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:
John: Can you recommend a book or two if one wants to delve into the subject a little deeper, especially for a “dummie” when it comes to electricity on a boat?
Hi John,
Yours is a really nice analysis of what a cruising sailor benefits from knowing about his/her electrical system and what instruments contribute to this knowledge: and, perhaps more importantly, you do not mention stuff that is unnecessary to know.
My best, Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy
Hi Dick,
Thanks for the kind words. Providing enough information without getting into too much detail is a hard balance to get right, so thanks for confirming that we are getting it right.
Hi Joseph,
I believe Charlie Wing’s “Boat Owner’s Illustrated Electrical Handbook” to have been a particularly accessible book in this genre, but I do not remember (and do not have mine with me) to what extent it specifically discusses charging systems.
My best, Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy
Dick, my copy’s on the boat, which suggests it’s very useful, but as I’m at the new apartment, I can’t confirm that Wing covers this off, either.
Hi Joseph,
This comes up from time to time, but unfortunately I’m not a good person to ask since I have electrical training and so have never read any of these books.
Dick’s recommendation sounds good. And if you read right through this online book you should have a pretty good understanding of charging systems. Also, don’t skip the parts about Ohms Law. I know it’s a bit boring, but if you understand that one thing, you will be able to figure out most stuff.
https://www.morganscloud.com/category/anchoring-mooring/online-book-anchoring/
Hi John,
You mention RC Collins who produces the Marine How To web site and I want to say, in my opinion, that his site is one of the jewels of the marine world. He does not cover everything and seems to pick and choose according to his interests and the work that comes his way, but those projects that he examines are impeccably researched and executed: and then written up with pictures. And they are very helpful to those of us who are doing jobs for the first time or who want to do them correctly the second time around.
I have also been impressed, over the years, by how few people seem to know of his site. At least a few times a season, someone will say: “I am going to replace a thru-hull” or “I will put on a new PSS Shaft Seal” and I will comment on the articles that RC has done on the subject. I can’t remember anyone who has said they have referenced his site before.
So, in that way, it is like AAC, a valuable maritime resource that deserves more attention.
My best, Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy
Hi Dick,
I agree on the benefits of RC’s site. We link to it all the time and I also make a donation from time to time.
I’ve praised “MaineSail” many times in my blog and some of my purchasing decisions, as well as my installation techniques, have been directly influenced by his work. An example would be his method of crimping power lugs with a long-handled FTZ crimper (about $250 but worth every penny, as I will shortly describe). He also recommends finishing the crimp with adhesive heat-shrink tubing. So I did about 40 of these installing my entire DC system. That number of crimps, done at a shop, would have cost me more than the crimper, and saved me hours of transport and annoyance, as I could change wire lengths immediately if I miscalculated.
So I had a cracked pipe nipple last summer and took on some water. My starter was submerged and I had to get it serviced. I thought I would have to replace the 2/0 ga. cable leading to it, but out of curiosity, I clipped off the power lug, trimmed away the heat shrink and found absolutely bright tinned copper with zero evidence of water intrusion. I trimmed the end, crimped on a new lug and bolted it on to the repaired starter. The technique worked and I resumed operations. His is a compendium of “best practices” and I will be patronizing his “shop” for other items in the future.
Hi John,
I am one of those ‘non-technical’ readers of your blog, and I am very happy with this new subject.
As I don’t know yet if you will also compare other systems then Victron and Smart Gauge, I would like to bring this to your attention too:
https://www.panbo.com/simarine-pico-good-ideas-in-battery-monitoring-more/
I would really appreciate to know your opinion about this ‘for people like me’ very comprehensible graphical way of showing what is going on exactly. Personally, I don’t like the way Mastervolt view, Victron, and others are showing things, if they show what we are interested in. But maybe I am too naive, expecting that finally this Simarine Pico is the kind of display and info I was looking forward to for a long time ?
Can’t wait to read what will follow ! Thanks.
Best regards,
Luc
Hi Luc,
There’s nothing special about the Pico. It’s simply an amp hour counting monitor, with the same issues that all amp hour counters have, but with a sexy display and a bunch of other functions—no magic there.
So if you prefer to stay non-techie, you will be happier with a volt measuring monitor as detailed above.
Also, I prefer not to mix too many functions in one box. More in the next chapter.
