12V monitor/logger
Discussion
Apparently there are some peculiarities with the way my car (PHEV) charges the 12V battery, that leads to some owners batteries only lasting a year or two due to not getting charged enough.
I'd like to use a voltage monitor to log the voltage while I'm driving and see if I can see when it's getting a high enough voltage to charge properly, and see if the kind of use the car gets is sufficient to maintain charge. Something with a bluetooth connection to a phone app to get at the data would be ideal, and I guess plugging in to the cigarette lighter would be simpler than needing to attach to the battery terminals but, the latter isn't a big problem.
Any recommendations?
I'd like to use a voltage monitor to log the voltage while I'm driving and see if I can see when it's getting a high enough voltage to charge properly, and see if the kind of use the car gets is sufficient to maintain charge. Something with a bluetooth connection to a phone app to get at the data would be ideal, and I guess plugging in to the cigarette lighter would be simpler than needing to attach to the battery terminals but, the latter isn't a big problem.
Any recommendations?
I recently fitted battery monitoring devices to my motorbikes and Land Rover, all vehicles that sit around a while between being used so I wanted to be able to monitor battery state of charge without needing to attach test equipment.
Like this; https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/256906200373
I've only recently fitted them and none of the vehicles have been used since so I've not tested the 'historical data' function and only using it to know if/when to attach a charger for the time being but the info I get looks good and they seem to do what you may want, or at least claim to and they're cheap enough to try.
Like this; https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/256906200373
I've only recently fitted them and none of the vehicles have been used since so I've not tested the 'historical data' function and only using it to know if/when to attach a charger for the time being but the info I get looks good and they seem to do what you may want, or at least claim to and they're cheap enough to try.
I have a USB charger in the car cig lighter socket that shows the voltage, agree it is not a logger but at a glance while driving I can see battery level.
Previous car alternator only just put out enough to turn the battery light off, not the most useful)
(It does give you a fair surprise when the car thinks the battery is full and turns off the alternator, so the voltage drops to 12.3)
((Voltage inside car has always been half a volt or so lower than measured at the battery))
Previous car alternator only just put out enough to turn the battery light off, not the most useful)
(It does give you a fair surprise when the car thinks the battery is full and turns off the alternator, so the voltage drops to 12.3)
((Voltage inside car has always been half a volt or so lower than measured at the battery))
catso said:
I recently fitted battery monitoring devices to my motorbikes and Land Rover, all vehicles that sit around a while between being used so I wanted to be able to monitor battery state of charge without needing to attach test equipment.
Like this; https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/256906200373
I've only recently fitted them and none of the vehicles have been used since so I've not tested the 'historical data' function and only using it to know if/when to attach a charger for the time being but the info I get looks good and they seem to do what you may want, or at least claim to and they're cheap enough to try.
I also have 3 of them on my motorhome, an excellent bit of kit.Like this; https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/256906200373
I've only recently fitted them and none of the vehicles have been used since so I've not tested the 'historical data' function and only using it to know if/when to attach a charger for the time being but the info I get looks good and they seem to do what you may want, or at least claim to and they're cheap enough to try.
catso said:
I recently fitted battery monitoring devices to my motorbikes and Land Rover, all vehicles that sit around a while between being used so I wanted to be able to monitor battery state of charge without needing to attach test equipment.
Like this; https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/256906200373
I've only recently fitted them and none of the vehicles have been used since so I've not tested the 'historical data' function and only using it to know if/when to attach a charger for the time being but the info I get looks good and they seem to do what you may want, or at least claim to and they're cheap enough to try.
I also have exactly this one on the MX-5. I killed the last battery by letting it get too flat, this pops a notification up on my phone every time I walk past the car without having to open the app. Great kit.Like this; https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/256906200373
I've only recently fitted them and none of the vehicles have been used since so I've not tested the 'historical data' function and only using it to know if/when to attach a charger for the time being but the info I get looks good and they seem to do what you may want, or at least claim to and they're cheap enough to try.
catso said:
Like this; https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/256906200373
That looks like the kind of thing I'm after. £18 in the UK,€30 here! Might have to wait until I'm next over!Peanut Gallery said:
It does give you a fair surprise when the car thinks the battery is full and turns off the alternator, so the voltage drops to 12.3)
This apparently is the issue with mine, but the conditions under which it charges aren't entirely clear to me. Apparently a lot of people disconnect the voltage monitoring cable from the battery so the car just charges it all the time. Just a thought, have you got anything non standard plugged into the battery, and have you reset the battery control module with the new type of battery?
This could all be irrelevant due to PHEV.
Mate had a CB radio wired straight to the battery (don't ask) as the car never saw the current leaving the battery it didn't recharge the battery..
When I swapped my battery over I had to keep it either agm or efb unless I had the car reprogrammed to the other type, then a battery reset once the new battery was in. (miss the old generator days, before alternators)
In other news, how cold has it been with you? I've had to thaw out a small 12v battery from a hybrid car before I could charge it, went flat and then froze (that was 2 years ago, still going strong)
This could all be irrelevant due to PHEV.
Mate had a CB radio wired straight to the battery (don't ask) as the car never saw the current leaving the battery it didn't recharge the battery..
When I swapped my battery over I had to keep it either agm or efb unless I had the car reprogrammed to the other type, then a battery reset once the new battery was in. (miss the old generator days, before alternators)
In other news, how cold has it been with you? I've had to thaw out a small 12v battery from a hybrid car before I could charge it, went flat and then froze (that was 2 years ago, still going strong)
silentbrown said:
catso said:
... I've not tested the 'historical data' function...
My suspicion is that the 'historical data' thing refers to the data it's stored on yout phone. I'd be surprised/impressed if it tracks voltage changes while your phone isn't in close proximity to the car.
Peanut Gallery said:
Just a thought, have you got anything non standard plugged into the battery, and have you reset the battery control module with the new type of battery?
The car's completely standard, and only a few months old. I've not had a problem with my battery but it seems to be a known problem among existing owners that the 12V batteries can die in a little as a year so I'd like to see what the charging cycle is like. The fact that Lexus haven't issued a software update to fix it suggests to me is not as common as those moaning about it online would have you believe. Plus I'm a former engineer turned analyst so any excuse for some data toto look at
I have the one shown above. It does the job and is well priced. You do have to be within 2 metres of mine for it to show data, but it does allow you to measure the true resting voltage of the battery.
As soon as you unlock a car there is load on the battery and using a multimeter will show a drop of approx 0.2v.
The quality version is the AntiGravity Battery Tracker PLUS. More parameters measured, better "range" and this version includes a GPS tracker which may be a useful feature for you.
More money. https://www.antigravitybatteries-uk.co.uk/battery-...
As soon as you unlock a car there is load on the battery and using a multimeter will show a drop of approx 0.2v.
The quality version is the AntiGravity Battery Tracker PLUS. More parameters measured, better "range" and this version includes a GPS tracker which may be a useful feature for you.
More money. https://www.antigravitybatteries-uk.co.uk/battery-...
paul_c123 said:
silentbrown said:
??? Where do you suggest an extra wire goes?
Extra 2 wires. It needs power - quite a lot if its radio transmitting - and it needs to sense voltage. You can't accurately sense voltage if its drawing a variable amount of power over the same wire.Gassing Station | Home Mechanics | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff