Volt Meter & More - No Gauge Required
Discussion
I've just fitted one of these which is proving a great way to monitor battery condition:
The system is no bigger than a small box of matches and installs in under a minute, download the app to your Android phone or Iphone and your mobile device connects in seconds, no wiring needed and no need to cut a hole in your dash to fit a gauge that doesn't match your TVR gauges.
The system provides a convenient way to accurately monitor batter voltage with the engine off as above, and with the engine running as shown below.
Better still there are a couple of nice test modes too, firstly a charging test.
And secondly a cranking test.
The device has a very respectable range, I can now check my TVR battery voltage from my the kitchen so without even leaving the house. Best of all it only cost £18.00 so it's cheaper than many traditional volt gauges and offers way more too, I've checked it's readings with a meter and its spot on so the accuracy is also excellent.
If your looking for a way to remotely monitor your battery/alternator output and run a few simple tests, I'd definitely recommended it
The system is no bigger than a small box of matches and installs in under a minute, download the app to your Android phone or Iphone and your mobile device connects in seconds, no wiring needed and no need to cut a hole in your dash to fit a gauge that doesn't match your TVR gauges.
The system provides a convenient way to accurately monitor batter voltage with the engine off as above, and with the engine running as shown below.
Better still there are a couple of nice test modes too, firstly a charging test.
And secondly a cranking test.
The device has a very respectable range, I can now check my TVR battery voltage from my the kitchen so without even leaving the house. Best of all it only cost £18.00 so it's cheaper than many traditional volt gauges and offers way more too, I've checked it's readings with a meter and its spot on so the accuracy is also excellent.
If your looking for a way to remotely monitor your battery/alternator output and run a few simple tests, I'd definitely recommended it
If you can connect two wires to a battery youre good to go mate, its a simple thing that works well.
I've vonnected and networked a cheap Android tablet to my home WiFi which allows me to check my TVR battery voltage while I'm drinking cocktails in Braziil.
If things get a bit low I can send in my man to start her up and take Ol Gasbag around the block to get some juice in battery.
Everyone should have a battery man, makes TVR life so much easier, Ive not had a flat battery since I employed mine.
I've vonnected and networked a cheap Android tablet to my home WiFi which allows me to check my TVR battery voltage while I'm drinking cocktails in Braziil.
If things get a bit low I can send in my man to start her up and take Ol Gasbag around the block to get some juice in battery.
Everyone should have a battery man, makes TVR life so much easier, Ive not had a flat battery since I employed mine.
ChimpOnGas said:
If you can connect two wires to a battery youre good to go mate, its a simple thing that works well.
I've vonnected and networked a cheap Android tablet to my home WiFi which allows me to check my TVR battery voltage while I'm drinking cocktails in Braziil.
If things get a bit low I can send in my man to start her up and take Ol Gasbag around the block to get some juice in battery.
Everyone should have a battery man, makes TVR life so much easier, Ive not had a flat battery since I employed mine.
I've vonnected and networked a cheap Android tablet to my home WiFi which allows me to check my TVR battery voltage while I'm drinking cocktails in Braziil.
If things get a bit low I can send in my man to start her up and take Ol Gasbag around the block to get some juice in battery.
Everyone should have a battery man, makes TVR life so much easier, Ive not had a flat battery since I employed mine.
Bloody heck that reminds me to check mine, alarms been armed for about a week
Never had a problem when running it regular. Modern cars can do the same if stood.
That’s a good bit of kit that mate. Brazil, Ive got a set of conga’s I can take
the heart of most things I play on drumset originates from Brazil. 
Infact the heart of most drums you hear in modern music comes from the Brazilian beats little do many drummers even know!
Edited by Classic Chim on Wednesday 1st May 22:34
Might be worth chcking the quiescent current on these devices (it's obviously powered from the vehicle battery) as it would be very ironic if it is high & having ond fitted resulted in having a flat battery!
