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Has anyone come up with a good source for an extended range voltmeter of some sort of battery charge indicator? Someone 'blew' the breaker on my dock a couple of weeks ago and as luck would have it I needed lights that evening!
You mean some type of way to measure the % of the battery? If so there are 3 methods:
1. I just installed a solar panel and it came with a charge controller. My charge controller is very basic but a green led shows when the battery is completely full. I believe some more expensive charge controllers will let you read the %.
2. Using a voltmeter you can use the following chart to determine your %. I've even seen someone mount the voltmeter permentantly next to the electrical panel. 100% 12.7V 90% 12.5V 80% 12.42V 70% 12.32V 60% 12.20V 50% 12.06V 40% 11.9V 30% 11.75V 20% 11.58V 10% 11.31V 0% 10.5V However I have 2 batteries in parallel and with a full charge I show 13.70V.
3. My marine charger (120V plug) has a digital readout that I can switch to %.
Hope this helps.
Edited by - Steve Blackburn on 07/22/2007 18:46:23
Notice: The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ. The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.