Battery Monitor Display

Some time ago I bought a Victron BMV-712 Smart battery Monitor.

It is possible to see the various measurements

* State of Charge * Voltage * Current * Power

* Consumed Ah * Time Remaining & * Starter Battery.

by pressing the '+' or '-' buttons and scrolling through the display or linking, via bluetooth, the monitor to a smart phone and looking at the figures on screen.

Useful, but you do need to have the phone handy.






Recently I came across a couple of old phones (put in the back of a drawer when I upgraded) and it occurred to me that I could set one of them up as a permanent display. The only possible problem would be how to power the phone, fortunately the Solar Power MPPT controller came with a USB port.

Some double sided tape and feeding the USB cable behind the Eberspacher controller and the phone becomes a permanent display for the battery monitor. A very useful role for a redundant mobile phone.

Stove & Water

After the recent rain it is clear I have not yet solved the issue of water collecting on top of the stove.

However I was on the boat whilst it was raining very heavily and was able to confirm that rain water is seeping in from the roof and running down the outside of the chimney.

In the rain I looked at the outside of the chimney and think I can see where the water is penetrating.

On the next visit to the boat, if it isn't raining, I shall reseal & repaint the area.

Stove top re-paint

Slight water ingress caused top of stove to rust. Mainly light surface rust, but unsightly.

























I couldn't find anywhere obvious for the leak, but resealed where the chimney entered the boat roof.

I then sanded down the stove top and repainted.

As good as new.

Update to Installing Solar Panel - Extra Fans

When the solar panel was first installed a single fan in the saloon was also fitted.

Recently I bought two more computer fans and have now installed a fan in the galley and one in the bedroom.

PC Fans

         

I also used some switches I had left over from a 2015 job (on Notos)

Each fan now has an independent switch and can be operated separately. All three fans together draw less than 0.7ah and automatically switch off if the battery voltage drops to 12.5Vs and won't switch back on until the voltage reaches 13Vs. Whilst not on the boat they are only set to work during day light hours, thus effectively using surplus power generated by the solar panel.