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Topic: BMV-700 Battery Monitor (Read 16 times) previous topic - next topic
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BMV-700 Battery Monitor
Yahoo Message Number: 147847
Thanks to those people who answered my questions a week or two ago.  I have now installed a battery monitor and thought that I would pass on my observations.

In that previous thread, Andy mentioned that some boaters used a BMV-700 monitor.  I decided to try that product for 4 reasons:
1)  Less expensive
2)  Shallower depth than the Xantrex that might help finding a good mounting place
3)  Cleaner look than the TriMetric which looks like a design from the Manhattan project
4)  Simplified connections between shunt and monitor with a plug in cable

Although installed and working, I did encounter a few unexpected challenges.  The manufacturer, Victron Energy, is based in the Netherlands and apparently they do a few things differently there.

First, the mounting instructions call for a 51mm hole.  I drilled a 2 inch hole assuming that 50.8 mm would be good enough.  It wasn't.  I had to sand the hole bigger with a Dremel before I could mount the monitor.

Second, after mounting the shunt, I discovered that the bolt for attaching the ground wires to the shunt had a larger diameter than the holes in the existing battery cables.  Since I was unsure that I had the hand strength to crimp new connectors, I spent a LOT of time with the Dremel grinding larger holes in three cables (Chassis, converter, and inverter).

Third, instead of a post with a nut, the shunt uses a removable bolt about 3/4 of an inch long.  Making all three wires and a lock washer lie down while I tried to screw that bolt into the back upper corner of the battery box was an ordeal.

I would advise others to find a place to mount a bus bar to connect the three ground wires to a single jumper that can be connected to the shunt.  I had no difficulty connecting the battery and the other side of the shunt with a new 0 gauge wire.  Doing this would have eliminated both the grinding and the difficult connections.

The plug in cable did eliminate any tedious connections to the shunt or the back of the monitor.  It did, however, require drilling and caulking a larger hole that a simple cable would require.

With only a few days experience, it seems to provide the desired features.  However, I haven't had enough time to make a complete evaluation.  The monitor has a large number of parameters that can be fine tuned.  I have a few questions about battery voltages that I will post in another thread.