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Old 06-06-2018, 02:12 PM   #1
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Default Thornwave Bluetooth Battery Monitor

Ran into this today and don’t recall seeing it mentioned here. Supports an external shunt for currents above 60 amps and uses bluetooth to interface to your phone so no need to run a cable to an external display. Seems to have reasonable functionality with SOC calculated from the current flow through the shunt. Also supports an external relay to disconnect the batteries on low/high voltage or overcurrent. Supports voltage monitoring on a second battery.

https://www.thornwave.com/products-b...%7Bad.id%7D%7D
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Old 06-22-2018, 02:09 PM   #2
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The nice documentation for this device describes specific RV and truck applications. It has a 60A internal shunt. Could this amperage be sufficient for some of these uses?

Would it be fool hardy to use the internal shunt in my 12V RV situation?

All my (WBO Travato) high Amp loads are 120V (heat, AC, microwave). My line charger is 40A; wincrasher reported his Travato alternator produced 35A max; my 200W solar can't do more than 12A which could possibly be additive. The only other high amperage I can think of is the "battery boost" switch which may flow high current briefly when used to jump the van. I could work with "don't do that" if needed to allow me to test or hopefully use the monitor.

Is there any amperage element I'm missing? Would use of the internal shunt be an invitation to quickly fry the device?

Thornwave is located near me in Raleigh which gives me positive vibes and I think I could learn a lot by trying this neat thing out.
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Old 06-22-2018, 02:28 PM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Saldar View Post
The nice documentation for this device describes specific RV and truck applications. It has a 60A internal shunt. Could this amperage be sufficient for some of these uses?

Would it be fool hardy to use the internal shunt in my 12V RV situation?

All my (WBO Travato) high Amp loads are 120V (heat, AC, microwave). My line charger is 40A; wincrasher reported his Travato alternator produced 35A max; my 200W solar can't do more than 12A which could possibly be additive. The only other high amperage I can think of is the "battery boost" switch which may flow high current briefly when used to jump the van. I could work with "don't do that" if needed to allow me to test or hopefully use the monitor.

Is there any amperage element I'm missing? Would use of the internal shunt be an invitation to quickly fry the device?

Thornwave is located near me in Raleigh which gives me positive vibes and I think I could learn a lot by trying this neat thing out.
An external shunt is cheap and easy to install at the batteries and wire to the monitor, I would use one if I was doing it.
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Old 06-22-2018, 03:00 PM   #4
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Thank you. This would be a very easy install for me using my existing Magnum shunt which is 0.1 milliohm - 50mV/500A. With my Android headset radio, I could have this info right at the dashboard. 21st Century.
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Old 06-22-2018, 03:22 PM   #5
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The other option to get both a wall display and bluetooth is to go with the Victron monitor with built in bluetooth. Cost is higher but has more features with the wall mount and a nice app which may be better than the Thornwave. I don’t have experience with either but the Victron app for bluetooth looks excellent.
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