Hank the Tanks Dodgy battery and solar system

Righty hopence.

What I would like is a WiFi or BT device that will let me know the SOC of the VB &/or the LB via and app on my phone that doesn't cost the earth to buy or fit as this flat battery thin has happened twice now on this van (not a problem on previous one) and enough is enough.
 
barryd said:
Im sure all this stuff is very useful but its partly what put me off going the lithium route. Having spent a lifetime working in tech I have grown to hate it. :D The more I read up on it the more monitors, apps, dials, bells and whistles that seem to be involved. I was bad enough last summer just plugging the £3.50 volt metre in all the time to check the bleeding voltage. That control panel on our van gets on my tits as well. The water tank gets to three quarters empty and you think WW3 had broken out as alarms start going off. Bloody Fridge does it as well and with that one it turns out its some sensor on the light getting condensation on it (IN A FRIDGE!!! NO SH*T!!) :ROFLMAO: I just ripped the wires out to solve that one.

I love the idea of Lithium, don't get me wrong but it seems very complicated to me.
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You like to work too much, I have one of these, it stays plugged in.


Having said that "someone" has moved it :rolleyes: :rolleyes:
 
Pudsey Bear said:
Righty hopence.

What I would like is a WiFi or BT device that will let me know the SOC of the VB &/or the LB via and app on my phone that doesn't cost the earth to buy or fit as this flat battery thin has happened twice now on this van (not a problem on previous one) and enough is enough.
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Grrr! Don't you start an all!!! Why? Why do you want that!! Just get one of these.

Four quid! :D

 
Pudsey Bear said:
You like to work too much, I have one of these, it stays plugged in.


Having said that "someone" has moved it :rolleyes: :rolleyes:
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Yes!!!!! Thats what I have or summat similar. Thats all you need. I dont leave mine plugged in though otherwise I would watch it and it will use loads of power itself. :ROFLMAO:
 
barryd said:
Yes!!!!! Thats what I have or summat similar. Thats all you need. I dont leave mine plugged in though otherwise I would watch it and it will use loads of power itself. :ROFLMAO:
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No power when off, come on with ign ONLY on the dash, in the hab, jut put a simple inline switch with a timer seemples.
 
Pudsey Bear said:
No power when off, come on with ign ONLY on the dash, in the hab, jut put a simple inline switch with a timer seemples.
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I bought this one. Seems pretty accurate


I just plug it into one of the trailing sockets Julian fitted for me. Im not bothered about monitoring the cab battery as its always fully charged. I wont be that bothered about monitoring the hab batteries either once I fit another one and after a few months I am satisfied it does enough for our daily usage. Simple is good. I like simple. :D
 
Cheapest Wifi is £50 so a bit OTT, not sure I have the range for BT I have a BT speaker in the van so I can test on that, just leave my phone in the house and see if it connects, I assume if the monitor is connected to the battery it'll be powered by it?
 
barryd said:
Thats all you need.
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It's all you need if you don't mind relying on voltage status to indicate your battery capacity but that's unreliable especially as a LA battery ages and becomes knackered. It's a finger in the air method at best Barry and as proven by the early posts in this thread is unreliable and leads to false assumptions and general bafflement. I can't see how you feel that being accurately informed is bad thing mate. Yes there's cost (not huge) and additional work involved and it'll be an individual choice depending on ones situation but personally speaking the ability to look at a display which says ' you have 65% remaining ' (,or whatever) and know for certain that it's true is a joy that you'll never understand until you've experienced it.
 
Pudsey Bear said:
Shame it isn't BT.
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Not interested in BT Kev, a proper permanent display at eye level is far more convenient and cheaper IMHO. Can't think of why having to get your phone out and opening an app and relying on 2 devices talking to each other via Bluetooth to check your battery level would be better than glancing at a display. 🤔
 
merl said:
Not interested in BT Kev, a proper permanent display at eye level is far more convenient and cheaper IMHO. Can't think of why having to get your phone out and opening an app and relying on 2 devices talking to each other via Bluetooth to check your battery level would be better than glancing at a display. 🤔
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Just mobility, this is why I had a flat battery in the first place, if I was fit I'd just walk down to the van.

I do like the look of it though.
 
merl said:
It's all you need if you don't mind relying on voltage status to indicate your battery capacity but that's unreliable especially as a LA battery ages and becomes knackered. It's a finger in the air method at best Barry and as proven by the early posts in this thread is unreliable and leads to false assumptions and general bafflement. I can't see how you feel that being accurately informed is bad thing mate. Yes there's cost (not huge) and additional work involved and it'll be an individual choice depending on ones situation but personally speaking the ability to look at a display which says ' you have 65% remaining ' (,or whatever) and know for certain that it's true is a joy that you'll never understand until you've experienced it.
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Its all you need if you have a simple system though I reckon. On my old van my MPPT controller had a screen that told me everything I needed to know. What was going in, what was going out and what my voltage was. I just looked at it occasionally but I got so used to how the old van worked and performed over the years I just knew from the weather how well it was doing and when we needed to be careful or not. Same with the Gaslow. I can probably tell you within a litre how much we have left without even looking at a gauge. I've not quite got there with this van yet but ill figure it out. I know what you mean about "joy" though. I used to get quite excited if I saw my old MPPT throwing in maybe 70 watts! :ROFLMAO:
 
barryd said:
Nah. That means getting someone else involved which is always a PIA plus its not immediately obvious what size additional panels would fit on that roof. The issue last year I dont think was with the panel, when there was sun it charged the single battery to full in a couple of hours. Ill use it this year with one panel and two batteries and find out if its enough or not that way.
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Rule of thumb is 100w solar to 100ah battery, so 2 batts will require 200w of solar, easy to link to the panel you have.
 
barryd said:
Im sure all this stuff is very useful but its partly what put me off going the lithium route. Having spent a lifetime working in tech I have grown to hate it. :D The more I read up on it the more monitors, apps, dials, bells and whistles that seem to be involved. I was bad enough last summer just plugging the £3.50 volt metre in all the time to check the bleeding voltage. That control panel on our van gets on my tits as well. The water tank gets to three quarters empty and you think WW3 had broken out as alarms start going off. Bloody Fridge does it as well and with that one it turns out its some sensor on the light getting condensation on it (IN A FRIDGE!!! NO SH*T!!) :ROFLMAO: I just ripped the wires out to solve that one.

I love the idea of Lithium, don't get me wrong but it seems very complicated to me.
Click to expand...
Don't think there is any need for it to be complicated Barry.
Had same decision to make as yourself, double up or install lithium .
I've gone for lithium but , to be honest, it was (almost) a coin toss .
Bluetooth etc ? No reason for it in my opinion
 
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