Battery Monitoring -- How I Done It --

[Dellmassive]

There are two apps, the BM2 app which is free. This only allows you to connect to one of the BM2s at a time

you can have 6 or more BM2 units connected to the one APP on your one phone . . .

but you can only look at "one" screen readout at a time . . . . . (ie starter battery, then change to AUX battery ) (so i have 6x BM`s and use the same BM2 app and same phone no problem)

but can still see multiple BM2 units on the same phone.

with the BM3 APP . . . . you can look at 4x BM2 devices simultaneously on the one screen.

the basic answer is yes you can use the BM2 APP with multiple devices . . .


AND . . . .


most BM2`s are genuine, but sold at different prices due to supply, demand, mass production, import quantities.


when they first come out i was paying £50 per unit . . . . . so £25 or below in the UK is a great price.


you can get them even cheaper direct from china if you are prepared to wait.

 

[Ayjay]

Thanks for the good advice guys. I've ordered two of the £17 eBay ones for the van and will test them before, probably, buying a couple more for my other cars. Apologies in advance for the further numpty questions when I come to fit them!

 

[Ann3x]

@Dellmassive would you mind sharing who you contacted to buy your lithium flashed bm2? I've mailed the amazon seller who claims there's no such thing. Assuming he's a reseller who's just unaware.

 

[Dellmassive]

@Dellmassive would you mind sharing who you contacted to buy your lithium flashed bm2? I've mailed the amazon seller who claims there's no such thing. Assuming he's a reseller who's just unaware.

This thread...

Battery Monitoring -- How I Done It --

I don’t use my van from week to week so I have put a BM2 on both the starter and leisure batteries. I wanted to monitor the leisure battery when camping and starter battery when parked up so I can better judge when I need to take it for a run. When the van is running, both batteries are...

www.t6forum.com

Subject: Re: Feedback Notification


Hello ,

Thanks for your feedback. This is Joan, and it's my pleasure to assist you.

We have two types of Battery Monitor2, one for lead-acid battery and another for lithium battery.

If you want test lifepo4, you should buy another type of battery monitor.

The price of two type battery monitor is the same.

Best regards

​

Joan Zhu
M:+86-15179803791 Tel: +86-755-82821859 Skype: 15179803791
Shenzhen Leagend Optoelectronics Co.,Ltd
www.leagend.com


Add: 4F, Block 3, Dacheng Industrial Zone, No.357 Jihua Rd, Longgang Dist, 518129 Shenzhen, China
Battery Tester and Scanner--- Original Manufacturer

.....


joanzhu@leagend.com


.

 

[Ayjay]

Thanks for the good advice guys. I've ordered two of the £17 eBay ones for the van and will test them before, probably, buying a couple more for my other cars. Apologies in advance for the further numpty questions when I come to fit them!

Well I fitted the Quicklynks box to my starter battery this morning. I should be grateful if you clever people could cast an eye over the picture below and tell me that all looks OK - as can be seen, the positive lead is on the battery, the negative is secured by a bolt in the wing, I have zip tied the box to the positive battery cable to stop it from shaking around and there is slack in both cables.

The good news is that the reading that it's sending to my phone tallies with the little battery monitor plugged into the 12V lighter socket - 12.2V. The bad news is that the app now keeps warning me that the battery is at 58% and has 'low power'. Is this something that I should be worried about? I'll be taking the van out for a drive on Saturday which should give the battery a kick or should I plug in the Ctek charger now? I'm a bit concerned that it's registering low power as it's receiving (or should be) a bit of top up charging from the installed solar panel / Ctek 250SA combo - apart from the last couple of days there's been an awful lot of sunshine recently and the leisure battery has always been at maximum power.

