Smart gauge - - charging update

[jelunga]

By the way, the little green "magic eye" in the top of some batteries is about as much use as a chocolate teapot. It only tells you the battery has not been stolen.

[bigcol]

If the batteries were lazy they aren't now! Starting from 70% and ending at 28% is the same power usage as starting at 100% and ending at 58%. The latter is fine, so it's just a matter of getting the batteries fully charged during the day. If you are then starting from 58% it will be quicker to get close to 100%

 

So alternators seems to be ok, battery's proved by miss using aren't lazy either

 

Again thanks all for you advice and much needed help

 

Col

[George94]

He means a hydrometer. But these are only useful if your battery has removable caps for each cell so that you can see the acid.

 

Whoops! Yes, I did.

[Paul's Nulife4-2]

By the way, the little green "magic eye" in the top of some batteries is about as much use as a chocolate teapot. It only tells you the battery has not been stolen.

Actually, thats about right isn't it !.

[bigcol]

Just noticed ,thank you to forum crew for correcting spelling mistake in heading

Ta !

 

And thank you all

 

Don't know why, but happy

 

Inverters installed

Smart gauge installed

Alternators working

Smart gauge working

 

Looking at solar and TVs now

Edited April 26, 2014 by bigcol

[BargeeSpud]

I run an LED TV 5 hours a day, Eberspacher for 1 hour a day, have LED lighting throughout which are only on when needed, Shoreline fridge running 24/7 & I also have about 200W of solar, but being guided by my Smartguage, I find I have to charge the batteries daily. I also charge my batteries monthly via the genny & Sterling digital charger.

 

I've found that the Smartguage "Status" reading varies wildly even though my power consumption is fairly consistent, I've never had a reading of 100%, 81% being the highest ever since fitting it & 3 new 110Ah batteries this January. I charged with the charger a couple of days ago & despite leaving it in float for over an hour, the level plummeted from 78% down to 34% in less than a day. I have had the rare occasion when I've been able to skip a day's charging because the guage is still reading about 60% the following day, but not often.

 

Consequently, I'm losing faith with my Smartguage due to what I see as inconsistency of readings. Because of the way Smartguage is supposed to work, I'm getting the feeling that unless you start off with batteries at 100%, & I thought I had, when you fit a Smartguage, you will never get the thing to read anywhere near it & so the readings will be inaccurate. I also feel that it can't handle or allow for solar charging.

 

I'm sure it's down to my interpretation, but at the moment I'm regretting ditching my Adverc DCM in favour of Smartguage. I thought an ability to know the capacity left in your batteries would be a good thing, but I'm feeling that I've lost more than I've gained with the switchover & unfortunately, I can't switch it back.

 

For something so simple, it has left me totally confused & I'm seriously considering NOT fitting one in my new build later this year..

[Paul C]

bigcol, has the smartgauge cycled the required number of times (I think its 4 occasions over 90% then under 75%?) it says it needs to in the manual?

[bigcol]

Smart gauge reading 99% !

 

Hil Paul, what page? Having a look at manual now,

Don't know what that would mean?

Manual I finding it hard to digest

 

Col

[WotEver]

 

I've found that the Smartguage "Status" reading varies wildly...

Did you synchronise SG correctly as described at the bottom of page 2 and the top of page 3 in the guide: http://www.smartgauge.co.uk/pdfs/manuals/sgaugeman_r203.pdf ?

 

From your description it sounds as if you didn't.

 

Tony

[bottle]

Col

 

When it reaches 100% the batteries may or may not be fully charged, the vagaries of the Smartgauge not being totally accurate when charging but when you turn off your engine it will soon settle to an accurate reading.

 

Now you have reached that mile stone, you could watch telly tonight but the batteries will be down to about 50% SOC by the morning, basically you are just using to much power.

 

How you reduce that is up to you.

[Phil Ambrose]

Drink more wine.

Phil

[ditchcrawler]

I run an LED TV 5 hours a day, Eberspacher for 1 hour a day, have LED lighting throughout which are only on when needed, Shoreline fridge running 24/7 & I also have about 200W of solar, but being guided by my Smartguage, I find I have to charge the batteries daily. I also charge my batteries monthly via the genny & Sterling digital charger.

 

I've found that the Smartguage "Status" reading varies wildly even though my power consumption is fairly consistent, I've never had a reading of 100%, 81% being the highest ever since fitting it & 3 new 110Ah batteries this January. I charged with the charger a couple of days ago & despite leaving it in float for over an hour, the level plummeted from 78% down to 34% in less than a day. I have had the rare occasion when I've been able to skip a day's charging because the guage is still reading about 60% the following day, but not often.

