Battery Monitoring Gauge - Trimetric

[DickiedooFlagman]

I use a 100 amp shunt for our 5th wheel and also our older 5th wheel. The most inrush ampere flow I've observed was 60 amps from a 60 amp rated converter charger. The inrush only flowed for a few seconds before tapering quickly to less and less. The largest single draw device is the furnace at about 7.5 Amps.

If you have a Class A, B, or C you may have larger draw appliances. And, of course multiple devices will cumulatively add to the ampere draw. If you are going to draw an engine starting current through the shunt, you should definitely consider the 500 amp shunt.

[Herk7769]

Originally Posted by sanpedroflyer

Herk, which do you recommend, the 100amp shunt or the 500Amp?

The logic for the 100 amp shunt is sound; however I chose the 500 amp shunt so I would have the option to move the entire contraption to a new more power hungry camper. As long as you tell the computer which one you have, it will not care.

The 500 amp shunt (as I recall) was not that much more; but could be a factor in your decision.

[DickiedooFlagman]

The shunts are less than $20 each according to the website.

[Herk7769]

I would get the big one then; just my read that "Bigger Is Better" in case the charging or discharge current exceeds the 100ma shunt (Big Inverter perhaps).

[DickiedooFlagman]

If there is any chance of exceeding 100A, then the larger one would be the best choice. Our old 5th wheel had a 400W inverter, but I don't remember any statistics on the 12v current flow. In that installation, I had two Interstate golf cart batteries.

The TM-2020 Trimetric programming for the 500A shunt looses one decimal place on the display of some information. Example: the Ah flow would resolve to .1 instead of .01 with the 100A shunt. Not a significant loss of information for the camper application.

[prairiecamper]

Originally Posted by DickiedooFlagman

If there is any chance of exceeding 100A, then the larger one would be the best choice. Our old 5th wheel had a 400W inverter, but I don't remember any statistics on the 12v current flow. In that installation, I had two Interstate golf cart batteries.

The TM-2020 Trimetric programming for the 500A shunt looses one decimal place on the display of some information. Example: the Ah flow would resolve to .1 instead of .01 with the 100A shunt. Not a significant loss of information for the camper application.

There is something in the math logic here that doesn't make sense to me!! If the current draw is approx. 1/10 amp then whether you are using the 100 amp or 500 amp shunt the current draw still remains at approx. 1/10 amp. The difference is in the display either to 1 or 2 decimal places. The 500 amp shut might show .1 and the 100 amp might show .09, both very close to 1/10 amp. Or in the example above the displays could be .1 and .10 for the 500 and 100 amp shunts respectively!!

[sanpedroflyer]

Has anyone installed the Trimetric in a Solera?? If so, where did you put the Monitor Panel and did you find an easy route from the Batteries to the monitor??

I have a 2015 2w R and I haven't been brave enough to open any walls, only taking out panels and drawers.

Thanks,

Pete

[sanpedroflyer]

Has anyone installed the Trimetric in a Solera?? If so, where did you put the Monitor Panel and did you find an easy route from the Batteries to the monitor??

I have a 2015 24 R and I haven't been brave enough to open any walls, only taking out panels and drawers.

Thanks,

Pete

[Klipstr]

Where are the batteries in that rig? I have not been in that specific model, but are most of the panel and controls above the fridge? If so, route the wire up the fridge cabinet to the Trimetric panel. The fridge stack is generally a pretty good place to go.

[sanpedroflyer]

The battery box is the top step of the entry door. The panel over the Fridg takes up all of the room. I would need to modify the cabinet to mount it their.

I can probably find a route from the battery box, but I'm not capable of modifying the cabinet (It is cherry and stained)

[Klipstr]

Do you have the trimetric in hand? There are two models, one that surface mounts and the other where you would cut a 2" squareish hole. If you use the surface mount all you need is a small hole to route the wire through. In my current rig I put the trimetric down low on the bed. I can only see it if I squat down or if I'm outside the rig looking in through the door. I used to be a trimetric watcher just because but now I know my solar is doing the right thing. In your case I would think you want it in plain view.

You can't really route wire through the walls. About the only thing you can do is run it underneath and then up into a hollow interior wall. If you have trim molding maybe pull that off and tuck the wire behind and reattach it.

Without seeing some pictures of you rig I don't have many more ideas. I do know that you have to be creative when you are doing these sorts of mods!

[Blackhat6mike]

This is what I built to monitor the battery level and solar charge rate. It shows battery level, solar charge voltage and amperage, controller temp, inverter temp and battery temp. In the pix, it is indicating 64.4 vdc at about 9 amps. This is off a 600 watt panel bank. I added an additional cooling fan on the controller with a thermostat set for 115* on, 105* off.

[Klipstr]

That's very cool!

For the average Joe, though, the Trimetric is a very good option that does not require a PhD in Electrical Engineering!