Easy battery check.......

[8Tech]

So, with all the issues we get surrounding flat or significantly discharged batteries, my Saturday project was to provide an easy way of keeping an eye on the battery condition of my car.

The whole project took under an hour and came out at under £10.00, it actually took me longer to choose the display I wanted. A bit like her indoors going through 300 shops and buying the top she found in the first one!

So here it is, mounted in the boot of my DB9 Volante.





The unit I selected can display battery voltage....



or battery charge level....



or as in my case, will scroll through both at 2 second intervals. You can choose the display you want in the settings menu.

I simply wired it directly to the 12V always live power socket in the boot.

Now I can tell at a glance, the battery condition of the car.

[Rappa]

Gerry,

Brilliant. Do you have a link to the product?

Sean

[ReformedPistonhead]

Looks neat where did you buy the unit?

Are you sure it won’t drain the battery in an ironic fashion?

[JonnyCJ]

Brilliantly simple - there’s so many 12v socket usb chargers that display voltage I can’t believe no one’s popped this up before.

Going to order one now....

Search battery charge indicator on ebay

Edited by JonnyCJ on Saturday 30th May 19:21

[8Tech]

Sorry, I dont use ebay wherever possible, I bought it on Amazon....

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07BT2TBTS/ref...

[David W.]

ReformedPistonhead said:

Looks neat where did you buy the unit?

Are you sure it won’t drain the battery in an ironic fashion?

“ Automatically turn into sleep mode in 10s for saving the power.”

[8Tech]

For anyone who purchases this, there are no instructions and as I am from the old "slide rule" era, I don't find these things intuitive, and I don't have a 9 year old to show me, so for those in a similar situation, here are the instructions, and tells you the options you have....

Dear customer,
Greetings from Sxstar and thank you for your purchase.
Invoice is attached in this email, please kindly check it.
You can follow the instructions below to set the battery tyle.
Battery Type
P= Lead-acid batteries LF=Lithium battery F=Fe Battery
Standard Voltage for each Battery
Lead-acid batteries=12V 3-15pcs Lithium battery= 3.7V Fe Battery=3.2V
Here is a way to Set:
1. Disconnect the power supply
2. Press and hold the setting button to not release
3. Turn on the power and release the setting button.
4. Press the Setting Key to select the battery type
5. Press the Switch Key to adjust the battery quantity
6. Hold the Switch Key to enter S1-S5 Selection Mode
7. Press the Setting Key to select from S1-S5. press Switch Key
to Turn ON/OFF the selected Function
8. Power off to save the setting
S1: Display %/V alternately in every 2s
S2: Enter sleep mode in 10s after displayed
S3: Turn on the backlight.
S4: Blank
S5: Battery type selection
Any further questions please feel free to contact us.
With best regards.
Sxstar Team

[8Tech]

JonnyCJ said:

Brilliantly simple - there’s so many 12v socket usb chargers that display voltage I can’t believe no one’s popped this up before.

Going to order one now....

Search battery charge indicator on ebay

Edited by JonnyCJ on Saturday 30th May 19:21

I saw these but thought it could get knocked about with any items in the boot, or could look a bit "add on" if left in the cab, but certainly extremely easy for anyone not wishing to detach any trim to access the wire. They also only show voltage as far as I am aware, not battery charge state?

[JonnyCJ]

I think you miss understood my post. Agree that a hard wired dual display looks better than the plug in to 12v socket jobbies.