Does off-grid solar confuse you? Check out my DIY friendly website for solar system packages and product recommendations, and so much more! www.mobile-solarpower.com Join our DIY solar community! #1 largest solar forum on the internet for beginners and professionals alike: www.diysolarforum.com Check out my best-selling, beginner-friendly 12V off-grid solar book (affiliate link): amzn.to/2Aj4dX4 If DIY is not for you, but you love solar and need an offgrid system, check out Tesla Solar. Low prices and great warranty, and they can take your entire house offgrid with their new Powerwalls: ts.la/william57509 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ My solar equipment recommendations (Constantly updated! Check here first): 12V/48V Lithium Batteries: www.mobile-solarpower.com/solar-batteries.html Solar System Component Directory: www.mobile-solarpower.com/solarcomponents.html Plug-N-Play Systems: www.mobile-solarpower.com/full-size-systems.html Complete 48V System Kits: www.mobile-solarpower.com/complete-48v-solar-kits.html DIY Friendly Air Conditioner/ Heat Pumps: www.mobile-solarpower.com/solar-friendly-air-conditioners.html Complete 48V System Blueprint: www.mobile-solarpower.com/48v-complete-system-blueprint.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ My Favorite Online Stores for DIY Solar and Coupon Codes: -Current Connected: SOK, Victron and High Quality Components. Best prices and warranty around: currentconnected.com/?ref=wp -Signature Solar: Cheap Server Rack Batteries and Large Solar Panels: www.signaturesolar.com/?ref=h-cvbzfahsek -Ecoflow Delta Official Site: My favorite plug-n-play solar generator: us.ecoflow.com/?aff=7 -AmpereTime: Cheapest 12V batteries around: amperetime.com/products/ampere-time-12v-100ah-lithium-lifepo4-battery?ref=h-cvbzfahsek -Rich Solar: Mega site and cheaper prices than renogy! Check them out: richsolar.com/?ref=h-cvbzfahsek -Shop Solar Kits: Huge site with every solar kit you can imagine! Check it out: shopsolarkits.com/?ref=will-p -Battery Hookup: Cheap cell deals bit.ly/2mIxSqt 10% off code: diysolar -Watts 24/7: Best deals on all-in-one solar power systems, with customer support and distribution here in the USA: watts247.com/?wpam_id=3 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Contact Information: I am NOT available for personal solar system consult! If you wish to contact me, this is my direct email: williamprowsediysolar@gmail.com Join the forum at diysolarforum.com/ if you wish to hang out with myself and others and talk about solar FTC Disclosure Statement and Disclaimers: Every video includes some form of paid promotion or sponsorship. Some links on this youtube channel may be affiliate links. We may get paid if you buy something or take an action after clicking one of these. My videos are for educational purposes only. Information is subject to change/update at any time. Electricity is DANGEROUS and can kill. Be smart and use common sense :) DIY Solar Power with Will Prowse is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, An affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com
I really appreciate you and your videos Will. By watching your videos, I have gone from knowing very little about electricity to completely wiring, crimping, fusing and building my own 12V system! Thanks Will. You do a great job. Keep it going!
Same here. I used to just twist the wires together and wrap with electrical tape. Thanks to Will, I can be proud of my wiring now, not to mention much safer.
I think what make you so interesting, is your enthusiasm. I can watch you all day, over baritone people where I loose interest quickly. Keep it up kid.
cj juszczak well I’m 62, so most of, you’ll, are kids. So in my case, it’s not a jab, sorry you took it that way. I guess it’s a bad habit, but I call allot of younger people, a kid. I truly find him interesting, he is very knowledgeable, and interesting. I am impressed with many, from your generation, with the knowledge, I have gained, and gaining more from many of you, well I hope it helps keep me young.
Got one for my boat and it works as described. By the way you are the only person that talks about setting threshold for these that did a review. It's why you are so good at breaking down products.
@365Outdoors I see the backlight of the screen turns off after some seconds but does it go in sleep mode(like shut down the whole screen)? or the screen is always on?
@@cramarc666 no it continues working, there is a sequence for pushing and holding the end buttons down simultaneously for I think 3 seconds to turn the light off, but don't recall exactly
I just added one to our camper. The instructions have been rewritten as they were way easier to read. It's been working great and does everything I need.
Just finished installing the $40 battery monitor. Works great. I'm glad to know that after years of working on electronic stuff, I'm not the only one who jumps when I see sparks. Never get use to that. Thanks for all your great videos Will. My set up is a mirror image of yours. Lots of advice on here about solar but yours seems to be the only one I really understand. All is well, no smoke. Life is good. W4GTT
Bought this as well as the Chinese Bluetooth ANT-BMS that you reviewed in another video. I've since done a 48v LiFePO4 100ah battery build using Grade A cells. The setup is being used in my golf cart and having this battery monitor mounted to my dash makes it very convenient. The linear discharge rate of LiFePO4 also means I have an accurate reading of my remaining battery capacity so I don't run out. There are also a few other perks of being able to programme the capacity. I set my capacity at 80AH on the monitor so I don't actually run the batteries below 20AH or 20% SOC. Programmed the same into the ANT-BMS and its been working like a charm.
I just purchased the 350 amp so i can run my 2000 watt inverter thru it ,,, works perfect ,,, Thank you ! B.J.T traveling south coast NSW AUSTRALIA ,,,,,
Thanks Will...... You made the price go up again............ You should start a subscription based mail list, where you tell people what you are going to make videos on BEFORE you do them, so they can buy at the cheaper price!! :)
I bought one and it works great on a SLA battery, I like knowing how much is left over. I like that it shows both current coming in and out. Also it does a heartbeat when the battery is charging. This is very nice. Edit****************** I have this a couple months and it is ok, the problem is it goes offline every 6-8 weeks and it needs to be reset.
They have rewritten the instructions. They are quite easy to understand and follow now. At least on the 350A version that I purchased from Amazon a few days ago. They have also added the ability to turn the backlight off and on, by pressing the V and % buttons simultaneously and holding for a second or two. This may not be a new feature, it might exist on all of them but just wasn’t documented.