Some of the aftermarket stuff (particularly alarms & in car audio) is quite poor in this respect, OEMs have very stringent targets to deliver good stand time (vehicle parked followed by an unassisted engine start). Personally I'd also want to take a nose inside the bax & make sure the separation inside the box is good as it's directly across the battery (a suitable fuse would be a good idea).
It is quite a neat device & inferface though.
Stew
Some of the aftermarket stuff (particularly alarms & in car audio) is quite poor in this respect, OEMs have very stringent targets to deliver good stand time (vehicle parked followed by an unassisted engine start). Personally I'd also want to take a nose inside the bax & make sure the separation inside the box is good as it's directly across the battery (a suitable fuse would be a good idea).
It is quite a neat device & inferface though.
Stew
Hi Stew,
I did look at this and it pulls a seriously tiny milliamp supply.
I use a Battery Brain remote battery disconnect device that sits on the positive terminal and disconnects everything electrical on the car except the stereo to hold settings and preset radio chanels.
The Bluetooth battery monitor sits on the auxiliary front posts of my Oddessey battery so it and the stereo are the only parasitic draws on the battery so far far less than one would normally see on a Chimaera and far safer too.
To be honest the car with its huge and powerful Oddessey PC1500 battery permantly sits on my AGM compatible battery charger when its parked in my garage, the battery is some 7 years old and I fully expect it to last 20 years like this.
For me the battery monitor is more about monitoring my alternator output and logging some charge rate/system voltage upgrade experiments Im going through at the moment.
I did look at this and it pulls a seriously tiny milliamp supply.
I use a Battery Brain remote battery disconnect device that sits on the positive terminal and disconnects everything electrical on the car except the stereo to hold settings and preset radio chanels.
The Bluetooth battery monitor sits on the auxiliary front posts of my Oddessey battery so it and the stereo are the only parasitic draws on the battery so far far less than one would normally see on a Chimaera and far safer too.
To be honest the car with its huge and powerful Oddessey PC1500 battery permantly sits on my AGM compatible battery charger when its parked in my garage, the battery is some 7 years old and I fully expect it to last 20 years like this.
For me the battery monitor is more about monitoring my alternator output and logging some charge rate/system voltage upgrade experiments Im going through at the moment.
For many years I have been informing people that their so called voltmeter isn't really acting as a voltmeter because it is wired through the ignition and giving a reading that includes all volt-drops through the ignition circuit that supplies it
My way of overcoming this manufacturer oversight of which there are many is to wire a voltmeter to the battery through an added ignition driven relay, this method will only suffer from a relay contacts volt-drop which will be of a very low value as long as a new relay is used and nothing else apart from the voltmeter is wired through it
This gadget that you have found and fitted to your Chimaera is the dogs b
ks because it is wired directly to the battery
Great find, great post, I'm confused as to why there aren't more people drooling over this
My way of overcoming this manufacturer oversight of which there are many is to wire a voltmeter to the battery through an added ignition driven relay, this method will only suffer from a relay contacts volt-drop which will be of a very low value as long as a new relay is used and nothing else apart from the voltmeter is wired through it
This gadget that you have found and fitted to your Chimaera is the dogs b
ks because it is wired directly to the batteryGreat find, great post, I'm confused as to why there aren't more people drooling over this
SteveR1979 said:
Got a link for this?
