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How long to charge batteries?

Glynn

By Glynn
in Boat Building & Maintenance

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cuthound Veteran II

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I have a Victron BMV 601.

 

Apart from the nonsensical SoC, which is based on whatever battery capacity you put into it, it records everything else accurately, and is still working as the boat approaches it's 9th birthday.

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MtB Veteran II

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Well having had a quick look, it's either something cheap and nasty from eBay / China that may or may not work, or a BMV70x which is only £125 or so - you can afford it!

 

 

Dammit my ammeter budget is only £124. So no, I can't afford it... :)

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Glynn Proficient

Glynn

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It appears that our real problem ( now Ive had an electrician look over it ) is that the boat builders havent used a shunt for everything that goes through the inverter.

The only shunt in place is one within the 12 volt control panel with Amp meter & volt meter, sadly it will only display the fridge, freezer, lights, water pumps, toilet etc and WONT tell me how much energy the inverter is using.

This obviously has had us in a false sense of battery security, thinking that no amps are being used when in fact there is, if the inverter is asking for it.

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Richard10002 Veteran II

Richard10002

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Posted (edited)

Which battery monitor would you recommend ? and do they simply connect to the battery bank ?.

I bought the NASA BM2 3 years ago because I wanted to count the Amps and Amp Hours. I've since added the Smartguage as an easy way to see State of Charge. So for £250 I have the best of both worlds.

 

I haven't seen or heard anything that would make me buy different monitors.

 

Smartguage simply connects, NASA is slightly more complicated, but not difficult.

Edited by Richard10002
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RLWP Veteran II

RLWP

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Where are you getting them from at that price?

 

Can I order 1.9 of them please? smile.png

 

Hawne basin, last year

 

We only use cheap batteries because we are very good at killing them

 

Richard

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MtB Veteran II

MtBDonate to Canal World

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Hawne basin, last year

 

We only use cheap batteries because we are very good at killing them

 

Richard

 

 

Perversely I find the more practice I get, the less good at killing them I become.

 

I'm almost at the stage where I can be trusted with some Trojans, I think....

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RLWP Veteran II

RLWP

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Perversely I find the more practice I get, the less good at killing them I become.

 

Indeed. The trouble is winter months when boating is difficult and life gets complicated. This is when our batteries get seriously neglected

 

Richard

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nicknorman Veteran II

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It appears that our real problem ( now Ive had an electrician look over it ) is that the boat builders havent used a shunt for everything that goes through the inverter.

The only shunt in place is one within the 12 volt control panel with Amp meter & volt meter, sadly it will only display the fridge, freezer, lights, water pumps, toilet etc and WONT tell me how much energy the inverter is using.

This obviously has had us in a false sense of battery security, thinking that no amps are being used when in fact there is, if the inverter is asking for it.

Well that certainly explains a lot! Unfortunately it is not uncommon for boat builders to not really understand electrics!

 

Since a Smartgauge doesn't use a shunt and simply connects directly to the battery terminals it would be easy to install, plus if you get the ammeter reading everything (assuming it can take the inverter current) you will be fully sorted.

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nicknorman Veteran II

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The inverter is a Sterling 2500 as here http://sterling-power.com/collections/inverters-and-combi-inverter-chargers/products/pro-combi-s-pure-sine-wave-inverter

 

Do you think the Smartguage would be OK with this ?.

 

Thanks.

Yes the Smartgauge will be fine - it doesn't care about current! But I would try to get the ammeter rewired to take in the inverter current. What sort if ammeter is it? If it's just a mechanical one it may not be able to take the 200A or so that the inverter could take. On the other hand, if you leave the ammeter as it is and it shows the charge current going into the batteries and you have the inverter off at the time, it will still be a good indication of when the batteries are fully charged.

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MtB Veteran II

MtBDonate to Canal World

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Hay Nick, Glynn has a BMV, and I thought you recommended earlier the BMV as a plain ammeter.

 

Had a look at moving iron shunt ammeters on ebay and there seems to be a few on sale here, but approach the price of a BMV anyway.

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RLWP Veteran II

RLWP

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Had a look at moving iron shunt ammeters on ebay and there seems to be a few on sale here, but approach the price of a BMV anyway.

 

From memory, ours was less than a tenner from China. I bought a 20-0-20 round black one and fitted a 200A shunt. You have to remember to multiply the reading by ten because I can't be bothered to remark the scale. I got a matching voltmeter at the same time

 

Naturally, both just cause confusion and make no difference to the actual charging

 

Richard

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nicknorman Veteran II

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Posted (edited)

Hay Nick, Glynn has a BMV, and I thought you recommended earlier the BMV as a plain ammeter.

 

Had a look at moving iron shunt ammeters on ebay and there seems to be a few on sale here, but approach the price of a BMV anyway.

Moving iron ammeters don't have a good resolution, ie if it reads to +-100A or whatever, it is hard to see whether it is showing zero or 5A - the difference being fairly critical for recharging. Also you have to take high current wires to the meter. The advantage of a BMV is that it has a remote shunt so just thin wiring (in fact cat5 cable) between the shunt and the meter, and an accuracy and resolution of well under an amp. Edited by nicknorman
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WotEver Veteran II

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I dont have a BMV, all I have is a digital meter showing amps being used, but it doesnt read amps that the inverter is using.

So get the inverter take off cables moved so that it shows inverter use too ?

About 5 hours.

... is what?

 

Half of ten? Yes, correct.

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