I think you can set the capacity by just having a fully charged system and then hold the percentage sign. You also need to set you battery capacity so it knows how many amp hours it is
Another Awesome video Will! I have been eyeing the victron 712 for a long time, but can't bring myself to spend 200$ on a gauge. there aren't alot of options for this area of actually seeing whats real in your batteries usage. Definitely gonna look at this option. Keep up the great work videos have been knocking it out of the park recently
I have had this victron monitor for three years, I also have the chinese one fitted in the cab so i can see it while driving and switch off alternator charging when not needed. The victron is a far more advanced piece of hardware with a relay and dataloging. The chinese monitor works but the victron is more accurate, as there it drift between the two units over time.For the money it's great value, but as with so many things... you gets what you pay for!
Wait, specifically which Chinese one do you have? This one came out recently. Do you have a normal shunt, the 18 dollar kind, that only shows instantaneous reading? Or the one specifically in this video?
Agree, what is wrong with usa? Cant they make one we have good techs and engineers when they want to be. It's high time we USA make something good and be on top. Enough said.
@@joeboxter3635 Ah, maybe this one? I have their MPPT (75/15) and like it. Will reviews several charge controllers in another video you should watch. I like the bluetooth monitoring on my phone app with the Victron and prefer name brands and also needed compact. The one downside is that the Victron 75/15 has small gauge wire connectors. Weak spot in their product. Will likes to recommend some other brands that are way cheaper if you don't want a remote monitor. Once you add in the monitor, the Victron is competitive for the lower amperage controllers. If you want a lot of amps, then Victron price diffference gets bigger. I think that a lot of people oversize their charge controllers, using the nominal ratings (300 watts) of their solar panels instead of the actual performance (maybe 240 watts for same) wattage. This is one area where you don't really need the extra but will pay dearly for it with name brand controllers. I also have the Victron Phoenix 500VA Pure Sine Wave inverter. Works fine. I like the control over voltage cuttoffs etc. Can't really say if it's any better than others, it just works. Again, if you can get by with less power, the lower end Victrons will give you good quality for a good price. As power goes up, price rises more quickly.
I purchased a similar unit on EBAY last year for about $30. It works well except that the current reading has a temperature dependent error of +/- a couple of percent. That error compounds with time so the accuracy is variable with climate! Also, since the shunt amplifier is not a true differential input, an isolated 12V power is required if the unit is remote from the shunt. It would be a worthwhile experiment for you to note the 'zero offset' versus temperature. That is the indicated current when all loads are turned off. -Mike-
Great video, you have come a LONG, LONG way since this video, which is what I think is the coolest thing about this video! Also, I know since this video you have played with the Victron SmartShut and now understand why it, too, is a very cool device, as well!
The victron monitor does more than what you mentioned, an my experience tells me China doesn’t create most of what they sell, there good at making duplicate copies,
Totally agree with the Victron cost, nice product but it’s hard to justify. I purchased a different Chinese monitor from your review, lovely colourful screen, multiple info shown at once, two way current, no logging, questionable shunt cover and instructions that make you roll over laughing 😂..as yourself I love it @ £17 UK pounds, I smile again as I type this.
Well, It's interesting to see what happens about 1 year later.. The price has gone from $30 to $41 (Don't worry I won't blame you !!). There are now more options on the market, both less expensive and more. It might be worth doing a video on meter options again since there are so many 'little blue circuit board' options today. I kind of like the option of not putting a shunt built on a circuit board in line with main power.
Thank you! I got one of these coming in the mail! One question: You set lowest voltage to 24.9v on the capacity monitor (based on your auto transfer switch's low voltage value), but when when you fully discharged the battery, voltage dropped to 24.2v (which is also what was shown on your auto transfer switch at that 100% discharge time). Shouldn't you have used 24.2v for the capacity monitor's low voltage setting rather than 24.9v?
It honestly looks jank but it looks like it does its job. I’ll be ordering one tomorrow hopefully. Thank for showing us this. Money is extremely tight with my family right now and $30 makes this possible for us. Family of 4, solar and propane generator only. No grid.
I don't see how this will stay calibrated for very long with no settings for charge efficiency, peukert constant, temperature or even battery type. The Victrons auto recalibrates every time the battery reached a full charge.
Thaaaanks. I just refused an offer for a solar kit because they told me that in order to use the warranty of the victron battery which is in cycles I would have to buy this 200 bucks waste of money. Bought a battery from another supplier with bluetooth instead. Saved me 600 bucks. They really profit from their market domination here in Europe
I wonder about the reset when drained part. Could you zero it when the batteries were full then decide when you want to recharge. I ask as it is easier to charge my batteries and then let them rest. Waiting for the batteries to fully discharge takes a bit more timing. In your video I did not see you set the meter for how many amp hours your batteries were. How would it know when your batteries were full ? Put another way, if it doesn't know how many amps came out of the battery, ( resettiing it when drained would zero it out), how would it know how many amps it would take to recharge? Maybe it uses a capacitance test to determine 100% ?
Will! Thanks so much for posting this. I literally set up $18 battery monitor you mentioned a couple days ago and was disappointed to find out that it doesn't measure amperage going in. I'll definitely give this $30 option a try!
Great video but please don't confuse precision with accuracy (@4:15), especially with cheap goods. Something can read out to 9 digits and only be accurate to 3.
Will, I'm not sure I'm following the setup procedure. Why did you only discharge to 24.2v to set the 0% capacity threshold? Shouldn't it be 21v? And after you charged battery how is it calculating 100Ah capacity if 0% started at 24.2V? Isn't capacity based upon manufacturers 0 point of 21v? I want to set up my Ali meter for my 12v battery bank (2-6v golf cart batteries 215Ah) and I want the meter to calculate the actual capacity itself so should I be setting the 0% capacity threshold to 11.9v or 10.5v?
When it comes to electronics I like quality. Victron is quality. Every component that is a part of a mobile power system is subject to failure. Most failures are just a nuisance. Some are a fire hazard. If a company can't spend the money for market correct instructions I have to wonder what kind of junk is in the box behind the owners manual.
