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My third SmartGauge...


MtB

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As I keep mentioning, I have a need for a third Smartgauge but having bought two so far which turned out to be wrongly factory calibrated, I've given it a while for them to get their production problems sorted out and resume suppling correctly calibrated product. 

 

So no doubt you'll all be delighted to hear I ordered another last Thursday and it has now arrived!

 

And you're probably all on tenterhooks too, as to whether this new one is bang on, or as bad as both the others....

 

Tell you later!

 

P.S. interestingly the box this one arrived in has a "Made In TAIWAN" label on it.

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6 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

 

And you're probably all on tenterhooks too, as to whether this new one is bang on, or as bad as both the others....

 

Tell you later!

 

P.S. interestingly the box this one arrived in has a "Made In TAIWAN" label on it.

I think most of these electronic gizmoes are made in the Far East nowadays.

Full marks, by the way, for spelling "tenterhooks" correctly. I know it looks easy, but you'd be surprised how many groundlings write it as "tenderhooks".

 

What does it do (or perhaps "what should it do"?)

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5 minutes ago, Athy said:

I think most of these electronic gizmoes are made in the Far East nowadays.

Full marks, by the way, for spelling "tenterhooks" correctly. I know it looks easy, but you'd be surprised how many groundlings write it as "tenderhooks".

 

What does it do (or perhaps "what should it do"?)

A bit of history

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenterhook

3 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

Ah, so yours doesn't work either then?

£20 quid for one ;)

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27 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

P.S. interestingly the box this one arrived in has a "Made In TAIWAN" label on it.

The DumbGauge is still proudly made in the UK!

Don't leave it to guesswork. Be sure how many Amps/Hour your electrical system is using.

?

Edited by Jen-in-Wellies
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28 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

As I keep mentioning, I have a need for a third Smartgauge but having bought two so far which turned out to be wrongly factory calibrated, I've given it a while for them to get their production problems sorted out and resume suppling correctly calibrated product. 

 

So no doubt you'll all be delighted to hear I ordered another last Thursday and it has now arrived!

 

And you're probably all on tenterhooks too, as to whether this new one is bang on, or as bad as both the others....

 

Tell you later!

 

P.S. interestingly the box this one arrived in has a "Made In TAIWAN" label on it.

Mike

Years ago now there was talk of the SG being brought out with several enhancements iirc? did this ever happen or are they still the same one trick pony?

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1 minute ago, mrsmelly said:

Mike

Years ago now there was talk of the SG being brought out with several enhancements iirc? did this ever happen or are they still the same one trick pony?

 

Same one trick pony.

 

Thing is, when I wake up in the morning and the fridge is warm because the (new) batteries are flat (again), I want a gauge to look at to tell me what I already know.

 

Oh and WotEver made an offer I couldn't refuse. He will join me in condemning Smartgauges if my third purchase turns out to be wrongly factory calibrated like the previous two!!

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8 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

Mike

Years ago now there was talk of the SG being brought out with several enhancements iirc? did this ever happen or are they still the same one trick pony?

I suspect you’re thinking of what is affectionately known as ‘Son of SmartGauge’, Datacell. It’s like a SmartGauge on steroids (it actually contains two Smartgauges within its intervals) and also utilises shunts for current measurement. It’s unlikely to be of any interest to boaters though due to its cost of around £1000.  

 

Edited by WotEver
Tryping (again!)
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26 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

Mike

Years ago now there was talk of the SG being brought out with several enhancements iirc? did this ever happen or are they still the same one trick pony?

I think this was done a while ago but aimed more at the military and related markets rather than boaters, with a price to match.

 

..................Dave (must read to bottom of thread before replying)

Edited by dmr
must read to.........
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Whilst you are using solar even the new one wont read correctly whilst the solar is generating anything above battery resting voltage.

Also no matter what it reads you wont believe it.

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Nasa BM2 works well Mike but only does 12 volts! I have wired mine to half the bank voltage wrong but amps in and out correct I think. My four valence lifepo4 batteries are full to capacity well 80 odd 5 full can I sell you some amps or volts? ?

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Ok I've connected up the new one and it is reading about 0.05v high. Close enough to be useful straight from the box.

 

WAY better than my other two which are 0.4V high and 0.3V low.

 

Well done Merlin!!!!

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40 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

Ok I've connected up the new one and it is reading about 0.05v high. Close enough to be useful straight from the box.

 

WAY better than my other two which are 0.4V high and 0.3V low.

 

Well done Merlin!!!!

Now you just need to remember which one is the new one :D

 

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12 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

As I keep mentioning, I have a need for a third Smartgauge but having bought two so far which turned out to be wrongly factory calibrated, I've given it a while for them to get their production problems sorted out and resume suppling correctly calibrated product. 

 

So no doubt you'll all be delighted to hear I ordered another last Thursday and it has now arrived!

 

"Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

☺️

Edited by David Mack
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14 hours ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

Be sure how many Amps/Hour your electrical system is using.

?

PEDANT ALERT !!   how many amperes should I be using each hour?

 

Jen, I am surprised at you, thought you were technically on top of these matters.   B)

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3 minutes ago, Murflynn said:

PEDANT ALERT !!   how many amperes should I be using each hour?

 

Jen, I am surprised at you, thought you were technically on top of these matters.   B)

Jen has a Dumbgauge....... Do keep up

Edited by rusty69
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14 hours ago, rusty69 said:

I've only got two. I need a third to compare them! 

you are correct - statistically having two gauges is no better than one if they read different to each other.  The only solution is to have three (god help you if the third doesn't match either of the others!).

 

perhaps the new not-so-smart Gibbogauges are designed that way to improve sales.

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Ok I spoke too soon. 

 

There seems to be a different problem with this new one. I initially attached it to my 24v battery bank to check it, but now I've installed it on a 12v bank it is refusing to do a factory reset. 

 

I disconnect as per instructions, hold the two buttons down, restore power and it displays the two values as per the instructions, then the display does blank still as per instructions. On release of the buttons it fails to display Fr as the instructions say it will. It reverts to E01/lo meaning low battery voltage.

 

Huh. Am I doing something wrong?

Edited by Mike the Boilerman
change 122v into 12v!
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19 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

Ok I spoke too soon. 

 

There seems to be a different problem with this new one. I initially attached it to my 24v battery bank to check it, but now I've installed it on a 12v bank it is refusing to do a factory reset. 

 

I disconnect as per instructions, hold the two buttons down, restore power and it displays the two values as per the instructions, then the display does blank still as per instructions. On release of the buttons it fails to display Fr as the instructions say it will. It reverts to E01/lo meaning low battery voltage.

 

Huh. Am I doing something wrong?

I did a factory reset of mine yesterday, but only because I have changed from a set of 4 Trojan T105s to a set of 3 Rolls S-170, so both 12V banks.

 

I had to do it twice because the first time it hadn't reset. The buttons are difficult to be sure they are pressed properly.

 

In addition, I dont have a switch for the power to it, and the fuse is 12ft away, under the cruiser stern, whereas the unit is in the bedroom. So I disconnect the power by removing one of the wires from the back of the unit, pressing the two buttons with the fingers of one hand, then reconnecting the wire. I can't actually see what the screen is doing for the whole period of the action, but I can hear a slight click inside the unit, which seems to suggest that the power has reconnected.

 

Do you have a nearby switch to power the unit off and on, or is your fuse more easily accessible than mine, or what? :)

 

There seem to be plenty of opportunities for a factory reset to not work correctly :(

 

 

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