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Old 03-24-2021, 07:08 PM   #1
dmheil
Established Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2019
Location: Laurel Hill
Posts: 15
M.O.C. #25012
Electrical system monitoring-373RD

My 2020 Montana is an awesome trailer but....there is no real way to monitor the batteries in real time. I have two Interstate SRM-27 marine/RV batteries. The amp hour rating for these batteries is 88 amps each and as they are wired in parallel, I have a total capacity of 176 amp hours. Later this year we are taking the RV to New Hampshire to visit with the children and grandchildren. While at my daughters house, the circuit for connection to the RV is only 20 amps. So as to not be forced to go into the basement and reset a breaker at 0200, I thought it would be good to have a circuit monitor to keep me informed as to how many amps the RV is drawing at any particular moment.

When I first installed the AC monitor it was quickly obvious I was only getting results from one side of the 220 line. So I order an additional current probe and installed it on the other 220 feed line. The two current probes were hooked together and testing confirmed they were both functioning and I was now viewing the entire current draw for the RV. The current probes were placed on the feed lines right at the point where they enter the main breaker panel. Here is a view of the AC meter:

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It can be found here on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I also installed a meter system on the battery lines to monitor the health/status of the batteries as well. Here is the meter I purchased from Amazon to monitor the batteries. This installation was pretty straight forward and monitors the entire health/status of the batteries.

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This DC monitor can be found here:

www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FGFFHC6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1"]

Here is an image of the AC meter (and DC as well but it is just maintaining the batteries) in use. I only had the rear air conditioning unit running and then I turned on the microwave. Both of these items had a significant current draw.

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Now while traveling (my unit has a residential refrigerator) I can keep an eye on the status of the batteries and watch their state of charge/discharge. Couple this with the AC power meter and I can very quickly observe the overall electrical usage of my RV.

I find this very helpful and would suggest if you are the kind that does off-grid camping, I highly recommend this DC battery system analyzer.

As you can see some of my circuit switches were not labeled as to their function. I really don't understand why they would mark some of them but not all. A label maker was put to use for convenience of identification

David
 
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David & Debbie Heil
2020 Montana HC 373RD
2017 Ford Super Duty 6.7 Diesel
Laurel Hill, Florida
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