in their arguments that that's all that's required. However they're only useful for someone who wants to take the time to learn exactly what they're telling him. Many folk don't want to be bothered with 'all those volts and amps and stuff', hence the market for battery monitors. I wouldn't say I'm being vociferous in any way, and I've never said it's all that's required. I just see a lot of problems reported that would be solved or well on the way there if the person had a basic understanding of what volts and amps do (and why) during charge and discharge*. Failing that if the 'folk don't want to be bothered with 'all those volts and amps and stuff', run into problems down the line, should I then spend a fair chunk of quality time helping them? Back to Ricco, if he's using a Smartgauge and ammeter, he's more than halfway there. Might as well learn to to interpret resting voltage to approx state of charge, and save £100, surely. *Linky to a basic description thunderboat.boards.net/thread/817/battery-charging-primer?page=4&scrollTo=25572 |
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Post by tonyqj on Nov 2, 2016 21:12:31 GMT
There are very many who get quite vociferous in their arguments that that's all that's required. However they're only useful for someone who wants to take the time to learn exactly what they're telling him. Many folk don't want to be bothered with 'all those volts and amps and stuff', hence the market for battery monitors. I wouldn't say I'm being vociferous in any way, and I've never said it's all that's required. I never said you were. I was thinking of TopCat and a few others that always agreed with him. |
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Post by smileypete on Nov 9, 2016 12:26:19 GMT
Just had a quick butchers on the other channel, here's a classic example: www.canalworld.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=87510Poor guy, sounds like he has come has some £££ so should just buy a Smartguage and be a 'category one' user in the following list: 1. Using a Smartguage alone: Very Easy 2. Using a Smartguage and understanding it's limitations: Not so easy (quite a few boat owners fail to make it this far!) 3. As above, plus using an ammeter: Definitely harder (but helps ensure batt longevity) 4. Using a voltmeter and ammeter alone: Somewhat harder still, but now you're a 'guru' (but the voltmeter certainly won't sooth OCD tendancies  ) |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 9, 2016 12:37:16 GMT
Just had a quick butchers on the other channel, here's a classic example: www.canalworld.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=87510Poor guy, sounds like he has come has some £££ so should just buy a Smartguage and be a 'category one' user in the following list: 1. Using a Smartguage alone: Very Easy 2. Using a Smartguage and understanding it's limitations: Not so easy (quite a few boat owners fail to make it this far!) 3. As above, plus using an ammeter: Definitely harder (but helps ensure batt longevity) 4. Using a voltmeter and ammeter alone: Somewhat harder still, but now you're a 'guru' (but the voltmeter certainly won't sooth OCD tendancies ) Reckon he would more likely be a 3 |
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Post by smileypete on Nov 9, 2016 13:08:34 GMT
Eventually maybe, I suspect at present the amps aren't being monitored when charging. If the alt IS bypassing the shunt it should be quite noticeable from a zero amp reading after the engine has started. Nicks advice in post 9 about the existing monitor is right on the money. Sounds like the charged voltage needs tweaking to a more realistic voltage than 13.6V too: In order to check if the battery is fully charged
several parameters must be met before the
MICC will consider the battery fully charged.
One of the parameters is the minimum voltage
that must be reached. This voltage must be set
according to the lowest voltage of all the
charging devices in the system. This means for
example if the voltage of the battery charger is
14.25 volt and the alternator is 14 volt the
voltage must be set just below the lowest
voltage i.e. below 14 volt. |
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Post by tonyqj on Nov 9, 2016 13:18:13 GMT
Right now I believe his biggest problem is, as has been said, incorrect shunt wiring. Once he sorts that out the MICC might do as he expects/wants.
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Post by smileypete on Nov 9, 2016 13:21:04 GMT
Sounds most likely, especially if he's changed the batts himself and not put a cable back correctly.
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