Yeah but what could fail that would cause an actual problem besides not working? Shunts are dead simple. It's a shunt. I don't see any fire hazards here. what part of the circuit do you not like?
@@WillProwse In the video you said the reviews were good. I assume you weren't talking about the single review on your link. What reviews? I am interested to have a look.
@@harleyd500 yeah I thought there were more reviews, but just one. It was just released this month. If you are worried about any fire hazard, fuse the positive wire that feeds it, and ensure that proper gauge wire is used. The shunt itself is simply a very low resistance resistor, and the monitor can measure the current going through it. And it's on the negative side, so the potential for something bad to happen is super low. Unless it is physically damaged, or the wrong size shunt is used. If it does fail, I don't see how it would cause any problems at all. I've also used other Chinese shunts in the past for years, and they work great. Very simple device
@@WillProwse I'm not worried. I have been using a Victron BM for the last year. While the Shunt is a low resistance device for measuring you are passing all the 12v uses which depending on use can present substantial current. It is essentially a battery cable. Like any component that passes high amperage it is subject to heat and fire if overloaded. Victron devices are submitted and tested for Ul and international standards. I don't mean to poo-poo your video or this product. Just pointing out that sometimes cheap knock-offs aren't always the right way to go.
I was thinking along the same lines and have NO intention of paying $200 for a battery monitor. I did purchase a Victron Energy charge controller and that was nearly a thousand bucks! Thumbs up, definitely.
Very cool. Could you give us a schematic of your solar system including all fuses and your new monitor. From stem to stern would be most excellent. I know you had a vid on the basic setup of a system but I would be very interested in your system. Thx much
I had exactly the same thought, I 'wanted' a battery monitor because I wanted it for my boat's house battery but didn't feel like spending too much for the reasons you mentioned. I have ordered the same one a few days ago so was good to see you installing it...as the number one gripe was the chinglesh user instructions and you helped clear that up. tyhx
I have been using these on all my electric equipment conversions for the last 5 years and they are very reliable even in situations where they are fully exposed to the weather.
@@CharRichardson lead acid only provide 50% of total amps. My Life line batteries were 95lb each x 4. Wired in Series/Parallel to make 2 12v banks then in parallel only gave me 1/4 0f total amp capacity for a grand total of 1/2 of 235 amps as I remember, about 117amps. Compare that to 4-100ah Lithium at 26lb each gives us 100% of 200ah that charge really fast compared to days of trickle charging while watching the water levels and cleaning the terminals....
Shunts are so 19th century, they are straight out of Frankenstein's lab! I prefer the Hall Effect current sensors that you simply feed a wire through---non-invasive and bidirectional
Reading the instructions, when you set the preset voltage setting to 24.9v you told the meter to reset the AH and % capacity to zero when it reads 24.9 but then you told the meter that 0% capacity was 24.2. How did that affect the AH readout?
Pretty cool for that price point and for few bucks more you can get a 350 A shunt if you need it. Still, I'm keeping my Victron, it may be over priced(it really is) but it does all the stuff I want/need and with BT .......but the toy one you reviewed would work just fine for some of my other projects for sure! Thanks for the heads up!
I have a BMV 712 for my critical RV system and have zero regrets. A lot of money invested in the batteries and want them to last. I know it has VERY little chance of failure. AND I could always sell it used probably for 80% of what I paid. Now I'm building a simple "solar generator" and truth is, you can't even find a Victron BMV used. This cheapo might be worth it for that but I'm afraid that "buy cheap buy twice" may be the eventual lesson here. Alternative is the Victron smart shunt @ $130....hmmm
I noticed that when you configured this unit you didn't set the AH capacity of your battery bank, this is a feature of the comparable Victron unit which I'm really familiar with. Instead you seemed to set a low voltage point where the batteries were considered to be discharged. I've seen other reviews of this unit where the configuration seems to match the Victron unit where you simply set the AH capacity of your batteries and tell it when they're fully charged. Again the Victron unit does this automatically but then again its almost 10x the price. I note this review is well over a year old, maybe this one you reviewed is an older model with less features. One point I don't see any documentation regarding is weather this cheaper version calculates the Phuket principle, there doesn't seem to be any advanced settings to determine the type of batteries in the bank so I expect this cheap unit is better suited to LiFePo4 rather than traditional FLA. I know that the Victron unit does calculate Phuket and even with this it still goes out of synchronisation over time. I've installed lots of the victron units on liveaboard boats where people cycle their battery storage on a daily basis. The Victron unit will automatically re-syncronise occasionally by calculating the battery voltage and required charge current to determine if the batteries are fully charged. Hopefully this one will too. I really respect your views on kit and will certainly buy one of these to try out now you've given it such a positive review. It's clearly not as good as the Victron unit but WAY WAY cheaper so certainly seems to be very very good value for money. Actually the build quality of the shunt seems better than the Victron one. The plastic mounting on the Victron shunt is really poor and very brittle, even if you're careful in tightening the terminals they still crack over time, usually where the shunt mounts to your bulkhead. Sadly the shunt still has the same failing as the Victron one where the negative P stud is usually too short to accommodate all the P side negative terminals, obviously people should have a negative bus bar but rarely do.
I just bought this unit, and it learns your battery's actually capacity when you zero it then fully charge it. You can set the nominal capacity, but after doing the steps in the video it will tell you the real capacity which you can then program in. BTW, Phuket is the capital of Thailand. You're thinking of Peukert's Effect. I have no idea if this monitor accounts for it.
Cool find and great price point as always but the complexity of the BMS/Shunt monitor and charger start to make the electroducus SBMS a fair bit simpler for similar money and depending on which one you buy gives the options for much more solar.?
the beauty of the vistron shunt is logging how your off grid system is performing with how much power is really being used/collected per day. it's worth while for those who are not as savvy on keeping their system working properly. I have one, and don't use it, though i'm an electrician. I still think they are excellent to help the general user.
Wow that is ridiculous. The China option wins today. Not perfect, they could spend more time on writing instructions but to save $170 bucks it is worth it. How long did it take you to figure it out?