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12V-Bluetooth-4-0-Car-Battery-Monitor-Tester-Diagnostic-Tool-Digital-Analyzer/263694330692?epid=9019206181&hash=item3d65682b44&enc=AQADAAADAFjVrDbVsZ8oH%2F8PNHtt9VX4%2Fw7FZcmMuqsX8uaFEduVUxjPhkJEu2CXRT4T9yKLZz7Vge8NwdLK7D9SWt7EwqUqddbd6U%2FTwtXElDGzJlP%2BSWQd3MTwIh0FSusJ%2Bs3%2BkfPbTb5gsEKfLBA%2BJJTdlVjLT3v2zqzr1RlDFJ3VNxji%2BJXXvH9G9x3pBkPxGgDnCqYFza3g%2F%2BbkTTQ%2FytH2tHoiaPYbU3%2Bzy%2BByNZ1Rz1npEaI6QoFN0jHA%2BNcfsigM52QMnZ39udbzgXxHHbKxwxM%2FkVztTv1b173zH%2BrtMNMoFZYJmqPj9I3NB9ywqc2Sfm29NCUfZP7ykff9xOH0IUHlyUdU0Yl1T835aR3MOGySyqElFkiwIiAvVObqH18XDE%2BKZnm7UHAwSpEjSFqne3Q9XSsZL%2F8kfojCg84LzB7tC2C%2B6mg9pSJOmkECgNPDiWP8sCRBg4jx%2Fj2s4OEPzLYPH9i7Kkg5gy8H6p2aLgRSu7Le%2FgiioIYdsCrJnTnzUDhMzTiIj4s3uqtjr8BgBA3cwxqfGr1REq9q%2B5BH1dN83pY3gmwaM0YymeJi7ZdTspGX62pi%2FbIssbHo8Q9QGso0EXgbTol1Aj17of6XSATjT1eZ2hpfzkUIOQJpF3EJkAfAy6zemDfWU8t%2BZfSbY4hJJ7QapjDkXA1%2BraLlVXktLHZSvmsD5I2ZggMd6bKVVEToR0mSzp1b%2BLG0ca%2FW5OgHx1DElnQ21hbLIjjxsdIrvfz%2F%2Bm0DIlLgeGJIe1ioBj%2BCCDKTbrm3wjjWpa%2BP48Y%2FC7mI4kCf47D2It%2F%2FGT6iOJ4CX5ZPI1DdPT1Q4E2xY%2BxaDwB6FrYXokn3UZT6k8XyO%2BfBSi3JIEWvRdCMFd53zU%2BN6lLVOMzaHzXOw3Bq%2Bg6v%2FlHbP%2BdBv5XpCCD83olrJVpGP%2Fn2%2BOJDrZ7Q%2F7grWhuAbwIfD%2FrEyG1%2FSFc0oFdJQL%2BZkxe5WzkmQ%2BEGhciQ0aXGMUj4Yh22fuyES7KHt5ZApZMNzEM8J00uGpB00w%3D%3D&checksum=263694330692d7a16790932343abb8a088db1b8a1d90I paid £18 for mine but the cheapest seller is now offering at £21.50
Still cheap as chips. I have a similar app with my Liteblox lithium battery, with the distinction that I can remotely switch it on and off which is very convenient given the Chim's battery location, and it has also got anti-theft functionality where the thing shuts down whenever someone makes an attempt to start the car. Which I guess is good too.
However, the battery is a four figure Euro purchase.
However, the battery is a four figure Euro purchase.
900T-R said:
Still cheap as chips. I have a similar app with my Liteblox lithium battery, with the distinction that I can remotely switch it on and off which is very convenient given the Chim's battery location, and it has also got anti-theft functionality where the thing shuts down whenever someone makes an attempt to start the car. Which I guess is good too.
However, the battery is a four figure Euro purchase.
That's a great feature, for years I've used a Battery Brain for remote disconnects, it's something I would never be without.However, the battery is a four figure Euro purchase.
Classic Chim said:
I bet the orders have increased though 
It’s one of the few things I can’t monitor easily, this looks like a great way to keep a check on electrical health.
I bet your popular PP when informing folk of the facts.
The truths hard to take for most
You have to be gentle
Classic Chim, I have no tact but am learning "gentle...be gentle...don't offend...word it another way...It's difficult without eye to eye contactIt’s one of the few things I can’t monitor easily, this looks like a great way to keep a check on electrical health.
I bet your popular PP when informing folk of the facts.
