7'*18' V-Nose Cargo Trailer Toy Hauler Conversion

[flboy]

Hey Don,
G
So answer me this, my ac meter is just like yours basically, monochrome but the same format. When the system is no load (except converter, MW clock, meters and temp gauge) I show 13.5w @120v and .35a. I can justify the 13.5w, but what gives with the amps? Should be .11a @ 120v approx. Yes? I see your meter can do math better than mine. Could be a sign of bad connection at 30a or power center? It uses inductive pickup for amp meter. Now that pattern does not hold true as more watts are burned. I see pretty close to what I would expect to see for a given load as far as current. I have a Amprobe inductive meter so I may be able to verify or not. What do ya think? Calibration issue?

McDave

Hi McDave... if the meter is running close to accurate at normal loads, I suspect that the meter is just not real linear at the lower end. I think you are right... calibration issue, however.... you'd think the Power reading would be 42W as well given the Power is a mathematical operation based on the Current and Voltage... but they may have some calibration factors in the meter and for some reason, do not apply it to the displayed current, but use it in the power calculation? Just a wild guess, but these meters are very cheap.. especially for that they do.

In any case... too bad you have to put the CTC away for the Winter already... It should start to cool down here soon... but the climate being relative, actually it is the start of the good weather for camping here in Florida. My guess is there will be some Tommy sightings in a month or so.

My wife was at work today.. so I did spend some time out in the CTC... mostly just goofing off, but I was testing some gear. . Enjoy the remainder of your weekend.

[flboy]

Just looking for inexpensive gauges myself. I would like to have a gauge on the solar and on the output of my controller and maybe even on the load side. I am suspecting that my MPPT controller isn't always working right.

Any recommendations for gauges or tips on wiring? I don't have radio equipment, but I do occasionally use a WeBoost cell phone booster. Thanks!

This is what I am using now. I have one meter and shunt that is in the return to the battery (labeled Battery Bank), so it captures the sum of all current drain on the battery bank (which is offset by any charge coming in from the panels or converter), and the other meter is just in the return from the charge controller (labeled Solar Panels) so it measure what direct current is going to the batteries from the charge controller. At the end of the day, my charge controller is doing the same as the "Solar panels" meter so I really only needed the one meter (labeled Battery Bank)... but more meters looks more impressive... right.. Also, I manage the overall battery drain on the bank by checking the resting voltage (no load) and make sure it does not drop below 12.3 volts... ever (but for many reasons a resting voltage reading is just a good point of reference and can be inaccurate.. but better than nothing and that is what I do and my batteries are over 2 years old with no noticeable loss of performance yet). These meters have no good way to monitor cumulative drain from full charge to indicate state of charge and remaining time at whatever the current load is running (kind of like your "miles until empty" reading in your car).



The meters I have allow me to monitor the batteries and overall charging systems operations well and I probably would not change them out except they are so touchy with electronic noise generated by any inductive motor and especially my radio equipment. The other issue is they are 100A maximum and when running the microwave or anything altogether drawing over 100A... the meter stops at 99.99A. The meters run for about $18,00 each , so $36.00 total .. so a trade-off with capability.









I ordered the following Victron Battery Monitor with Blue tooth dongle that is good for 500A and I can monitor everything from my cell phone as well. The Victron can be set up for all the battery parameters (Size, type, etc.) so it will accurately display all sorts of statistics including time remaining... etc.. I think is uses a method similar to "Coulomb Counting" like cell phones and laptops use to give you a time remaining on the battery. But it is $192 including the dongle and about $149 without. Much more expensive.. but more capability. The Victron should not freak out when I transmit... or it will go back to Amazon.

Here is a link that may help you (Battery University). https://batteryuniversity.com/learn/art ... _of_charge


You can go with the $18.00 meter to keep an eye on your battery banks. It is sufficient if you understand what is going on with your batteries and charging system(s) and how it is all related. For wiring.. there will be 4 wires to the meter. 12VDC and Gnd to power the meter (and reference) and one wire from either side of the shunt to measure the drop in millivolts which the meter uses to calculate current. If you have the money to spend.. of course the Victron is much better and you need to know nothing about battery voltage and etc.. . I hope this helps.



https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0723 ... UTF8&psc=1

Capture.JPG (50.4 KiB) Viewed 3336 times

[flboy]

I ran out of time to mount this up today, but I cut a stainless steel double switch wallplate and this fits nicely. It will cover up the holes from the other two meters well and looks decent. I will just use some strong double backed Gorilla tape to hold it on the wall rather than drill screw holes. The meter can't weigh more than a few ounces.

I will let you know how it works later this week if I get a chance to install before I fly out of town Thursday AM.






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[featherliteCT1]

Looks super clean ... I like the fact that you can monitor your batteries from your phone ... sweet!

[flboy]

Looks super clean ... I like the fact that you can monitor your batteries from your phone ... sweet!

Yes, I am thinking that will be nice when I am in bed or etc. and want to check the state of charge early in the morning or when I am sitting outside. Also, a benefit will be that it is much easier to configure and setup since I will have access to all the parameters on the smartphone with the virtual keyboard instead of the limited screen/interface on the meter. .

[Rainier70]

Thanks for the added info on your meters.

Love your new meter. It looks great.

[McDave]

That was the first time I had seen the word Dongle used in a family friendly context. I'll be adding that one to my lexicon post-haste.
Sweet meter though, nice Dongle, too.

McDave

[flboy]

That was the first time I had seen the word Dongle used in a family friendly context. I'll be adding that one to my lexicon post-haste.
Sweet meter though, nice Dongle, too.

McDave

Lol! Yes.. that word has been redefined by the IT crowd to mean "a small device able to be connected to and used with a computer, especially to allow access to wireless broadband or use of protected software" .

I wonder what they were thinking when they came up with that?? Way too much time alone in the labs I'd say.

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[John61CT]

That was the first time I had seen the word Dongle used in a family friendly context. I'll be adding that one to my lexicon post-haste.
Sweet meter though, nice Dongle, too.

McDave

Standard usage in an IT context for many decades.

Any little accessory device that protrudes or hangs from a comms port off the main unit. Used to be serial COM or parallel LPT, now mostly USB.

Modems, software licensing, protocol converters etc

[John61CT]

Origin, maybe

http://www.wordorigins.org/index.php/dongle/

Something that (inelegantly, even awkwardly) protrudes or dangles.

[flboy]

Origin, maybe

http://www.wordorigins.org/index.php/dongle/

Something that (inelegantly, even awkwardly) protrudes or dangles.

This is a family friendly blog.. let's keep it that way.

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[Rainier70]

I'm curious. Your solar panel meter shows 0 amp is that just because your batteries are full, or do you not have it set up for amps?

[flboy]

I'm curious. Your solar panel meter shows 0 amp is that just because your batteries are full, or do you not have it set up for amps?

It is because it was dark outside and the panels were not charging the batteries. That is pretty much the only time it is 82deg outside in the summer... :-)

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[flboy]

I got the Victron Energy BMV-700 Battery Monitor installed and Bluetooth connection established. Here it is on the wall where I had the previous displays mounted. It was easy to install. A lot of functionality for sure. Now I need to read the manual and optimize/calibrate for my specific batteries and set the alarm thresholds and etc.. I like the Smartphone monitor..... not sure it would be worth it for just that little display to scroll through. That would be cumbersome.











This is the " Accessory" controller with the larger display that interfaces with the Solar charge controller. Same situation where the Solar Charge Controller has a limited display and you have to scroll through a lot of settings to get all the information. The little Accessory Controller just makes it nicer. Not a requirement.




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[McDave]

Ooooh yeah,
I like it, I like it a lot! That is a bunch of useful data. A real picture of the health of your batteries and what the system is currently doing.
Nice job, Don.

McDave