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Battery Condition Monitor


NB Alnwick

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hi ive been looking at this post im interested in getting a battery meter as at the moment we only have the green orange and red light system so not much info there. i like the look of the nasa and its size would fit really nicely in the space i have. would it give me enough info for a rounad about estimate for the batterys as we are livingabourd and hucked up most of the time so only need it on occasion. the biggest thing that puts me off the smartguage is the way it looks to be honest a bit of product design would do it wonders and then you would have the best product on the market.

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I agree with the recent comments esp. those of MP and Alan and I do try to keep abreast of things within my limited capacity BUT how do you know what you don't know? and also as things get more and more complex it must mean that you need the brains and edukayshun of a Moomin to keep up with it all. I have tried to avoid too much complexity in my life, in fact I have for example only had a bank account for in recent times and I closed that a year ago (not a bad judge?) I have always tried to 'have' things on a need rather than a want basis. BTW given that I have accepted that all the brains are right about earthing, how many people have died from electrocution on whilst around boats or is this just a moral panic?

Edited by PaddingtonBear
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I have tried to avoid too much complexity in my life,

That's why you will always be a prime rip-off candidate. Once the boat mechanics talk to you they will know straightaway that they have a big one hooked and will play you like a fish. Knowledge, and the acquisition of that knowledge, is the only defence save for entrusting everything to a knowledgable friend whom you trust.

 

BTW given that I have accepted that all the brains are right about earthing, how many people have died from electrocution on whilst around boats or is this just a moral panic?

 

There are a few notable examples of deaths in this manner which have been quoted many times if you care to search the forum archives.

 

Chris

Edited by chris w
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the biggest thing that puts me off the smartguage is the way it looks to be honest a bit of product design would do it wonders and then you would have the best product on the market.

I agree to an extent. I don't like the way that when I press the button on the smartguage the plastic LCD display bends, or the fact that you have to use self-adhesive velcro to mount it. Still it is the best state of charge meter.

 

Gibbo if you're listening: when I spoke to one of your distributors some time ago (I think it was Merlin Powerstore), although they agreed it was the best meter, they also felt it wasn't really ready for market.

 

So perhaps we should be grateful to have them on our boats? :lol:

Edited by blackrose
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I agree to an extent. I don't like the way that when I press the button on the smartguage the plastic LCD display bends, or the fact that you have to use self-adhesive velcro to mount it. Still it is the best state of charge meter.

 

Gibbo if you're listening: when I spoke to one of your distributors some time ago (I think it was Merlin Powerstore), although they agreed it was the best meter, they also felt it wasn't really ready for market.

 

We're all getting older faster than we realise and time is flying past faster than we realise.

 

The case yours is in was discontinued in 2007! It hasn't been necessary to use double sided tape for almost 2 years!

 

The current unit is flush mounted and looks like this........................

 

sgamain01.jpg

 

( http://smartgauge.co.uk/fitting.html )

 

You cut a square (actually rectangular) hole (like everyone else's meters) and drop the unit into it. There are four holes "kiss drilled" from the back to give the option to drill them right through and retain the unit in the hole with screws. Try to keep up :lol:

 

Edited to add: See we do actually listen to opinions!

 

There have been two major changes since its introduction (other than minor software changes), both as a result of customer comments. Firstly we changed the case to flush mounting (and now get some poeple saying they preferred the old surface mount case. hey ho!), secondly we widened the range of the 7 segment display brightness and brightened up the normal LEDs. Again because some people said they weren't bright enough.

 

Gibbo

Edited by Gibbo
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secondly we widened the range of the 7 segment display brightness and brightened up the normal LEDs. Again because some people said they weren't bright enough.

Flippin' 'enry Gibbo, I've got the 'old' design and maybe it's fitted in a shaded area, but if the display was any brighter I'd be needing my RayBans to read it!

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hi ive been looking at this post im interested in getting a battery meter as at the moment we only have the green orange and red light system so not much info there. i like the look of the nasa and its size would fit really nicely in the space i have. would it give me enough info for a rounad about estimate for the batterys as we are livingabourd and hucked up most of the time so only need it on occasion. the biggest thing that puts me off the smartguage is the way it looks to be honest a bit of product design would do it wonders and then you would have the best product on the market.

 

I continue to be amazed by this modern obsession with asthetics over function. So a Smartgauge although brilliant at what it does is not worth considering because it doesn't look cool enough. Am I the only one who thinks that is an illogical way to select a device of this nature?

 

It is only a small twist from this to the marketing mans dream of selling any old tat just because it looks cool! and never mind if it works.

 

Of course it is all down to individual choice and if one device or another suits what one wants, be that Smartgauge or something else like the NASA BM1 or a Victron unit. I know what works for me at this time.

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i can easly see why it is an important factor when putting it on my boat in a promanate place, when i have just spent ages sourcing products that go together well and blend in with the overall design of the whole boat which i will be living in, not considering design would be daft, if i were to put it in the engine bay then it woud be fine in there as no one would see it. but then it would not be easy to see. as im not going to be constantly worrying about my state of charge then i would like something that works well enough and also fits in with the rest of the boat. ive found a lot of the inland marine products look badly designed and hotch potch. the sea marine stuff always appears to be styled a lot lot better. i think its changing slowly but design im sorry to say will sell good products better.

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i can easly see why it is an important factor when putting it on my boat in a promanate place, when i have just spent ages sourcing products that go together well and blend in with the overall design of the whole boat which i will be living in, not considering design would be daft, if i were to put it in the engine bay then it woud be fine in there as no one would see it. but then it would not be easy to see. as im not going to be constantly worrying about my state of charge then i would like something that works well enough and also fits in with the rest of the boat. ive found a lot of the inland marine products look badly designed and hotch potch. the sea marine stuff always appears to be styled a lot lot better. i think its changing slowly but design im sorry to say will sell good products better.

 

I fitted a NASA on my sea boat 18 months ago and very recently fitted one on my sons widebeam, I have learnt from experience that the "state of charge" indicator is fairly accurate providing the batteries receive a full charge from the shore power 3 stage charger from time to time, if as has happened recently when the only charging available was via the engine alternator, the SOC indicator was fairly inacurate, however, because the NASA gives a very accurate voltage and current reading (very handy for seeing how much juice is being used by various appliances, even 240v stuff via the inverter) I can determine what the SOC is approximately enough to decide if charging is required.

 

Jim

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............................... however, because the NASA gives a very accurate voltage and current reading (very handy for seeing how much juice is being used by various appliances, even 240v stuff via the inverter) I can determine what the SOC is approximately enough to decide if charging is required.

 

Jim

You can do Peukert calculations in your head? Impressive. :lol:

Edited by chris w
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You can do Peukert calculations in your head? Impressive. :lol:

 

No need to be sarky chris, unless that was supposed to be funny? Someone asked a question and I gave my answer based on 18 months of practical experience of a product. period

 

regards

 

Jim

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I have to say I have just purchased a complete smartgauge/Smartbank charging kit from Chris, service was first class and how anyone can assert that is a less than market ready/worthy product is a little beyond me! And no I have no connection to Smartgauge just a satisfied customer

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The current unit is flush mounted and looks like this........................

 

sgamain01.jpg

 

 

Gibbo

 

Hi gibbo,

 

I have two smartgauges on my boat, both of the old design. Looking at that photo I guess that the circuit board has not changed much, Can I buy from you a couple of the new style cases to update my existing units ?

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I have to say I have just purchased a complete smartgauge/Smartbank charging kit from Chris, service was first class and how anyone can assert that is a less than market ready/worthy product is a little beyond me!

 

Thanks.

 

It does seem a bit odd that a few people hold that view. We're partway through a government contract order for 750 complete systems (same system as yours) for these (Mastiff II protected patrol vehicles).......

 

armymastiffb.jpg

 

(And yes I have had a play in one.... whoopee!)

 

The MOD are clearly happy with them. Admittedly they don't especially go for prettiness but they do insist that things do what they're supposed to. Incidentally they rejected amp hours counters (as did the NHS for their ambulances and the Met for their surveillance vehicles) for this contract because they discovered that they don't work :lol:

 

I have two smartgauges on my boat, both of the old design. Looking at that photo I guess that the circuit board has not changed much, Can I buy from you a couple of the new style cases to update my existing units ?

 

Er, yes and no. The PCB will fit but it needs a minor mod to the case (an internal bracket needs trimming as some components were moved). Also the PCB, whilst easy to remove from the old case is a pig to fit to the new one without a special tool. I'd rather you send them back and we'll do them to save you breaking them. PM me if you want to take it further. Unfortunately the cases are expensive.

 

Gibbo

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Loose lips sink ships................

 

Did you forget a smiley? I'm struggling here to think what advanatage some terrorists might gain from knowing that a member of crew of an enemy fighting vehicle has a dad with a narrowboat?

 

Gibbo

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Hi all,

 

Thanks for all the info on this topic, its what this forum does best, help me understand 'things' :lol:

 

Bottom line is that I have brought a smartguge today and fitted it this pm. It does what it says it does which is what I wanted - to know more about my batteries which will allow me to run the engine to give back what I have taken out - simple

 

Fitting it was a pig - not the unit but where I wanted it to go, but its all in now.

 

Why did I go for the smartgauge - from the recommendations within the thread and also keep it in the family so to speak, in these credit crunch times I like to use my dollar to keep good local companies going.

 

Take care and thanks again for an interesting thread that cost me £150 quid :lol:

 

Nev

 

My blog

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Thanks to everyone for all the suggestions - is 'smartgauge' suitable for 24v systems?

There is an abundance of technical info on the website but I couldn't locat this information which is important to me . . .

 

 

 

The engine pulley is about 18" in diameter and the alternator pulley is about 2.25". The alternator kicks in at around 270 rpm on the engine flywheel and charges at around 20 Amps - increasing the engine speed significantly above 300 rpm does not seem to make much difference - so we are happy to settle for that for the time being.

 

If we ever invest in a more powerful alternator we will fit a bigger pulley.

 

The comment about the battery voltage is interesting - our Elecsol batteries have rarely showed more than 24 volts unless they have just been charged. Even when new they quickly settled back to showing an average of about 12.1 volts per battery (with no load to discharge them) after their initial charge.

On the other hand our cheap and conventional five year old engine start batteries regularly show between 12.4 and 12.7 volts per battery even before charging and after turning over our twelve litre engine which must take a considerable amount of juice . . .

 

hi there, terry off @

'William James' (r.w.davis boat) I'm on Sterling the lot, 12 and 240 volts chages, and monitors/3KV invertoer, stick to sterling, ring charles if you need info,, he's good , keep it simple...terry.

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Hi all,

 

Thanks for all the info on this topic, its what this forum does best, help me understand 'things' :lol:

 

Bottom line is that I have brought a smartguge today and fitted it this pm. It does what it says it does which is what I wanted - to know more about my batteries which will allow me to run the engine to give back what I have taken out - simple

 

Fitting it was a pig - not the unit but where I wanted it to go, but its all in now.

 

Why did I go for the smartgauge - from the recommendations within the thread and also keep it in the family so to speak, in these credit crunch times I like to use my dollar to keep good local companies going.

 

Take care and thanks again for an interesting thread that cost me £150 quid :lol:

 

Nev

 

My blog

 

 

As is well known we have a smartgauge/smartbank setup on BALDOCK

and it has done exactly what is should do since we fitted it nearly 4 years ago

 

I cannot comment on the NASA or other manufacturers as regards to extended tests BUT IMO , if I was asked to recommend a battery "monitoring" system I would recommend the Smartgauge without hesitation

 

Chris

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