Smartmonitor/smartbank advanced

[So_Sage_of_Lorne]

Anyone any experience of these?

[little boy blue]

do you mean smartgauge battery monitor ?
i`ve just fitted a smartgauge but am still onshore so no idea yet how effective it is.
hopefully will be able to comment in a couple of weeks or so.

[Ghillie]

Yes.
I fitted the smart gauge, having fallen for the logic of its makers technical stories,
in particular the inherent faults of the normal battery monitors' (apparent) inabilities to keep track accurately of the sum of in-out current and thus drifting out of phase; and
the ease of fitting.
So far it is a success, in that it appears to do what it is supposed to, but I haven't attempted a serious heavy use control test, and probably won't.
It can only assess the state of charge of one battery or battery bank, but can monitor the voltage of another, say a start battery.
I installed it when fitting a start battery, and now have piece of mind that there is capacity somewhere to start the engine. (The alternator charges the main bank directly, which charges the start battery through a Xantrex slave charger, thus avoiding split charging relays or diodes. Also nice that turning off the 1-2-both switch with the engine running will not wreck anything)
The gauge can be set for all sorts of oltage/capacity alarms which cause the display to flash or come on and I will set mine to activate the display when the batteries are being charged (either by mains or alternator). Note that the display only displays for a short (settable) time.
Happy thus far (and no interest in the company)

[little boy blue]

hooked up the smartgauge this evening - seems to be working ok. 12.9v on the start bat and 12.7v on the house bank and showing capacity at 75% ( house bank ). we`ll see what happens over the next few days.
ghillie - glad to hear your tale.

[Ghillie]

I recall that 75% is the default starting state that the gauge first considers and then refines with subsequent charge/discharges. My batteries had been fully charged (mains) at the time of installation and so I had set the starting state of charge to 100%. Seems a good piece of kit. My only slight disappointment was that the readings are displayed to the nearest 0.05 volts and not to 0.01 as I recall being shown on some blurb from an agent, but I am probably kidding myself that such accuracy is meaningful.

[little boy blue]

i`m off to rtfm

[So_Sage_of_Lorne]

Ok I have bitten the bulit, I now have smartguage and smartbankadvanced to fit!
I plan to fit Smartguage first and then add Smartbank advanced after a weeks or so sailing to see if there is any difference.

[little boy blue]

having now had a couple of weeks under the belt with the smartguage - it certainly appears to do the business. simplicity itself to instal and operate. lowest i have seen the house batteries is 94% so no severe test yet but you can watch the charge building up.
the other wee nuance is that while the display switches off after 2 mins normally, if the battery is holding over 13v the display remains lit.