Battery Monitor

[AJMike]

I have spent some time looking for a Battery Monitor to put into a new RV to monitor the SOC of the Lithium batteries. I have used the Victron 712 smart in the past and while it is OK it is missing some fairly significant functionality. It's display only reports on current information and the phone app does not maintain any history once the screen goes off or if the app goes into background mode. You can not export the history to see what has been happening over the past 24 or 48 hours and the calculation of remaining time for the batteries only uses the current draw, not the average over time. It is OK, but it is not great. Victron now has a second device, a Smart Shut, that only reports via bluetooth, but the reviews are mixed due to the short BT range of only about 6 feet.

I am looking for an alternative device that will allow me to see both the battery state and input/output current and will display that on a smartphone since I can not get up while driving and walk to the wall display unit to see what is happening, but I have not found any other device that supports a bluetooth connection and smartphone reporting app.

Can anyone tell me of any Victron alternative?

[Fred 2106DS]

Originally Posted by AJMike

I have spent some time looking for a Battery Monitor to put into a new RV to monitor the SOC of the Lithium batteries. I have used the Victron 712 smart in the past and while it is OK it is missing some fairly significant functionality. It's display only reports on current information and the phone app does not maintain any history once the screen goes off or if the app goes into background mode. You can not export the history to see what has been happening over the past 24 or 48 hours and the calculation of remaining time for the batteries only uses the current draw, not the average over time. It is OK, but it is not great. Victron now has a second device, a Smart Shut, that only reports via bluetooth, but the reviews are mixed due to the short BT range of only about 6 feet.

I am looking for an alternative device that will allow me to see both the battery state and input/output current and will display that on a smartphone since I can not get up while driving and walk to the wall display unit to see what is happening, but I have not found any other device that supports a bluetooth connection and smartphone reporting app.

Can anyone tell me of any Victron alternative?

AJMike, I've been using the Thornwave Labs PowerMon since 2107 to monitor my batteries when stationary and while driving. It's Bluetooth and has plenty of range. Currently I'm in the house and 50 feet or so away from the camper and just connected to the PowerMon through the smartphone app to take the attached screenshot of the app's display.

I also use RVWhisper which integrates with the PowerMon and provides data logging capabilities.

The PowerMon is currently sold out on the Thornwave site but appears to be available on the RVWhisper site.

[AJMike]

Yes. Thanks. I looked over both webpages, and it does seem like an option.

[RocknRoll]

Fred, is the Thornwave still working out for you? It looks like a well thought out design.

Victron makes reliable equipment (specifically the charge controller), but one of the things that frustrate me especially for the price premium, is the lack of the ability to store data history.

Thornwave is out of stock but will be shipping in mid-June. Pre-ordering using the code PREORDER saves $15 with free shipping and no sales tax.

[Fred 2106DS]

Originally Posted by RocknRoll

Fred, is the Thornwave still working out for you? It looks like a well thought out design.

Victron makes reliable equipment (specifically the charge controller), but one of the things that frustrate me especially for the price premium, is the lack of the ability to store data history.

Thornwave is out of stock but will be shipping in mid-June. Pre-ordering using the code PREORDER saves $15 with free shipping and no sales tax.

Rock, my Thornwave is working fine. I've never had any issues with it since purchasing it in 2017. The couple of questions I had early on about hooking it up and setting the correct parameters were answered by Raz, the owner, within an hour of emailing him.