Smart Guage

[Paulus]

Does anyone know the dimensions of the smart gauge?

[Stu Jackson]

http://www.balmar.net/smartgauge.html

I just googled balmar and found it.

Here's Maine Sail's original article:  http://www.pbase.com/mainecruising/smart_gauge

Added to Electrical 101

[Paulus]

Thanks Stu.
I read Compass Marine's article on the Smart Guage.  How does the Smart Guage work if you are charging the batteries from the shore power, motor or from solar panels?
Did not quite follow the explanation.  Clarification would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Paul

[Stu Jackson]

Thanks Stu.
I read Compass Marine's article on the Smart Guage.  How does the Smart Guage work if you are charging the batteries from the shore power, motor or from solar panels?
Did not quite follow the explanation.  Clarification would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Paul

Paul, I've read it a couple of times.  Since Maine Sail wrote it, he's the guy to ask.

A few excerpts:

Magic smoke in the box???? You've got me..? I have no idea how it works, at least at the programing/algorithm level (proprietary stuff), but it is reportedly designed to track voltage. Many internet posters have assumed, posited and suggested, that it checks internal resistance and pulses across the battery etc.. It may but I have seen no evidence of this on the power / volt sensing wires, even with an Oscilloscope. As near as I can tell it simply tracks voltage, up to 1500 times per second, to detect trends. I may pulse the battery every so often and I just missed it..? All I can say is that over time it adapts to learn your bank and give significantly more accurate SOC readings than an Ah/Coulomb counter can. How it actually does this is as closely a guarded secret as the Frosted Flakes recipe that Tony the Tiger protects.

The Smart Gauge worked as advertised on GEL, AGM and FLA batteries in discharge mode.

What does that mean?

It means that I did see the Smart Gauge get a bit confused when the bank was being charged. It can't really track the capacity of a battery charger now can it...? However we are only talking about 10-12% variation from the Ah counters during charging, and not a huge deal when you consider how simple this battery monitoring unit is..

As soon as the charge source was discontinued, the Smart Gauge quickly identified the accurate SOC of the bank again and was back within approx 2% of the two painstakingly calibrated Ah counters.

The earlier part of his presentation was that the programming is proprietary.

He doesn't know and the company isn't telling.

Seems to me that your question won't be answered.

AFIK, since Maine Sail did the testing and he's convinced, that's enough for me.

[mainesail]

Thanks Stu.
I read Compass Marine's article on the Smart Guage.  How does the Smart Guage work if you are charging the batteries from the shore power, motor or from solar panels?
Did not quite follow the explanation.  Clarification would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Paul

Paul,

If can got out of "accurate" by up to 10-12% when being charged. Once the bank is again back under a load the SG pretty quickly hones in on a much more accurate SOC.

[Paulus]

Mainesail,
Would this be true regardless of the source?  shore power, motor or solar
Thanks,
Paul