Hi John, while I certainly see your point there are some specifics I find quite appealing in the Pico (if it is as described, and I understood it right), mainly the possibility to have not only one but up to 4 shunts measured, so one might measure Input from the alternator separate from the solar array, separate from the windgen. And one might measure the main consumers separately. This is a feature I’d find really nice when I will eventually have my own boat…
OTOH there is the issue with the proprietory bus system which would really push me away, not being a bus-friend on boats anyway. But nowadays you effecitvely can’t escape them 😉 so I’d again prefer a more-or-less proven bus system like the NMEAs.
Hi Ernest,
This is a personal call, but to me this adding all that is just complication to no good purpose. All of those things can be checked and managed with a simple amp-hour counter and a little knowledge—turn one thing off while you measure another. As to NMEA 2000, be very careful about that system and adding too much to it: https://www.morganscloud.com/2013/05/26/nmea-2000missing-the-obvious/
The more of this stuff we add, the more time we spend installing and fixing it instead of sailing.
Each of us must make these decisions, but personally I like Yves Chouinard’s approach: “the more you know, the less you need”.
More in the next chapter.
Hi John,
in Snowball I have the Energy Monitor of Ample Power Company, Seattle. It works with shunts and counts amp hours – among other things. Up to now it performs very well. Other Ample Power products that I have in my boat are a Smart Alternator Regulator (SAR), a Smart Multi-Source Regulator (MSR) and an Eliminator, the latter being a battery-to-battery charger for charging the starter battery from the house bank. The whole stuff is well over 20 years old meanwhile. The MSR quit service 2 years ago, the Eliminator gave up the ghost this year. Ample Power Company went out of business last year, so there won’t be just a replacement new for old. While I replaced the MSR with a simple solar regulator (a MPPT regulator is on the list) I wonder what I should do regarding the Eliminator. Is it still a good way to charge the starter battery from the house bank or is there something better around meanwhile to keep the starter battery topped up.
Sorry if this is not strictly on topic, but I couldn’t find anything about this on your site.
Hi Hans,
You can buy voltage sensing relays that will connect the start battery to the charging circuit once voltage reaches about 13.5 volts, (this is what the “Eliminator” most likely did”). Example: https://www.westmarine.com/buy/blue-sea-systems–batterylink-automatic-charging-relay-120a-12v-24vdc–16934085?recordNum=3
Or you can go super simple, as we have, and just use a continues duty high current relay that does the same thing, but is connected to a manual switch. We use the same switch to activate the engine room forced ventilation, so there is no way we will forget it’s on after we stop the engine due to the fan noise.
One warning, on no account use a “Battery Combiner” that uses diodes. These drop about .5 volts and the result can be (depending where the regulator sense wire is) that your batteries won’t charge properly.
Hi Hans, As someone who owns an a 15-20 year old Eliminator, was there any warning to its demise? And did its demise cause problems (like faulty voltage control) or did it just stop doing its job? Thanks, Dick
Hi John and Dick,
thanks for your prompt answer. John, as I understand it, the Eliminator connects to the house bank as soon as it (the house bank) reaches a voltage threshold of 13,2 (?) volts. It does not connect directly to the charging circuit. It also limits the current it passes to the starter battery so that high starting loads can’t be pulled from the house bank as would be the case with a diode device. I’m well aware of the problems associated with diodes. The Eliminator is called as it is because it eliminates the necessity of using diodes. So I think the Eliminator is in effect a sophisticated battery-to-battery charger. And these are available as I have found.
About the Blue Systems ACR in the link that you provided I’m not sure. What is a “Group 27″(working limit for the ACR) battery ? If it is 100amp hours at most, then it wouldn’t work with my 220 amp hours gel cell house bank.
Dick, I only found out about the Eliminator’s demise because the starter motor was unusually sluggish to start the engine and the next time it quit altogether, voltage on the starter battery being down to 11,5 V, if memory serves. No problem, I could switch to the house bank for starting and next time I had shore power I charged the starter battery directly. I tested the Eliminator by charging up the house bank to a full charge and then observed the voltage on the starter battery: it didn’t rise one bit, so conclusion was death of the Eliminator. Of course I checked wires, fuses and connections first. So, yes, it just stopped doing its job.
Hi Hans,
The one I linked to was just an example, there are the same devices for larger batteries. As to which it links to, since the charging feed must be attached to one or other of the batteries, saying it it connects to the house bank or to the charging circuit is the same thing.
Also I very much doubt that the “eliminator” is anything else than a relay with some voltage sense circuitry attached to it. There really is no need for anything anything more sophisticated for this function.
Basically all we are doing with these devices is connecting two battery banks together once the voltage reaches a predetermined setting (typically 13.2-13.6) which indicated that there is an active charge source present.