Inverters with external monitoring screens

[poindexter]

Hey Forum,

I am looking for an inverter with a large capacity. Minimum 3000 watts (ideally bigger).

An absolute must for me is to have an external monitoring screen such as this:

Can anyone recommend a decent brand inverter with external screen that I could take a look at please?

Many thanks,

 

[poindexter]

tbh all I am interested in seeing is the current that is being drawn.

something like this would be a good substitute:

 

[Lenny HB]

If you want a quality one get a Victron they have Bluetooth connection and you can bring all the info up on your phone.

As you are looking a large inverter what batteries do you have?

 

[Gromett]

Victron as Lenny says. Best around currently.

 

[autorouter]

You could easily have a meter with a display, measuring the amps. Note that the one you linked to, the Ketotek 100A one, will definitely not work on the DC input from the batteries. It measures AC only, so would work on the 240V AC output of the inverter. The 'current transformer' sensor (that coil with a hole in the middle, at the end of a wire) will only pick up AC amps.

You could use a DC meter, which will probably have a 'shunt' that all the amps passes through. It can be wired into either the DC positive or the DC negative wire, it works fine in either position. The best one is the Victron BMV series, such as the BMV700 or BMV712. Both have a separate display, with a data wire between the shunt and the display. The 712 has Bluetooth so it can send data to a smartphone app, or other Victron devices that might find the data useful.

Victron Energy BMV-700 Battery Monitor

Victron multi-function battery monitor with many useful features. Suitable for caravans, motorhomes, campervans, boats, industrial and commercial vehicles.

www.12voltplanet.co.uk

Note that if you fit a 3000W inverter, it will draw nearly 300A at full chat, so make sure the shunt can accomodate that. Victron shunts can do 500A, as can some of the cheaper shunts, but quite a few only do 100A or 200A. Shunts are usually used to monitor a battery, but they work fine for measuring amps anywhere - obviously the 'state of charge' calculation should be ignored if it's not directly on a battery terminal.

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[poindexter]

If you want a quality one get a Victron they have Bluetooth connection and you can bring all the info up on your phone.

As you are looking a large inverter what batteries do you have?

Yes but I don't want it on my phone though.

All these products that put their output via the phone, I don't like that. I really don't like that.

My vehicle is for living in. It does things like store water, generate power and move at a rate of MPH. You wouldnt expect your vehicle to only tell you that you are doing 70mph via your phone would you? What if the phone was flat? Or Lost? Well, I feel the same about power generation, water levels and basically every other level or gauge in the vehicle.

My van will never interface with my phone.

 

[poindexter]

If you want a quality one get a Victron they have Bluetooth connection and you can bring all the info up on your phone.

As you are looking a large inverter what batteries do you have?

Im actually about to do another post about that.

Im bang in the middle of speccing up, ordering and installing the system and just noticed something a little worrying on the battery manual.

 

[Lenny HB]

Yes but I don't want it on my phone though.

All these products that put their output via the phone, I don't like that. I really don't like that.

My vehicle is for living in. It does things like store water, generate power and move at a rate of MPH. You wouldnt expect your vehicle to only tell you that you are doing 70mph via your phone would you? What if the phone was flat? Or Lost? Well, I feel the same about power generation, water levels and basically every other level or gauge in the vehicle.

My van will never interface with my phone.

You could fit a Victron Cerbo CX with a touch screen to interface with the inverter but that will cost another 400 quid or you can do it for a lot less using a Raspberry Pi.

 

[Lenny HB]

Im actually about to do another post about that.

Im bang in the middle of speccing up, ordering and installing the system and just noticed something a little worrying on the battery manual.

What batteries do you have?

 

[poindexter]

You could easily have a meter with a display, measuring the amps. Note that the one you linked to, the Ketotek 100A one, will definitely not work on the DC input from the batteries. It measures AC only, so would work on the 240V AC output of the inverter. The 'current transformer' sensor (that coil with a hole in the middle, at the end of a wire) will only pick up AC amps.

