battery monitor for older RV

Lennie · 06-24-2018, 06:45 PM

Suggestions on a battery monitor for an '05 PW Plateau?

I keep hopping from one full hookup site to another but I don't think it's necessary. I've been so worried about draining my battery too low because I have the all in one monitor that came standard on my RV, the 1/3, 2/3, full type which includes all the tanks too.

I suspect I have a group 49 90ah AGM battery (per Davidd's comment from another post). I don't know because it's under the passenger seat and I haven't looked forward to pulling the seat. I'm learning but I didn't know anything about RVs, 12v systems and batteries before I bought this RV.

I seem to prefer driving 100-250 miles, wander around for a day or two and move on. I don't have a generator, originally thought I'd buy one but now think I may be able to get by with a solar panel but I don't know because I don't feel my existing monitor is accurate enough to make that decision.

I realize it may not be the best RV for off grid but it's the one I have and I've decided to stick with it and make it work. It doesn't look like I can go to a higher ah battery without moving it somewhere else, not willing to do that at this time.

BBQ · 06-24-2018, 07:44 PM

.

When did you buy your RV?
Do you know how old is the battery?

Do you have the owner's manual?
You can download one from the PW website.

BBQ · 06-24-2018, 07:51 PM

.

FYI

Your coach battery is under the hood.
The Chassis battery is under the floor in front of the driver's seat.

.

Davydd · 06-24-2018, 07:52 PM

Your Pleasure-way is 14 years old and who knows what battery is under the seat now. It definitely is not the original battery which was in all likelihood a wet-cell lead-acid. It was designed as the location for an auxiliary battery for cargo van use and the brackets to hold it down and because of the clearance under the seat is less than 8", a Group 49 battery was used. That is an odd size battery of only 7-7/16" high. That's pretty much a Mercedes Benz standard and foreign size. The are but six machine bolts to remove the seat and then a cardboard like cover. It is pretty easy to do and you just move it back out of the way to get to the battery. You haven't provided much information. Does you gauge say it is depleted? If so, you may have a dead battery that needs to be replaced. In a boon docking situation your battery should get you through a night as there isn't much electrical load on a 2005 PW.

Davydd · 06-24-2018, 07:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BBQ

.

When did you buy your RV?
Do you know how old is the battery?

Do you have the owner's manual?
You can download one from the PW website.

Pleasure-way utilized the battery location under the passenger seat for the coach battery. Back then they installed a wet-cell lead-acid battery that was vented through the floor with a plastic tube.

Lennie · 06-24-2018, 09:33 PM

I bought the RV about 18 months ago, the previous owner replaced the battery, he owned it 6 months (I didn't know enough to ask him what kind). I've spent most of those 18 months, fixing other stuff, like roof leaks, rust.

The monitor usually says full or 2/3, I had it down to 1/3 twice without going overnight. The second time is when I learned it's better to put the refrigerator on propane or just shut it off when stopped for a while.

I do like to watch movies once in a while. I replaced the original tv and dvd player with a new tv which has an integrated dvd player, specifications say it is 30 watts max. Although the tv is run through a loud 400w inverter and an amplifier I'm not sure is working. All but one light (closet) has been changed over to LED. I'd like to be able to charge my phone and my laptop once in a while and use the refrigerator. I don't really need to plug in much else, at least not at this time.

I've been really conservative because I want to make sure the vent fan has enough power if we leave the dogs inside for an hour or two.

It sounds like I really need to go pull the seat and find out what I have.

Davydd · 06-24-2018, 10:11 PM

It could be just about any battery if it is an AGM because AGMs can be placed on their sides to get the clearance underneath. In fact you better hope it is an AGM because if a wet cell it most likely would have no water in the cells by now. Of course with an AGM you would not have to pull the seat to maintain the battery.

Your coach battery is charged every time you drive or if connected to shore power. The biggest problem with that PW is the 3-way fridge. Stopping for lunch and leaving it on DC can deplete your battery. It is nearly impossible to remember to switch to propane every time and that fridge if original did not automatically switch power modes including 120V when you plug into shore power.