 

Consequently, I'm losing faith with my Smartguage due to what I see as inconsistency of readings. Because of the way Smartguage is supposed to work, I'm getting the feeling that unless you start off with batteries at 100%, & I thought I had, when you fit a Smartguage, you will never get the thing to read anywhere near it & so the readings will be inaccurate. I also feel that it can't handle or allow for solar charging.

 

I'm sure it's down to my interpretation, but at the moment I'm regretting ditching my Adverc DCM in favour of Smartguage. I thought an ability to know the capacity left in your batteries would be a good thing, but I'm feeling that I've lost more than I've gained with the switchover & unfortunately, I can't switch it back.

 

For something so simple, it has left me totally confused & I'm seriously considering NOT fitting one in my new build later this year..

Maybe you have never charged them high enough for it to get to 100%

bigcol, has the smartgauge cycled the required number of times (I think its 4 occasions over 90% then under 75%?) it says it needs to in the manual?

I think this is his first big charge

[bigcol]

I run an LED TV 5 hours a day, Eberspacher for 1 hour a day, have LED lighting throughout which are only on when needed, Shoreline fridge running 24/7 & I also have about 200W of solar, but being guided by my Smartguage, I find I have to charge the batteries daily. I also charge my batteries monthly via the genny & Sterling digital charger.

 

I've found that the Smartguage "Status" reading varies wildly even though my power consumption is fairly consistent, I've never had a reading of 100%, 81% being the highest ever since fitting it & 3 new 110Ah batteries this January. I charged with the charger a couple of days ago & despite leaving it in float for over an hour, the level plummeted from 78% down to 34% in less than a day. I have had the rare occasion when I've been able to skip a day's charging because the guage is still reading about 60% the following day, but not often.

 

Consequently, I'm losing faith with my Smartguage due to what I see as inconsistency of readings. Because of the way Smartguage is supposed to work, I'm getting the feeling that unless you start off with batteries at 100%, & I thought I had, when you fit a Smartguage, you will never get the thing to read anywhere near it & so the readings will be inaccurate. I also feel that it can't handle or allow for solar charging.

 

I'm sure it's down to my interpretation, but at the moment I'm regretting ditching my Adverc DCM in favour of Smartguage. I thought an ability to know the capacity left in your batteries would be a good thing, but I'm feeling that I've lost more than I've gained with the switchover & unfortunately, I can't switch it back.

 

For something so simple, it has left me totally confused & I'm seriously considering NOT fitting one in my new build later this year..

I'm a numpty for anything technical

 

But I bought my smart gauge second hand.

 

There are 2 ways in the book to set up

 

One is normal set up as never used before

Two is important, different set up, you have to reset to factory defaults page 25 starts bottom of page then onto page 26

if the unit isn't new and being installed on another boat Paragraph 6 page 9

 

Don't know if this would make ant difference to you, I only knew this as I read manual back to front twice, hard reading I know

 

Col

[nicknorman]

I run an LED TV 5 hours a day, Eberspacher for 1 hour a day, have LED lighting throughout which are only on when needed, Shoreline fridge running 24/7 & I also have about 200W of solar, but being guided by my Smartguage, I find I have to charge the batteries daily. I also charge my batteries monthly via the genny & Sterling digital charger.

 

I've found that the Smartguage "Status" reading varies wildly even though my power consumption is fairly consistent, I've never had a reading of 100%, 81% being the highest ever since fitting it & 3 new 110Ah batteries this January. I charged with the charger a couple of days ago & despite leaving it in float for over an hour, the level plummeted from 78% down to 34% in less than a day. I have had the rare occasion when I've been able to skip a day's charging because the guage is still reading about 60% the following day, but not often.

 

Consequently, I'm losing faith with my Smartguage due to what I see as inconsistency of readings. Because of the way Smartguage is supposed to work, I'm getting the feeling that unless you start off with batteries at 100%, & I thought I had, when you fit a Smartguage, you will never get the thing to read anywhere near it & so the readings will be inaccurate. I also feel that it can't handle or allow for solar charging.

 

I'm sure it's down to my interpretation, but at the moment I'm regretting ditching my Adverc DCM in favour of Smartguage. I thought an ability to know the capacity left in your batteries would be a good thing, but I'm feeling that I've lost more than I've gained with the switchover & unfortunately, I can't switch it back.

 

For something so simple, it has left me totally confused & I'm seriously considering NOT fitting one in my new build later this year..

That's surprising to hear since pretty much everyone finds it good. It is especially "better than an AH counter" for uses where you don't take the SoC regularly to 100%. Are you sure it's wired correctly - both wires directly onto the battery posts?

[bigcol]

Nicknorman and all

 

I'm very happy with mine, getting use to the information it gives

But it's a Yeh!! From me

 

Spud.. hope you get yours sorted out

 

Col

Edited April 26, 2014 by bigcol

[George94]

I run an LED TV 5 hours a day, Eberspacher for 1 hour a day, have LED lighting throughout which are only on when needed, Shoreline fridge running 24/7 & I also have about 200W of solar, but being guided by my Smartguage, I find I have to charge the batteries daily. I also charge my batteries monthly via the genny & Sterling digital charger.

 

I've found that the Smartguage "Status" reading varies wildly even though my power consumption is fairly consistent, I've never had a reading of 100%, 81% being the highest ever since fitting it & 3 new 110Ah batteries this January. I charged with the charger a couple of days ago & despite leaving it in float for over an hour, the level plummeted from 78% down to 34% in less than a day. I have had the rare occasion when I've been able to skip a day's charging because the guage is still reading about 60% the following day, but not often.

 

Consequently, I'm losing faith with my Smartguage due to what I see as inconsistency of readings. Because of the way Smartguage is supposed to work, I'm getting the feeling that unless you start off with batteries at 100%, & I thought I had, when you fit a Smartguage, you will never get the thing to read anywhere near it & so the readings will be inaccurate. I also feel that it can't handle or allow for solar charging.

 

I'm sure it's down to my interpretation, but at the moment I'm regretting ditching my Adverc DCM in favour of Smartguage. I thought an ability to know the capacity left in your batteries would be a good thing, but I'm feeling that I've lost more than I've gained with the switchover & unfortunately, I can't switch it back.

 

For something so simple, it has left me totally confused & I'm seriously considering NOT fitting one in my new build later this year..

 

If you have never got it beyond 81% SOC then I would expect that the SG has no way of knowing what full charge is.

 

I'd be inclined to moor temporarily at a place with mains power and leave the batteries on charge for a few days. The SG will then learn what full charge is. You should also go up to full charge on a regular basis.

[nicknorman]

If you have never got it beyond 81% SOC then I would expect that the SG has no way of knowing what full charge is.

 

I'd be inclined to moor temporarily at a place with mains power and leave the batteries on charge for a few days. The SG will then learn what full charge is. You should also go up to full charge on a regular basis.

 

The SG doesn't work like that.

[BargeeSpud]

Did you synchronise SG correctly as described at the bottom of page 2 and the top of page 3 in the guide: http://www.smartgauge.co.uk/pdfs/manuals/sgaugeman_r203.pdf ?

 

From your description it sounds as if you didn't.

 

Tony

 

The instructions do not say anything like that, you can simply leave the unit to get on with it & it will synchronise itself. Only if you KNOW what your SoC is, can you set the unit manually.

 

 

That's surprising to hear since pretty much everyone finds it good. It is especially "better than an AH counter" for uses where you don't take the SoC regularly to 100%. Are you sure it's wired correctly - both wires directly onto the battery posts?

 

Yes, it is.

 

 

If you have never got it beyond 81% SOC then I would expect that the SG has no way of knowing what full charge is.

 

I'd be inclined to moor temporarily at a place with mains power and leave the batteries on charge for a few days. The SG will then learn what full charge is. You should also go up to full charge on a regular basis.

 

Not possible for me to do & Nicknorman seems to have answered that.

 

 

As an aside, I've always been led to believe that it's impossible to charge any battery to 100% anyway & that around 90% is the best you will ever achieve with a gradual reduction over time as the batteries age & due to repeated charging cycles.

Edited April 26, 2014 by Spuds

[nicknorman]

As an aside, I've always been led to believe that it's impossible to charge any battery to 100% anyway & that around 90% is the best you will ever achieve with a gradual reduction over time as the batteries age & due to repeated charging cycles.

If I am allowed to use my favourite word of the moment again, one can only asymptotically approach 100% charge, however one can reach say 99.5% quite easily! And one should do from time to time to ward off sulphation.

 

When the batteries age, this does not significantly affect the ease of reaching say 99.5% SoC nor the need to do so. It is just that you are reaching 99.5% SoC of a smaller capacity than the original one. As far as the SG is concerned you should still aim to get to an indicated 100% SoC as often as reasonably practicable.

Edited April 26, 2014 by nicknorman

[BargeeSpud]

If I am allowed to use my favourite word of the moment again, one can only asymptotically approach 100% charge, however one can reach say 99.5% quite easily! And one should do from time to time to ward off sulphation.

 

When the batteries age, this does not significantly affect the ease of reaching say 99.5% SoC nor the need to do so. It is just that you are reaching 99.5% SoC of a smaller capacity than the original one. As far as the SG is concerned you should still aim to get to an indicated 100% SoC as often as reasonably practicable.

 

Riiiiiight. I think I know where you're coming from. So what you're saying is that if you have a 110Ah battery & you're at 100% Soc when new, this means you'll get the full 110Ah (not in a practical application, I know). But as the battery ages, you can still achieve nearly 100% Soc, but it's your capacity that is dropping off so that it will drop to 105Ah, then 100Ah & so on.

 

I'd be interested to hear what Tony Brooks has to say about this, as I think it was on one of his Marine courses at Reading that I got the idea that you get a gradual drop off of the achievable SoC as the battery ages.

[bottle]

The only other thing I can think of is if the battery capacity has gone below 50% of the stated battery Amp.hrs

 

In other words knackered batteries.

 

January to now is more than enough time to knacker them

 

Riiiiiight. I think I know where you're coming from. So what you're saying is that if you have a 110Ah battery & you're at 100% Soc when new, this means you'll get the full 110Ah (not in a practical application, I know). But as the battery ages, you can still achieve nearly 100% Soc, but it's your capacity that is dropping off so that it will drop to 105Ah, then 100Ah & so on.

 

I'd be interested to hear what Tony Brooks has to say about this, as I think it was on one of his Marine courses at Reading that I got the idea that you get a gradual drop off of the achievable SoC as the battery ages.

 

Almost right, what Tony would have said is that the capacity will drop of with age and use but 100%SOC is still obtainable but at the reduced capacity.

[nicknorman]

Riiiiiight. I think I know where you're coming from. So what you're saying is that if you have a 110Ah battery & you're at 100% Soc when new, this means you'll get the full 110Ah (not in a practical application, I know). But as the battery ages, you can still achieve nearly 100% Soc, but it's your capacity that is dropping off so that it will drop to 105Ah, then 100Ah & so on.

 

I'd be interested to hear what Tony Brooks has to say about this, as I think it was on one of his Marine courses at Reading that I got the idea that you get a gradual drop off of the achievable SoC as the battery ages.

Yes your first para is spot on. I think any discrepancy on the second para is down to semantics. Tony probably said that you can't charge an older battery back to 100% - of its original capacity. So a perfect amphour counting gauge would never get back to 100%, but the Smartgauge would, because it is indicating the SoC of the current capacity, not the new capacity. Edited April 26, 2014 by nicknorman

[bigcol]

No TV so far, really missing it

Bottle empty, on 2nd bottle

We've had a chat, about the meal, about the blinds being dusty

Now she's not talking to me,Got the ump!

Sorry giving up! wife's forgiven me,so we're back on speaking terms apparently

Casualty being switched on, lol

 

Ps. Do love my wife. 33 long long beautiful years

 

Sorry nearly Forgot!

Voltage 12,60

Status 95%

Edited April 26, 2014 by bigcol

[Paul's Nulife4-2]

So I take it that your wife is 100% 'In Charge' then Col, (Happy wife, Happy life, good man that is the secret of a long and happy marriage well done).

Edited April 26, 2014 by Paul's Nulife4-2

[nicknorman]

No TV so far, really missing it

Bottle empty, on 2nd bottle

We've had a chat, about the meal, about the blinds being dusty

Now she's not talking to me,Got the ump!

Sorry giving up! wife's forgiven me,so we're back on speaking terms apparently

Casualty being switched on, lol

Ps. Do love my wife. 33 long long beautiful years

Sorry nearly Forgot!

Voltage 12,60

Status 95%

Books?

Board games? We recently got "Pointless" and it's great - our rule is that someone has to do the sound effects!

Radio 4?

Music?

Music - instruments that you play yourself?

 

Etc.

 

Allegedly folk did manage to survive before TV was invented, though it is hard to believe.

 

Anyway, you batteries will be happy even if you aren't!