Battery Monitoring -- How I Done It --

Hi,

Could someone give me a second opion on my battery. Its a 105ah Expedition plus, installed in Nov 2020, charged using a ctek 250se. Everything was working okay but i have noticed it behaving a bit strangely on the charging front. when driving the logs are showing that it is going to 14.5v for say 5mins, then stopping, the voltage drops gradually to mid 12s then it kicks in again to 14.5, but only again for short period. It used to charge pretty much all the time when driving. I left the fridge on last night to see if it would be flat in this moring, it was at 12v. Is my battery on its way out?

The only change i've made recently is adding 200w of solar

I've looked at the battery warranty and it is 3 years, but the hoops you have jump through mean i'm unlikley to persue. By chance I have ordred a 105ah lithium that will be delviered soon. So if it is on its way out thats okay, just wanted to check, and to check theres likely nothing up with the 250se

Thanks in advance

Feb 16/2023 07:0512.20
Feb 16/2023 07:0712.20
Feb 16/2023 07:0912.05
Feb 16/2023 07:1112.01
Feb 16/2023 07:1312.01
Feb 16/2023 07:1512.01
Feb 16/2023 07:1712.21
Feb 16/2023 07:1913.74
Feb 16/2023 07:2112.76
Feb 16/2023 07:2312.61
Feb 16/2023 07:2514.61
Feb 16/2023 07:2713.07
Feb 16/2023 07:2913.45
Feb 16/2023 07:3114.60
Feb 16/2023 07:3314.57
Feb 16/2023 07:3513.00
Feb 16/2023 07:3712.72
Feb 16/2023 07:3912.67
Feb 16/2023 07:4114.57
Feb 16/2023 07:4314.50
Feb 16/2023 07:4514.51
Feb 16/2023 07:4712.93
Feb 16/2023 07:4912.74
Feb 16/2023 07:5114.53
Feb 16/2023 07:5314.51
Feb 16/2023 07:5514.51
Feb 16/2023 07:5714.54
Feb 16/2023 07:5912.89
Feb 16/2023 08:0113.39

Screenshot_20230216-080300.png
 
Huba said:
Hi,

Could someone give me a second opion on my battery. Its a 105ah Expedition plus, installed in Nov 2020, charged using a ctek 250se. Everything was working okay but i have noticed it behaving a bit strangely on the charging front. when driving the logs are showing that it is going to 14.5v for say 5mins, then stopping, the voltage drops gradually to mid 12s then it kicks in again to 14.5, but only again for short period. It used to charge pretty much all the time when driving. I left the fridge on last night to see if it would be flat in this moring, it was at 12v. Is my battery on its way out?

The only change i've made recently is adding 200w of solar

I've looked at the battery warranty and it is 3 years, but the hoops you have jump through mean i'm unlikley to persue. By chance I have ordred a 105ah lithium that will be delviered soon. So if it is on its way out thats okay, just wanted to check, and to check theres likely nothing up with the 250se

Thanks in advance

Feb 16/2023 07:0512.20
Feb 16/2023 07:0712.20
Feb 16/2023 07:0912.05
Feb 16/2023 07:1112.01
Feb 16/2023 07:1312.01
Feb 16/2023 07:1512.01
Feb 16/2023 07:1712.21
Feb 16/2023 07:1913.74
Feb 16/2023 07:2112.76
Feb 16/2023 07:2312.61
Feb 16/2023 07:2514.61
Feb 16/2023 07:2713.07
Feb 16/2023 07:2913.45
Feb 16/2023 07:3114.60
Feb 16/2023 07:3314.57
Feb 16/2023 07:3513.00
Feb 16/2023 07:3712.72
Feb 16/2023 07:3912.67
Feb 16/2023 07:4114.57
Feb 16/2023 07:4314.50
Feb 16/2023 07:4514.51
Feb 16/2023 07:4712.93
Feb 16/2023 07:4912.74
Feb 16/2023 07:5114.53
Feb 16/2023 07:5314.51
Feb 16/2023 07:5514.51
Feb 16/2023 07:5714.54
Feb 16/2023 07:5912.89
Feb 16/2023 08:0113.39

View attachment 188414
Click to expand...
Can you post the 7 and 15 day loggs as a screenshot?

And a couple of pics of the install.

Is the ctek set to AGM profile?

Are you using an IGN feed?
 
Loz said:
So it looks like one of my BM2's has failed...
Click to expand...
Oh. No what's happening?

I've got about 10 and never had a failure yet.

The main issues I always come across is when one will connect to an old phone or tablet without me realising, that then blocks me from connecting to it with the current phone.
 
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Reactions: mmi
Dellmassive said:
Can you post the 7 and 15 day loggs as a screenshot?

And a couple of pics of the install.

Is the ctek set to AGM profile?

Are you using an IGN feed?
Click to expand...