Thanks for videos. I bought Tr16350 for DIY 280ah w/Daley 150 separate bms, putting in Craftsman toolbox, exciting project, gonna make it perfect thanks to vids. Connect this to Neg terminal (C-) but the P- will have to have 2 cables 1 for BMS -P other for Tr16-C, to read Solar charge stats, but have M15 with Epever 40aMPPT.
I couldn't resist so I ordered one... I just hope it lasts. I'm not sure where you read the positive reviews as I could only find the one - on Amazon - but for that cheap of price I'll willing to risk it. I ordered the 350 amp model just in case and it was only a few dollars more. Too bad it doesn't have Bluetooth but as I understand it Victron has recently released an update to their Android/IOS app which stops the clones from working with their app. Keeping it simple is usually the best course. Thanks for your video on the product. Paul.
@@ceeweedsl have you bought used solar components? I don't think any of them hold their value at all. High quality or not. People usually buy them new for safety reasons.
@@WillProwse Funny, you cite safety reasons for buying used while also claiming that there could be no safety concerns with a battery monitor. ? I watched on Ebay, but rarely saw anything used pop up and never what I was looking for except a Victron BT adapter. Yes, I'd take a used Victron or maybe another top quality product over a new fly-by-night product any day. The top brands just don't fail. Solar panels? No. I use flexible and they don't age well at all.
Hi Will, wow thanks for this vid. I'm with you on the prices, these company's are insane. 200.00 plus just to show the v, w, %. I will purchase my 30.00 next month. I need two, one for each battery. I have a two house 12v wet battery plus another for all my other systems.
Michael Boardman - likely a wise observation. And why I will not spend $5000 on a solar system used for boondocking randomly. If I was full time in a remote area, where I could stay 30 days -- maybe.
It's just a smart volt meter, can't do any harm to the system. If you doubt it's reported SOC, measure it yourself with a trusted volt meter for comparison.
@3:03 Nothing like a good scare for electrical shock. Sometimes when this happens its hard to get courage again to start messing with stuff. The other day I dropped a wrench on the battery bank and there was a huge spark shower. ... Yeah I got to get my courage up again.
great work, thank you -you are doing an amazing job for many of us who have little knowledge./ Please do not use THE LORD JESUS CHRIT'S NAME as a swearword
Does off-grid solar confuse you? Check out my DIY friendly website for solar system packages and product recommendations, and so much more! www.mobile-solarpower.com
Join our DIY solar community! #1 largest solar forum on the internet for beginners and professionals alike: www.diysolarforum.com
Check out my best-selling, beginner-friendly 12V off-grid solar book (affiliate link):
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If DIY is not for you, but you love solar and need an offgrid system, check out Tesla Solar. Low prices and great warranty, and they can take your entire house offgrid with their new Powerwalls: ts.la/william57509
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My solar equipment recommendations (Constantly updated! Check here first):
12V/48V Lithium Batteries: www.mobile-solarpower.com/solar-batteries.html
Solar System Component Directory: www.mobile-solarpower.com/solarcomponents.html
Plug-N-Play Systems: www.mobile-solarpower.com/full-size-systems.html
Complete 48V System Kits: www.mobile-solarpower.com/complete-48v-solar-kits.html
DIY Friendly Air Conditioner/ Heat Pumps: www.mobile-solarpower.com/solar-friendly-air-conditioners.html
Complete 48V System Blueprint: www.mobile-solarpower.com/48v-complete-system-blueprint.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My Favorite Online Stores for DIY Solar and Coupon Codes:
-Current Connected: SOK, Victron and High Quality Components. Best prices and warranty around: currentconnected.com/?ref=wp
-Signature Solar: Cheap Server Rack Batteries and Large Solar Panels:
www.signaturesolar.com/?ref=h-cvbzfahsek
-Ecoflow Delta Official Site: My favorite plug-n-play solar generator:
us.ecoflow.com/?aff=7
-AmpereTime: Cheapest 12V batteries around:
amperetime.com/products/ampere-time-12v-100ah-lithium-lifepo4-battery?ref=h-cvbzfahsek
-Rich Solar: Mega site and cheaper prices than renogy! Check them out:
richsolar.com/?ref=h-cvbzfahsek
-Shop Solar Kits: Huge site with every solar kit you can imagine! Check it out:
shopsolarkits.com/?ref=will-p
-Battery Hookup: Cheap cell deals
bit.ly/2mIxSqt
10% off code: diysolar
-Watts 24/7: Best deals on all-in-one solar power systems, with customer support and distribution here in the USA:
watts247.com/?wpam_id=3
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Contact Information:
I am NOT available for personal solar system consult! If you wish to contact me, this is my direct email: williamprowsediysolar@gmail.com
Join the forum at diysolarforum.com/ if you wish to hang out with myself and others and talk about solar
FTC Disclosure Statement and Disclaimers:
Every video includes some form of paid promotion or sponsorship. Some links on this youtube channel may be affiliate links. We may get paid if you buy something or take an action after clicking one of these. My videos are for educational purposes only. Information is subject to change/update at any time. Electricity is DANGEROUS and can kill. Be smart and use common sense :)
DIY Solar Power with Will Prowse is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program,
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@Will Prowse I just got one. Have not hooked it up yet. Thanks for the recommendation ! Saved me lot of money.
@@davidcox8961 I need one, I dont trust my Chinese inverter it seems to be overcharging.. Must PV18-3024 VPM, anybody?
yes this is a very old video; I know if you could only see yourself spending thousands on solar stuff currently. but a lousy 200.00 kills you lol
This review is for people like me that prefer not to spend 200 dollars...You are free to spend as much as you like...@@mannyfragoza9652
I really appreciate you and your videos Will. By watching your videos, I have gone from knowing very little about electricity to completely wiring, crimping, fusing and building my own 12V system! Thanks Will. You do a great job. Keep it going!
Same here. I used to just twist the wires together and wrap with electrical tape. Thanks to Will, I can be proud of my wiring now, not to mention much safer.
I think what make you so interesting, is your enthusiasm. I can watch you all day, over baritone people where I loose interest quickly. Keep it up kid.
By "enthusiasm" you mean "unmedicated" ........yes, I agree
@Adversus Judaeos Monotone
"keep it up kid"
Were you just condescending, or you didn't know he's about 32 years old in this video ?
cj juszczak well I’m 62, so most of, you’ll, are kids. So in my case, it’s not a jab, sorry you took it that way. I guess it’s a bad habit, but I call allot of younger people, a kid. I truly find him interesting, he is very knowledgeable, and interesting. I am impressed with many, from your generation, with the knowledge, I have gained, and gaining more from many of you, well I hope it helps keep me young.
@@michaelblock4397 ah you think anyone younger than you is a kid, that explains a lot.
Got one for my boat and it works as described. By the way you are the only person that talks about setting threshold for these that did a review. It's why you are so good at breaking down products.
Update: bought this when you posted. Still working well months later.
Thanks for the update👍
good to know!
@365Outdoors I see the backlight of the screen turns off after some seconds but does it go in sleep mode(like shut down the whole screen)? or the screen is always on?
@@cramarc666 no it continues working, there is a sequence for pushing and holding the end buttons down simultaneously for I think 3 seconds to turn the light off, but don't recall exactly
What gauge wire is the positive line?
I just added one to our camper. The instructions have been rewritten as they were way easier to read. It's been working great and does everything I need.
Just finished installing the $40 battery monitor. Works great. I'm glad to know that after years of working on electronic stuff, I'm not the only one who jumps when I see sparks. Never get use to that. Thanks for all your great videos Will. My set up is a mirror image of yours. Lots of advice on here about solar but yours seems to be the only one I really understand. All is well, no smoke. Life is good.
W4GTT
That's why I have an inline isolator switch. No more heart attacks :o)
Have several of these bought from Amazon a few years ago. They're fantastic. Reliable little components
Bought this as well as the Chinese Bluetooth ANT-BMS that you reviewed in another video. I've since done a 48v LiFePO4 100ah battery build using Grade A cells. The setup is being used in my golf cart and having this battery monitor mounted to my dash makes it very convenient. The linear discharge rate of LiFePO4 also means I have an accurate reading of my remaining battery capacity so I don't run out. There are also a few other perks of being able to programme the capacity. I set my capacity at 80AH on the monitor so I don't actually run the batteries below 20AH or 20% SOC. Programmed the same into the ANT-BMS and its been working like a charm.
Been using this one for 3 years, works perfectly. Also, Renogy is using the exact, identical shunt with its own battery monitor.
Hahaha I love your genuine joy reading the instructions. Thank you for walking through this! 5 years later and this holds up and is very helpful.
I have the victron and as a programmer its super awesome, I pull stats from it into influxdb then use grafana.
I just purchased the 350 amp so i can run my 2000 watt inverter thru it ,,, works perfect ,,, Thank you !
B.J.T traveling south coast NSW AUSTRALIA ,,,,,
Your enthusiasm is infectious!
In NZ the Victron BMV700 (500amp shunt) costs $NZD285 and the cheap 100Amp version is $NZD29.90
Thanks Will...... You made the price go up again............ You should start a subscription based mail list, where you tell people what you are going to make videos on BEFORE you do them, so they can buy at the cheaper price!! :)
41 now
I bought one and it works great on a SLA battery, I like knowing how much is left over. I like that it shows both current coming in and out. Also it does a heartbeat when the battery is charging. This is very nice.
Edit****************** I have this a couple months and it is ok, the problem is it goes offline every 6-8 weeks and it needs to be reset.
bought one straight away,great find cheers. Also had my eye on the victron for while but just couldnt bring myself to do it..
I bought one when I saw this review, a year on and it hasn't skipped a beat 😎✌
saw your comment a year ago, mine hasn't skipped a beat either. ✌😎
They have rewritten the instructions. They are quite easy to understand and follow now. At least on the 350A version that I purchased from Amazon a few days ago. They have also added the ability to turn the backlight off and on, by pressing the V and % buttons simultaneously and holding for a second or two. This may not be a new feature, it might exist on all of them but just wasn’t documented.
What size are the bolts? What lugs size, 5/16, or 3/8?
@@supermo26 I have both 100a and 350a. The 100A shunts are 5/16. The 350a shunt is 3/8. Found out the hard way.
@Gail : I cant' get a hold of this 'new' TR16 instructions manual (with the display on/off option), could you share it ?
yes I've sean y-tube videos where the light blinks when charging kindof iratating. pressing V & % will stop the blinking?
Your videos give me a lift, I love your enthusiasm and knowledge please keep making your content. It's priceless
Because that was what was available 11 years ago when I bought it. Still works fine.
I put this in my skoolie 2 years ago and it’s still going strong. Great little device.
I think you can set the capacity by just having a fully charged system and then hold the percentage sign. You also need to set you battery capacity so it knows how many amp hours it is
I was wondering about that.
Why put the batter through a full discharge cycle.
Nice alternative. I bought the $200 Victron and do not regret it.
congratulations for the 50k subscribers benchmark. you are doing great!
Thank you!!!
500k now
Great review- THE SPARKS FLYING WAS PRICELESS 🍻
Another Awesome video Will! I have been eyeing the victron 712 for a long time, but can't bring myself to spend 200$ on a gauge. there aren't alot of options for this area of actually seeing whats real in your batteries usage. Definitely gonna look at this option. Keep up the great work videos have been knocking it out of the park recently
I use the 50A version in combination with a 240W/15A solar panel on a 150AH battery. Just perfect.
I have had this victron monitor for three years, I also have the chinese one fitted in the cab so i can see it while driving and switch off alternator charging when not needed.
The victron is a far more advanced piece of hardware with a relay and dataloging.
The chinese monitor works but the victron is more accurate, as there it drift between the two units over time.For the money it's great value, but as with so many things... you gets what you pay for!
Agreed! And data logging is nice
Wait, specifically which Chinese one do you have? This one came out recently. Do you have a normal shunt, the 18 dollar kind, that only shows instantaneous reading? Or the one specifically in this video?
