Balmar battery monitor with NMEA interface

The SG200 battery monitor displays the state of charge of your service battery and, alternatively, the current charging or consumption current. It can be used to access and adjust the data and settings of the Balmar alternator regulator. All data can be read and settings adjusted via the app using the optional Bluetooth interface.

• Voltage
• State of Charge (SoC)
• State of Health (SoH)
• Current (A)
• Time remaining
• Voltages for two separate auxiliary batteries

What is a battery monitor and why is it important?

Who would argue that it's not good to know how much energy is left in a battery? It's like a fuel gauge: you wouldn't drive a car or boat without knowing how much fuel is left in the tank. This is where the battery monitor comes in. Its most important function is to display the state of charge of a battery or battery bank. The State of Charge (SoC) is a percentage value that indicates how much of the battery's capacity is still available.

The SG200 calculates the state of charge very accurately using a new function: State of Health (SoH). The "State of Health" (SoH) is another percentage value that compares the battery's nominal capacity – i.e., the capacity specified by the manufacturer when new – with its actual capacity. This actual capacity decreases over time as the battery ages.

The SG200 is also not affected by other problems that occur with all other shunt-based systems, such as accuracy drift over multiple partial charge cycles. Simply put, conventional shunt-based products need to reach 100% charge in each cycle. This leads to inaccuracies that multiply with each subsequent cycle where a full 100% charge is not reached.