Sorry for the idiot questions but I did warn you all. I also need advice on the terminals on the leisure battery (which are different to those on the starter) but I'll post about that separately. Thanks in advance

 

[Big.mac]

Well I fitted the Quickylinks box to my starter battery this morning. I should be grateful if you clever people could cast an eye over the picture below and tell me that all looks OK - as can be seen, the positive lead is on the battery, the negative is secured by a bolt in the wing, I have zip tied the box to the positive battery cable to stop it from shaking around and there is slack in both cables.
View attachment 72646
The good news is that the reading that it's sending to my phone tallies with the little battery monitor plugged into the 12V lighter socket - 12.2V. The bad news is that the app now keeps warning me that the battery is at 58% and has 'low power'. Is this something that I should be worried about? I'll be taking the van out for a drive on Saturday which should give the battery a kick or should I plug in the Ctek charger now? I'm a bit concerned that it's registering low power as it's receiving (or should be) a bit of top up charging from the installed solar panel / Ctek 250SA combo - apart from the last couple of days there's been an awful lot of sunshine recently and the leisure battery has always been at maximum power.

Sorry for the idiot questions but I did warn you all. I also need advice on the terminals on the leisure battery (which are different to those on the starter) but I'll post about that separately. Thanks in advance

12.2V is pretty normal for the T6 in my experience. The smart alternator keeps the battery lower than you might expect. You can change the threshold you get alerts at in the app. Might be worth looking at.

Regardening the trickle charge from the CTEK, you should be able to confirm it is doing this by looking at the lights that are lit on it. See the picture below:

 

[Dellmassive]

Well I fitted the Quickylinks box to my starter battery this morning. I should be grateful if you clever people could cast an eye over the picture below and tell me that all looks OK - as can be seen, the positive lead is on the battery, the negative is secured by a bolt in the wing, I have zip tied the box to the positive battery cable to stop it from shaking around and there is slack in both cables.
View attachment 72646
The good news is that the reading that it's sending to my phone tallies with the little battery monitor plugged into the 12V lighter socket - 12.2V. The bad news is that the app now keeps warning me that the battery is at 58% and has 'low power'. Is this something that I should be worried about? I'll be taking the van out for a drive on Saturday which should give the battery a kick or should I plug in the Ctek charger now? I'm a bit concerned that it's registering low power as it's receiving (or should be) a bit of top up charging from the installed solar panel / Ctek 250SA combo - apart from the last couple of days there's been an awful lot of sunshine recently and the leisure battery has always been at maximum power.

Sorry for the idiot questions but I did warn you all. I also need advice on the terminals on the leisure battery (which are different to those on the starter) but I'll post about that separately. Thanks in advance

Just disable the warning notifications in the app.... that's what most people do.

 

[Ayjay]

Thanks guys - that's very reassuring. As to the low charge warning, I don't understand what's going on from a technical point of view but about 45 minutes after my post, the level was showing at 12.67 / 95% and has stayed there which comforts me even more.

Mac. I was aware of the lights on the Ctek 250SA are supposed to tel what's it's doing but the problem is that the battery and electrics are stuck in the 'black hole' under a hatch in a cupboard and next door to the wheel arch. It's therefore not easily visible and, indeed, a pain to get to. You tech types might find this stuff easy but I've just put another Quicklynk on the leisure battery and I thought it was a real pain in the aris to get to and work on but it's now fitted and telling me that I've got a very healthy leisure battery..

Dellmassive. Thanks for the suggestion of turning the notifications off - good idea and wilco.

All I've go to do now is stop myself obsessively looking at the bleeding app as I suspect it will shag the battery on my phone.

PS. As nobody said otherwise, I'm assuming that how I fitted the one on the starter battery was OK.

 

[mmi]

in the interest of science and Data Analysis . . . . . here is the last 11 days of data logging for the starter battery. (Via BM2)

from 1st Feb 2020 to 11th Feb 2020:

@mmi this is for you . . . . And everyone else that likes this kind of stuff.

As the weather is warmer than in February and also more daylight - I'm wondering if you could do following and plot starter battery voltage (using BM2). Would appreciate if others could do the same @Ayjay @Big.mac ?