Also, victron is made in india. Still made in a sweatshop, if that makes a difference at all.
Agree, what is wrong with usa? Cant they make one we have good techs and engineers when they want to be. It's high time we USA make something good and be on top. Enough said.
@@joeboxter3635 Ah, maybe this one? I have their MPPT (75/15) and like it. Will reviews several charge controllers in another video you should watch. I like the bluetooth monitoring on my phone app with the Victron and prefer name brands and also needed compact. The one downside is that the Victron 75/15 has small gauge wire connectors. Weak spot in their product.
Will likes to recommend some other brands that are way cheaper if you don't want a remote monitor. Once you add in the monitor, the Victron is competitive for the lower amperage controllers. If you want a lot of amps, then Victron price diffference gets bigger. I think that a lot of people oversize their charge controllers, using the nominal ratings (300 watts) of their solar panels instead of the actual performance (maybe 240 watts for same) wattage. This is one area where you don't really need the extra but will pay dearly for it with name brand controllers.
I also have the Victron Phoenix 500VA Pure Sine Wave inverter. Works fine. I like the control over voltage cuttoffs etc. Can't really say if it's any better than others, it just works. Again, if you can get by with less power, the lower end Victrons will give you good quality for a good price. As power goes up, price rises more quickly.
I bought one for my RV but couldn't figure out how to set the low voltage. Now Ill go do it. Thanks Will
I purchased a similar unit on EBAY last year for about $30. It works well except that the current reading has a temperature dependent error of +/- a couple of percent. That error compounds with time so the accuracy is variable with climate! Also, since the shunt amplifier is not a true differential input, an isolated 12V power is required if the unit is remote from the shunt. It would be a worthwhile experiment for you to note the 'zero offset' versus temperature. That is the indicated current when all loads are turned off. -Mike-
They work great ! i have 3 of them now and the oldest one has been running for nearly 500 days . good stuff no problems .
Hi Will! I installed this on my sailboat today, and it's working great! Thanks for the recommendation!
Thats great i have it set up on my scooter. Ive been stranded twice, its comfortable knowing how much power my lifepo4 batteries have left.
You Are Gold Will! However You Lost Me At The Box Opening! I Have A Lot To Learn!
Great video, you have come a LONG, LONG way since this video, which is what I think is the coolest thing about this video! Also, I know since this video you have played with the Victron SmartShut and now understand why it, too, is a very cool device, as well!
The victron monitor does more than what you mentioned, an my experience tells me China doesn’t create most of what they sell, there good at making duplicate copies,
Totally agree with the Victron cost, nice product but it’s hard to justify. I purchased a different Chinese monitor from your review, lovely colourful screen, multiple info shown at once, two way current, no logging, questionable shunt cover and instructions that make you roll over laughing 😂..as yourself I love it @ £17 UK pounds, I smile again as I type this.
Well, It's interesting to see what happens about 1 year later.. The price has gone from $30 to $41 (Don't worry I won't blame you !!).
There are now more options on the market, both less expensive and more. It might be worth doing a video on meter options again since there are so many 'little blue circuit board' options today. I kind of like the option of not putting a shunt built on a circuit board in line with main power.
I have to say. I am learning like never before. Thank you for tutoring us.
great find will! bought it right away...i'll call it "poor-man's victron"
Biktrhon😅
Shunt can be flipped within the plastic case to make accessing the small positive power input easier. I've got one and it works great!
Thank you! I got one of these coming in the mail! One question: You set lowest voltage to 24.9v on the capacity monitor (based on your auto transfer switch's low voltage value), but when when you fully discharged the battery, voltage dropped to 24.2v (which is also what was shown on your auto transfer switch at that 100% discharge time). Shouldn't you have used 24.2v for the capacity monitor's low voltage setting rather than 24.9v?
It honestly looks jank but it looks like it does its job. I’ll be ordering one tomorrow hopefully.
Thank for showing us this. Money is extremely tight with my family right now and $30 makes this possible for us. Family of 4, solar and propane generator only. No grid.
I don't see how this will stay calibrated for very long with no settings for charge efficiency, peukert constant, temperature or even battery type. The Victrons auto recalibrates every time the battery reached a full charge.
Thaaaanks. I just refused an offer for a solar kit because they told me that in order to use the warranty of the victron battery which is in cycles I would have to buy this 200 bucks waste of money. Bought a battery from another supplier with bluetooth instead. Saved me 600 bucks. They really profit from their market domination here in Europe
Will, this just what I need and at a great price, thanks for the heads up.
What about you writing a manual in english
I use dozens of these. They ALL work great and easy for folks to understand. As of January 2021 the price is around $45
I wonder about the reset when drained part. Could you zero it when the batteries were full then decide when you want to recharge. I ask as it is easier to charge my batteries and then let them rest. Waiting for the batteries to fully discharge takes a bit more timing. In your video I did not see you set the meter for how many amp hours your batteries were. How would it know when your batteries were full ? Put another way, if it doesn't know how many amps came out of the battery, ( resettiing it when drained would zero it out), how would it know how many amps it would take to recharge? Maybe it uses a capacitance test to determine 100% ?
Will! Thanks so much for posting this. I literally set up $18 battery monitor you mentioned a couple days ago and was disappointed to find out that it doesn't measure amperage going in. I'll definitely give this $30 option a try!
Great video but please don't confuse precision with accuracy (@4:15), especially with cheap goods. Something can read out to 9 digits and only be accurate to 3.
Yep
Hey how are doing
I have a question for you
The Samsung ess energy 16 s 60 volts is good module
Will, I'm not sure I'm following the setup procedure. Why did you only discharge to 24.2v to set the 0% capacity threshold? Shouldn't it be 21v? And after you charged battery how is it calculating 100Ah capacity if 0% started at 24.2V? Isn't capacity based upon manufacturers 0 point of 21v? I want to set up my Ali meter for my 12v battery bank (2-6v golf cart batteries 215Ah) and I want the meter to calculate the actual capacity itself so should I be setting the 0% capacity threshold to 11.9v or 10.5v?
