AiLi Battery Monitor as an affordable alternative to Victron BMV (1 Viewer)

[CamperJack]

I have been looking at a way to monitor the battery, which will become important when I install higher power items like my fridge. The easiest way for me would be with a percentage as I can never remember what voltage equates to what state of charge level and there is also the complication of power coming in and going out affecting the voltage reading. It's just complicated. Glancing at a percentage would be so much easier.

I've seen a lot of the youtubers using Victron BMVs. These seem to cost £130 - £180, depending on the model.

Digging deeper I found a few lesser known youtubers using and installing something that looks remarkably similar in functionality, without the bluetooth of Victron for monitoring via your phone. The alternative is the AiLi battery monitor. These are a fraction of the cost at just £48.

This comes with a shunt rated to 350 amps, so there would be no trouble installing a big invertor, if that's what I decide. The only thing I can see that it doesn't have that the Victron does is that the AiLi cannot send the data to your phone and I don't care about that.

Before hitting the buy button I wondered if anyone here actually has one and if they rate it?

Video:



Amazon:
Amazon product ASIN B07CTKMLVD

 

[Tombola]

NOt used it but 600 votes on amazon says almost 95% positive.

 

[Bobby-gg]

I can't comment on that exact model, although there's plenty on YouTube reviews, but I did have another similar but cheaper one and it was awful, it just wasn't reliable enough to trust - I've since fitted a bmv-712 and wished that I'd just done than in the first place, it just works!
The cheaper bmv-700 doesn't have the Bluetooth functionality I believe if you do require it

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[Lenny HB]

A friend has just installed one but with the current situation he has not had a chance to see how well it works.
I don't think it has the in depth setting that the Victron has which allows you to tweak the setting for perfect performance for your type of battery & system.

A cheaper alternative to the Victron BMV 700 series is their new Smart Shunt at £125 the display is only via Bluetooth to your phone.

 

[CamperJack]

I did have another similar but cheaper one and it was awful, it just wasn't reliable enough to trust

In what way wasn't it reliable?

 

[CamperJack]

A friend has just installed one but with the current situation he has not had a chance to see how well it works.
I don't think it has the in depth setting that the Victron has which allows you to tweak the setting for perfect performance for your type of battery & system.

A cheaper alternative to the Victron BMV 700 series is their new Smart Shunt at £125 the display is only via Bluetooth to your phone.

Interesting, Lenny. Thanks.

From what I understand you tell it when your battery is full, and how many amp hours you have. It then counts the amps going in and out and therefore knows how many amp hours are left and can work out a percentage from that?? Perhaps that's overly simplistic, but I'm simple. I just want a percentage and to know it's fairly accurate. When I look at voltage I'm very much guessing and don't want to be doing that when I start running higher powered items like a fridge.

Even the cheaper Victron is about 2.5 times the price of this AiLi. It's tricky. Sometimes the cheap stuff is great - like the Chinese diesel heaters and my EPEEVER MPPT solar charge controller (not cheap, but compared to Victron of similar specs it is). Sometimes the cheaper stuff is garbage.

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[Two on Tour]

Tinker2 fitted one of these a few months back and it's doing what it should do by all accounts.

The cable between the shunt and the readout is only 1 metre long rather than the 5 metre Victron supply with theirs but it's not the biggest job in the world to extend it.

 

[Itsmcb]

I have one of these. Fitted since January and it definitely seems to work ok. You set the capacity of your battery(s) when full. It has read outs for battery voltage, ( which agrees with my digital voltmeter), amps in or out and battery percentage. Mine came with a 5 metre lead so my readout is in one of my top lockers with my solar controller. I am happy with it

 

[CamperJack]

I have one of these. Fitted since January and it definitely seems to work ok. You set the capacity of your battery(s) when full. It has read outs for battery voltage, ( which agrees with my digital voltmeter), amps in or out and battery percentage. Mine came with a 5 metre lead so my readout is in one of my top lockers with my solar controller. I am happy with it

Thanks for the info!! Is the screen bright at night?

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[Itsmcb]

Yes quite bright, mines in a cupboard for just that reason. The display does turn off after a certain time but not sure how long that is.

 

[CamperJack]

Yes quite bright, mines in a cupboard for just that reason. The display does turn off after a certain time but not sure how long that is.

Cheers. So it's still bright even after the display has turned off? I might have to rethink placement if that is the case.

 

[Lenny HB]

From what I understand you tell it when your battery is full, and how many amp hours you have. It then counts the amps going in and out and therefore knows how many amp hours are left and can work out a percentage from that?? Perhaps that's overly simplistic, but I'm simple. I just want a percentage and to know it's fairly accurate. When I look at voltage I'm very much guessing and don't want to be doing that when I start running higher powered items like a fridge.

It's the percentage that falls over if its not set up correctly as I found out on our I'll fated German trip last October. I ended up in hospital for a week and couldn't drive for quite a few days when I got out.

The van spent 14 days in October on a Stellapatz with no facilities and very little sun. I have a BMV 700 which I thought I'd set up correctly, on the 13th day meter was saying 40% but working on battery capacity and amps draw I made it 20%. I was right, not a problem as they are Gels.
I have since spent a couple of weeks setting up the BMV700 and the percentage reading is now accurate.

