Battery monitoring
Return to modifications

SmartShunt
As we were going to a Victron system and i wanted some better logging so went for the Smartshunt
this gives a lot of useful information on how the battery power is being used
I love to measure things so for me this is better than the BM-1 as below
however as the Smatshunt only puts a tiny extra resistance in line i have left the BM-1 in place as that give a quick easy to see instant reading of power consumption


Very important to understand how the van's systems are really working
I went for a BM-1 Compact from NASA marine instruments - Stevenage

This is a fantastic piece of kit, you fit a shunt in the -ve to the batteries and wire in
The systems shows battery voltage, current being drawn from the battery or power going to the battery from the solar / split charger etc  
The system also tells you the % of charge left in the battery and how long it will last a current usage rate

This is so handy, the fridge starts you immediately see a 5 amp draw, the solar kicks in and you see the effect directly, if for example the solar is giving 4 amps you would see a -1amp
very handy to understand where the power is really going

Switch the lights on -1 amp etc

Return to modifications