SECTION 1.0 – INTRODUCTION
PAGE 2
The Smartgauge
™
battery monitor employs advanced battery monitoring techniques to provide
battery voltage and State of Charge (SoC%) information in a manner that’s both highly accurate
and self correcting. Smartgauge
™
is unconventional – please read this manual fully to understand
how and why it works.
Further technical support can be obtained from Balmar Customer Service at +1-360-435-6100.
Features
:
• House (Primary) Battery Voltage
• House (Primary) Battery State of Charge
• Engine (Secondary) Battery Voltage
• High/Low Battery Voltage alarms for each battery
• High/Low State of Charge alarm for House (Primary) battery
• Bright LED daylight readable display
• Volt free alarm contact for firing external alarms, relays etc
How the Smartgauge
™
Works
Conventional battery monitors count amp hours in/out of the battery to determine the battery’s State
of Charge (SoC). This method is inherently inaccurate due to the State of Charge of the battery not
necessarily being linked to the amount of energy a battery can deliver (due to temperature, how quickly
the battery was charged/discharged, battery age, and other outside factors). Unless the battery monitor
is regularly reset (either automatically by fully charging the battery or manually reset by the user), the
reading error will compound (known as synchronization error).
In most battery monitors, a shunt is used to monitor amperage in or out of the battery. Unfortunately, in
many cases shunts can be incorrectly installed, and inaccurate amperage readings occur.
Smartgauge™ uses just two wires to monitor the battery. Through these wires, we use proprietary
test methods to generate data. This data is then compared to detailed computerized battery models.
Smartgauge™ compares real world data with those models to generate information on the battery’s
State of Charge. In independent testing Smartgauge™ was found to be within 5% accuracy at all times.
Highly accurate SoC information not only allows you to confidently make decisions about how you use
your electrical system, it also allows you to automate certain functions – like load shedding or generator
start/stop.
Smartgauge™ uses a self correcting algorithm to determine battery State of Charge, so over time
it actually becomes more and more accurate. This self correction also means that Smartgauge™
automatically adjusts for battery degradation as the batteries are repeatedly cycled. Smartgauge™
needs to see 2-3 charge/discharge cycles to synchronize with the batteries.
CAUTIONS AND WARNINGS
CAUTION:
Statements Identified with the word CAUTION relate to practices that may
damage Smartgauge
WARNING:
Statements identified with the word WARNING relate to practices that may
cause injury or death.
