Community Forums

Dougjpr · 01-18-2018, 08:29 PM

Anyone use a Thornwave BT-DCPM battery monitor?
Looks intesring, no wires to run from battery to a monitor, uses Bluetooth and an app on your phone

https://www.thornwave.com/shop/

A32Deuce · 01-19-2018, 07:49 AM

You didn't look close enough. Has to be wired in.

Dougjpr · 01-19-2018, 05:16 PM

I realize that it has to be wired into the batteries, but those connections are all done in the battery bay.
The wiring that I was referring to, not being needed is the wiring from the unit to the monitors that are located in cabinet above the passenger seat. Which would be a pain since the batteries are in the rear of the coach

A32Deuce · 01-19-2018, 05:18 PM

Ok.

A32Deuce · 01-19-2018, 05:19 PM

Threw me off when you said no wiring after watching the video.

Luv2go · 03-24-2018, 04:06 PM

I'm just starting to use a couple of these. One is wired to the lead acid house bank in the Roadtrek. I do not use the app, what I use instead is a Raspberry Pi 3 with Domoticz, a home automation program that runs on the Pi. The Pi is connected to the internet with a MiFi. Right now I have Domoticz sending me an e-mail when the battery voltage gets low.

The other will eventually be wired to the LiFePO4 bank that powers the inverter in the Roadtrek.

The device firmware itself has just been updated to support a battery percent charged meter, making it much more like the other meters out there like the TriMetric, unfortunately I can't get the app to update either of my units, so I can't report on how well it works. I have had several e-mail conversations with the developer and he knew about the things he needed to to make a good battery charge monitor, so I'm hoping for good results once I can get the units updated.

The unit itself is pretty cheap at $90, of course to use it with an inverter of any size you'll need a $20 Deltec shunt. Still much cheaper than a TriMetric or just about anything else out there, so if he implemented the percent charged meter correctly it would be a great battery monitoring setup.

vsheetz · 03-24-2018, 04:20 PM

How is the current reported - net of amps currently flowing in and out?

Fred 2106DS · 03-24-2018, 07:07 PM

Yes, net amps in and out. I recently added a BT-DCPM to my TM-2030-RV/SC-2030 setup. The BT-DCPM is working well so far. I piggy backed onto the same shunt used by the TM-2030. Below is a screenshot from my phone with the latest app updates showing the data fields being monitored. I'm in the middle of adding a 400 watt solar setup to my TT, 280W on the roof and 120W portable, feeding a 100Ah LiFePO4 battery. All of my testing to date of the BT-DCPM and TM-2030/SC-2030 setup has been with using the 120W portable panel. The weather hasn't been cooperating to allow for mounting the roof panels yet.

Luv2go · 05-29-2018, 09:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Luv2go

I'm just starting to use a couple of these. One is wired to the lead acid house bank in the Roadtrek. I do not use the app, what I use instead is a Raspberry Pi 3 with Domoticz, a home automation program that runs on the Pi. The Pi is connected to the internet with a MiFi. Right now I have Domoticz sending me an e-mail when the battery voltage gets low.

The other will eventually be wired to the LiFePO4 bank that powers the inverter in the Roadtrek.

The device firmware itself has just been updated to support a battery percent charged meter, making it much more like the other meters out there like the TriMetric, unfortunately I can't get the app to update either of my units, so I can't report on how well it works. I have had several e-mail conversations with the developer and he knew about the things he needed to to make a good battery charge monitor, so I'm hoping for good results once I can get the units updated.

The unit itself is pretty cheap at $90, of course to use it with an inverter of any size you'll need a $20 Deltec shunt. Still much cheaper than a TriMetric or just about anything else out there, so if he implemented the percent charged meter correctly it would be a great battery monitoring setup.

I just updated my BT-DCPM's to the latest firmware version (using a different Android device) and they work as advertised. Also, for those who are interested in integrating them into Domoticz as I mentioned above, here is a link to where I share the script.

With the Domoticz running on a Rpi and a MiFi I can get text alerts and e-mails when things happen like the battery voltage gets low. So I have the beginnings of an inexpensive MyRozie that the High Line coaches like New Aire and Essex have!

Luv2go · 06-21-2018, 08:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Luv2go

I just updated my BT-DCPM's to the latest firmware version (using a different Android device) and they work as advertised. Also, for those who are interested in integrating them into Domoticz as I mentioned above, here is a link to where I share the script.

With the Domoticz running on a Rpi and a MiFi I can get text alerts and e-mails when things happen like the battery voltage gets low. So I have the beginnings of an inexpensive MyRozie that the High Line coaches like New Aire and Essex have!

I updated the script in the link, the original script did not notify me as expected for changes due to voltage and percent charged, this version fixes that.

Here's a screenshot of some of the sensors provided by the BT-DCPM plus with three temperature sensors: