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System Status Meters!
A good
system status meter is an essential item for off-grid success.
Without one, you never can be certain how much energy, or
"charge" your batteries have at any given moment. Without
that
information it is only a matter of time before your batteries begin to
suffer and fail, usually well before they should. It is very
much
like driving a car with a broken gas gauge. You are only
certain
of the fuel level at the time of a complete fill-up, the rest of the
time you are simply guessing. If someone else also drives the
car, it gets even worse. How far did they drive?
Did they
fill the tank? Under these circumstances, unless you
compulsively
fill the tank, you will eventually run out of gas and be stranded
somewhere. And so it is with batteries, except they are damaged by undercharging, or worse yet,
drained completely. Batteries should be FULLY CHARGED
on a regular basis, at least weekly. Best battery life comes
when
you use only the top 30% to 50% of their capacity, but how can you
possibly know that information on a daily basis, at a glance?
That's where a system status meter comes in.
It works very much like a fuel gauge on an automobile.
It measures the power going both into, and out of
your
batteries and when properly calibrated, it "knows" when the
batteries are totally charged, and resets itself to "full" each time.
It's like when you fuel up your car: when the fuel comes
spilling
out of the tank's fill spout, you can be certain that it is full.
Likewise, the meter knows when the battery is fully charged,
then it
starts
counting backward
from full.
Let's suppose your car worked that way. From a full
tank,
the fuel gauge would begin to count backward as you drive: "-1 gallon", then "-2 gallons", "-3 gallons", "-4 gallons",
etc. If you know that you have a 10-gallon tank, it is a
simple
calculation to determine how much fuel is left. That's how it
works with batteries too. You tell the meter how big your
battery
capacity is, and it keeps track of the energy going in and out of the
batteries and makes a simple calculation that you can easily
understand. You can even set it to display as "%
of full",
so one look will tell you what your stored energy situation is at that moment.
Considering how much money you are going to invest in your
batteries, it is money
in your pocket to buy a good meter.
You simply can't afford not to. I can almost guarantee that you will prematurely kill your
first set of batteries unless you have a meter!
Keep in mind that your meter will also tell you a whole lot of other
information that can be very important to understanding and maintaining
your system, and living within you energy budget. For
instance,
how much of your battery capacity does it take to wash a load of
laundry? Or watch 4 hours of television? Or operate
a
refrigerator for a day? How  many
hours of full sun does it take to recharge your batteries from 50%?
These questions and many more are easily answered, and all of
this contributes to your understanding of
your energy system and the real-world lifestyle that is necessarily
part of living off-grid.
The TRI-METRIC 2020 and TRI-METRIC 2025
system status meters provide a time tested answer to challenge of knowing the condition of
your system and properly caring for your battery investment.
Most
of the problems that off-grid newbies encounter can be easily avoided
if they have a properly installed and calibrated Tri-metric Meter in their
system, and use it to guide their energy usage. Of course,
just
like having a fuel gauge on your car, it doesn't guarantee that you'll
never have car trouble. You still have to change the oil,
check
the tires occasionally, and
actually look at the fuel gauge so you don't run out. There
are other meters on the market, but there is really no point in buying
a more expensive meter when the Tri-metric Meter gives you more features than
you are ever likely to need. A good explanation of these
features
would take more space than I have here, so check the info links in the
sidebar.
The Bogart
Tri-metric 2020 Meter is sold as a single part, but to make it work properly you'll need
a shunt of the proper size for your system, and some wire to connect it
to the shunt. Wire size depends on the distance from the
display
to the shunt, but the wire size is usually quite small. CAT 5
cable works fine up to about 50 feet, and it is available inexpensively
at most hardware stores. This means that you can mount the
meter
in a convenient place in your home, making it easy to see your battery
status without a trip to the power room. Six-wire, 18-gauge
cable
works up to 300 feet. The Tri-metric 2020 is ready to go as-is for
12
volt and 24 volt systems, but requires an optional adapter to work with
48 volt batteries that doubles as a lightning protector for the meter.
You can also use the adapter on 12v-24v systems simply for
the
lightning protection. Meter mounts in a simple double-gang
electrical box, or the optional surface mount box shown in the
photo. For more detailed information, click on the links in
the
sidebar.
Trimetric
2020 meter ..... $165
The Trimetric 2020 Kit is no longer available. See the 2025 kit below, or order the following parts separately:
- 500amp
shunt ..... $25
- 48V
adapter ..... $30
NEW TRIMETRIC 2025 METER
The classic system meter just got better! Bogart's new meter offers
simpler programming, plus data storage for more advanced system control
and troubleshooting. The 2025 features a "Level 1" mode to access
the most common functions, and additional operating modes for advanced
metering functions. Most functions are operated in a similar way
to the classic model 2020. The model 2025 has built-in lightning
protection and works with 48volt systems without an adapter.
Trimetric
2025 meter ..... $185
Trimetric 2025 Kit ..... $225
- trimetric meter
- 500 A shunt
- 24" #2/0 cable
- terminal lug
- surface-mount box
- 25' connection wire w/fuse (additional wire @ $.25/foot)
Magnum Energy Battery Monitor Kit
The Magnum Energy Battery
Monitor Kit (BMK) is a clever and cost effective solution to system
metering that communicates with your Magnum MERC50 remote display to
give it the capability to show you battery state-of-charge (SOC). This
gives you the same essential information available from a Trimetric
meter as described above, all wrapped into a single display. The BMK unit is the perfect choice to add system monitoring
to your Magnum Energy power system, so you can give your battery the care it
deserves. Installation and
operation are simple, as you would expect from Magnum
products. A MERC50 remote revision 2.0 or higher, or ME-ARC remote display, and a shunt is required for the BMK.
