November 24, 20205 yr Hello,So if I have a lead acid battery 12v and 60Ah, how can I know when it is 50% full? Which would mean I have to stop using it and let it charge again. On the charge controller you can see the volts but not the %, is it a device I can use to see in %, if yes, how does it work, how can I fix it to the battery? If not, how can I know using the volts?
November 24, 20205 yr Use a battery monitor which measures the charge in and out of the battery. This is the Victron BMV-702 which is a bit pricey I admit: https://www.victronenergy.com/battery-monitors/bmv-702
November 24, 20205 yr Author Use a battery monitor which measures the charge in and out of the battery. Okay thanks Let's admit I use this: Would it work? How would I connect it with the battery? Do I first have to connect it with charge controller? And where on it?
November 24, 20205 yr 27 minutes ago, Alexander12 said: How would I connect it with the battery? Do I first have to connect it with charge controller? And where on it? It's connected in series with the battery cable to measure the current and also requires the battery voltage..
November 24, 20205 yr Author 40 minutes ago, Richard Mackay said: It's connected in series with the battery cable to measure the current and also requires the battery voltage.. I am not sure I understood how to do this.
November 24, 20205 yr When you get the meter it should have installation instructions but if not you can always look it up on the internet.
November 25, 20205 yr 9 hours ago, Alexander12 said: I am not sure I understood how to do this. I would suggest you first go to an Auto electrician with a multi meter and ask him to show to you the difference between parallel and series connections else you almost certainly are going to create some magic smoke... Dc is not something you should bugger around with if you don't know the basics. 12v is fairly low but the Amps could burn you badly....
November 25, 20205 yr 10 hours ago, Richard Mackay said: It's connected in series with the battery cable to measure the current and also requires the battery voltage.. How sure are you about tha? Looking at the unit and cable sizing that is purely a voltage meter. Those tiny cables would not withstand high current
November 25, 20205 yr The meter itself doesn't handle the amps. These meters use a current shunt (which normally comes with the meter) See the installation video: https://www.victronenergy.com/battery-monitors/bmv-702#pd-nav-video
November 25, 20205 yr Author 8 hours ago, PaulF007 said: I would suggest you first go to an Auto electrician with a multi meter and ask him to show to you the difference between parallel and series connections else you almost certainly are going to create some magic smoke... Dc is not something you should bugger around with if you don't know the basics. 12v is fairly low but the Amps could burn you badly.... Okay thanks for the warning. Do you know some videos which talk about that? Because I am really interested to know how I can use a battery safely.
November 25, 20205 yr You can have a look at this video: https://youtu.be/1q4dUt1yK0g. It goes over some of the basics of using a lead acid battery with an inverter for a simple power backup solution for a computer setup. It does not discuss solar panels though, but it might be useful for your project.
November 25, 20205 yr Author 30 minutes ago, Bernardf said: You can have a look at this video: https://youtu.be/1q4dUt1yK0g. It goes over some of the basics of using a lead acid battery with an inverter for a simple power backup solution for a computer setup. It does not discuss solar panels though, but it might be useful for your project. Thank you very much!
November 25, 20205 yr 2 hours ago, Bernardf said: You can have a look at this video: https://youtu.be/1q4dUt1yK0g. It goes over some of the basics of using a lead acid battery with an inverter for a simple power backup solution for a computer setup. It does not discuss solar panels though, but it might be useful for your project. This video shows the use of a battery capacity meter (the LCD display he connects to the battery terminals) This isn't an amp-hour meter. This determining the capacity of the battery by it's voltage. This is not nearly as accurate as an amp-hour meter. However voltage is better than nothing and you can get to know approximately what the capacity of your battery is.
November 25, 20205 yr Author 16 minutes ago, Richard Mackay said: This video shows the use of a battery capacity meter (the LCD display he connects to the battery terminals) This isn't an amp-hour meter. This determining the capacity of the battery by it's voltage. This is not nearly as accurate as an amp-hour meter. However voltage is better than nothing and you can get to know approximately what the capacity of your battery is. Okay thank you. So I will watch this video. I am open to other video suggestions.
November 26, 20205 yr 12 hours ago, Richard Mackay said: This video shows the use of a battery capacity meter (the LCD display he connects to the battery terminals) This isn't an amp-hour meter. This determining the capacity of the battery by it's voltage. This is not nearly as accurate as an amp-hour meter. However voltage is better than nothing and you can get to know approximately what the capacity of your battery is. Hence why I questioned your wiring suggestion
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