When it comes to electronics I like quality. Victron is quality. Every component that is a part of a mobile power system is subject to failure. Most failures are just a nuisance. Some are a fire hazard. If a company can't spend the money for market correct instructions I have to wonder what kind of junk is in the box behind the owners manual.
Yeah but what could fail that would cause an actual problem besides not working? Shunts are dead simple. It's a shunt. I don't see any fire hazards here. what part of the circuit do you not like?
@@WillProwse In the video you said the reviews were good. I assume you weren't talking about the single review on your link. What reviews? I am interested to have a look.
@@harleyd500 yeah I thought there were more reviews, but just one. It was just released this month. If you are worried about any fire hazard, fuse the positive wire that feeds it, and ensure that proper gauge wire is used. The shunt itself is simply a very low resistance resistor, and the monitor can measure the current going through it. And it's on the negative side, so the potential for something bad to happen is super low. Unless it is physically damaged, or the wrong size shunt is used. If it does fail, I don't see how it would cause any problems at all. I've also used other Chinese shunts in the past for years, and they work great. Very simple device
@@WillProwse I'm not worried. I have been using a Victron BM for the last year. While the Shunt is a low resistance device for measuring you are passing all the 12v uses which depending on use can present substantial current. It is essentially a battery cable. Like any component that passes high amperage it is subject to heat and fire if overloaded. Victron devices are submitted and tested for Ul and international standards. I don't mean to poo-poo your video or this product. Just pointing out that sometimes cheap knock-offs aren't always the right way to go.
@@harleyd500 I totally agree and I share the same concerns, but it's a solid piece of metal. How will that break?
I was thinking along the same lines and have NO intention of paying $200 for a battery monitor. I did purchase a Victron Energy charge controller and that was nearly a thousand bucks! Thumbs up, definitely.
Wow then you overpaid...gotta shop around I got the 150/100 tr for about $700 on Ebay
Very cool.
Could you give us a schematic of your solar system including all fuses and your new monitor. From stem to stern would be most excellent.
I know you had a vid on the basic setup of a system but I would be very interested in your system.
Thx much
I had exactly the same thought, I 'wanted' a battery monitor because I wanted it for my boat's house battery but didn't feel like spending too much for the reasons you mentioned. I have ordered the same one a few days ago so was good to see you installing it...as the number one gripe was the chinglesh user instructions and you helped clear that up. tyhx
You're a funny guy - thanks for all your videos.
I have one in my Bigfoot truck camper with two Battleborn and it works great.
What would the zero point be if it were used in an RV with a few 12v led acid batteries? This is a great find.
I have been using these on all my electric equipment conversions for the last 5 years and they are very reliable even in situations where they are fully exposed to the weather.
Laugh my a$$ off with the spark, gets me every time, makes me feel better that you jump too...
I have one on my system, and I like it. Seems to be a great value for all it does.
what happened to your review 6 months later, what do you think of it
I have one since last year - works great and so nice to have a better idea of the loads on the battery
Ok, I just placed my order! Just wondering if 350 AMPS will be enough for my 3000 watt Pure sine inverter and 4/6 volt Lifeline batteries
Nice
was it enough for your 3K inverter? Thanks
@@ShayneRiceNZ the batteries were okay at best, Since I was Awakened, Lead is Dead. Gone to Lithiums and not looking back..... I
@@CharRichardson lead acid only provide 50% of total amps. My Life line batteries were 95lb each x 4. Wired in Series/Parallel to make 2 12v banks then in parallel only gave me 1/4 0f total amp capacity for a grand total of 1/2 of 235 amps as I remember, about 117amps. Compare that to 4-100ah Lithium at 26lb each gives us 100% of 200ah that charge really fast compared to days of trickle charging while watching the water levels and cleaning the terminals....
@@michaelcanto6175 I too have recently switched from AGM to lithium. Night and day. AGM is ancient technology marketed with lies and bullshit
Good Morning . What if you us the new Gel batteries. And I will be using solar also. Jack
Shunts are so 19th century, they are straight out of Frankenstein's lab! I prefer the Hall Effect current sensors that you simply feed a wire through---non-invasive and bidirectional
Hall Effect monitor will not be as sensitive or accurate as equilivent priced shunt monitor.
Do you have an example of one you like?
Reading the instructions, when you set the preset voltage setting to 24.9v you told the meter to reset the AH and % capacity to zero when it reads 24.9 but then you told the meter that 0% capacity was 24.2. How did that affect the AH readout?
Pretty cool for that price point and for few bucks more you can get a 350 A shunt if you need it. Still, I'm keeping my Victron, it may be over priced(it really is) but it does all the stuff I want/need and with BT .......but the toy one you reviewed would work just fine for some of my other projects for sure! Thanks for the heads up!
I have a BMV 712 for my critical RV system and have zero regrets. A lot of money invested in the batteries and want them to last. I know it has VERY little chance of failure. AND I could always sell it used probably for 80% of what I paid.
Now I'm building a simple "solar generator" and truth is, you can't even find a Victron BMV used. This cheapo might be worth it for that but I'm afraid that "buy cheap buy twice" may be the eventual lesson here. Alternative is the Victron smart shunt @ $130....hmmm
Thanks for a great video. I am getting one, but as of Jan 2020, the cost went up to $39. You have a new subscriber!
I noticed that when you configured this unit you didn't set the AH capacity of your battery bank, this is a feature of the comparable Victron unit which I'm really familiar with. Instead you seemed to set a low voltage point where the batteries were considered to be discharged. I've seen other reviews of this unit where the configuration seems to match the Victron unit where you simply set the AH capacity of your batteries and tell it when they're fully charged. Again the Victron unit does this automatically but then again its almost 10x the price.
I note this review is well over a year old, maybe this one you reviewed is an older model with less features.
One point I don't see any documentation regarding is weather this cheaper version calculates the Phuket principle, there doesn't seem to be any advanced settings to determine the type of batteries in the bank so I expect this cheap unit is better suited to LiFePo4 rather than traditional FLA. I know that the Victron unit does calculate Phuket and even with this it still goes out of synchronisation over time.
