Members' Online Book: Cruising Boat Electrical Systems, Chapter 13 of 22

Battery Monitors, Part 1—Which Type Is Right For You?

Published Aug 13, 2018 34 comments Updated January 11, 2019

A couple of years ago, our much-loved Link 2000R battery monitor system bit the big one after some 20 years of faithful service, thereby pushing me into selecting a new monitor.

In the next three chapters I'm going to share:

  • What I learned while investigating the many battery monitor options available.
  • Which we selected.
  • How that choice has worked out over the last couple of seasons.
  • A bunch of tips to make battery monitoring more effective.

Why Bother?

But, first off, why do we even need a battery monitor? Well, if you own a boat that spends most of its life plugged into a marina with only short day trips in-between, you probably don't, but pretty much every other boat owner will have endless problems and frustrations with their DC electrical system if they can't and/or don't monitor it.

Given that, let's dive into which monitor we should buy:

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Meet the Author

John

John was born and brought up in Bermuda and started sailing as a child, racing locally and offshore before turning to cruising. He has sailed over 100,000 miles, most of it on his McCurdy & Rhodes 56, Morgan's Cloud, including eight ocean races to Bermuda, culminating in winning his class twice in the Newport Bermuda Race. He has skippered a series of voyages in the North Atlantic, the majority of which have been to the high latitudes. John has been helping others go voyaging by sharing his experience for twenty years, first in yachting magazines and, for the last 12 years, as co-editor/publisher of AAC.

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Nothing on this website or in direct communications received from us, or in our articles in the media, should be construed to mean or imply that offshore voyaging is anything other than potentially hazardous. Dangers such as, but not limited to, extreme weather, cold, ice, lack of help or assistance, gear failure, grounding, and falling overboard could injure or kill you and wreck your boat.

Decisions such as, but not limited to, heading offshore, where you go, and how you equip your boat, are yours and yours alone. The information on this web site is based on what has worked for the authors in the past, but that does not mean it will work for you, or that it is the best, or even a good way for you to do things.