Leisure battery monitor

[Molly 3]

Hi can you supply the extended cable ,

 

[wildebus]

Hi can you supply the extended cable ,

I was just about to make a post to say the Cables on these Aili Meters are rediculously short (500mm compared to the 10M or Longer ones on the Victron BMVs).
Not found a source for the plug and socket connectors, so what I usually do is modifiy the original one to insert an extension length as the extension cable you can buy is way too pricey for what it is.

 

[CriftinsCampers]

I originally tried wiring up a change over switch for the shunt sense cables of one of the Mctuning types displays so that I could monitor both in and out going current but It was still not good enough as it does not do current counting etc. I bought an Aili instead, these are superb value for money, I have since bought a second one for my other van here is my review of it:

 

[Phantom]

I would need to disable the flashing too, thanks for showing how to.

 

[Phantom]

I would need to disable the flashing too, thanks for showing how to.

 

[Molly 3]

I fitted one to my van a few month's ago , easy fit easy set up , most of all it takes the guess work out of battery monitoring for under £25

 

[wildebus]

It's a bit of a tight fit and needed some modification to the decor cover, but the Aili Monitor can be fitted on a CBE Frame, which is nice if you are using CBE fittings and want to have an integrated look.

WBM-350 - SOC by David, on Flickr

 

[UFO]

It is quite heartening to find a really useful product, especially at this price, about which pretty much everybody is positive. The only negatives, the short cable and turning the display off, are easily overcome. Thanks to everyone for sharing their experience with this battery monitor.

 

[bartman]

For skinflints like me who want to shop around, the Aili monitor is also available from Aliexpress for £21.81 plus 36p postage.
Here
It might take a while to arrive, but nobody's going anywhere for a month at least anyway!

Edit:
I've done a bit more searching, and there may be an advantage to coughing up the rather steep £11 postage on Amazon - the seller also has a longer 16 foot cable for only £2.31. Extended cable
Again, it's £11 delivery but presumably if you buy both items the postage is combined.

 

[bartman]

5m cable for £3.77, but might be a long wait here

 

[Phantom]

Mine arrived today, it has 50cm of cable + a 1m extention, plenty for me.

 

[UFO]

Battery monitor received and wired up. Now I need to find a location for the meter and extend the cable to it. Looking good. Even got 0.5 amps from the solar panel on an overcast day in the shade from the sun.

 

[wildebus]

Battery monitor received and wired up. Now I need to find a location for the meter and extend the cable to it. Looking good. Even got 0.5 amps from the solar panel on an overcast day in the shade from the sun.
View attachment 57489

You might want to check the calibration of the meter as well before final installation? remove all loads, remove all charges and make sure the meter is reading ZERO current in or out.

 

[Molly 3]

You might want to check the calibration of the meter as well before final installation? remove all loads, remove all charges and make sure the meter is reading ZERO current in or out.

What can you do if it's out ?.

 

[wildebus]

What can you do if it's out ?.

I can't recall, TBH, but I am sure it is possible to recalibrate. There are some setup options in there, such as setting the Shunt size (use the wrong size shunt and the current misreads), battery size, resetting the SOC and I think within that set is calibrate the current. (this is why the Victron BMV-712 is an easier unit to use as there is a setting in the App just for this purpose)

 

[Phantom]

Battery monitor received and wired up.
View attachment 57489

The packaging is useful too, I draught proofed my fridge with it!

 

[Molly 3]

I fitted an aili monitor at the start of summer found it a great way to monitor L battery .now in winter it tells me how poor the solar charge rate is , learnt a lot about how solar performs ,I use a 100w portable in summer and that greatly out performs the 100 w roof panel .now in winter parked at home completely in the shade and thick cloud I get only a few M amps .if I fitted another 100w I would get 2 times a few M amps so no point .the aili tells you what is going all the time , very easy to fit with instructions from utube ,also a battery monitor is essential for lithum .

 

[Markd]

Or install your portable on a frame in the sun at at the right angle and direction and you might be quite surprised.

 

[wildebus]

I fitted an aili monitor at the start of summer found it a great way to monitor L battery .now in winter it tells me how poor the solar charge rate is , learnt a lot about how solar performs ,I use a 100w portable in summer and that greatly out performs the 100 w roof panel .now in winter parked at home completely in the shade and thick cloud I get only a few M amps .if I fitted another 100w I would get 2 times a few M amps so no point .the aili tells you what is going all the time , very easy to fit with instructions from utube ,also a battery monitor is essential for lithum .

Ref Solar - exactly so.... As I have tried to say to people - double bugger all is still bugger all.

 

[Molly 3]

Ref Solar - exactly so.... As I have tried to say to people - double bugger all is still bugger all.

I find it hard to understand how some people manage ok in winter with solar my batterys go one way down