Voltminder is Useful Addition

[acadianbob]

We have the typical monitor in our TT that shows Full, 2/3, 1/3 state of charge for the battery. I never felt that I really knew what was going on with the battery as the monitor seemed to stay at full for a long time. Then, by the time it read 2/3, the battery was in a major world of hurt and had very little useful life left in it. So I bought a Voltminder and installed it in the BUSS right next to the converter. The Voltminder is simple; just a constant display of the battery voltage to the hundreth of a volt. I'm sure there are other products that do the same thing. What I discovered is that the standard trailer monitor read full all the way below 12.0 volts. 12.06 volts is 50% discharge! Needless to say, the standard monitor is WAY off. Full is about 12.6 volts; 2/3 is about 12.26 volts; 1/3 is about 11.8 volts and you should never go below that point. If fact, you should probably not go below 12.0 to 12.1. In any event, if you have had a similar experience with the standard TT monitor, I would highly recommend a simple, cheap device to REALLY monitor your battery condition. Now I know that I need to start the Honda genny once I hit about 12.1.

[Radio]

And one of those AC voltmeters that plugs into the wall outlet, at about $15, is another really good investment. Air Conditioners are a terrible thing to waste

Along with other voltage sensitive things...