PentaMetric Battery Monitor Installation

[mitchmitchell]

I installed a battery monitor today, a PentaMetric unit from Bogart Engineering. I wanted to get a clear picture of our battery usage before I consider installing any solar panels.

PentaMetric Components - Bogart Engineering

I installed the battery shunt in a water proof outlet box from Home Depot on the side of our battery boxes -- the shunt can be mounted out of doors but it may deteriorate over time in the rain. There are five wires mounted to the shut: negative from the battery, negative to the frame, negative to the battery monitor, sense + and sense - on the top of the shunt.

The monitor comes with a temperature sensor, which I attached to one of the batteries negative pole (there is no electrical between the battery and the sensor, it was just a convenient place to mount it).

I ran the wire into a compartment that we opened up in front of our bunks -- this is a mod done by several X213 owners for storage but we'll use it for equipment like solar charges and inverters if we decide to proceed with the solar installation. I had to run a cat6 wire back through the underbelly to where I will attach the Ethernet interface. This is a real pain on units with a sealed underbelly like ours.

While I was at it I installed a battery disconnect switch, added a fused connection to power the monitor and cleaned up the parallel wiring of our batteries done by the dealer.

The input unit will be mounted in the front compartment where the wire enters, the Ethernet interface will be mounted behind the couch, and the display monitor will be mounted above our tank status display.

Hopefully this will give us a clear picture of our DC power usage over time.

[dewey02]

Nice work and good explanation.
Thank you for the post and pictures.

[Subaru297]

What is the big draw for going with the Pentametric over the Trimetric? Looks like you can measure additional battery banks and you get data logging and can interface with a computer.

Nice install. The Trimetric we installed is one of our favorite mods. Should be standard on all trailers really.

[mitchmitchell]

Originally Posted by Subaru297

What is the big draw for going with the Pentametric over the Trimetric? Looks like you can measure additional battery banks and you get data logging and can interface with a computer.

That is exactly what got me to go for PentaMetric. The additional shunt inputs can also allow you to independently measure your solar power input and your inverter draw as well.

I have the display unit mounted on the wall above the tank indicators and the Ethernet interface behind the couch.

[PlayersZ28]

The Pentametric looks like a nice unit. I looked at getting a Trimetric last year but built my own instead so I could put in the capabilities I wanted. It's an ongoing work in progress.

[mitchmitchell]

I was too busy doing other things to my trailer and truck to contemplate rolling my own. But I'm thinking of hooking up a raspberry pi to it someday.

[PlayersZ28]

Originally Posted by mitchmitchell

I was too busy doing other things to my trailer and truck to contemplate rolling my own. But I'm thinking of hooking up a raspberry pi to it someday.

I like to tinker around with electronics and code now that I'm retired. Has been a few years since I worked as a s/w developer. I have a Pi+touchscreen that runs as a remote display with charting.