If you need Automatic Generator Start (AGS), the BMK module can
communicate with the AGS to offer precise control of generator
operation based on battery state-of-charge. This is much more
accurate than using voltage to control the generator. Generator control as described requires
Magnum AGS-N 5.0, and ME-ARC remote. Confused? Just give me a call...
Magnum BMK ..... $125
Outback FlexNet DC
The FlexNet DC is
Outback's version of the Magnum BMK. It connects in a similar way
and offers precise voltage, amperage and battery state-of-charge
information that is displayed on the MATE controller. A MATE controller
of recent manufacture, and a shunt are required for operation. If
you already have an Outback system or are planning on installing one,
the FlexNet DC is the answer to all-in-one system status monitoring.
Outback FlexNet DC ..... $300
Bogart Pentametric
For those who
desire more exhaustive metering capabilities than even the Tri-metric
can provide, Bogart Engineering offers the Pentametric Meter.
It provides all the features of the Tri-metric, plus
data-logging, connection to a PC, and the ability to monitor TWO
battery systems or
TWO discreet charging
sources. Please note that this is a very sophisticated metering system
best suited to those with considerable programming and electrical
knowledge. Voodoo Solar does not offer technical support for the
Pentametric, but the people at Bogart are good souls that are very
helpful to users.
The Pentametric System consists of these components:
1. Data input unit to collect, process and log data (near batteries)
2. Optional readout unit (shown above) with 2 line LCD display and
control buttons
This connects to input unit with 4 wire cable up to 1000 feet away.
3. Optional computer interface with software to control and read out
all data.
Data may be accessed and controlled using either (or both) the optional
LCD or the computer interface.
Price for the PentaMetric
"Input unit" which collects and processes the data is $220.
With that you will need at least one of the following to read out the
data and program the system: The "Display unit" with LCD display is $199. The
"Computer interface" unit is $100. You
can use both together if you wish.
It is quite possible to have a workable system with the "Input unit"
and "Computer interface", which together is about $320. The computer
interface offers a more intuitive interface to the PentaMetric, and
also provides easy access to the "logged data". It is only necessary to
have the computer active when actually reading the data. At any time
the "Display unit" can be also added to provide continual access when
the computer is not on. The temperature sensor is $30,
and up to three shunts are necessary, depending on application and
maximum currents being measured. These are about $25
each.
Basic
measurements:
Volts (2 channels) 8-100
volts. For example you can
monitor volts from two battery systems. Or battery voltage, plus the
solar array voltage if you have a peak power point tracking controller.
Amps, (3 channels) ±.01-200
Amps (with 100A/100mV shunt).± 0.1-1000 Amps (with 500A/50mV shunt) Each of these requires a separate
shunt. There are many different ways these can be used. For example one
channel can be used to keep track of battery system energy content and
the two remaining ones can be used for separate measurement of two
charging sources, such as total solar or wind production. Or two
battery systems can be separately monitored if they share a common
negative connection--and in addition one charging source could be
separately monitored.
Temperature -20 to +65 degrees
C.
Secondary
measurements derived from basic measurements
Amp hour (3 channels) to
±83,000 Amp-hours
Cumulative (negative) battery amp hours.
(2 channels) to -1,000,000 amp-hours
This measures
accumulated amp hours (usually from a battery) only when the amps value
is negative. Its purpose is to measure the total cumulative 'wear' of
batteries during their lifetime.
Smoothed (time filtered) Amps,
with time constants of 0.5, 2 or 8 minutes (3 channels)
±.01-200 Amps (100A/100mV shunt).± 0.1-1000 Amps (500A/50mV shunt) For example, this can be used to
show a more accurage estimate of wind charging input when the wind
source is varying in speed.
Smoothed (time filtered) Volts
(2 channels) 0-100 Volts. The
smoothed values for both Amps and Volts are used for triggering "alarm"
and relay functions so very short term anomolies will be ignored.
Watts(2 channels) ±.01- 20,000
watts
Watt-hours(2 channels) ±21,000
kilowatt hours?
Battery %full (2 channels)
0-100%
Days since batteries charged
(2 channels) .01-250 days
Days since batteries equalized (2
channels) .01-250 days
Data
logging functions.
There are 3 types of data logging functions. With the computer
interface all 3 types can be output to spreadsheet file.
1. "Periodically logged data" can record
any or all of the following at regular intervals: once per day to up to
once per minute:
- Amp
hours (3 channels)
- Watt
hours (2 channels)
- Temperature
max/min (1 channel)
- Volts
(2 channels)
- Amps
(1 channel)
- Batt%Full
(2 channels)
2. "Battery
discharge voltage profile" data logs volts and amps
every time charge level changes by 5% (or 10%) for 1 or 2 battery
systems. This checks that battery capacity is still OK--.by observing
that battery voltage does not decline excessively as charge level drops.
3. "Battery cycle efficiency data"
documents system efficiency for up to 2 battery systems. For each
'charge/discharge' cycle it records: cycle length (hours), total amp
hours charged, total amp hours discharged, computed average 'self
discharge' current and charge (amp hour) efficiency.
Controls
and alarms
Relay
output
Control external relay to go on and off at specified voltage levels
and/or %battery state of charge levels. "On" and "off" levels can be
independently set.
Audible
and visual alarms
Has audible or visual signal for 'Low voltage or low state of charge',
'High voltage', 'battery is charged', 'too many days since charged',
and 'too many days since equalized'.
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2009,
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