I've installed lots of the victron units on liveaboard boats where people cycle their battery storage on a daily basis. The Victron unit will automatically re-syncronise occasionally by calculating the battery voltage and required charge current to determine if the batteries are fully charged.
Hopefully this one will too.
I really respect your views on kit and will certainly buy one of these to try out now you've given it such a positive review. It's clearly not as good as the Victron unit but WAY WAY cheaper so certainly seems to be very very good value for money.
Actually the build quality of the shunt seems better than the Victron one. The plastic mounting on the Victron shunt is really poor and very brittle, even if you're careful in tightening the terminals they still crack over time, usually where the shunt mounts to your bulkhead.
Sadly the shunt still has the same failing as the Victron one where the negative P stud is usually too short to accommodate all the P side negative terminals, obviously people should have a negative bus bar but rarely do.
I just bought this unit, and it learns your battery's actually capacity when you zero it then fully charge it. You can set the nominal capacity, but after doing the steps in the video it will tell you the real capacity which you can then program in. BTW, Phuket is the capital of Thailand. You're thinking of Peukert's Effect. I have no idea if this monitor accounts for it.
I ordered one yesterday but with the higher amp shunt. It should arrive tomorrow so I will let you know soon.
Is this for just lithium or can. I use it with flooded led acid?
Any battery
I doesn't charge a battery so it'll work for any type.
So what do you think about this piece, 5 years later?? Is it still a goto product, or is there something better available now??
Cool find and great price point as always but the complexity of the BMS/Shunt monitor and charger start to make the electroducus SBMS a fair bit simpler for similar money and depending on which one you buy gives the options for much more solar.?
I just bought one of these ($30 monitor) and a 125amp fuse for my inverter. Havnt installed yet. Figured ill watch your video first lol
thanks for finding alternatives to inexpensive BMS !!!!!
the beauty of the vistron shunt is logging how your off grid system is performing with how much power is really being used/collected per day. it's worth while for those who are not as savvy on keeping their system working properly. I have one, and don't use it, though i'm an electrician. I still think they are excellent to help the general user.
Wow that is ridiculous. The China option wins today. Not perfect, they could spend more time on writing instructions but to save $170 bucks it is worth it. How long did it take you to figure it out?
Super easy to figure out. I built it while making this video too. Dead simple
Had one of these in my full time camper for 8 years.
thanks man subbed, do more boat stuff :)
Thanks for videos. I bought Tr16350 for DIY 280ah w/Daley 150 separate bms, putting in Craftsman toolbox, exciting project, gonna make it perfect thanks to vids. Connect this to Neg terminal (C-) but the P- will have to have 2 cables 1 for BMS -P other for Tr16-C, to read Solar charge stats, but have M15 with Epever 40aMPPT.
Hey dude what is the update on these!? 😊
I couldn't resist so I ordered one... I just hope it lasts. I'm not sure where you read the positive reviews as I could only find the one - on Amazon - but for that cheap of price I'll willing to risk it. I ordered the 350 amp model just in case and it was only a few dollars more. Too bad it doesn't have Bluetooth but as I understand it Victron has recently released an update to their Android/IOS app which stops the clones from working with their app. Keeping it simple is usually the best course. Thanks for your video on the product. Paul.
I've tried a few cheep ones now. under 1A load, they lose all accuracy. The victron monitor has been great amd the relay control options are nice too.
Have been using 2 of those for about 2 years, works for me...
Why didn't you post this last week when I bought the Victron!?! Hahaha
No way! Haha damn
Don't worry, you can probably resell the Victron for most of what it costs on Ebay. They hold their value.
@@ceeweedsl have you bought used solar components? I don't think any of them hold their value at all. High quality or not. People usually buy them new for safety reasons.
@@WillProwse Funny, you cite safety reasons for buying used while also claiming that there could be no safety concerns with a battery monitor. ? I watched on Ebay, but rarely saw anything used pop up and never what I was looking for except a Victron BT adapter. Yes, I'd take a used Victron or maybe another top quality product over a new fly-by-night product any day. The top brands just don't fail. Solar panels? No. I use flexible and they don't age well at all.
@@ceeweedsl ok, specifically what is the safety risk of a bad shunt? What part of the circuit would cause a fire? I'm not seeing it
Hi Will, wow thanks for this vid. I'm with you on the prices, these company's are insane. 200.00 plus just to show the v, w, %. I will purchase my 30.00 next month. I need two, one for each battery. I have a two house 12v wet battery plus another for all my other systems.
I wouldn't put my trust in a $30 Chinese item when I'm looking at my $4000 batteries.
Michael Boardman - likely a wise observation. And why I will not spend $5000 on a solar system used for boondocking randomly. If I was full time in a remote area, where I could stay 30 days -- maybe.
It's just a smart volt meter, can't do any harm to the system.
If you doubt it's reported SOC, measure it yourself with a trusted volt meter for comparison.
@3:03 Nothing like a good scare for electrical shock.
Sometimes when this happens its hard to get courage again to start messing with stuff. The other day I dropped a wrench on the battery bank and there was a huge spark shower.
...
Yeah I got to get my courage up again.
I think it's caca. Get the $200 Victron. 😁
Nice video!
Will, I just installed it on two 6v FLA Golf-cart batteries for my rv. Looks great, hope it stays accurate. Here’s a thumbs up!👍🏻
How is this holding up till now? Does it show cummulative amp/hr drawn and fed back to te battery?
Thanks
Downvotes are from Victron.
Haha!
Camway monitor includes extra wire needed. Mine in use 3 years. Works great.
Nice & cheap battery monitor
I've had one for 2 years and also had my victron smart shunt for 1 year both are great
great work, thank you -you are doing an amazing job for many of us who have little knowledge./ Please do not use THE LORD JESUS CHRIT'S NAME as a swearword
Thank you I just bought it and I’m excited to install the monitor with the system I just purchased
Are you an electrical engineer or you just a savant? :) Seriously where did you learn this?
I believe he did a couple semesters of engineering school.