SternWake said:
The Smart Gauge does not give useful readings when charging, only discharging, from what I read about it.
It becomes less accurate then, by around 4-5%, but still more so than shunt-based meters 95% of the time, the exceptions being with expert users immediately after calibrating with a 20 hour test.
To me, easier, to just switch charging off briefly if I want to get the more accurate reading.
And it's not either/or, I would still want the latter for tracking the amps in and out, horses for courses.
Some prefer a hydrometer for SoC snapshots, crude except looking for 100%, but obviously cheaper.
SternWake said:
I do not look at the % remaining screen. I have mine now set to 80AH capacity when my battery is rated at 90AH. Without performing a 20 hour capacity test I do not really know how many AH my battery is. It cannot be 90 anymore, not at 485 Deep cycles and 39 months of age, but I think it is still over 80.
For the % remaining screen to be accurate, the AH capacity must be programmed correctly, and without an accurate 20hour capacity test, one can only guess.
No, if you're willing to spend the money, you just put in a SmartGauge and let it observe 12-20 cycles.
It is the **only** monitor that accurately and **automatically** accounts for the walk-down in capacity over time in its realtime SoC readings.
That was the main takeaway from the Enersys white paper and Maine Sail's testing, and why the technology was bought by Merlin and has been so widely adopted by emergency services and military customers.
To me there's no question that SG is the bee's knees for lead-based bank SoC. In a solar setup having faith in it's accuracy before and after the day's charging would be very helpful in keeping things optimized. **Along with** the shunt-based coulomb count logging. . .
