External power supply Capacity meter

[Peteronline]

I have connected a Capacity Meter to my Solar Panels. Now my question is when the sun goes down, the meter is switched off because there is no longer 12 Volts present, and I always lost my data.

Is there a possibility to connect an external 9 Volt Battery like on the print screen below or is that not possible? My panels are connected in series so under 24 volts!

As you can see in the picture, it is now night and the meter is switched off!



So that my meter does not always fail or will this cause conflicts?

 

[SCClockDr]

I would use the battery vs a 9V. Unless it exceeds the meter's voltage specs. In the latter case I'd find a meter that retained the data.

 

[SolarRat]

Yup, that's what the external power input is for. You can use a 9v, but like SCC said you could just hook those two terminals to your 12v battery bank. If you are running a higher voltage series bank, the meter draws so little you can just hook it to a 12v portion of the bank without it really effecting the balance.

 

[Peteronline]

Yes ok, but as the diagram states, is that external connection for a range between 3.3 volts and 12 volts when battery row is smaller than 8 volts?
Knowing that I have 12 Volt batteries connected in parallel to a 200 amp that when fully charged through my panels in full sun can go over the 14 Volt?

So does it not hurt to directly feed that external connection through my batteries?

 

[SolarRat]

12v is usually a generic term for "somethingnear12vbutnormallyhigherunderalternatorinfluence".

Electronic devices are made of components. Those components have voltage ratings. No components that I know of are rated exactly 12v. Most 12v devices are built with minimum 25v components (capacitors, resistors, transistors etc,,,).

^That plus my increasing understanding of Chinglish means "you got nothing to lose but about 15 bux".

 

[Peteronline]

12v is usually a generic term for "somethingnear12vbutnormallyhigherunderalternatorinfluence".

Electronic devices are made of components. Those components have voltage ratings. No components that I know of are rated exactly 12v. Most 12v devices are built with minimum 25v components (capacitors, resistors, transistors etc,,,).

^That plus my increasing understanding of Chinglish means "you got nothing to lose but about 15 bux".

So does it not hurt to directly feed that external connection through my batteries?

 

[SolarRat]

So does it not hurt to directly feed that external connection through my batteries?

Confusing wording there...but I'd say go ahead and feed the external connection with your 12v battery bank.

The diagram says 3.3v-12v. Like I said, 12v is a loose term. Kinda like a 3.7v Li-ion is really 4.2v, 12v is really 14.6v.

If you are really worried about the $10 meter, just put a resistor on the input wire to lower the voltage to 4-10v...

 

[Maast]

Yes you can, just use 22 gauge wire (like what the meter came with) so if something does go wrong the wire will just smoke for a second then open. Dont worry about the 12 being higher than 12, it can handle it. The meter only uses 2 watts.

 

[JeepHammer]

This is just an ammeter isn't it? It's not a charge controller?
I'm not missing something am I?...

If it's an ammeter,
*IF* it's a 12 volt battery string, simply jump the 12 volts on the bottom terminals to the external power terminals above (in diagram).

*IF* you think there *Might* be a problem, put a 1 amp fuse in the positive jumper.

It's got to be direct read digital, volatile memory, wipes when power is cut.
My guess would be, the display is wired directly also, when you loose power to display you also loose memory.
It's the easiest/cheapest way to wire things...

And the guys are dead correct,
A fully charged '12 volt' battery is already over 12 volts, usually in the 13.5 volt range.
Most '12 Volt' appliances will handle 16 to 18 volts.

If it were mine, I would jump the 12 volt battery terminals up to the 'External Power' terminals on the unit.

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*IF* it's higher than 12 volt battery string, then it's a full time 12 volt source from someplace, like a single battery in a string.
DC is a closed loop, where ever you 'Tap' the power from, it will NOT be overloaded but the higher voltage in the string.
Tap one battery in a 48 volt string, and it's still 12 volts.

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Guys that messed with batteries with exposed connections between cells,
Which is very few,
First you have to be exposed to batteries with exposed connections (like fork truck batteries) and you have to have enough interest to mess with them...

You can charge, or extract power from a 24 volt (or 36, or 48) volt battery as 6 volt or 12 volts, etc.
Since each cell has exposed terminals, you simply count the number of cells for your required voltage and hook up load, or charger.

Many people don't know there are batteries available with cell Taps (connections) for more than one voltage.
This is an example of a 16 volt battery that also has a 12 volt tap terminal.
Mostly used for race cars, while most electronics will work better with 16 volts, some ignition and electronic fuel injection systems won't tolerate the 18 volt charging needed for the 16 volt battery.
The 12 volt tap is provided for those sensitive electronics.

 

[Peteronline]

Thanks to everyone because I finally succeeded with your good advice, the capacity meter external power connected directly to the battery and now the meter no longer fails thanks to you everyone.


I can now read everything from my proceeds.

a) incoming panels.
b) 220 Volt outgoing via inverter.
c) Outgoing fuse box 12 Volt.
d) incoming battery.
e) outgoing battery.


If I combine the KW / Hour of B and C, I know what I save on electricity.