Battery Monitor Question

[canfindtom]

Hello all,

I installed a 250 watt solar panel on my Grandby with a Victron controller with blue tooth. I have an existing Bogart Trimetric battery monitor and considering replacing with a Victron bluetooth battery monitor.

Two questions:
Would the Victron battery monitor be preferable to the Bogart - is there any real reason to swap them out?

Does the Victron bluetooth battery monitor give me any more valuable information than Victron bluetooth solar controller, or is it a bit redundant?

Any comments regarding the advantages or disadvantages of swapping out the battery monitors?
Thank you in advance for any comments.
Tom

 

[rando]

The Victron solar controller gives you some useful information, the battery voltage, the current into the battery from solar and the current out of the battery if you are using the load terminals. However it can't give you the critical piece of information which is the state of charge of the battery. If you want this, you need a dedicated battery monitor.

If you were starting from scratch, the answer would be easy - get the Victron battery monitor, it is better in every way. It is more accurate, easier to use, cheaper, and far sexier than the Trimetric.

As you already have the Trimetric, the answer is less clear. The Trimetric already gives you state of charge, so switching to the Victron would be about the interface and ease of use, which is really user preference.

If you really like the Victron bluetooth, you could consider the Smart Shunt:
https://www.victronenergy.com/battery-monitors/smart-battery-shunt
Which will give you everything the BMV does, just without a display, for about $140. You could probably sell the Trimetric on ebay to some unsuspecting RVer for about the same price.

 

[Vic Harder]

That shunt is really cool rando. Victron keeps on coming up with the sweetest gear!

 

[buckland]

I agree Vic.... another thing to geek out on!

 

[canfindtom]

Thank you all fo the information.

I am very much gravitating towards replacing the Tri-metric monitor with the Victron. When I check the battery voltage displayed in the Tri-meteric against the voltage displayed on the Victron (using the blue tooth function) they match up. But, the state of charge read out on the trimetric does not seem accurate to me. I am pretty sure the Trimetric is set up correctly - although I did find it a bit complicated to do. So, I have been us the voltage to "ballpark" the state of charge.

I had the trimetric in my camper for about 4 years or so.

So, I am wondering if 1) the Victron monitor is more straight forward to set up, and 2) if the state of charge function of more accurate/reliable.

If that is the case I will go with the Victron, otherwise it probably is not worth the change out.

That you again for your help.

 

[craig333]

I wouldn't make the swap. Sure the Victron is prettier and has more bells and whistles but not enough to justify spending the extra money. What kind of batteries are you running. We could compare settings if our batteries are close.

 

[Vic Harder]

Can you explain what you are seeing that leads you to think the SOC on the Trimetric is not accurate? On the Victron, there is a "synchronize" function... basically, when you are sure that the batteries are full (using a shore power charger) then you sync up so that the Victron has a "reference point" to start from. Otherwise, it is possible for the battery monitor to be totally out of wack with reality. This happens when you disconnect everything, for example.

 

[canfindtom]

Vic,
That is a good question. So "it has just seemed that way." That thinking seems a dubious to me now. So, I am going to keep much more careful track, looking at how the battery voltage and the percent charged correlate. If my understanding is correct one should avoid going below 50% of full charge - or about 12.1 or 12.2 volts to avoid damaging the battery.

Is that correct?

 

[pvstoy]

I would think that if the battery has use and charged daily the SOC would be accurate. But in my case where the truck/camper is parked inside a garage with the power knob pushed in the SOC stays at 100 percent because the Victron battery monitor sees no draw going out through reading at the shunt.

I keep track of the camper batteries voltage while stored and when the voltage drops enough it is time to plug in the AC system charger. for a few days. I'll always few days before a trip charge and unplug when I head out, but I always forget to recalibrate the system.

If you can get the Trimetic dialed in, I would work with that until you have money burning a hole in your pocket or just because...

 

[PaulT]

See http://www.bogartengineering.com/wp-content/uploads/docs/TM%202030%20INSTRUCTIONS_041018.pdf

Page 5, If you are sure that the battery is fully charged, "Other programmable Parameters" Box on top right of page, Press "Select" until "Bat % Full" is displayed, Press and hold "Reset" for 5 seconds to clear to 100%

Paul

 

[Vic Harder]

Vic,
That is a good question. So "it has just seemed that way." That thinking seems a dubious to me now. So, I am going to keep much more careful track, looking at how the battery voltage and the percent charged correlate. If my understanding is correct one should avoid going below 50% of full charge - or about 12.1 or 12.2 volts to avoid damaging the battery.

Is that correct?

AGM/FLA are both lead acid chemistry batteries, and when "resting" (no charge, no load for at least an hour) 12.2% should be 50% charged. Under heavy load, you will see the battery voltage go way lower than that, even when fully charged. Hence the value of a SOC readout that is based on a shunt, like the Trimetric and Victron units under discussion here.

Paul has found the relevant page for you in the manual to do a reset/synchronize. I agree with Patrick, the Trimetric should be fine, unless you have $$$ burning a hole in your pants...