The truths hard to take for most
You have to be gentle
Have fun with your monitor if you fit one, they're very cheap for what they do, ChimpOnGas should work on a TVR owners bulk buy of these
I think I've found the building of it or very similar - Free information here
https://github.com/duerrfk/BLE-V-Monitor
http://www.frank-durr.de/?p=218
ChimpOnGas, is this it?
https://github.com/duerrfk/BLE-V-Monitor
http://www.frank-durr.de/?p=218
ChimpOnGas, is this it?
Edited by Penelope Stopit on Friday 3rd May 18:08
ChimpOnGas said:
That's a great feature, for years I've used a Battery Brain for remote disconnects, it's something I would never be without.
Had bought one of those first with a pair of lithium batteries that went cheap - it did disconnect remotely but I was never able to reconnect with either of the remotes I got with it. Never could figure out why - even after replacing the battery in one of the remotes it behaved the same.The other thing was, that after you had manually overridden the BB function on the unit itself for the sake of starting the car, it would offer no protection against draining the battery unless you remembered to switch it back on again - I guess that's how my first set of batteries went kaput when it was out for a major and very lengthy detailing session. Let them drop under 10 V or so and they're scrap. :/
Very happy with the Liteblox so far, but the sudden need of purchasing it did have some knock-on effects on my finances and the project. All the shakedown and calibration still has to be done yet, but I need a few months' worth of recuperation at the least before I can get around to it and safely take it back into full service again
Eric, I've had my Battery Brain for a good seven years now and it gives easy disconnects and reconnects at a press of a button. Best of all because it uses a remote IR fob it allows you to lock the doors first so the car can be left securely locked with the battery disconnected. When left connected the Battery Brain also protects against the dreaded 'No-Start' issue as it will atomically disconnect the battery when voltage drops below a certain threshold.
Personally I just use the fob to remotely disconnect the battery when the car is sat for any length of time and my Odyssey PC1500 AGM battery is always kept on a 13.6v float charge, this is the perfect scenario for long AGM battery life, but the main reason I completely disconnect it from the car's electrical systems is for safety than battery preservation because a car with a disconnected battery is far less susceptible to an electrical fire.
The US military use Odyssey AGM batteries because when your life depends on a good reliable start lithium battery technology just doesn't cut it, I fitted my Odyssey PC1500 on Friday 2nd March 2012 making it seven years and two months old now and it's still in absolute perfect health, as good as new in fact. Looking after it as I do I fully expect Odyssey PC1500 to last for twenty years and perhaps even longer, lithium batteries are just not as long lasting and the truth is the technology is not well suited to huge violent current spikes such as engine cranking duties or swings in ambient temperature.
Lithium battery technology has it's place in cars and motorcycles for sure but for now really just on the track, it's still in it's infancy and hasn't been adopted by the major car makers for good reason. Cost is a consideration but there's more to it than that, lithium batteries are not used because currently there are long term endurance issues with the technology, this is why traditional lead acid batteries are still used to this day all be it typically in their far superior AGM form. Lithium batteries have a tighter temperature operating window, for example if temps fall below -10 a lithium battery will not survive, also unlike lead acid batteries lithium batteries should be stored at 40% of charge but even if you look after your lithium battery perfectly their lifespan in a car is always going far far shorter than a good old lead acid battery especially an AGM one.
Lithium batteries are however very small and light weight which is why they are used in race cars, race motorcycles and aircraft where weight and size is a critical consideration, but I wouldn't fit one to a road car because of the far shorter service life and especially their intolerance of low temperatures and their dislike of large current spikes all of which which makes them less than ideal for every day use in my opinion. Finally if you are considering fitting a lithium battery to your road car do give consideration to the fact your alternator charging system was never designed with a lithium battery in mind, an alternator could and over time probably will damage a lithium battery so I'd stick with a good old lead acid battery and better still an AGM one that has many additional advantages over a traditional flooded type lead acid battery.
