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.

Remote Battery Monitor & Boat Tracker

During the lockdown I have, like most leisure cruisers, been unable to visit my boat. It is moored about 30 minutes drive way from the house. Although since fitting the solar panel in November 2018 I have not had to worry about  the batteries draining, it would have been reassuring to know that there were no problems.

In this months (June'20) Waterways World a reasonably priced Remote Battery Monitor was advertised. It also has the advantage that it sends location information along with the battery charge.








I've ordered one from the manufacturer ChargeMetrix (£42.50 + a monthly connection fee of £3.99) and will install it once the lockdown is ended and I am able to visit the boat again.

Although it's too late for the Coronavirus lockdown it will be convenient to keep an eye on the battery charge in the future and if ever the boat is stolen be able to track it.