Battery Monitor Test Meter

[john95]

I want to buy a battery Monitor Test Meter to see Amps, Volts, battery capacity, forward & reverse current.

Which one would be suitable for my 4x Trojan T-105 6 volt 225 Ah @ 24 Volt battery?
I'm looking at this one in Ebay:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/DC-LED-120V-30A-Dual-Voltmeter-Ammeter-Current-Meter-Battery-Monitor-Test-Meter-/181522250791?epid=1765247993&hash=item2a4391bc27:g:E~kAAOSw-29ZVOt6

Thanks.

[NEOH]

Something like this TriMetric?
http://www.bogartengineering.com/products/trimetrics/

[john95]

Something like this TriMetric?
http://www.bogartengineering.com/products/trimetrics/

Wow! that's super expensive. Thanks.

[NEOH]

The TriMetric TM-2030A is $150.
The TriMetric TM-20254-RV is $125
They have data logging.

If you don't exceed 30 amps charge / discharge then you may use use the device shown in your Ebay link.

NOTE the difference in wiring for "Remote Sense vs Internal Shunt".

[AzRoute66]

I have found that almost all of them in that <$30 price range are uni-directional and have no logging, like your eBay unit. I am looking at installing two on my friend's fifth wheel, he is getting them from Amazon. One for charge and one for discharge, using the same shunt and wires. He will be zeroing them out daily at sunset and using them as a daily SOC approximater. I see other people in the comments have got around this unidirectionality by installing a switch to reverse the sense wires during charging. I love the concept of the Tri-Metric, but hate the user interface to the point that I would never buy one.

I read we're supposed to limit external links so I will try this: search for "bayite DC 6.5-100V 0-100A LCD Display Digital Current Voltage Power Energy Meter Multimeter Ammeter Voltmeter with 100A Current Shunt" at Amazon...

[john95]

I have found that almost all of them in that &lt;$30 price range are uni-directional and have no logging, like your eBay unit. I am looking at installing two on my friend's fifth wheel, he is getting them from Amazon. One for charge and one for discharge, using the same shunt and wires. He will be zeroing them out daily at sunset and using them as a daily SOC approximater. I see other people in the comments have got around this unidirectionality by installing a switch to reverse the sense wires during charging. I love the concept of the Tri-Metric, but hate the user interface to the point that I would never buy one.

I read we're supposed to limit external links so I will try this: search for "bayite DC 6.5-100V 0-100A LCD Display Digital Current Voltage Power Energy Meter Multimeter Ammeter Voltmeter with 100A Current Shunt" at Amazon...

Thank you for researching this. I checked all of them but they require too much wiring. I want to leave the Charger and Inverter alone. For now I'm getting a battery charge status in percentage is very cool, I even got the color green to honor going green. See this one:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/LY6-12V-48V-...X%3AIT&amp;_tr ksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649

[Mike90250]

For now I'm getting a battery charge status in percentage is very cool,

And very pointless. Even coulomb counters do a poor job of estimating aging factors, or inefficient modes of charging, Best is a hydrometer, then a voltmeter on a 5hour idle bank.

[john95]

And very pointless. Even coulomb counters do a poor job of estimating aging factors, or inefficient modes of charging, Best is a hydrometer, then a voltmeter on a 5hour idle bank.

Well my 24 Volt bank of 4x 6 volt batteries per manufacturer the state of charge is this:

25.48 volts fully chaged
24.76 Volts 70% charge
24.2 Volts 50% charge

I've been keeping them in the 70% charge range. All I need is a battery state of charge display to let me know what their state of charge is without using my meter every time. It may no be 100% accurate but at least I'll have an idea.