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StephenH View Drop Down
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Joined: 29 Nov 2015
Location: Wake Forest, NC
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    Posted: 22 May 2019 at 5:13pm
Those lights are not 25, 50, 75-100. There are two scales on the panel. One is for the tank levels. The other is for the batteries. The top light does not indicate 100% charge, but that the battery is charging. The next light indicates that the battery level is Good if not being charged. The next one indicates that the battery charge is Fair and the bottom one indicates that the charge is Low.

I agree that the lights are less than helpful as a general indicator but are not useful for understanding the state of charge. That is why I installed a voltmeter. I installed the battery cut-off switch so I did not have to keep removing and replacing the battery terminal cable.
StephenH
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EchoGale View Drop Down
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Posts: 461 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 May 2019 at 5:41pm
Thanks for this. I've read in other places on the forum that the lights aren't reliable.  How else would one check to see how much charge the batteries have?
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Ben Herman View Drop Down
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Posts: 355 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 May 2019 at 6:26pm
Originally posted by EchoGale

Thanks for this. I've read in other places on the forum that the lights aren't reliable.  How else would one check to see how much charge the batteries have?

I installed a simple digital voltmeter right next to the fuse panel. I used this one:
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podwerkz View Drop Down
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Posts: 966 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 May 2019 at 7:10pm
I installed one of these, yep they cost more but also include temperature display. 

You can install the temperature probe anywhere: in the fridge, inside the cabin, or outside.
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Posts: 72 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 May 2019 at 7:34pm
Originally posted by WillG

Personally I don't think you can trust the 4 lights that display what is supposed to be 25,50,75 - 100 battery power.
Here's my recent experience... Had knee surgery late last summer & I hadn't used it for a while and since I was getting knee surgery I took R-Pod to a loca shop to check all the seals etc since I had no time and woudn't be able to after knee surgery.
BTW - I also had them remove the poorly designed plastic spoiler on the top rear that has the red lights. It seemed like it was primarily designed to catch debris, hold water etc and at some point leak. The calking on the exosed screws needed to be redone and I was sick of dealing with the debris and standing water...  they replaced it with 2 red lights and sealed the 20 or so holes that were left by the screws.

Since it had been in the shop all winter - I know at some point they carged battery. Getting ready to leave I pushed the button and it read "100%" - 4 lights so even though I normally charge battery prior to heading out I didn't. 

I got to camp spot and opened up the extension. Later that evening the refrigerator started to beep and I realized it was indicating low power when I checked it since I know the propane was pretty full. I checked the battery charge and it now only showed 1 light or I guess 25%. My main concern was getting the extension back in so I backed the truck up, turned it on and brought the extension back in and left it like that for the rest of the weekend. I was no where near power, stores etc - primitive site.

Later that following night I woke to a beep from the CO2 / propane sensor. It was indicating low power OR that it was faulty. Nothing was on....     I pushed the battery power button and it now displayed 2 lights instead of 1!  After finally removing the sensor and disconnecting the wires the beeping stopped so I went back to sleep. The next morning the battery was completely drained and it showed no lights.

So personally I won't trust that battery indicator again - I'll simply top off charge before I go on a trip & I'm also in process of installing a battery kill switch.

I recently purchased the Victron BMV-712 to ensure I don’t deplete my dual deep cycle batteries to less than 50%.  I’m sorting out how to install it but I think I’m going to place the shunt near the inverter.
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Posts: 72 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 May 2019 at 7:38pm
Originally posted by StephenH

Those lights are not 25, 50, 75-100. There are two scales on the panel. One is for the tank levels. The other is for the batteries. The top light does not indicate 100% charge, but that the battery is charging. The next light indicates that the battery level is Good if not being charged. The next one indicates that the battery charge is Fair and the bottom one indicates that the charge is Low.

I agree that the lights are less than helpful as a general indicator but are not useful for understanding the state of charge. That is why I installed a voltmeter. I installed the battery cut-off switch so I did not have to keep removing and replacing the battery terminal cable.

I am installing a battery cut off as well.  Did you install it at the converter?  I’m nervous there might be other drains that I’ll miss by not installing it at the battery.
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StephenH View Drop Down
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Posts: 6288 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 May 2019 at 9:24pm
The battery cut-off switch is installed in the lid of one of the battery boxes (I have two 6V batteries wired in series). There is a picture in one of my mods. 
StephenH
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WillG View Drop Down
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Posts: 22 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 May 2019 at 11:54pm
Interesting - I thought it was always 25,50,75,100. I'm wondering why it showed 1(low) then 2(fair) after draining more and not being charged in any way - guess it shows hoe inacurate it is. I think you are all correct - a voltmeter is the only way to go. if it wasn't a pain to open you could simply touch a voltmeter to the battery terminals....   From the litte bit I've seen today the only way to add a kill switch and make sure it is not draining is at the battery on the case or right on the battery.
I'd like to add a voltmeter I could push button test on the battery case so it's not another item slowly draining the battery. 
I'm assuming CO2 / Propane alarms are required to have a light so you know they are working but every little bit drains when your not hooked up.
Thanks for the helpful info.
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Posts: 5290 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 May 2019 at 7:06am
Originally posted by WillG I think you are all correct - a voltmeter is the only way to go. 
[/QUOTE


No, a voltmeter is a poor indicator of battery state of charge (SOC).  SO

No, a voltmeter is a poor indicator of battery state of charge (SOC).  SOC is measured in percent of total amp hour capacity of the battery. To measure that properly you need an amp hour meter. A voltmeter will give you some idea, but since the voltage of a battery changes with the rate at which you're charging or discharging it and with the temperature is only a rough approximation. I don't find it much better than the little lights. 

If you really want to know where you're battery is, get one of these or similar:


You would be installing a current shunt in one of the battery conductors. This will provide a measurement of the actual current in and out of the battery, which the device uses to track the SOC. 

Don't get one of the cheap battery SOC monitors available that use a hall effect donut instead of an actual shunt to measure the current, the hall effect devices are notorious for inaccurate readings. 
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lostagain View Drop Down
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Posts: 2587 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 May 2019 at 8:14am
Doesn't a hydrometer measure the state of the charge of the battery?  It won't do it do it on a continuous basis, but for around $10, it sure beats not knowing.  We put our batteries into a tongue box that I bought from Harbor Freight, aka China Hardware, before all their prices went up, and the battery access is such that it takes less than a minute to check the level.  And, it's a good way to monitor the water level, too.
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