Now that the solar panels are fitted and the fridge all wired in, my thoughts turned to the batteries.
I wanted a system that was simple and would allow me to check each battery and wouldn't break the bank. I looked at the National Luna dual battery monitor but it was a bit pricey and I couldn't see an easy way to mount it on the disco dashboard.
After a lot of googling I discovered these.
At £11 each I bought two of the 6 LED monitors. These arrived the next day and turned out to be a very neat little unit.
I decided to fit them above the vent to the right of the instrument binnacle.
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The units are fixed to the dashboard by dual sided tape which turned out to be pretty good stuff. I removed the binnacle to give me access into the dashboard. The negatives from each unit were wired together and connected to earth. I then connected each of the positives to the positives of each battery. I connected them directly without going through the ignition as I wanted to be able to check the batteries when parked. |
The end result is a nice neat installation which is in easy reach. The units work exactly as described; one press of the button and all the LEDs light up in sequence and the appropriate one remains lit for 10 seconds indicating the charge level. pressing the button during that 10 seconds keeps the light on continuously until pressed again. Simple to install, cheap to buy and they do exactly what they're meant to. Overall a good piece of kit. The only modification I shall make is to create a small 'shield' behind them as the light from the windscreen makes them slightly difficult to see in bright sunlight. |
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