Batteries for RV camper trailers are an expensive investment. Overcharging or over-discharging can damage them. Using voltage only is not an accurate way to access your
battery’s state of charge. Guessing how much power is left in your battery is putting your batteries at risk. A good battery monitor will properly track voltage and amperage so that you will know how to safely maintain your solar powered system. We will state why the Victron BMV-712 Battery Monitor is currently the best on the market. And stick around for some helpful tips to make your setup easier.
The Bluetooth app allows you to view all of your data remotely on an excellent interface. Some of the features the monitor displays include: current going in and out, battery voltage, Ah consumed, state of charge, estimated time remaining given the current load, midpoint voltage monitoring, actual total battery charge percent, and more. It is awesome to be able to start a load and immediately see how much time you have before needing to recharge your battery safely. It also has programmable alarms and relay settings to turn devices on or off. It stores historical data and has “trends” data to help you evaluate your data over a period of time.
It comes with almost everything you need. You’ll just need to add AWG cable to attach the shunt to the battery and also mounting screws for the shunt. The AWG cable size you will need depends on your system’s capacity. The monitor comes with the wires, shunt, square bezel with mounting screws, RJ 12 cable (10m), a battery cable with an inline fuse, and an optional temperature sensor. The alarms cover low/high voltage, low/high starter voltage, and low state of charge. All features can be accessed directly from the monitor, but the Bluetooth app makes viewing and programming your data much easier.
Pros:
Access all vital battery information remotely via the Bluetooth app including the time remaining before reaching the of depth of discharge to safely recharge the battery.
The Bluetooth app allows syncing other Victron devices to your monitor to create a network so that they all communicate with each other.
Stores historical and trends data.
View battery temperature on the monitor and in the app (only with the optional temperature sensor).
Programmable alarms and relays
5-year limited warranty
Easy installation
Cons:
There are much cheaper battery monitors for sell, but not as high quality.
Victron doesn’t give customer support directly, but instead refers you to your distributor or to the Victron Community Support Forum.
Helpful Tips:
The battery must be fully charged before synching for accurate readings.
For accurate readings, calibrate the unit with no load.
All devices must run through the negative terminal of the shunt instead of being connected directly to the battery, else the readings won’t be accurate.
First link the Bluetooth before programming the initial settings from your phone.
The monitor is always on, as there is no “on/off” feature. Since it is always draining a little energy from your battery, it is best to add a battery disconnect switch if the system needs to go into storage or becomes idle for long periods.
There are 2 apps for remote monitoring. The Bluetooth app is the main app, which is called “VictronConnect.” This can only be used locally within Bluetooth radius. For remote access anywhere, you can link to an online service called “Victron VRM Portal.”
Conclusion:
The Victron BMV-712 Battery Monitor is an excellent choice for understanding the status of your battery. It supports all types of rechargeable deep cycle batteries. You’ll have to program it for your particular battery at setup. You can find the settings for your particular battery through an easy web search. This is currently the best battery monitor on the market. It is pricy, but it pays for itself when it helps prevent you from destroying your expensive batteries prematurely.
Purchase your Victron BMV-712 Battery Monitor with Battery Temperature Sensor on Amazon here: https://amzn.to/3z9d3Ez
VictronConnect Manual:
Victron’s VRM Portal Documentation: