Pro's & Cons by Compass Marine How To

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Pro's & Cons

Pro's:

*Easiest to use of any battery monitoring device

*Easiest to wire of any battery monitoring device

*Lifetime accuracy with no reprogramming

*Simple - SOC is really all you need to know

*Accurate - Far more accurate than an Ah counter

*Can even track its own very small self consumption

*Alarm or gen start relay ports in both normally open and normally closed

*No human intervention beyond selecting the battery type

*Very low self consumption

*Truly a plug & play battery monitoring unit

*Can track miniscule parasitic leaks / loads that shunts can miss

Con's

*Non standard hole cut out / display size

Face Plate = 4 3/8" X 3"

Cut Out = 3 3/4" X 2 1/2"

Rear Clearance = 1" plus wires

*No amperage display (some owners like this)

*Not as pin point accurate during charging as it is when discharging

*Price - More money than some Ah counters but less than many others

Compass Marine Inc. Overall Rating:

TWO THUMBS UP!!!

If I had three thumbs this product would get all three! The sheer simplicity and accuracy of this product are outstanding and I really did doubt it, I was proven wrong...

What matters most to your batteries is your depth of discharge or state of charge. The Balmar Smart Gauge does this accurately and simply! Hands down the Smart Gauge is the easiest SOC meter made!

*****Click Here For Page Two*****

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Ricardo 23-Nov-2016 19:51
I live in Europe, Portugal been using SG for about 5 years and I can't fault it's accuracy. I have the NO relay set to close at 50% DOD via the alarm setting and this provides 24V to an SSD Relay. The other side of the relay has my 230V pos flowing to it so once the alarm is triggered the 230V flows to my 6KW UPS inverter which switches to mains. Simple design and works well for me.

Larry Caillouet 18-Feb-2016 19:17
Have you ever looked at the Philippi Monitoring System? It will monitor tanks and inputs of energy such as solar, wind, and generator, but I'm interested in what you think of its ability to monitor a battery bank.

S/V Decadence I 20-Dec-2015 22:29
I have had the SmartGauge with SmartBank addition for two years real world. My original Link ah counter is right beside it. I have monitored both in action side by side. Though I have seconded guessed the SmartGauge on numerous occasions it has never failed me on delivering accurate data of both the house and start batteries. Love it!

charles schmidt 24-Oct-2014 17:05
Do you have any feed back from real world useage of the smartgauge

CCB2 17-Sep-2014 15:49
How did this test under "real" conditions? Varying battery temperatures and amp draws.

Guest 30-Aug-2014 05:50
I would seriously consider this unit if it could fit the standard 2" diam cutouts of so many units. With the panel as is I would have a problem with mounting.

Joe 26-Aug-2014 12:01
That test really needs to be performed with a variable load during discharge with significant and long, 1hr+, load variations. Constant load is too easy.

JR 11-May-2014 09:17
Follow-up. I see that you posted about the VS-422 about a year ago and expressed your concern about lack of settable Peukert coefficient. Any developments since then?

JR 11-May-2014 08:58
Great article. I am curious if you know anything about Blue Sea's VSM-422. I was set to go with the Balmar, but am looking at configuring a Blue Sea 360 Panel and their VSM-422 integrates nicely into their panel. Thus I feel compelled to at least look at it.

Don Joyce 26-Apr-2014 16:41
Probably silly question, but can one Smart Gauge measure two banks, one 12V and one 24V?

Guest 30-Mar-2014 15:09
As always, great review!

Thanks

Bill
aka Snore

txg 17-Mar-2014 17:53
Thanks for this interesting article. Just found one typo: Voltage Measurement is done in 0.05V steps, not 0.5V as mentioned near the end of the article. At least, thats what i guess looking at the pictures

Guest 17-Mar-2014 14:53
Great work! Thanks.
What SOC meter do you recommend for LiFePO4 battery banks?

Ricardo		23-Nov-2016 19:51
I live in Europe, Portugal been using SG for about 5 years and I can't fault it's accuracy. I have the NO relay set to close at 50% DOD via the alarm setting and this provides 24V to an SSD Relay. The other side of the relay has my 230V pos flowing to it so once the alarm is triggered the 230V flows to my 6KW UPS inverter which switches to mains. Simple design and works well for me.

Larry Caillouet		18-Feb-2016 19:17
Have you ever looked at the Philippi Monitoring System? It will monitor tanks and inputs of energy such as solar, wind, and generator, but I'm interested in what you think of its ability to monitor a battery bank.

S/V Decadence I		20-Dec-2015 22:29
I have had the SmartGauge with SmartBank addition for two years real world. My original Link ah counter is right beside it. I have monitored both in action side by side. Though I have seconded guessed the SmartGauge on numerous occasions it has never failed me on delivering accurate data of both the house and start batteries. Love it!

charles schmidt		24-Oct-2014 17:05
Do you have any feed back from real world useage of the smartgauge

CCB2		17-Sep-2014 15:49
How did this test under "real" conditions? Varying battery temperatures and amp draws.

Guest		30-Aug-2014 05:50
I would seriously consider this unit if it could fit the standard 2" diam cutouts of so many units. With the panel as is I would have a problem with mounting.

Joe		26-Aug-2014 12:01
That test really needs to be performed with a variable load during discharge with significant and long, 1hr+, load variations. Constant load is too easy.

JR		11-May-2014 09:17
Follow-up. I see that you posted about the VS-422 about a year ago and expressed your concern about lack of settable Peukert coefficient. Any developments since then?

JR		11-May-2014 08:58
Great article. I am curious if you know anything about Blue Sea's VSM-422. I was set to go with the Balmar, but am looking at configuring a Blue Sea 360 Panel and their VSM-422 integrates nicely into their panel. Thus I feel compelled to at least look at it.

Don Joyce		26-Apr-2014 16:41
Probably silly question, but can one Smart Gauge measure two banks, one 12V and one 24V?

Guest		30-Mar-2014 15:09
As always, great review! Thanks Bill aka Snore

txg		17-Mar-2014 17:53
Thanks for this interesting article. Just found one typo: Voltage Measurement is done in 0.05V steps, not 0.5V as mentioned near the end of the article. At least, thats what i guess looking at the pictures

Guest		17-Mar-2014 14:53
Great work! Thanks. What SOC meter do you recommend for LiFePO4 battery banks?