My Xantrex LinkLITE battery monitor derives the percentage by continuously measuring amps in and out of my house battery bank with a sensor called a shunt. Here my house battery is nearly fully charged, at 98.7% Here the fridge is running, along with a few other small loads totaling 6.8A. Since my battery monitor only cost me around $250, I found it a worthwhile expense. My house battery bank is expensive ($750), and industry data shows if I avoid discharges below 50% SOC they should last many more seasons. While a lead acid battery (flooded or AGM) can be discharged to near zero, doing so puts a significant amount of wear on it and greatly shortens its life. By keeping an eye on the percent SOC, and how quickly it’s decreasing, I can avoid costly deep discharges. It displays other useful information, too, like voltage, amps in or out, and amp hours consumed. Similar to how a smartphone has a readout showing the percentage of battery remaining, a battery monitor can display the current state of charge (SOC) of the house batteries on my boat as a percentage. A battery monitor is a small instrument in the cabin that helps me keep track of how charged my house batteries are, and therefore when to recharge them with the engine or generator. One of the most valuable electrical improvements I’ve made to either of the boats I’ve owned, including the current Priorities, was installing a battery monitor shortly after buying her. Since my house batteries are central to the electrical system, keeping track of how charged they are is very important. Since I’m not going to leave the diesel engine or generator running all the time (that would be obnoxious!), we depend heavily on battery power when not connected to shore power. Electrical power is needed for a bunch of stuff including lighting, electronics, and especially the refrigeration systems. However, all this time away from a dock means I have to keep Priorities pretty self sufficient from an electrical standpoint. We anchor “Priorites” in lots of cool places We usually prefer the privacy of anchoring over staying in a marina near a lot of Lake Michigan towns, too, and anchoring is easier than docking when I’m singlehanding. Without the ability to safely anchor for the night, we’d miss out on most of the beauty of Lake Huron’s North Channel, Lake Superior’s Isle Royale, and even Lake Michigan’s South Manitou Island. Kristin and I have done quite a bit of cruising on the Great Lakes, much of which involves lots of anchoring. Back in the Wilderness: Little Current to Maryanne Cove.Hike up to Casson Peak from Maryanne Cove.The Bustards to Deadbolt via the Collins Inlet.Staying Flexible: The Benjamins to Gore Bay.Spinnaker Run Under the Big Mac: Les Cheneaux to Garden Island.Midlake Wind Shift: Pentwater to Milwaukee.Refrigeration Refit, Part III: Frigoboat Keel Cooled System.Your email will only be used for new posts. Enter your email address to receive new blog posts by email.
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