Hi,

Thanks for replying. Screenshots below, picture of orgional install hard to see much but been working fine since in

ctek set to AGM

Has a feed from the ignition. All of it was bought from travelvolts orgionally and fitted by me

Didn't use the van at weekend, so is showing a bit of solar (2x100w in parallel) then. I assumed that the ctek was doing a trickle charge and the battery was full when I first spotted the behaviour, but looks more like now teh battery isnt holding much charge, especially as it dropped to 12v overnight with just the fridge on?

Thanks

Screenshot_20230216-115329.png

Screenshot_20230216-115338.png

Screenshot_20230216-115627.png
 
Dellmassive said:
Oh. No what's happening?

I've got about 10 and never had a failure yet.

The main issues I always come across is when one will connect to an old phone or tablet without me realising, that then blocks me from connecting to it with the current phone.
Click to expand...
10?? I’m about to buy my 2nd. Any ‘freebie’ spares!
 
Mick said:
10?? I’m about to buy my 2nd. Any ‘freebie’ spares!
Click to expand...
Lol... Yeh I got 2 on the van, one on the car.

A couple on the solar shed.

A few on my battery boxes.

And a couple of spares about.

I was playing £45 each at first. There down two £25 now.

Well cheap.

I see a screenshot yesterday that seems to show bm2 software and voltage logger but had some kind of tracker bolted onto it as well,

not quite sure how it works. Whether it had a sim card in it or not but yeah it seems to be a kind of tracker thing.
 
Huba said:
Hi,

Thanks for replying. Screenshots below, picture of orgional install hard to see much but been working fine since in

ctek set to AGM

Has a feed from the ignition. All of it was bought from travelvolts orgionally and fitted by me

Didn't use the van at weekend, so is showing a bit of solar (2x100w in parallel) then. I assumed that the ctek was doing a trickle charge and the battery was full when I first spotted the behaviour, but looks more like now teh battery isnt holding much charge, especially as it dropped to 12v overnight with just the fridge on?

Thanks

View attachment 188432

View attachment 188433

View attachment 188434
Click to expand...

.

Your solar on the plots show it's quite low yield and a not fully charging the battery but that's expected for this time of year.

Your CTEK charging is showing very short durations of driving so assuming just short drives and again and not fully charging the battery.

Your fridge is showing it's pulling the battery voltage down slightly over that 12 hour period which would be normal operation.

So what I would say is to connect to main smart charger up to the van for 24 hours to fully charge your leisure battery so it's 100% and then monitor over the next few weeks and see how you go.
 
Dellmassive said:
.

Your solar on the plots show it's quite low yield and a not fully charging the battery but that's expected for this time of year.

Your CTEK charging is showing very short durations of driving so assuming just short drives and again and not fully charging the battery.

Your fridge is showing it's pulling the battery voltage down slightly over that 12 hour period which would be normal operation.

So what I would say is to connect to main smart charger up to the van for 24 hours to fully charge your leisure battery so it's 100% and then monitor over the next few weeks and see how you go.
Click to expand...

Juts as an update on this. I charged the battery overnight on Friday, it did an 8hr cycle on it. Disconected saturday, left till Monday morning with no load. Drove to work (45mins) where the charging behaviour was more like it used to be (14.5V for most or all of journey), tunred fridge on, drove home later again charging normal, left overnight, was 12.5V when got in this morning (fridge on all night), charged normally driving to work, 14.5 the whole journey

So looks like it needed a proper charge. Thanks for the helpful advice, much appriecated

Screenshot_20230221-080332.png

Screenshot_20230221-080342.png
 
Hi @Dellmassive I've just ordered a BM2 after 'trying' to read through these threads! I presume they're still relevant (the BM2)??? I've ordered it because I've been having a battery drain issue, which we think has been sorted now. However I'm just so paranoid of having the issue reoccur it's stressing me out. So I thought the BM2 would be my saviour, save having to get the clamp meter out all the time! Which again, thank you for the advice on them, it's been a real help (clamp meter)!
 
Rob2red said:
Hi @Dellmassive I've just ordered a BM2 after 'trying' to read through these threads! I presume they're still relevant (the BM2)??? I've ordered it because I've been having a battery drain issue, which we think has been sorted now. However I'm just so paranoid of having the issue reoccur it's stressing me out. So I thought the BM2 would be my saviour, save having to get the clamp meter out all the time! Which again, thank you for the advice on them, it's been a real help (clamp meter)!
Click to expand...
Yep BM2 a great voltage logger. And still Current.

I'm glad the threads helped out.

Out of interest, what did you trace your drain problem down too?
 
Dellmassive said:
Yep BM2 a great voltage logger. And still Current.

I'm glad the threads helped out.

Out of interest, what did you trace your drain problem down too?
Click to expand...
That's the trouble @Dellmassive I'm not really sure what was causing it. That's why I'm so paranoid! I've got loads of adaptions for my disability which doesn't help, I've got loads of fault codes I've taken screen shots of that I'm going to go through the charista threads with sometime! I'll get there with it!

