FLA are much more robust, long lived stand up to abuse better than AGM. And much cheaper per AH per year.
Plus hydrometers.
So all in all, if you want / need to know SoC, going with AGM makes, the need greater not less.
I agree LFP is another topic, but it is worth noting SmartGauge only works with lead.
I thought he said Smart Gauge. Which does not support LFP.
Again, the very recent Balmar SG200 has no official relationship with the original Merlin SmartGauge, even though Balmar rebadges the latter in the NA market.
^^
@Flywright
And the Smart Gauge does not support LFP - right?
The SG200 is not a Smart Gauge and was designed independent from the Smart Gauge.
You make a misstatement and continue to harangue.
Apologies if I have confused the issue. I'm only trying to stay with the facts and the truth.
I highly recommend anyone considering a battery monitor to closely consult the Mfr's specs and information and not rely on the words of an anonymous poster for factual information. Much has been posted that is not accurate and should not be followed.
I am concerned when our members and friends get inaccurate and potentially dangerous information from our resident armchair expert. To date, he has not acknowledged operating or owning anything of which he writes. He refuses to tell us his experience or training which qualifies him to "recommend" equipment for our vessels. Trusting unqualified sources can lead to dangerous misunderstandings. We owe it to our members to call out the charlatans when they have exposed themselves.
I stand by what I posted...every word for over 10 years. If anyone wants to know what I do, where I live or what my experience is, they only have to ask. I'm an open book and I stand by my word...every word.
I would expect anyone confident in their abilities to do the same.
Many others share your concern, Fly, and many others on this site and others have requested the poster's credentials to make some of the declarative, and clearly wrong statements made. Only the sound of crickets in response. Kind of a self correcting problem in that after people have followed a few threads, they learn to just ignore him. Not that everything he states as fact isn't accurate. It's just that when b.s. is stated with equal authority as things that are true, sorting the chaff from the grain is more effort than it is worth. So just do what every person I know of from personal contact who actually knows what they're talking about does, and that is just to pay no attention.
Gibbo? Wow, you must really know a lot about this if you are on a nickname basis with Merlin's principal.SmartGauge is the original Merlin SmartGauge, invented by Chris "Gibbo" Gibson.
Do you know what an alpha version is as the term is applied to technology? Perhaps you mean beta? But that can't be right either because Beta products are generally not for sale to the general public until final UAT is conducted, and the SG200 is available today from PKYS, even if due to limited production availability so you might have to wait.The SG200 is a very recent Balmar product, in fact still under development (in Alpha afaik)
Here you manage to combine sleazy slander - the accusation that Balmar are such scum bags that they steal someone else's technology by reverse engineering, with a separate falsehood. Active impedance is not mentioned anywhere in ole' Gibbo's descriptive page, here, for a very good reason. It is what Balmar calls their method used to compensate for errors in coulomb counting. Here's Balmar's Chris Witzgall's quote from the panbo site you reference, but apparently didn't read:Although it has nothing to do with Merlin, it apparently does incorporates some of Gibbo's active impedance compensation tech, perhaps "reverse engineered" from his SmartGauge.
False, as you can see on Balmar's page, here.It also includes shunt-based coulomb-counting style monitoring to integrate AH in and out into SoC calculations, but does not display that AH information.
Thanks for regurgitating the Balmar description of their product. Makes it sound like you came up with all this information yourself rather than parroting what Balmar wrote.combines data from the two sources to estimate State of Health (SoH), aka residual AH capacity
apparently works with all major battery types: FLA, AGM including Firefly and TPPL, as well as LiFePO4
can monitor a large number of battery banks with displays located throughout the boat. Each also monitor voltage for two auxiliary batteries, like engine start or similar non-deep-cycle applications.
purportedly doesn’t lose accuracy while charging, and over time the system will get more accurate without requiring calibration like typical coulomb counting shunt-based monitors
Well, that's reassuring. I guess we'll all wait for your final conclusion before buying one.no idea whether accurate or not yet but does look promising
It's been released. You can order it today from PKYS.comand I look forward once it is released,
Now I know all of this will roll off your back like water off a duck, but you really should consider how you come across to many of us when you post a mixture of nasty bile, bilge water and regurgitated public information as if you're providing instruction to the clueless.
I'm breaking my own IGNORE rule here, I know, but I couldn't let your reckless and slimy accusation of high-handed theft by Balmar to go uncommented upon.
Now I know all of this will roll off your back like water off a duck, but you really should consider how you come across to many of us when you post a mixture of nasty bile, bilge water and regurgitated public information as if you're providing instruction to the clueless.
? Battery fetish..? Obsession sounds inadequate somehow..?
No but worth checking you're not overcharging "too much", maybe your voltage or Absorb hold time could be scaled back a bit.
Hitting endAmps before dropping to Float does not need to be every cycle, just a few times per week is fine for longevity.
Overcharging actually causing damage to FLA is relatively rare, long as you do keep up with the water level.
While PSOC abuse is very frequent for those living away from shore power.
Is it too “Stone Age” to suggest that a good indicator of health of FLA batteries is how much water you have to add?
... the person in question incorrectly attributed to his close friend "Gibbo"?
Delfin, you surprise me somewhat. I was actually referring to - well, what you said above, as he writes on no subject except batteries and their condition, is all...and therefore invites this being pointed out - like you did.
How could you take my comment so wrong..?