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Sterling PMP1 - just fitted


Bantam_dave21

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Just thought I'd share - I'm rather pleased with how it went.....

 

it may not be perfect or the most expensive but I picked it up on eBay last year sometime for a bargain so am rather happy with it..... ??

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Edited by Bantam_dave21
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3 hours ago, Bantam_dave21 said:

Just thought I'd share - I'm rather pleased with how it went.....

 

it may not be perfect or the most expensive but I picked it up on eBay last year sometime for a bargain so am rather happy with it..... ??

IMG_7423.JPG

My (not new) boat came with one of these and so far it has worked well. I am not sure that it is accurate but we cruise every day (if we are not in the marina) and don't switch off the engine until we have stopped and showered. The bog standard batteries which came with the boat lasted 4 years before we replaced them - this is good enough for me.

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I can't comment on the aH counter alament yet as I've not really had the chance to test off the shore supply for any substantial period. The amps however seem very accurate, almost bang on readings with my fluke clip on. You'd think based on that the counter should be fine but you never know with these little boxes of stuff.....

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1 hour ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

Why did you fit it and why are you pleased with it?

 

What does it do that an ammeter doesn’t?  In what way does it ‘manage the power’?

It gives you Chanel 4.

 

Managing power is like managing children. First you need to work out how many kids you have and then you 'manage' them. It is quite straightforward to count them so you are then faced with the hard bit. For power management, it's the same. You get one zillionth of the way by counting the power and then the hard bit.

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3 minutes ago, Dr Bob said:

It gives you Chanel 4.

 

Managing power is like managing children. First you need to work out how many kids you have and then you 'manage' them. It is quite straightforward to count them so you are then faced with the hard bit. For power management, it's the same. You get one zillionth of the way by counting the power and then the hard bit.

 

So this box claims to both count the Amps and manage the power, so it does the hard bit, yes?

 

And if the power management doesn't seem to be working well enough I just need to fit more of these Sterling boxes, right?

 

 

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2 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

So this box claims to both count the Amps and manage the power, so it does the hard bit, yes?

 

And if the power management doesn't seem to be working well enough I just need to fit more of these Sterling boxes, right?

In your particular case you’d need to buy at least three and then jump in on any thread that mentions them and expound on how they’ve ruined your expensive set of Batteries ;)

 

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1 minute ago, WotEver said:

In your particular case you’d need to buy at least three and then jump in on any thread that mentions them and expound on how they’ve ruined your expensive set of Batteries ;)

 

.......at least they measure Amps and AHrs in and out.

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2 minutes ago, WotEver said:

In your particular case you’d need to buy at least three and then jump in on any thread that mentions them and expound on how they’ve ruined your expensive set of Batteries ;)

 

 

To be fair, the faulty Smartgauge only ruined one set of expensive batteries. I bought two more, one for each of for my other two engines and charging systems but this time I was ready for their treachery! :lol:

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Ok, on checking the Sterling website this £300 device doesn't actually do ANY of yer actual power managing.

 

All it does is count Amps in and out and measure voltages. YOU have to use this information to do yer own managing.

 

I call this a Chizz. 

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23 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

Ok, on checking the Sterling website this £300 device doesn't actually do ANY of yer actual power managing.

 

All it does is count Amps in and out and measure voltages. YOU have to use this information to do yer own managing.

 

I call this a Chizz. 

Well I got mine for free - unless the broker was lying, in which case it cost a lot and the boat was free.

 

I never allow my batteries to get too discharged (according to the meter) and try to get down to 0 (according to the meter) before I switch off.

 

I have never attempted to check accuracy but my cheap batteries lasted nearly 5 years, I probably could have scraped another year out of them.

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I'll try and answer all the above in one rather than lots of quotes....

 

I fitted it so I had the benefit of an aH counter, I'm happy with it because it does that - seemingly very accurately. Yes it doesn't actually manage Power but it gives you the tools to assist in managing power. I didnt previously have an ammeter anywhere or a digital voltmeter on any battery set. This gives me all of that in one, I'm yet to put port and starboard batteries through it but will be soon and will be a useful voltmeter. Channel 4 counts amps in and out so I can see the -ve used and also see when the batteries are approaching full via the amp counter which will be a useful guide with the assistance of the ammeter functionality I never previously had. One meter that does all I want it to and more in one small box rather than what would ultimately amount to three ammeters and three voltmeters on my dash and that still leaves me a spare channel for future....

 

did i mention it was cheap....???

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9 minutes ago, Bantam_dave21 said:

I'll try and answer all the above in one rather than lots of quotes....

 

I fitted it so I had the benefit of an aH counter, I'm happy with it because it does that - seemingly very accurately. Yes it doesn't actually manage Power but it gives you the tools to assist in managing power. I didnt previously have an ammeter anywhere or a digital voltmeter on any battery set. This gives me all of that in one, I'm yet to put port and starboard batteries through it but will be soon and will be a useful voltmeter. Channel 4 counts amps in and out so I can see the -ve used and also see when the batteries are approaching full via the amp counter which will be a useful guide with the assistance of the ammeter functionality I never previously had. One meter that does all I want it to and more in one small box rather than what would ultimately amount to three ammeters and three voltmeters on my dash and that still leaves me a spare channel for future....

 

did i mention it was cheap....???

Well done. Good solution.

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16 minutes ago, BruceinSanity said:

But surely the amphour counter will still be prey to the accumulating inaccuracies we see with others thanks to Peukert? Or has Mr Sterling cracked that one?

Probably but better than what I had, fitted where suited me and cost me £100 inc 3 x 200a shunts. Yes more of a 'monitor' than a 'management' panel but with the small people using lots of amps it gives me a far better idea than I never had before...

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17 minutes ago, Bantam_dave21 said:

Probably but better than what I had, fitted where suited me and cost me £100 inc 3 x 200a shunts. Yes more of a 'monitor' than a 'management' panel but with the small people using lots of amps it gives me a far better idea than I never had before...

I bought my Xantex battery monitor and shunt for less than 50 quid off ebay. Too good an offer to refuse:)

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On 10/08/2018 at 11:42, BruceinSanity said:

But surely the amphour counter will still be prey to the accumulating inaccuracies we see with others thanks to Peukert? Or has Mr Sterling cracked that one?

Yes, but you don't rely on the Amphour count when charging other than a rough indication. You do use the amps to tell you when the tail current is down below your 1-2 % or whatever you use ( I use 1amp per battery) to decide the batteries are full and then reset the amphour counter. Do not rely on any percentages of discharge because it has no idea of battery capacity when the batteries are more than a few cycles old, but amphours used and a percentage SOC from a smartgauge can be used to give you some idea how healthy or sick your batteries are.

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