After two months and four defects:
- Bad cable.
- Despite paying full price we were shipped a beta test shunt that could not be updated to latest software.
- Ditto the display which did not have enough memory for the latest software.
- The final problem was a bug in the iPhone up-date software that it seems that Balmar’s support techs don’t know about, since they didn’t tell me when I called, even though it’s on their site.
I finally got the SG200 we bought for our J/109 working. I will write a review once I have more experience with it.
We have had ours for two years and love it. Finally an easy and accurate way to monitor the house bank. We pair it with Firefly carbon foam batteries, another great product. We’ve had those for seven years and the SG200 says they’re still 100 percent healthy, and our experience bares this out.
I had a much better experience – out of the box and installed in a couple of hours, and worked first try. It’s taken a couple of cycles to get SOC right (was refusing to acknowledge charge states between 80-100%, and would jump straight to 100% seemingly randomly), but now I’m very pleased, and feel much more confident in making charging decisions.
Hi Chris,
I’m sure most of them are fine, but what was most disturbing was how bad Balmar’s support was throughout the problems I had. To the point that I would not buy anything else from them, at least until they get that sorted out, and I don’t think that will happen any time soon given that the company has just changed hands for the second time.
And if a company gives me crap support, knowing what I do for a living, it does not bode well for the average customer.
Disappointing to hear about Balmar. I’ve heard good things about the new meter and was contemplating it for our electrical upgrade. What would you buy instead given your experience?
Hi Michael
I still think it’s a worth while unit to consider. This article may help you decide if it’s right for you, even though it’s about an earlier version: https://www.morganscloud.com/2018/08/13/battery-monitors-part-1-which-type-is-right-for-you/
Thanks John. I’m a little confused….the articles mention that you bought the Victron 702…did you get rid of it already for the Balmar?
Hi Michael,
We had the Victrons on our McCurdy and Rhodes 56, a boat we sold a couple of years ago. I installed the Balmar on our J/109 when I redid the electrical system specifically to try it for review. For myself, I wold have stuck with the Victrons although that does get us into manual calibration so may not be the right choice for everyone.
Got it, thanks John!
I have fitted 2 SG200s on our Malo 42 which has two separate house banks. I have to say I have had nothing but trouble from them doing an Atlantic circuit in 21-22. Chris Witzall was initially helpful but now I get no response from Balmar. The biggest issue is the SOC appearing to jam at 100%. So the voltage drops to say 24.3 v and it still displays 100% !. When I disconnect power to it and reconnect it displays a reasonable 50% SOC. Just can’t work out why it seems to lock on 100% SOC. It didn’t do this when we first installed it. Any ideas ?
Jon
Hi Jon,
Sorry I don’t have any idea. I think, on balance, I prefer the Victrons I had on the old boat, even though they required calibrating, since I could clearly see what they were doing and how they arrived at read outs. But then I’m a geek, so not right for everyone.
Oh, one thought, have you updated the software to the latest version? The early versions were really buggy, and that sounds like a software bug.
Thanks John will try a software update
I had a Newmar monitor for many years and it worked reasonably well, although I was frustrated by drift as I’m rarely connected to shore power. When I saw Rod Collin’s review of the SG200 I decided to give it a try. It has been a complete disappointment. The SOC data it gives seems completely random and almost certainly always wrong. I suspect it’s a software problem but I’ve never been able to update it successfully. Unfortunately customer support has been nonexistent. If I email them I get no response. If I call them I sit on hold until finally a computer says if I leave my name and number they’ll call me back, but they never do. If I still had the Newmar I’d put it back in. Instead I’m looking at the Victron.
Hi Bob,
I agree, I will be going back to Victron this winter. More in a future article.
We have a Holland 38 with a Volvo D6-435 for power. The stock Volvo alternator is dedicated to the start battery (a flooded D4). The second alternator is an AMTEC L200 dedicated to the 12v house bank (4 Trojan T145s). I upgraded the house regulator and battery monitor to Balmar MC-618 and SG200 and the bluetooth gateway to get better visibility of what was going on. This system is capable of a 135amp charge rate steady state with alternator temp limited to 75 degC I recognize that the regulator isn’t as smart as we’d like so I set the absorption time long enough to insure a full charge even if the bank is drawn down to 30%. Then monitor tail current from the SG200 shunt on my phone and use a “force to float” switch to stop charging when tail current drops below 10 amps. This approach works well with these flooded batteries as they tolerate overcharge well when I’m late switching to float. This system works very well for us and is also supplemented with 400watts of solar allowing us to stay on the hook as long as we want.
Two questions. (1) With the two Balmar devices on the same network, why hasn’t Balmar added the capability to switch the regulator from absorption to float using tail current measured by the SG200? This should be very easy. (2) As I contemplate switching to a LiFePo house bank is there a battery BMS with the capability to close a couple of contacts when the battery reaches a specified state of charge (like 90%). This could be used to trigger the alternator to switch to float and all but eliminate the possibility of a BMS high voltage disconnect.
Thanks for listening.
Hi Charles,
Why Balmar has not made any attempt to fix the glaring problem you have correctly identified is a great mystery. Probably because the company has been sold at least twice in the last five years and there is no one left who gives a damn.
As to how to do this right, particularly for lithium batteries, we have a full online book that covers pretty much every aspect of that including specific gear recommendations: https://www.morganscloud.com/category/electrical/online-book-electrical-systems/