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Old 11-09-2021, 10:33 PM   #1
MYCART8A4RE
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Default Lithium battery level meter

So.... I already have a great monitoring system for my lithium set up that reads everything I need right on my dash as well as through a BT app but I can't stand the green backlight on the dash meter. I have an all black cart with carbon fiber accents and red led lighting accents. The green is out of place so I want to change it. (Yes I'm a bit OCD, lol). I can only find a typical battery level meter that has a red led display that is 12-60v and would look great on the dash. It's a pretty basic led battery meter.

My question has to do with adding another battery dash meter and how to hook it up to either the 350a shunt I already have or another shunt or ?. The shunt I have has a special wiring adapter port that has a 5 wire harness that runs to the current dash meter. So I don't know what pins do what. For dash use I really only need to see the percentage of battery remaining and nothing else. Is it OK to run a digital battery level % meter right off the lithium pack or do I need to use a shunt? Most shunt/meter setups come as a whole but I'm trying to add my own digital meter as I can't find any of the shunt/ meters/setups with red displays to go with my theme (once again, yes I'm a bit OCD) . I'm only looking for basics to read the percentage of battery just as a quick look. I have the BT app that I connect to the battery to gauge the most important things. But like to see the percentage of battery on the dash. Can anyone offer input on this? Please excuse my OCD-ness
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Old 11-09-2021, 11:30 PM   #2
Tom47
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Default Re: Lithium battery level meter

Quote:
Originally Posted by MYCART8A4RE View Post
So.... I already have a great monitoring system for my lithium set up that reads everything I need right on my dash as well as through a BT app but I can't stand the green backlight on the dash meter. I have an all black cart with carbon fiber accents and red led lighting accents. The green is out of place so I want to change it. (Yes I'm a bit OCD, lol). I can only find a typical battery level meter that has a red led display that is 12-60v and would look great on the dash. It's a pretty basic led battery meter.

My question has to do with adding another battery dash meter and how to hook it up to either the 350a shunt I already have or another shunt or ?. The shunt I have has a special wiring adapter port that has a 5 wire harness that runs to the current dash meter. So I don't know what pins do what. For dash use I really only need to see the percentage of battery remaining and nothing else. Is it OK to run a digital battery level % meter right off the lithium pack or do I need to use a shunt? Most shunt/meter setups come as a whole but I'm trying to add my own digital meter as I can't find any of the shunt/ meters/setups with red displays to go with my theme (once again, yes I'm a bit OCD) . I'm only looking for basics to read the percentage of battery just as a quick look. I have the BT app that I connect to the battery to gauge the most important things. But like to see the percentage of battery on the dash. Can anyone offer input on this? Please excuse my OCD-ness
I could be wrong, but I think the only meter you can use without a shunt is a volt meter. Voltage readings are not useful on a lithium cart, only FLA carts.

If anyone knows of a percentage meter that does not need to be shunt connected, please let us know.
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Old 11-10-2021, 04:44 AM   #3
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Default Re: Lithium battery level meter

If you're really that OCD, have an electronics guy change the green LED's in your existing display to red or orange (red may be too dark for back lighting).

Some displays convert voltage to percentage but as Tom said, they're useless for LiPO4. What you need is a coulomb counting meter and they must use either a current shunt or a current transformer (CT).

Cheers
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Old 11-10-2021, 07:29 AM   #4
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Default Re: Lithium battery level meter

Great info guys. I really appreciate that!

I'm curious how this meter works as it displays battery percentage but does not come with a shunt: https://goteborgsaventyrscenter.se/p...-red-backlight

I'm not opposed to using a shunt, I guess my biggest thing is not fully understanding them. I know they allow for more readings and are more accurate than just connecting directly to a battery. I get confused as I see meters and shunts purchased together as a kit that have their own proprietary wiring harness so I don't know how I could pick a meter i want and then a shunt and wire it together, unless the shunt comes with a wire diagram. I do see that the meter I posted has multiple wires on the back. Should this meter be connected to a shunt? Is so, can anyone explain where I would connect those wires to exactly? Would I have to cut the current wires on my shunt harness and connect those to them? I would have to find a wiring schematic for the shunt/meter I'm using to do so.
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Old 11-10-2021, 08:30 AM   #5
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Default Re: Lithium battery level meter

This is the one that I bought; I am happy with it (and it obviously comes in red). Don't pay attention to the raised cup holder-I hadn't finished figuring out how to make everything clear and was still working on that (it is fixed now!)!

https://www.ebay.com/itm/351263255556
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File Type: jpg AH Meter 4.jpg (109.6 KB, 0 views)
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Old 11-10-2021, 08:58 AM   #6
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Default Re: Lithium battery level meter

Cool set up Simikrintz, I like that display.
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Old 11-10-2021, 10:50 AM   #7
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Default Re: Lithium battery level meter

Let me see if I can rephrase my concerns and questions. Basically I would like to install an aftermarket battery meter to read the battery capacity in % remaining on my lithium pack. I understand a shunt will allow me to read the amps, amp hour rating & voltage of the pack. I don't want to see any of those as I can monitor them through my BT app connected to my lithium pack. What I would like to see is the battery capacity (%) via the guage/meter I posted above on my dash for quick view. I'm unsure how to get this reading from the shunt as on most shunts the posts to connect to offer amperage and other readings, not the battery capacity remaining which has to come from the positive side of the battery, unless I'm seeing this wrong. How would I go about wiring in the meter I want to use? Or can I not use the meter I posted above to read the % of remaining battery capacity? This is probably how I should have worded my initial post. I appreciate any help!
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Old 11-10-2021, 12:05 PM   #8
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Default Re: Lithium battery level meter

The ones with a shunt use an algorthythm based on the capacity of the pack that you program into it, voltages, and current consumption to determine your percentage of charge remaining.

The ones without a shunt you can program max and min voltage, and it will tells percentage based on the CURRENT voltage reading the meter sees at that second. It basically combines the old school “bar meter fuel gauge” and a voltage display.

The only way to accurately gauge capacity and remaining capacity is with a meter and a shunt. That said, you have to set up the shunt based meter for your pack capacity, and set upper and lower thresholds for accurate readings, but that’s the only way to be accurate.

However, if you carefully pay attention and watch voltages on a meter, and know your cart well… I.E. resting voltage, voltage under load, cruising voltage, etc. basically watching the voltage meter constantly under all driving conditions at various states of charge you will learn your cart pretty well, and can know it well enough to ballpark remaining charge. It’s not 100% accurate but you learn where you need to turn around and go home.

In summary, your best bet is to change the LCD backlight color to amber on your current gauge.
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Old 11-10-2021, 12:50 PM   #9
MYCART8A4RE
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Default Re: Lithium battery level meter

Thank you for explaning that, it really helps put things into perspective. Seems I'm constantly wanting to do things that are not easy to do.

New objective: quit trying to change sh#t, leave it the hell alone!

Seriously though, thank you to everybody who offered insight on the subject!
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Old 11-10-2021, 01:20 PM   #10
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Default Re: Lithium battery level meter

Out of curiosity, are there places that would really open a gauge and change the backlight color? I know people do it on their cars and motorcycles quite a bit. I just wasnt sure where I would go or how to locate a place to have it done. This is the gauge/meter I'm currently using:
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