It's reading 0.04 Amps now when everything was shut down so I'm happy with that. The adaptions auto electrician says he'd be happy with anything under 0.07 Amps with a vehicle so heavily adapted. The current starter battery is a bit small at the moment for my adaptions, it's the 730 Amp 75 AH at the moment, but I've got the Bosch S5 A13 going in on Monday so hopefully that will help. I do lots of mileage most days, but I've got an electric side door, side lift and electric driver seat all taking out of the battery before I get the vehicle running see so the leccy guy said I'd probably be best to beef it up if possible. That bad boy should do the job!
 
I opened the Renogy app up recently (I have a Renogy DCC50 & BM) and noticed they have changed the app. Now I have to manually search and sync to the BT module to see the voltages, plus the colour schemes have changed making it less clear to see the charge etc...
Disappointed.
 
DaveCrampton said:
I opened the Renogy app up recently (I have a Renogy DCC50 & BM) and noticed they have changed the app. Now I have to manually search and sync to the BT module to see the voltages, plus the colour schemes have changed making it less clear to see the charge etc...
Disappointed.
Click to expand...
Gotta screen shot?
 
DaveCrampton said:
View attachment 192633
Click to expand...
oh, that's the old APP, was superseded last year.



the new one from last year is called. . . Renogy DC Home.


old APP - Renogy BT - Apps on Google Play


1679223295661.png



new APP - Renogy DC Home - Apps on Google Play

1679223307930.png




++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++





1679223346146.png

++++++++++++


more info here:



www.t6forum.com

Dc to dc charger victron or renogy?

Can't decide between the 2 does the renogy give out 50a charge ? I've read all the stuff about solar and alternator connected at same time and isolators to trick into just one is connected but is there still a 50a charge ? Bit lost in the flood of Chinese wires and panels ? Hoping to use 100ah...
www.t6forum.com www.t6forum.com



++++


1679223490444.png

.


1679223499664.png

.


1679223508786.png



.
 
-- New Product 2023 --

The BM2 has been updated, ( from Leagend the makers of the BM2 )

The New BM6 now has TEMP data as well as SOC and voltage.

and now with new Lithium profile





Thanks to @Nacho.Nigel for the heads up. . .





+++++++++++++++++







1679224848159.png



+++++++++++++++++


i bought two last week and have been testing them.


whats different on the BM6 from the BM2?

1679224894043.png



....


this is what they say . . .



Battery Monitor BM6 device for Cars & Campervans 12V Battery/leisure battery tester Compatible with Android iOS and Ipad with bluetooth 4.0 and above.​



About this item​

  • FEATURES ✅ Alternator Output Volt Tester | Access to Historical Data Graphically | Short-circuit & Reverse Connection Protection | 3M Range | Ignition Testing |Charging Testing & More.
  • UP TO DATE ✅ When Car Battery Monitor is Installed, Receive Alerts & Notifications of Battery Condition on Your Mobile Phone when in Bluetooth Range. Simultaneously Monitor Up to 4 Batteries.
  • VERSATILE ✅ Perfect for Camper Van Battery/Leisure and Everyday Vehicles. Compatible with all 12-Volt Car Batteries; Voltage: 6-20V, Connect with Battery Directly, NO CODE, Free App for iOS & Android users IOS: IOS 7.1 & Later & Android 4.3 & Later.
  • EASY TO OPERATE ✅ Connect and Go, Check Battery Condition on Phone App via Bluetooth 4.0 when device is installed. Check Charging & Starting System, List Time of Each Driving.
  • CAR PARKING TRACKER ✅ Tracker built within the Monitor to easily find your parked vehicle in any car park. Also has a temperature monitor for extra safety.


+++

12V Battery Monitor BM6​

Main Functions​



  • Receives notifications of battery conditions in Bluetooth range.
  • Checks vehicle cranking system automatically while engine is starting.
  • Checks charging system (alternator)
  • Lists the time of each driving.
  • Alerts mobile phone if detects abnormal data.
  • Short-circuit & reverse connection protection.
  • Data stored in battery monitor up to 35 days if out of sync.
  • Automatic synchronisation when in Bluetooth range.
  • Compatible with all 12V vehicle batteries.
  • Shows historical data graphically.

+++


  • Free app for iOS and Android.
  • Support multi-battery management
  • Exclusive private account, data will not be lost
  • Car location seeking function via google map.
  • Trip record with map and route.

+++


Battery Parameters​

Understanding Your Battery Monitor Readings​

Please ensure you familiarise yourself with the battery parameters on the chart, as some customers have believed their battery monitor to be faulty due to not understanding the parameters for Power vs Voltage.



FREE sticky label for easy attachment​

  • Sticky label FREE with every BM6 Battery Monitor
  • Easily attach to any device
  • Long lasting



1679225002363.png


.

1679225011064.png

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1679225019514.png


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