Before starting the engine set the blower speed selector to "2" and keep it there during your run. May use also settings 3 or 4 but absolutely not the setting 0 or 1. Also outdoor temperature should be above +15C.

I'm interested to see what's the lowest voltage during the runs (when engine is running - so preferred to have stop/start disabled). Mine seems never go below 13.3 Volts.



Thanks.

 

[Dellmassive]

last 9 days . . . (Blower normally set to 1), (stop/start enabled mostly) (local temp mostly above 15C in daytime)

I've found that if battery is full (80% up) then voltage will rest around the static battery voltage during the day while driving around etc 12.6v.

switching stuff on, like blowera or LED lights etc will cause a slight rise in voltage to around 13.3v ish.

regens and large electrical loads will cause an increase to around 14.9v

.

 

[mmi]

Thanks. I do see the same - but only at setting "1". Just have been wondering quite some time now that setting the blower to "2" or higher seems to set charging regime to "old school" charging. I have kept eye on this quite some time and this far it has worked this way without fail - minimum 13.3 Volts (certainly goes up to 14.9 at recuperative braking or DPF regen or certain consumers - heaters etc.).

 

[Ayjay]

Dellmassive - Wilco but suspect that I won't actually be using the van for a week or so. When I do, I'll log it and report back.

 

[Blitz]

Dell iv got the chek 250 coming soon for my leisure battery setup. If I buy the chek battery monitor at a later date for the starter battery can I use both on the same app to keep life simple ?
Ta

 

[Big.mac]

Dell iv got the chek 250 coming soon for my leisure battery setup. If I buy the chek battery monitor at a later date for the starter battery can I use both on the same app to keep life simple ?
Ta

There is no app for the CTEK 250SE. What you’re seeing is the output from the app associated with the BM2 Battery monitors. If you attach a BM2 to each battery you can use the same app for both (I do).

 

[Blitz]

Oh ok thanks for that. I'll go BM2 x2 in a future upgrade then. Ah is only money...

 

[Dellmassive]

Dell iv got the chek 250 coming soon for my leisure battery setup. If I buy the chek battery monitor at a later date for the starter battery can I use both on the same app to keep life simple ?
Ta

Yes,

But as above 250 has no monitoring.

I've got the ctek battery monitors and the BM2s.

I prefer the BM2s.

So ideal setup would be 2x BM2, one on each battery.

Then a power shunt like the victron smart shunt in future if you wanted one.

 

[Big.mac]

Oh ok thanks for that. I'll go BM2 x2 in a future upgrade then. Ah is only money...

BM2s’s are one of the cheaper upgrades though. I think i paid £34 for two of them.

 

[Ayjay]

MMI - Many apologies for the continuing delay but I've still not used the van. The problem is that my wife is working from home and in the current climate, I'm not venturing much further than the weekly shop in the supermarket and I'm the only one driving any of our 3 cars!
I did actually move the van to another part of the drive today but that's about it! Hopefully, I'll go for a spin in it next week and will report back then. Apologies to both you and Dellmassive for not addressing my previous post correctly. Starting the van today threw up another power related issue which I will post about separately rather than mix it in with this topic.

 

[Skyliner33]

As the weather is warmer than in February and also more daylight - I'm wondering if you could do following and plot starter battery voltage (using BM2). Would appreciate if others could do the same @Ayjay @Big.mac ?

Before starting the engine set the blower speed selector to "2" and keep it there during your run. May use also settings 3 or 4 but absolutely not the setting 0 or 1. Also outdoor temperature should be above +15C.

I'm interested to see what's the lowest voltage during the runs (when engine is running - so preferred to have stop/start disabled). Mine seems never go below 13.3 Volts.

View attachment 73686

Thanks.

Do you still need this doing? Cheers

 

[Ayjay]

Also, my apologies for not having already done it! I've only been out in the van once since the original request and, on that occasion, I confess that I forgot all about it. I've asked my wife to remind me the next time and she's guaranteed to remember. That said, I really don't know when that will be. Again, sorry.