Saying that lithium battery technology is improving almost on a weekly basis and at 22kg my Odyssey PC1500 is a big old lump for sure, however this isn't a big issue as TVR placed the battery correctly in the car (for weight distribution if not access convenience) so the car carries that weight well. My personal position on all this is to wait, wait until we see the all the major car makers shifting to lithium-ion batteries as this will prove the technology is up to the job. Most car makers have already shifted to AGM lead acid batteries in the last 5 years and for very good reason, so for now AGM is by far the best choice and as already stated with any lead acid battery the heavier it is for it's given dimensions the better it will perform.
To demonstrate how good AGM batteries are my mate who leaves his 5.0 Chimaera in a council lockup with no mains power hadn't driven his car for over six months, he did have a Battery Brain but after all that time the battery had of course been considerably discharged so when he came to start the car it just about cranked (slowly) but failed to bring the engine into life. He then proceeded the leave the car with this now fully discharged battery connected for a further two months which would be the death of any normal lead flooded acid battery. However a few months later we put it on a good AGM compatible charger and to my amazement this deeply discharged and horribly punished AGM battery recovered perfectly and has been performing like new ever since.
Do let us know how you get on with your second lithium-ion battery experience Eric and I hope it works out better for you than your first experience, especially given how expensive those Liteblox lithium batteries are compared even with the best of the best Odyssey AGM batteries which are a super proven technology.
Personally I just use the fob to remotely disconnect the battery when the car is sat for any length of time and my Odyssey PC1500 AGM battery is always kept on a 13.6v float charge, this is the perfect scenario for long AGM battery life, but the main reason I completely disconnect it from the car's electrical systems is for safety than battery preservation because a car with a disconnected battery is far less susceptible to an electrical fire.
The US military use Odyssey AGM batteries because when your life depends on a good reliable start lithium battery technology just doesn't cut it, I fitted my Odyssey PC1500 on Friday 2nd March 2012 making it seven years and two months old now and it's still in absolute perfect health, as good as new in fact. Looking after it as I do I fully expect Odyssey PC1500 to last for twenty years and perhaps even longer, lithium batteries are just not as long lasting and the truth is the technology is not well suited to huge violent current spikes such as engine cranking duties or swings in ambient temperature.
Lithium battery technology has it's place in cars and motorcycles for sure but for now really just on the track, it's still in it's infancy and hasn't been adopted by the major car makers for good reason. Cost is a consideration but there's more to it than that, lithium batteries are not used because currently there are long term endurance issues with the technology, this is why traditional lead acid batteries are still used to this day all be it typically in their far superior AGM form. Lithium batteries have a tighter temperature operating window, for example if temps fall below -10 a lithium battery will not survive, also unlike lead acid batteries lithium batteries should be stored at 40% of charge but even if you look after your lithium battery perfectly their lifespan in a car is always going far far shorter than a good old lead acid battery especially an AGM one.
Lithium batteries are however very small and light weight which is why they are used in race cars, race motorcycles and aircraft where weight and size is a critical consideration, but I wouldn't fit one to a road car because of the far shorter service life and especially their intolerance of low temperatures and their dislike of large current spikes all of which which makes them less than ideal for every day use in my opinion. Finally if you are considering fitting a lithium battery to your road car do give consideration to the fact your alternator charging system was never designed with a lithium battery in mind, an alternator could and over time probably will damage a lithium battery so I'd stick with a good old lead acid battery and better still an AGM one that has many additional advantages over a traditional flooded type lead acid battery.
Saying that lithium battery technology is improving almost on a weekly basis and at 22kg my Odyssey PC1500 is a big old lump for sure, however this isn't a big issue as TVR placed the battery correctly in the car (for weight distribution if not access convenience) so the car carries that weight well. My personal position on all this is to wait, wait until we see the all the major car makers shifting to lithium-ion batteries as this will prove the technology is up to the job. Most car makers have already shifted to AGM lead acid batteries in the last 5 years and for very good reason, so for now AGM is by far the best choice and as already stated with any lead acid battery the heavier it is for it's given dimensions the better it will perform.
