Bod Posted May 9, 2020 Report Share Posted May 9, 2020 I fear the only way this will be resolved correctly, will be to wire in the Smart gauge correctly to it's instructions. ie. two wires with small fuse's direct to the battery terminals. With the now defunct 20 amp fuse, and all it's wires removed. Bod Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard10002 Posted May 9, 2020 Report Share Posted May 9, 2020 It ought to be fairly easy to start from scratch with the Smartgauge. If I recall correctly, it has the display, plus a very long cable, which wends its' way to the battery bank. Connect +ve to the +ve terminal, and -ve to -ve terminal. There is a fuse in the +ve wire near the battery end. Not really any opportunities for a short circuit - a break in the cable would become obvious if you removed and refitted the whole thing. Bit of a faff, but.......... You would have to wonder how a 20A fuse got in between the display and the battery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WotEver Posted May 9, 2020 Report Share Posted May 9, 2020 25 minutes ago, Richard10002 said: You would have to wonder how a 20A fuse got in between the display and the battery. By not following the very simple and explicit instructions for connecting the unit. “Oh, that’ll do...” isn’t good enough for a Smartgauge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fudd Posted May 9, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2020 37 minutes ago, WotEver said: By not following the very simple and explicit instructions for connecting the unit. “Oh, that’ll do...” isn’t good enough for a Smartgauge. It’s not a question of “that’ll do”. could you please explain why it would be a problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fudd Posted May 9, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2020 (edited) There was a pump connected to the batteries that was redundant. Access is very limited so I cut into the positive cable just after the fuse which was about 2-3” from the terminal. I then connected the SmartGauge cable to that via a 3amp in-line fuse. What is wrong with that? The monitor worked ok for a year or so, then stopped working. Edited May 9, 2020 by fudd Spelling. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fudd Posted May 9, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2020 1 hour ago, Bod said: I fear the only way this will be resolved correctly, will be to wire in the Smart gauge correctly to it's instructions. ie. two wires with small fuse's direct to the battery terminals. With the now defunct 20 amp fuse, and all it's wires removed. Bod I’m going to. What I thought was the old cable to a broken monitor was actually a cable to an old pump. It was heavier gauge than the SmartGauge cable so I thought it would be ok. Apparently not. thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Brooks Posted May 9, 2020 Report Share Posted May 9, 2020 1 hour ago, fudd said: There was a pump connected to the batteries that was redundant. Access is very limited so I cut into the positive cable just after the fuse which was about 2-3” from the terminal. I then connected the SmartGauge cable to that via a 3amp in-line fuse. What is wrong with that? The monitor worked ok for a year or so, then stopped working. So the other end (old pump end) of that able could be waving in the breeze - short circuit at that end I suspect. Moral - RTFM and don't bodge. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WotEver Posted May 9, 2020 Report Share Posted May 9, 2020 1 hour ago, fudd said: It’s not a question of “that’ll do”. could you please explain why it would be a problem. The Smartgauge measures extremely small voltage fluctuations. That is why the instructions are very clear that it should be wired directly from the battery posts. Not via another fuse. Not via an odd bit of cable that’s sitting at 12V. Directly to the battery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fudd Posted May 9, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2020 40 minutes ago, WotEver said: The Smartgauge measures extremely small voltage fluctuations. That is why the instructions are very clear that it should be wired directly from the battery posts. Not via another fuse. Not via an odd bit of cable that’s sitting at 12V. Directly to the battery. Fair enough. ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil. Posted May 10, 2020 Report Share Posted May 10, 2020 On 02/05/2020 at 13:39, Phil. said: I’m not sure it would have worked correctly, as the instructions for smartguage are quite explicit. The wires need to be connected directly from the unit to the battery terminals. 23 hours ago, fudd said: Fair enough. ? Oh well, it only took eight days to get back to the right answer. Just for your info, if you weren’t already aware, when reconnected it will take several cycles of the battery being charged and discharged, before the smartguage is giving you correct readings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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