You could use a DC meter, which will probably have a 'shunt' that all the amps passes through. It can be wired into either the DC positive or the DC negative wire, it works fine in either position. The best one is the Victron BMV series, such as the BMV700 or BMV712. Both have a separate display, with a data wire between the shunt and the display. The 712 has Bluetooth so it can send data to a smartphone app, or other Victron devices that might find the data useful.

Victron Energy BMV-700 Battery Monitor

Victron multi-function battery monitor with many useful features. Suitable for caravans, motorhomes, campervans, boats, industrial and commercial vehicles.

www.12voltplanet.co.uk

Note that if you fit a 3000W inverter, it will draw nearly 300A at full chat, so make sure the shunt can accomodate that. Victron shunts can do 500A, as can some of the cheaper shunts, but quite a few only do 100A or 200A. Shunts are usually used to monitor a battery, but they work fine for measuring amps anywhere - obviously the 'state of charge' calculation should be ignored if it's not directly on a battery terminal.

Great response. Thanks for that.

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[poindexter]

You could fit a Victron Cerbo CX with a touch screen to interface with the inverter but that will cost another 400 quid or you can do it for a lot less using a Raspberry Pi.

All I want to know is how many amps are moving across the circuit. I could get out my meter and make a series connection to get the answer. Or I could purchase a very cheap ammeter with a 7 segment LED display so I can always see, at a glance, with no bluetooth connection or wait, where is my phone right now.

I just cant see how any other option other than this would be preferable.

 

[AdrianChen]

All I want to know is how many amps are moving across the circuit. I could get out my meter and make a series connection to get the answer. Or I could purchase a very cheap ammeter with a 7 segment LED display so I can always see, at a glance, with no bluetooth connection or wait, where is my phone right now.

I just cant see how any other option other than this would be preferable.

Renogy monitor is seemingly on offer 500amp and £54 Renogy.com UK site

 

[eddie]

All I want to know is how many amps are moving across the circuit. I could get out my meter and make a series connection to get the answer. Or I could purchase a very cheap ammeter with a 7 segment LED display so I can always see, at a glance, with no bluetooth connection or wait, where is my phone right now.

I just cant see how any other option other than this would be preferable.

It’s vastly preferable as you get far more information available

From my phone at a glance I can see how many watts A/C are coming into the van, how many I’m using, if the system is ‘assisting’ by making up the shortfall, or charging, and if so by how many amps, and how that’s being backed up by the solar panels

I have the app on my tablet as well as mine and my wife’s phone

No holes in the van, any new tech installed integrates easily and simply

I just can’t see personally how what we used to install in the old days is any where near as informative

 

[autorouter]

There are two technologies to measure DC current (amps): a sensing resistor usually called a 'shunt resistor', or a Hall probe.

A Hall probe works by sensing the magnetic field that any current generates around the wire. It is used in DC clamp meters. There's no reason why it can't be used in a battery monitor device, but I don't know of any that use this technology. Probably not very good for very low amps values.

A shunt resistor must have all the current passing through it. It is a very low value but very accurate resistor, with about the same resistance value as the same length of ordinary wire, but its value is accurately known. By accurately measuring the voltage drop across the resistor, the amps can be calculated using Ohm's Law. Sometimes the shunt resistor is external to the meter, and sometimes it is built in internally, as in most multimeters.

A problem with shunt resistor monitors is that the shunt must be located so that the amps can pass through it, usually on the battery terminal or in this case on the inverter terminal, which is usually a bit inconvenient for reading. So there is usually a separate display, which can be located in a convenient spot, but some wiring is involved for the display panel.

Some of the meters, like the Victron BMV 712, have a wired display panel and also the option to display data on a smartphone via Bluetooth. Victron also make a 'SmartShunt' which has no display, and can only send data by Bluetooth.

If you just want something to measure amps, then something like this might be OK. It simply measures DC amps and volts, but has no other capability like percentage state of charge. It can measure up to 500A.

DC 200V 500A + Shunt Voltage Current Meter Digital LED Voltmeter Ammeter 12V 24V | eBay

Current: 500A. 1 X 500A/75mV Shunt. --Display: 0.28" LED digital tube. --Size: 48x29x21 mm. --Panel cutout 45.5x26.5 mm. All products are quality checked. --Resolution: 1A. Product Overview.

www.ebay.co.uk