Below are some of the setting on the BMV with my latest setting.
You also need to adjust the battery capacity annually to account for loss of capacity 2.5% per year with lead that is why my battery capacity is set at 210ah when the batteries are 3 x 78ah (234ah)

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[Doobray]

A bit cheaper on Aliexpress

 

[Itsmcb]

Cheers. So it's still bright even after the display has turned off? I might have to rethink placement if that is the case.

No, it's bright when it's on, dim when it's not. Same day or night.

 

[Itsmcb]

A bit cheaper on Aliexpress

Plus postage, probably also plus import duty and a longgggg wait for it to be delivered. Plus no chance of returning it if it's faulty

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[CamperJack]

Plus postage, probably also plus import duty and a longgggg wait for it to be delivered. Plus no chance of returning it if it's faulty

One of the best things about Amazon is their returns. I sent back two things last week. Just stick it back in box, the post office print a label and you don't pay anything.

 

[Tombola]

One of the best things about Amazon is their returns. I sent back two things last week. Just stick it back in box, the post office print a label and you don't pay anything.

Far better customer service in my experience than any bricks and mortar store Ive ever used.
I have a victron, but am gonna try one of these jack in my conversion im starting to do, so thanks for the heads up

 

[CamperJack]

Far better customer service in my experience than any bricks and mortar store Ive ever used.
I have a victron, but am gonna try one of these jack in my conversion im starting to do, so thanks for the heads up

Let us all know how you get on with it. Fairly sure I will give it a go too.

What are you converting? Are you doing it yourself?

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[Tombola]

Let us all know how you get on with it. Fairly sure I will give it a go too.

What are you converting? Are you doing it yourself?

Yeah Ive got a transit ex minibus, gonna start it this next few weeks/summer. Been following yours and other threads,
Was going to start one a few years ago but now I have more time its a goer

 

[CamperJack]

Yeah Ive got a transit ex minibus, gonna start it this next few weeks/summer. Been following yours and other threads,
Was going to start one a few years ago but now I have more time its a goer

Make sure you post about it on here!

 

[Diabalo]

I have one fitted it does what it says on the tin, voltage, amps in amps out and battery capacity. The only down side for some is that the screen is on all the time, for me it's in the cupboard so not a problem.

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[Diabalo]

Just dropped the Aili battery monitor instructions in resources for anyone interested.

 

[Lenny HB]

One of the best things about Amazon is their returns. I sent back two things last week. Just stick it back in box, the post office print a label and you don't pay anything.

If buying something I might want to return I don't mind paying a little extra on Amazon.

 

[Pausim]

Lenny HB makes a very good point about settings. Without a Charge Efficiency and Peukert’s Exponent set to suit the battery type the battery readings will stray on each charge/discharge cycle. The Victron is expensive but it is the only one I could find that allowed me to enter the proper settings for my battery.

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[Lenny HB]

Just dropped the Aili battery monitor instructions in resources for anyone interested.

Lenny HB makes a very good point about settings. Without a Charge Efficiency and Peukert’s Exponent set to suit the battery type the battery readings will stray on each charge/discharge cycle. The Victron is expensive but it is the only one I could find that allowed me to enter the proper settings for my battery.

Just had a look at the Aili instructions, it only allows you to set battery capacity, there is no way it will ever show an accurate percentage reading that CamperJack wants.

A few notes on my Victron settings.

The capacity was set to take into account the age of the batteries.
Peukert exponent was set to 1.25 as my batteries are a few years old if they had been new Gels I would have set it to 1.1

I then spent nearly 2 weeks discharging and recharging the batteries tweaking the Discharge floor, Tail current, & Charge efficencey to finally get the percentage reading accurate over the range of 20 to 100%.

I set the charge voltage to 14.6v to stop it Auto syncing as my charge voltage never gets above 14.4v. Manual sync is more accurate providing you remember to do it.

There are also quite a few other settings in the Vicron including alarms and a relay that can be switch by the alarm setting.
And don't forget all the history you can read, battery cycles, total power used, power used since last charge etc.

I don't think the Aili & Victron are comparable, the Aili is fine if you just want voltage and current, the Victron is a serious battery monitor that gives you the real story.

I fitted a cheap battery monitor to my last van it was fine but I had no other experience of them. Having now had a Victron I would say it's the only one worth having.

 

[Diabalo]

Lenny, I see where you are coming from but how many of us want to be that exact, the Aili battery monitor only gives a basic indication of things which is good enough for my needs, Camperjack made need more precise information as you say.

 

[Lenny HB]

Lenny, I see where you are coming from but how many of us want to be that exact,

All us Nerds.

Having been in a situation where I needed accurate battery information I find it essential, I'll agree it not important if you use EHU, we don't.

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[CamperJack]

Thanks, Lenny HB . I get the point you're making. It's valid. However half the trouble I would have is setting the correct details into the Victron. It's still all a bit beyond me. I'd need someone to help me do it I think, and without that there is no point.

Im not even sure what voltage I should be looking at for my batteries!

They are 2X 120ah Hankook xv110mf.

 

[Lenny HB]

Thanks, Lenny HB . I get the point you're making. It's valid. However half the trouble I would have is setting the correct details into the Victron. It's still all a bit beyond me. I'd need someone to help me do it I think, and without that there is no point.

Im not even sure what voltage I should be looking at for my batteries!

They are 2X 120ah Hankook xv110mf.

Plenty of help on here.

 

[CamperJack]

Plenty of help on here.

I know. You're all sooo good but I feel bad asking so much!

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