To demonstrate how good AGM batteries are my mate who leaves his 5.0 Chimaera in a council lockup with no mains power hadn't driven his car for over six months, he did have a Battery Brain but after all that time the battery had of course been considerably discharged so when he came to start the car it just about cranked (slowly) but failed to bring the engine into life. He then proceeded the leave the car with this now fully discharged battery connected for a further two months which would be the death of any normal lead flooded acid battery. However a few months later we put it on a good AGM compatible charger and to my amazement this deeply discharged and horribly punished AGM battery recovered perfectly and has been performing like new ever since.
Do let us know how you get on with your second lithium-ion battery experience Eric and I hope it works out better for you than your first experience, especially given how expensive those Liteblox lithium batteries are compared even with the best of the best Odyssey AGM batteries which are a super proven technology.
Will do
As an aside I have two Odyssey paperweights right now, the first one was wrecked by a faulty voltage regulator on a 'new' remanufactured alternator that sent 15.7 V peaks through the system, after sorting this I've been chasing random cut outs that soured my experience with the car for a year, put in a new Odyssey and everything was OK again.
However that second one had been on a fairly new Ring 'intelligent' trickle charger ever since I took it out of the car. Wanted to use it in another car and had just 5.66 V right off the charger, got another charger and that switched off at 5.7 :/
This is just to show the importance of proper battery management I guess - no battery technology is ever fool proof. At least the 'internal' battery management and protection electronics of the Liteblox gives me peace of mind, and if anything out of the ordinary happens it takes a single tap on my smartphone to send the data to the manufacturer.
To me, 20.1 kg (22 minus 1.9) is a massive weight difference in a car where the chassis pretty much determines what kind of power you can reasonably send through it and what sort of grip the tyres generate - no matter where it's in the car. On this build I decided to leave the car structurally original right from the start for a multitude of reasons, and maximise overall performance by careful weight management. I see very many modified cars on a path of adding power - strengthening stuff to cope with the added load - more weight - more power needed to maintain power/weight - strengthening more stuff - more weight - et cetera. Reducing weight reverses this into a virtuous circle where better longitudinal and lateral dynamics do not result from adding load to the structure and kinematics. Lower spring and damping rates allow for creating a road car that flows with the road rather than beating it into submission. Therefore I believe weight savings are far from only relevant to track cars: if anything, the reverse is true.
As an aside I have two Odyssey paperweights right now, the first one was wrecked by a faulty voltage regulator on a 'new' remanufactured alternator that sent 15.7 V peaks through the system, after sorting this I've been chasing random cut outs that soured my experience with the car for a year, put in a new Odyssey and everything was OK again.
However that second one had been on a fairly new Ring 'intelligent' trickle charger ever since I took it out of the car. Wanted to use it in another car and had just 5.66 V right off the charger, got another charger and that switched off at 5.7 :/
This is just to show the importance of proper battery management I guess - no battery technology is ever fool proof. At least the 'internal' battery management and protection electronics of the Liteblox gives me peace of mind, and if anything out of the ordinary happens it takes a single tap on my smartphone to send the data to the manufacturer.
To me, 20.1 kg (22 minus 1.9) is a massive weight difference in a car where the chassis pretty much determines what kind of power you can reasonably send through it and what sort of grip the tyres generate - no matter where it's in the car. On this build I decided to leave the car structurally original right from the start for a multitude of reasons, and maximise overall performance by careful weight management. I see very many modified cars on a path of adding power - strengthening stuff to cope with the added load - more weight - more power needed to maintain power/weight - strengthening more stuff - more weight - et cetera. Reducing weight reverses this into a virtuous circle where better longitudinal and lateral dynamics do not result from adding load to the structure and kinematics. Lower spring and damping rates allow for creating a road car that flows with the road rather than beating it into submission. Therefore I believe weight savings are far from only relevant to track cars: if anything, the reverse is true.
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