Installing a Battery Monitor July 26, 2014, 12:25:43 pm Yahoo Message Number: 147619We have just replaced our seven year old batteries. I'm interested in installing a battery monitor to assist the care and feeding of our new set. We have a 2007 Rear Kitchen.Before I get in over my head, I'm trying to figure out a couple of things. My apologies if this has been answered before but I'm search challenged with the current Yahoo Groups.I would be shocked if there is anywhere in our rig that has the 3+ inch clearance for the Xantrex monitor so I'm leaning towards the surface mount TriMetric 2030-RV from AM Solar. I can place it on the wall next to the charge controller and run the wires down the same chase. However, the Xantrex seems to be more popular. Would I be giving up anything with the TriMetric that I would come to regret?I have done a considerable amount of electrical work around the house and the wiring for the monitor is conceptually simple. However, I've never worked with a battery box before. How is the best way to get new wires into it? There are wires wires fastened around the top edge on both the inside and outside. I'm reluctant to start drilling fearing I might hit something vital.The wires into and out of the box are sealed with some hardened putty like compound. What is that stuff? Could it be peeled off somehow and the small additional wires be pushed through? There is probably some standard way of doing this but I don't know what it is.Our batteries have three wires to the negative terminal (apparently chassis ground, converter, and inverter). All three of those will need to connect to the ground side of the shunt with a new jumper from the other side of the shunt back to the battery. What is the best way to mount something inside the battery box?Since there is SO much free space inside the box, would it make sense to pull the three negative leads back into the rig and mount the shunt there with a longer, heavier jumper back to the battery?Thanks,Cliff
Re: Installing a Battery Monitor Reply #1 – July 26, 2014, 03:39:05 pm Yahoo Message Number: 147621Cliff, I mounted my Xantrex Battery Monitor (similar to the newer LinkLite and LinkPro models) in a 45° elbow of 2.75" O.D. plastic pipe. It sits on my desk next to the computer, where I can keep an eye on it as I work. The 45° elbow puts the display at an ideal viewing angle.This obviously isn't a solution for everyone... but it might be worth considering a freestanding mount of some kind, rather than a bulkhead mount. The most important thing, I think, is to put the display where you don't have to go out of your way to see it. :-)Andy BairdTravels with Andy
Re: Installing a Battery Monitor Reply #2 – July 26, 2014, 08:34:22 pm Yahoo Message Number: 147622Andy, Thanks for the alternative--or was that a subtle way of saying that you think the Xantrex is a better way to go than the TriMetric?I know that you have done a lot of work on Skylark with your gigawatt of solar power and 10,000 amp-hours of batteries. Regardless of which monitor I use and where it is placed, where I'm stumped is actually getting the wires into and out of the battery box/compartment. My inverter is mounted on top of the box so I can't just drill a hole through the top. Around the edges, LD has already fastened considerable wiring both inside and outside. This leaves very few spaces. That is why I was thinking about trying to use one of the existing holes.No mater how I get wires into the compartment, I know that it needs to be sealed so sulfuric acid fumes can't get into the cabin.Any ideas?Thanks again.
Re: Installing a Battery Monitor Reply #3 – July 26, 2014, 10:11:58 pm Yahoo Message Number: 147627"was that a subtle way of saying that you think the Xantrex is a better way to go than the TriMetric?"I personally prefer the Xantrex monitors, because to me the TriMetric display and control panels are cluttered and needlessly confusing. But if they don't bother you, then choose whichever one has the best features and is priced right--both brands will do the essential jobs equally well."where I'm stumped is actually getting the wires into and out of the battery box/compartment."The closer the shunt is to the battery, the more accurate the monitor will be. So if you can possibly can, try to find a place in the battery compartment for it--the back wall or the ceiling, perhaps. Mine's mounted on a side wall.If you can fit the shunt in the battery compartment, you'll only have the skinny cable that goes to the monitor display to deal with. A quarter-inch hole should be plenty big enough to pass that through, and you can seal up the hole afterward. Just drill a hole wherever convenient.Look at it this way: the alternative to mounting the shunt in the battery compartment is to try to snake an AWG 00 (2/0) cable as thick as your thumb out to the shunt mounted somewhere else--it'd have to be pretty much that heavy if you're going to get any accuracy.By the way, your main concern isn't sulfuric acid fumes so much as the hydrogen emitted while charging. That's a potential explosion hazard, so you don't want it seeping inside the rig.Andy Baird http://www.andybaird.com/travels
