Recently purchased a Smart Battery Sense with the intention of using it to monitor the voltage of the starter battery for my generator. Since having a new installation I rarely have to run the generator so the start battery doesn’t get charged. (1st world problems…)
My end game is to have a 20-50W solar panels on the generator (starter) battery with independent MPPT so that it does keep its charge. *
But my question is around the length of the wires for the Smart Battery Sense. The instructions say that the wires can be extended if necessary, but what would be a compatible length before it affects the Smart Sense giving accurate reading? Ideally I would like to extend them to 2.5 meters.
I will also run the generator periodically to ensure it starts and runs.
Thanks,
Will extending the cables affect the measurment? Yes. Any wire has a specific resistance, any current flowing will introduce a voltage loss. How big thst is going to be no one knows, millivolts, microvolts?
You can extend those cables, sure, but why. Starter battery of a generator, so those poles are 25cm apart. if its a 24V system then its maybe 50cm
I meant extending the wires so that I could put the sensor somewhere where I can see it. The generator is housed and I wanted to have the sensor in a more accessible place.
Ok, but its got no display, you read it out over bluetooth through VictronConnect. But yes bluetooth range would be better outside of a metal enclosure
This site is not staffed by Victron tech service, it is mainly volunteers and interested people as is described in the community guidelines.
The current draw is listed in the manual, for 12V 1.4mA. This is higher than a typical voltage sensor as it is also powering the unit. An on line voltage drop calculator for a 2m distance gives a voltage drop less than 1mV. The quality of your extension connection will have more effect.