Date:         Tue, 26 Jan 2010 16:30:49 -0800
Reply-To:     Jeffrey Vickers <jeff@VICKERSDESIGN.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Jeffrey Vickers <jeff@VICKERSDESIGN.COM>
Subject:      Re: How do you tell how much juice a battery has/?
In-Reply-To:  <20100126231320.A0E4C6BD8C7@izzy.vickersdesign.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed; delsp=yes

Hey Don,

I have one of these: http://tinyurl.com/ya2btyb.

Its built for boats but no reason you can't use it for anything 12V.
Go to the Xantrex site and download the manual and read about its
functions there. It will tell you how many amp hours you have left in
your battery plus lots of other battery data.

The only issue is that you have to wire it up to your system like a
boat and that means that all the grounds for everything you want to
monitor with this device have to terminate at the device. Most boats
with 12V systems are not made of steel so you don't get to use the
hull as a common ground like you do with a car. A full DC circuit has
to pass through the device in order for it to tell you how much 12V
you are using and how much you have left to go, etc.

I've got all my grounds run to my aux battery, I just need to wire in
the device so I have yet to hook mine up yet. I did a fair amount of
looking around and I couldn't find anything that just plugs into a
battery that will give you an accurate picture of what the battery is
doing - other than basic voltage.

Running all the grounds to the device is prolly more than most people
will want to do but I though I'd just offer an alternative. I think I
paid around $100 for mine on eBay. The Link 1000 is out of production
and the updated versions cost around $275. Look on the Xantex site for
them.

cheers,
Jeff



On Jan 26, 2010, at 3:06 PM, Automatic digest processor wrote:

> Date:    Tue, 26 Jan 2010 11:49:58 -0800
> From:    Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
> Subject: How do you tell how much juice a battery has/?
>
>  Is there a way to tell about the auxilliary battery condition in a
> VW (or
> any rig, for that matter)?  I've been working with all kinds of
> batteries
> over the years and I always have been puzzled about how to find out
> what I
> might expect from the battery.  I have a digital multimeter and I get
> voltage readings but I'm told that is no real indicator of how good
> the
> battery is charged or is capabale of being charged...
>  Is there an instrument that I could wire into my systems (I have a
> few
> different vehicles with multiple battery systems) where I might get an
> actual meaningful readout that would tell me..."Hey, don't expect
> much more
> from this battery till you charge it more" or "this battery is shot"
> or "all
> your batteries are in fine shape with 100% charge"?
>  I have seen battery condition indicator gauges in yachts..I've seen
> voltage indicators on some rigs.  My travel trailer has an LED
> readout and
> for that matter, so does my semi-westie van...but those things seem
> pretty
> much a joke...
>   What should I wire into my systems to give me a better handle on
> how much
> juice I have in the batteries?  Is there anything that works..or do
> I just
> have to keep guesstimating as I have been doing all these years?
>  Thanks, Don Hanson