Re: Installing a Battery Monitor Reply #4 – July 27, 2014, 12:59:04 am Yahoo Message Number: 147629Andy, did you mean the accuracy of the shunt will be affected if it's not connected to the battery by heavy wire? That's usually not true, as most monitors measure voltage from the shunt by by having a sensing wire directly on each end of the shunt. That way, the voltage drop in the cable from the shunt to the battery doesn't affect the reading. There is a limit to how much that voltage drop can be (I suspect it's likely to be volts rather than tenths of volts), so if it's a concern, I suggest contacting the monitor manufacturer to get the actual number.Eric Greenwell [lifewithalazydazerv] wrote, On 7/26/2014 7:11 PM:
Re: Installing a Battery Monitor Reply #5 – July 27, 2014, 11:16:24 am Yahoo Message Number: 147631Having installed bunches of battery monitors, the shunt and any new fusing will easily fit in the battery compartment, after the batteries are removed. The only time anything needs to be installed outside the battery box is when additional batteries are wanted. https://www.flickr.com/photos/lwade/sets/72157602095132826/ The monitor type (Trimetric or Link- prefer the Link) is up to you, they both use similar sized shunts, in the battery box. There is a place to panel mount a Link in just about every LD but some locations may not be easily viewable and warrant a optional installation, such as Andy's desk monitor. Either punch one of the existing battery cable holes, or drill a 1/4" hole for the five-wire communication cord, that runs from the shunt to the monitor. Yes, many times you need to be creative in how the wiring is run and be willing to drills holes, trying to keep them and the wires hidden.Larry
Re: Installing a Battery Monitor Reply #6 – July 27, 2014, 11:21:52 am Yahoo Message Number: 147632"...many times you need to be creative in how the wiring is run and be willing to drills holes, trying to keep them and the wires hidden."---- My 'closeted' LinkLite installation is a perfect example of Larry's creative routing skills! ;-)Joan
Re: Installing a Battery Monitor Reply #7 – July 27, 2014, 12:24:52 pm Yahoo Message Number: 147633"Andy, did you mean the accuracy of the shunt will be affected if it's not connected to the battery by heavy wire? That's usually not true..."You're quite right, Eric, and I apologize for posting something that I must have read somewhere way back and just stuck in my mind.For the record, as long as the jumper to the shunt is large enough to handle the system's maximum load with minimal voltage drop, its size and length (that is, the distance of the shunt from the battery) won't affect the accuracy of the battery monitor.Thus my earlier advice to locate the shunt in the battery compartment if at all possible was simply wrong. Sorry for the misinformation!Andy Baird http://www.andybaird.com/travels
Re: Installing a Battery Monitor Reply #8 – July 27, 2014, 12:33:56 pm Yahoo Message Number: 147634Speaking of battery monitors, here's something to consider. My boating friends tell me that the Victron BMV-700 series battery monitors are very good, and they have some advantages over the Xantrex monitors. Among other things, the connection from the shunt to the display is made via a plug-in cat-5 cable (the type used for computer networking), which simplifies cable runs.Also, the BMV-700 display is only 1.2 inches deep, which is a lot less than the Xantrex monitors I'm familiar with. This should make mounting the display in a shallow wall much easier.I have no firsthand experience with the Victron monitors, but they seem to be well respected in the boating community, so they're worth a look. If I were planning a new installation, I'd certainly give them serious consideration.Andy Baird http://www.andybaird.com/travels
Installing a Battery Monitor Reply #9 – July 27, 2014, 12:40:50 pm Yahoo Message Number: 147635Hi, I am getting in on this late, and I have only done a couple of these installs, but I can see no reason not to install the shunt in the battery compartment. What would the reason be? TomAndy wrote:
Re: Installing a Battery Monitor Reply #10 – July 27, 2014, 01:36:11 pm Yahoo Message Number: 147637"I can see no reason not to install the shunt in the battery compartment. What would the reason be?"If there's no room.All I'm saying, Tom, is that (contrary to my earlier post) if you can't fit the shunt in the battery compartment, you won't lose any accuracy by mounting it elsewhere.You will, of course, need to use an adequately sized jumper between shunt and the battery--adequate for the maximum current you expect in your system. But for practical purposes, that cable's gauge and length won't affect the battery monitor's accuracy.Andy BairdTravels with Andy
Re: Installing a Battery Monitor Reply #11 – July 27, 2014, 01:50:43 pm Yahoo Message Number: 147638Andy wrote:
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