I can't imagine the original TV was still there. It was a computer monitor with a digital screen but was analog. I replaced mine when they converted to digital broadcasting because the converter boxes they sold back then were just a stop gap solution in my mind. That 400W inverter was indeed noisy. I wonder if you could replace it with a better inverter.

Lennie · 06-25-2018, 02:09 AM

It's a Maxx Ever start, H8 (group 49). 900 CCA. Not really intended for RV use? I was told it's a Walmart battery.

It's maintenance free but that doesn't mean AGM does it?

I didn't know I could flip an AGM on it's side, good to know.

I did have the original monitor TV, it was terrible. I don't like that inverter, I'm open to replacing it, the amplifier too. I haven't modified the cabinet the TV was in, just drilled holes to put an adjustable arm and new TV. I can change it, my SO has amazing woodworking skills, I just have to come up with a new design.

I have the original refrigerator too, I have to manually switch it between propane and DC or AC. I was switching it on my last trip, sometimes I forgot to turn it back on but stuff managed to stay cold anyway.

Phoebe3 · 06-25-2018, 02:46 AM

I believe our TV is 12V - no inverter needed.

Lennie · 06-25-2018, 04:19 AM

Mine is too, but I didn't see anything other than the inverter to plug it into. I've learned lots of things about RVs but there is so much more I don't know.

Davydd · 06-25-2018, 01:43 PM

You plug into an inverter to run a 120v TV off your 12V batteries.

BTW, your coach battery is probably an AGM but it is not deep cycle which you want. It is a starter battery.

I may have a posting here where I changed my TV to one one an adjustable arm on a 2005 Pleasure-way. I know I posted it somewhere but that was about 8 years ago. I may have posted it on the Facebook Pleasure-way group.

Lennie · 06-25-2018, 04:36 PM

I found your old post, the Concept DVD players seemed to be a weak link, mine wasn't working correctly and I didn't have any remotes. My new TV is 12v but it works plugged into the inverter and I don't see any 12v sockets to plug it into other than the antenna.

I should probably plan on replacing some of these old components, a new battery may be tough to find based on it's size but if I can turn it on it's side that may help. A new inverter might be nice and I've only used the TV to watch movies once in a while and it's not working that well due to the noisy inverter and probably non functioning amplifier. I replaced the speakers in the overhead cabinet which were blown.

peteco · 06-25-2018, 06:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lennie

Suggestions on a battery monitor for an '05 PW Plateau?

I keep hopping from one full hookup site to another but I don't think it's necessary. I've been so worried about draining my battery too low because I have the all in one monitor that came standard on my RV, the 1/3, 2/3, full type which includes all the tanks too.

I bought a small digital voltmeter readout on ebay and wired it to the wires that connect to the 1/3,2/3, full readout. I mounted the readout just above the existing monitor panel. It works well for my needs, though there are more elaborate setups that provide better accuracy and information.

Mine is similar to this. There are many others on ebay with a small case that look better.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/0-28-LED-DC...-/142579883257

Davydd · 06-25-2018, 07:20 PM

One other caution with the 2005 Pleasure-way Plateau. The come with a Progressive Dynamics PD9100 series converter/charger.

https://www.progressivedyn.com/rv/power-converters/

If the previous owners have not already done so there is a dongle 4-stage Charge Wizard that turns the PD9100 series into an intelligent charger like the PD9200 series. If you don't have that, while plugged into shore power for a prolonged period, you can overcharge your battery and limit the life.

https://www.progressivedyn.com/rv/charge-wizard/

Lennie · 06-25-2018, 07:56 PM

I have the PD9245C. So I was lucky there.

The TV does work plugged into the antenna 12v socket and it's doesn't exceed the 8 amp listed on the socket. I have to turn on the noisy inverter to hear it through the speakers. I can unplug those, the TV has tinny sounding speakers but they do work.

