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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

General Sailing Forum

Battery Monitor Recommendations?

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NautiC25
Admiral

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USA
957 Posts

Initially Posted - 03/16/2011 : 06:24:27

I'm looking for some kind of monitor that at least displays voltage, life, and has an alarm. The only two I've found so far are the Xantrex Linkpro and the "Volt Minder".

http://www.xantrex.com/power-products/power-accessories/linkpro-battery-monitor.aspx

http://www.batterystuff.com/battery-products/UPGvoltminder.html

The Linkpro seems like the better option, but the price.....ack! I was wondering if you've seen better options or know of anything else I should be reading such as solar panel charge.....?

1989 C-25 TR/WK #5894
Miss Behavin'
Sittin' in LCYC on Canyon Lake, Texas

Edited by - on

Prospector
Master Marine Consultant

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Canada
3159 Posts

Response Posted - 03/16/2011 : 06:50:42

We have a Xantrax truecharge for our charger, adn a solar controller for our solar panels and as a monitor.

Although the solar charge controller does not have alarms, it shows our current draw (amps) and life (volts). I mounted it on teh stbd settee right in front of teh batteries, adn it has been a good addition for us.

The Truecharge has been OK to charge the batteries, but were I to refit theboat, it would be replaced with a better charger as it has given us trouble in the past, actually draining the batteries when we weren't plugged in. This discussion isn't about chargers, but were I in your place, I would look for a brand other than Xantrax simply because of the experience we have had with this charger. Customer service from the company was ok, but mostly non-chalant about our problem, and not offering a solution, but recognizing that the charger would drain the battery if we weren't plugged in. I fixed the problem by putting a switch in the system.

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OLarryR
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3467 Posts

Response Posted - 03/17/2011 : 03:56:30

Many fishfinders will have an optional screen setting that shows battery voltage. They usually do not provide any more info than that but if also in the market for a fishfinder, perhaps that will help a bit. I have a Humminbird fishfinder and while it does display voltage, the screen that provdes that info has the depth in a smaller font than I desire. So, I use the screen setting that has the depth in a large font and that screen setting does not show the voltage.

I also have a Morningstar Pro-15M solar controller. This controller has digital readouts which indicates battery voltage and solar amps charging the battery. When the sun is down, it then reads battery voltage without the effects of the solar panel. The controller also indicates if the battery is fully charged and another indicator for when the batteries are being charged by the panel.

Edited by - OLarryR on 03/17/2011 03:58:07

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The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.