Yacht Devices introduces NMEA 2000 battery monitor
New product: Yacht Devices NMEA 2000 Battery Monitor
The device reports battery voltage, current, health and charge state to NMEA 2000 and can turn on the genset or warn when the battery state is critical.
There may be many reasons not to turn on the engine: the watch has just changed, your wife is a light sleeper, or just to feel the magic of sailing in silence. But even deep cycle batteries may die unexpectedly fast despite the price and the brand. And the magic time of sailing in harmony with nature
will be shorter and shorter.
The Battery Monitor gives control over the discharge of your batteries including turning off unnecessary loads in advance, and warning you or your crew when batteries are flat, or even automatically turning on the genset. The device is designed to work with a standard 75 mV shunt (not supplied with the device) with no limits for rated current (shunts in the range from 5A to 1200A are widely available). 50 and 100 mV shunts can also be used with limits in range and accuracy.
The Battery Monitor can be configured to use data from an NMEA 2000 thermometer connected to the battery to detect the charge state and health more accurately. The device configuration can be uploaded from a text configuration file on a MicroSD card. The chemistry, nominal capacity and voltage, and other parameters can be set, including a custom discharge curve if required.
The user can also specify digital switching channels to turn on to raise alarms or to run the genset, and set custom rules for actions. The device is compatible with digital switching and alarm units managed with standard NMEA 2000 PGNs 127501/127502.
The device can also be used to provide NMEA 2000 devices, including chart plotters and data recorders, with the actual performance of wind generators, solar panels, alternators and other DC sources or loads (windlasses, fridges) with operating voltage up to 40V.
The device’s case is 54mm in length, and is equipped with a NMEA 2000 Micro Male or SeaTalk NG connectors. The device can be connected directly to the backbone, no NMEA 2000 drop cables are required.
The Battery Monitor will be presented at the Yacht Devices booth #5.455 at the METS Trade expo on November 19, and will be available for order in January for USD $149.
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looks like an excellent product, however I was dissapointed to see that it “only” supports
current shunts – which makes it difficult for a retrofit (requires breaking into cables, new additional lug/connections etc ) & also adds some additional voltage losses from shunt and connections.
With the advent of reasonable priced hall effect (DC current) thru hole transducers – which are “non invasive” and much simpler for a retrofit … this option would be appealing to many i suspect
In my experience, Hall effect DC current sensors are prone to drifting, necessitating frequency recalibration. They’re also (presumably because of the low level/high impedance output signal) quite prone to RFI – talking on the SSB shouldn’t mess up your battery meter!
I’m not sure what’s “standard” about a 75mv shunt – every battery monitor shunt I’ve ever encountered was a 50mv shunt. And the pictured (very small) shunt isn’t likely to be very useful in a typical boat installation.
Good catch, I’d missed that. I think that’s a typo since I saw a pre-production unit working on what appeared to be a standard 50mv shunt. I also think the one you’re seeing in this picture is a rendering but it’s irrelevant either way as they don’t intend to supply the shunt.
-Ben S.
They do say the device will work with other types of shunt, so I suppose it’s fully programmable – a good thing. It seems to me that most of the digital current meters/shunts coming out of the far east nowadays use 75mv shunts (though all I’ve seen are way below 500 amp) so that may be the source of their wording. I have a 50amp/75mv shunt here that looks a lot like the one in their picture.
I don’t suppose you’ve had any updates on the release of this? I’ve tried getting in touch with Yacht Devices with no luck!
Tom,
When last I checked in with Yacht Devices they were delayed as a result of manufacturing issues with Covid-19. They were hoping to release the battery monitor in September, but a quick check of the calendar suggests that didn’t happen. I’ll check in with them again.
-Ben S.
Hi Ben What is happening with this N2K battery monitor from Yacht Devices? What other companies offer a N2K battery monitor?
Did this ever make it to market? It’s not listed as a product for sale on their website.
I was looking for this device too, for simple monitoring of starter batteries.
Alternatives I am aware of, are Maretron DCM100, Offshore Systems / Oceanic Systems 3410, CZone Meter Interface and Veratron Linkup IBS.