#Boat battery monitor system full#
#Boat battery monitor system software#

Most monitors can take this into account but it helps to under-rate a bit when initially setting up the monitor. Draw the current out slower and the rating will be higher draw the current out faster and it will be lower. This is the load the battery can deliver at 77° to 80° F for 20 hours before the terminal voltage hits 10.5V. One would assume a battery rated at 100 amp-hours would carry a 1-amp load for 100 hours but this may not be the case.īatteries usually are rated using a 20-hour test. It is best to be a bit conservative when it comes to rated amp-hour capacity. Almost all monitors will need to be programmed with the battery type and rated amp-hour capacity of the battery or battery bank. Once again, initial setup is critical for getting accurate results. To get accurate results, a monitor needs to know about the battery or battery bank it will be monitoring. Some units will use a battery temperature sensor to monitor battery temperature as well. When properly installed, a shunt is used in the main negative battery cable to measure amperage flow. With these units the initial setup is important to the accuracy of the results.

#Boat battery monitor system software#

They then apply built-in software or firmware to calculate SOC. The most common monitors use amp counting combined with known battery type, size and condition. Only one monitor, the Balmar Smartgauge uses voltage alone to calculate SOC. Modern system monitors work by ether totaling amps in and out of the battery bank or by measuring voltage combined with amp usage to calculate the overall condition of the battery bank. Fortunately, as technology has advanced so have electrical system monitors. It also is not possible to do with sealed batteries. This, of course, is not easy to do and is often messy.

The only other practical way of knowing the state of charge was by measuring the specific gravity of the electrolyte in the battery. At best, amp meters tend to be confusing at worst, they will give false indications of what is going on. They also are not at all useful for judging the SOC or condition of the battery. Amp meters that track current flow can only indicate what is being used at a particular moment in time and do not track usage over an extended period of time.

A voltmeter can still be a good indicator of battery condition but it does little to tell just how much power is going in and out of the battery. It was not so long ago that the only tools available to keep track of a battery’s state of charge (SOC) and what was going in and out were volt and amp meters. Understanding how much reserve energy is left in a battery and how much needs to be put back into it to get back up to a fully charged state is affected by battery type, age, condition, and even temperature. One alternative to using a system monitor is regularly checking the specific gravity of the electrolyte, but that’s only an option for flooded cell batteries and means messing with battery acid. Batteries will last longer and work better if not routinely over-discharged. This makes it even more important to know just how much “juice” is left in the batteries.

#Boat battery monitor system full#

And while a fuel tank can be drained close to the bottom, it can be harmful to a battery to deplete it below 50 percent of its full capacity. This makes it relatively straightforward to calculate when more fuel is needed.Īlthough electricity can be measured, it is not quite as easy to track and there are often many sources going in and out of the battery all at the same time. A skipper knows how much fuel goes into the tank and how much is used by their engines. The fuel level in a tank can be measured with a gauge or sometimes just by taking a look inside. The monitors discussed here will focus on the more common lead-acid battery types.īatteries store energy like a fuel tank, but measuring just how much energy is left in a battery is not so easy. They also require special charging and monitoring when setting them. Although lithium-ion batteries are coming of age, they are still not cost-effective and have some serious drawbacks for use in boats. These are still a cost-effective solution to storing electrical power aboard a boat. Although battery technology is rapidly advancing as well, most vessels still use standard flooded lead-acid, gel cell or AGM batteries. The heart of every vessel’s electrical system is, of course, its batteries. These units provide voyagers with information about the state of their boat’s electrical system in general and on the condition of their batteries in particular. That’s where electrical system monitors come in. Today’s onboard electrical systems continue to get more sophisticated and more complicated, making it increasingly important to keep track of the health and status of the electrical system.