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Battery voltage monitor

by chunkyhampton on November 14, 2012 Table of Contents Battery voltage monitor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Intro: Battery voltage monitor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Step 1: Parts and tools required . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Step 2: Cut the enclosure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . File Downloads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Step 3: Glue the enclosure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Step 4: Solder the display and switch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Step 5: Fit in the LED display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Step 6: Solder the 12V plug . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Step 7: Plug in and monitor your voltages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Related Instructables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2 2 3 3 3 4 6 7 9 9

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Intro: Battery voltage monitor

This voltage monitor has been designed to remotely display battery voltage so that people monitor and maintain their batteries easily. It was designed for use on off-grid reneable energy systems (such as my solar PV system), but it would also be useful to anyone who has a lead-acid battery, such as caravans, boats and cars. It is designed to plug in to a car 'cigar lighter' socket and display the voltage on a remote LED display. Here are the plans to make your own.

Step 1: Parts and tools required

Parts required 3mm plywood sheet (around 1/3 sheet of A4) Wood glue 2 x M3 machine screws (around 12mm long) 2 x M3 nuts 4-digit LED display I used this one from SunTekStore (but available at other places including eBay): http://www.suntekstore.co.uk/product-14002344-036inch_4_digit_digital_panel_voltmeter_0-33v_red_led_voltmeter.html On/off switch I used this one from SunTekStore (but any switch would work): http://www.suntekstore.co.uk/product-14001517-black_mini_size_spdt_slide_switch.html 2m of twin (red/black) cable 'Cigar ligher' type plug Tools required Access to a laser cutter - such as at your local hackspace Soldering iron and solder Side cutters or wire strippers Posidrive screwdriver

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Step 2: Cut the enclosure

For this step you will need access to a laser cutter. I use the one at my local hackspace in Nottingham (http://nottinghack.org.uk/). The .dxf file is attached here. It is also attached as a .pdf for viewing. You are cutting 5 pieces (rather than the 4 shown in the photo) which will all stack on top of each other to create the enclosure. Please feel free to adapt this as you would like.

Image Notes 1. These are the laser cut enclosure pieces. One peice is missing as I needed to add it to this prototype.

File Downloads

Voltage Display Unit v3.dxf (241 KB) [NOTE: When saving, if you see .tmp as the file ext, rename it to 'Voltage Display Unit v3.dxf']

Voltage Display Unit v2.pdf (8 KB) [NOTE: When saving, if you see .tmp as the file ext, rename it to 'Voltage Display Unit v2.pdf']

Step 3: Glue the enclosure

The enclosure is made from a stack of laser cut pieces. The bottom three pieces are glued together and this holds the two M3 nuts in place. The top two pieces are held in place with the two M3 machine screws. This means you can open the enclosure again, for any reason.

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Image Notes 1. Stick the piece with the haxagonal holes onto the base and line it up quite well.

Image Notes 1. Add the M3 nuts into these holes. They will be held in place and used as the screw thread for the scres to hold the front on.

Image Notes 1. Place the last piece on top and line up correctly.

Image Notes 1. Use spring clamps to hold the enclosure base until it dries.

Step 4: Solder the display and switch

The next step is to feed the cable through the small hole in the enclosure. Also push the small slider switch into the smaller hole in the front of the enclosure. Strip the cable back around 5mm. Remove the black cable on the LED display and solder the black wire (of the red/black cable) to the same point on the LED display. The red wire of the LED display is the power supply and the green wire is the voltage monitoring wire - in this case they are the same thing, so we connect them together and wire them to the switch. Wire the red cable of the red/black cable to the switch and solder.

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Image Notes 1. Solder the black cable (of the red/black cable) to the point where the original black cable was.

Image Notes 1. Solder red wire to one of the outer terminals of the switch.

Image Notes 1. Both red and green wires are soldere to the middle of the slider on/off switch.

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Step 5: Fit in the LED display

The wires and switch are soldered. We now need to use the last two laser cut pieces to close up the LED display unit. Apply some hot melt glue to hold the display into place. Ensure not too much glue is used as it could stop the unit from closing correctly. Use the M3 machine screws to clamp the unit closed.

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Step 6: Solder the 12V plug

Open the plug by removing the black screw and the front metal connector (this unscrews and then the metal disk pulls off) Push the red/black cable through the cable grip. This is hard work as the hole is only just the right size. Use some long nose pliers to pull the cable through. Put the red wire through the spring and solder on the connector. Solder the black wire to one of the side connectors. Screw together the plug and put back the metal disk and fuse and end connector.

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Step 7: Plug in and monitor your voltages

You are now finished - easy eh? Now you can remotely monitor your battery voltage. Please have a look at these articles for more detail on how battery voltage relates to state of charge of your battery: http://www.scubaengineer.com/documents/lead_acid_battery_charging_graphs.pdf http://www.re-innovation.co.uk/web12/index.php/en/info-sheets/battery-worksheet I also can supply the parts for this project (within the UK) in a kit available here, if anyone is interested: http://www.re-innovation.co.uk/web12/index.php/en/products-2/battery-voltmeter-shop

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