Most caravans and motor homes have a battery power source of some sort. There may come a time, especially in some remote locations, when reliance on battery power will be the only option. I t is important therefore to look after the battery for these times.
The best way to look after your battery and ensure that it has a long and productive life is to keep your eye on how it is charged, and to what level it is discharged. Discharging a battery beyond 30% is dangerous as beyond this point the cycle life (lifetime) of the battery dramatically reduces.
So how can you know your battery’s charge levels? Using a voltage meter will tell you the voltage. However, as this method is only dealing with the electrical voltage of the battery, it won’t determine the charge level. I t will also mean that you would have to constantly check the voltage, which will become time consuming, not to mention annoying. The best way of determining the state of charge is to use a battery monitor.
The Setec BMS-001 is a battery monitor that works like a “fuel gauge” with a display screen of real time information about the health and charge of your battery. I t will estimate the remaining discharge time so as to avoid it going beyond the dangerous 30% level, thus protecting your battery from damage and increasing its life.
I t also shows information such as volts, amps, cycles, remaining life and charge/discharge, through a clear visual display screen.
A battery monitor will cost around the $400 mark, but pays for itself through increasing the life of your battery and saving the expense of buying new batteries.
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