I more concerned about the battery and being able to dry camp sometimes. This RV is an ongoing project. I fix a little here, a little there and meanwhile new stuff is always breaking. I now consider it my hobby.

Lennie · 06-26-2018, 02:24 AM

Thanks to your suggestion Phoebe, I discovered I can run my TV to the 12v socket in the antenna and turn off the inverter (noisy fan) and still get sound out of my speakers (it seems the amplifier is hardwired into the 12v). I doubt the antenna uses much power. Thank you.

svIntuition · 06-29-2018, 05:01 PM

After reading reviews on boating electronics websites, we installed a Smartgauge on our Pleasure-way Plateau. Bogart is the other monitor people seem to like, though it needs a shunt, so takes more to install. Wrote up a post on our blog about it.

You might want to join the Pleasure-Way owners forum on Yahoo and/or Facebook where there are lots of helpful owners.

https://svintuition.blogspot.com/201...e-project.html

VanFan · 06-29-2018, 06:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lennie

Suggestions on a battery monitor for an '05 PW Plateau?

Consider a Victron model BMV-702 or BMV-712.

Be sure you order it with the Victron power shunt, which is necessary for isolating the monitor from your loads. The shunt may come with the monitor as a package deal. I don't remember. The only difference between the two is the 702 requires the purchase of an external Victron Bluetooth dongle, while the 712 comes with Bluetooth built in.

And you definitely should have Bluetooth, because with that you can set up the monitor to display your battery's condition and performance on your smart phone. Without Bluetooth, you have to deal with a VERY small LCD display on the monitor, and a very inconvenient button interface for set up and readout scrolling. On the other hand, the smart phone interface is a breeze.

This thing does too much to list it all here, but some of the features include display of state of charge (SOC) percentage (basically amp hours), rate of charge and discharge in amps and volts, and time remaining until SOC or volts reaches any minimum threshold that you set. You can also use it as a genset start/stop interface if you ever decide to add one. You can set it to start your generator when voltage or SOC reaches a minimum level that you decide, and stop the generator when your battery is charged. It has a programmable built in relay for that purpose. It also has lots and lots of alarms you can set (or not) to alert you if various conditions are met, such as over charging for example. Finally, I believe the monitor also creates a historical record of the battery's performance, but I'm working from memory here and might have that wrong.

All in all, it's a fine product, and not difficult to install if you have at least introductory 12 volt knowledge. Plus, if you ever upgrade your battery to a larger bank or a different battery type, you can reprogram it for that.

Available at Amazon. The 702 is about $178. Not sure about the 712 price, or the shunt or Bluetooth dongle but odds are you'll be at about $250 to $300 all in.

GettinHitchy · 06-29-2018, 07:06 PM

I have an 08 PW Excel and had big issues with my house battery. (ultimately found the charge controller was not connected!) but it resulted in my wanting to know the exact voltage readout on my house battery without having to put a meter on it as I dry camp quite often. My battery is in its own oudoor compartment behind the entry door, passenger side.
So, with the help of an RV mechanic, we tested, checked and triple-checked and were able to determine that the 12v outlet behind my TV IS connected to the house battery, so purchased a 12v digital volt meter! Has been working for me for over 3 months so far.
I am very cautious, so when I see a reading get close to 12.0, I shut everything off that I can and find a way to recharge.
I've included a picture I hope is helpful (pic taken while plugged in @30 amp).

On another note, congrats on figuring out how to disconnect speakers and run on AC power when plugged in....that took me a little while. Yes, running the TV on 12v can be a little noisy when you can switch to the TV's speakers and switch plug to 110.

attermann · 06-29-2018, 07:07 PM

I second the suggestion for the Victron BMV. I have solar panels on both my RV and travel trailer and BMV's in both and wouldn't be able to function without them. The 702/712 can also monitor the chassis battery voltage. If you don't need to monitor the chassis battery then you get by with the 700.

You may also like: