Battery Monitoring

[dBC Member Find all posts View Profile Close dBC]

PowerLog 6S has an internal shunt which makes connecting it up a bit painful..... but I don't do it robustly enough for me to leave it there indefinitely. I bodge it up, take it for a drive to gather the data, and then remove it

Something like this: http://www.supercheapauto.com.au/Pro...nuFrom=1021641 might be a mechanically more robust way of installing it. You could connect the shunt wires across the green-knob-switch and then use the green knob to control whether the current passes through the shunt or bypasses it.

[Justinvv Member Find all posts View Profile Close Justinvv]

Not sure if thinks have changed, but if anyone is after a PowerLog 6S, when I bought mine, there was none available in Australia, but a New Zealand company stocks them, and at competitive prices.



Hi again Justin, and can I make a couple of suggestions relating to your solar tests and results.

First off, like DC/DC devices, all solar regulators should be located as close to the battery as possible.

So your PWM reg was at a disadvantage from the start.

Next, not sure what size cable your extension lead is, but it looks a bit on the thin side as far as for using it to connecting the solar panels to your vehicle goes.

This is one of those occasions where going oversized with cable does have advantages.

If you used a much thicker cable, your PWM reg would probably have performed better, but so would your MPPT reg.

Next, to see how they really perform, try first testing them again in the middle of the day when the sun is at it’s highest point, and then late in the afternoon, less than an hour before sunset.

If the PWM Reg is any good, the current ( watts ) being supplied to the battery should be very close, if not the same as the MPPT reg.

In the evening you should get better results from the MPPT as this and in the morning, is when they out perform other types of solar regulators.

NOTE, the MPPT advantage increases the further south you are, and diminishes the further north you are.

Anyway just some suggestions.

The extension lead is over kill, so thats not an issue, yes I realise the controllers are at different ends, but its cancelled out mostly because the MTTP gets its power at 22 volts, and the PWM is pushing out 13 ish volts, and the cable is heavy.

Its was cloudy, I did what I could as I suggested, and will retest when the sun is more consistant..

Thanks for the feedback..

[mjrandom Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close mjrandom]

[mullerwh Member Find all posts View Profile Close mullerwh]

This works well for me on my aux battery. http://www.supercheapauto.com.au/Pro...Monitor/540712

[Boneyone Member Find all posts View Profile Close Boneyone]

The baintech looks good on the dash, as do the dual meters that fit into the switch cut out. I just wish that they would upgrade the Matson style to incorporate a shunt so that we could log/graph the current as well as the voltage.

[xlr8_87 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close xlr8_87]

I've got the Solid Kit meter, same as dBC's post.
It's on all the time so I can keep an eye on aux battery voltage while the car is off. They're accurate and are made to fit a Toyota switch blank.

[LowRange Member Find all posts View Profile Close LowRange]

This works well for me on my aux battery. http://www.supercheapauto.com.au/Pro...Monitor/540712

Thanks, these are currently 20% off at Supercheap for club members, so i picked up 2 today for $39.95 a piece.

[Boneyone Member Find all posts View Profile Close Boneyone]

Yep, they are good. I got the ones on line, so now both batteries in the Prado as well as the one in the van are covered. The multi app is very worthwhile too.

[drivesafe Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close drivesafe]

Thanks, these are currently 20% off at Supercheap for club members, so i picked up 2 today for $39.95 a piece.

They are cheap on eBay now as well.

$36.50 on one site, including post.

Amazing what a bit of competition does!

[Boneyone Member Find all posts View Profile Close Boneyone]

Found a great combined voltage current meter on line and installed it this weekend:

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/152086891389

As far as meters go it's a bit expensive but I think it's very worthwhile. There is a momentary on switch at the rear of the meter, I soldered a pair of fly leads to extend it to my dash, which provides three modes:
1. Volts
2. Current
3. Display toggles between Volts & Current about every 4 seconds. When displaying current it flashes as a differentiator.

When in current mode the Hall effect sensor can be zero'd by pressing and holding the momentary on switch for a few seconds.

The current displays forward and reverse current, reverse is shown with an extra decimal point on the far right, which is perfect for the auxiliary battery. It's only a short cable between the meter and the Hall effect sensor, so I had to extend that. I also wrapped the Hall effect sensor in self amalgamating tape to improve it's robustness and weatherproof characteristics.

The "on/on" switch to the right of the meter switches between the main & auxiliary batteries. Main is displayed whenever accessories active, auxiliary displayed at all times when switch selects it. Big display is great because it means I can glance at it through the window when outside the vehicle & I don't need my glasses to see it.

Icing on the cake was that the cut out size was the same as my old volt meter, and the voltage fly lead had exactly the same plug & polarity as my old volt meter, so those parts were plug & play, no modifications required.


https://youtu.be/ef2a3vnxXsU

[drivesafe Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close drivesafe]

Hi Bonnyone and there a number of these types of monitor available, but you will very quickly find that they are dangerous.

You will spend far to much time looking at the meter and not at the road, because it will not be working the way you expect it to.

The meter will be displaying correct info, but you will start to look at it more and more, because, the info will be continually changing in way you did not expect, so you will then spend even more time looking at it.

Also, because the data is not what you expect and there is so much of it, you will need to take notes and this will really become out of hand.

The only way to track that sort of info, and not just for safety sake but to get accurate info is to use a system that has data logging.

Ignore my post for now and see if you come to the same conclusion.