Do You Need Bluetooth Enabled Chargers, Battery Monitors and Other Devices?

A question we are often asked by our customers is whether they need a charger, battery monitor, inverter or other device that is Bluetooth enabled?

In this article, we run through some of the benefits of having Bluetooth enabled devices and offer alternatives if Bluetooth is not an option for you as a user. 

We have broken this down into charger types, please see these below:

MPPT Solar Controllers

If you are fitting a solar system on your van, boat or off-grid home you will require a solar charger to regulate the voltages and current that a solar panel will put out to make it suitable for charging a leisure battery, and MPPT controllers are the most efficient solar controllers on the market.

We hold a wide range of MPPT controllers in stock, some that are 'smart' devices which have Bluetooth enabled on them and some which do not have Bluetooth capabilities. Having a solar controller with Bluetooth enabled (for example Victron Energy's solar controllers) can be really useful so that you can have an in depth report of how much solar power has been produced over a certain time, how much it is producing at the present time and much more. With Victron's free app called VictronConnect, you can even look back through historical data so you can see how much solar was going into your batteries when you were not with your vehicle. This is all great if you are happy to use your smart phone to review all of the data and have the desire to actually use the features that Victron Energy provide, but what if you just want the unit to charge your battery without any of the bells and whistles that go with it?

We stock a range of solar controllers made by Photonic Universe which are non smart devices and actually just have a simple display screen showing simply your solar panels voltage, an estimation of your battery's state of charge and other warnings such as overvoltage or connection issues. These units are very popular as they are simple to use and have some features that other controllers do not have such as a trickle charge feature where the unit will send a small current (1A) to a secondary battery (usually your starter battery) to keep this topped up as well as the main battery that you are charging (typically your leisure battery). 

Victron Energy's devices are smart (Bluetooth enabled) and as a result of this, require being set up to charge your battery via their free app (VictronConnect). The Victron Energy units are awesome, they have 5 year warranties and they are the most popular brand of chargers that we sell, but there are definitely options out there for users who do not want to go down the route of having smart devices or have no means of setting the unit up, for example not having a smartphone. 

DC-DC Chargers

DC-DC chargers (also known as B2B or battery-to-battery chargers) will take a charge from your starter battery to your leisure battery, whilst your engine is running and they are commonly used in leisure vehicles. We stock a wide range of DC-DC chargers, which include smart devices and non-smart devices.

Victron Energy's DC-DC chargers are all Bluetooth enabled and as a result of that, require being set up via their app. On the app, you can set your battery type and change various parameters from there, you can view how much current is going into the batteries, the input and output voltages and more. This is all useful information to know, but a lot of users simply just want to know the unit is charging the battery, which you will be able to find out with non smart devices as well.

An example of a non smart device which has great features is Sterling Power's Saturn range of DC-DC chargers. The range includes different outputs for different battery sizes including 25A, 40A, 70A and 120A outputs. These Sterling Power units, although they are not 'smart' devices, have different features to the Victron range including bidirectional charging (enables starter battery trickle charging), Jump Start Assistance Mode and more. Although having a 'smart' device has it's benefits, other models that we stock which don't require a set up via Bluetooth are also really popular and great quality devices.

Mains Chargers

We hold a wide selection of mains battery chargers in stock, some of which are simply plug and play devices with LED indicators on them to show what level of charge the battery has reached and some of which are Bluetooth enabled devices, made by, you guessed it, Victron Energy.

We stock four different, 'smart'/Bluetooth enabled models of the Victron Energy mains chargers, these include the IP65 and IP67 chargers which both come with cables and built in fuses so, other than the initial set up via Bluetooth, they are plug and play devices. The IP22 and IP43 chargers do not come with cabling so you would have to purchase separate 12v cabling and fusing to complete the set up. As with all of the other Victron devices, they come with a comprehensive 5 year warranty and they are suitable for use with all battery types. 

We also stock much more simple devices made by a company called Durite which come complete with cables that have crocodile clips on them to attach to the battery (these are not suitable for use with lithium batteries, just sealed, AGM & Gel lead-acid batteries). They also feature LED lights on the unit which show the charge state that the battery being charged is in so it is very simple in comparison to the smarter chargers.

Additionally, we have a range of Sterling Power's mains chargers called the 'Pro Charge Ultra' range. These non-smart battery chargers are high quality units with some in-depth features such as having multiple outputs for different batteries, automatic desulphation to extend battery life, ignition protected for safe use in engine compartments and they are designed to work perfectly with generators. They are also suitable for use with all battery types, take a look at the range here. Sterling offers an external remote control screen for the chargers where you can get readouts on the charging voltage and current, temperature of the charger and battery, error messages and much more.

Inverters and Inverter/Chargers

Our range of inverters and inverter/chargers (inverter with an in-built mains battery charger and AC transfer switch) includes 'smart' and 'non-smart' devices with a variety of different features.

Our Durite and Sterling inverters are all non-smart devices which are very much plug and play devices, at a great price point. 

The Victron Energy standalone inverters that we stock are great quality and they produce a range of Bluetooth enabled units and non-Bluetooth enabled units. The models from 250VA-1200VA as standard are not Bluetooth enabled, however, you can purchase a separate Bluetooth dongle which can be plugged into them which transforms them into a 'smart' device that can be monitored via the VictronConnect app. The models from 1600VA and up come built-in with Bluetooth capability and they are fully configurable through the VictronConnect app. Victron Energy also produces a range of inverter/charger units, none of which are 'smart devices' so they would require a Bluetooth dongle to make them 'smart' and be configurable through Bluetooth.

Battery Monitors

In our range of battery monitors, it is Victron Energy that produces the most accurate and best quality devices. Unlike in some of their charger ranges, they produce 'smart' and 'non-smart' devices to suit the different needs of their users.

The BMV-700 is a non-smart battery monitor which just has a physical screen to read all of the data from your battery. The parameters that it displays include battery voltage, current going in and out of the battery, total Ah consumed by the battery, the battery's state of charge %, time left to go in the battery and more. The in-depth readings that you can access through the BMV-700's display make it a popular unit for users who do not have an interest in checking the information on a smartphone.

The other monitors in their range are Bluetooth enabled and they have different features which are summarised below:

Victron Energy BMV-712

Like the BMV-700, the BMV-712 has a physical screen where you can access the battery information from your vehicle, but it also has Bluetooth capability so you can access the information from your smartphone or tablet. You can access the same information that you can from the BMV-700 but you can also monitor voltage on a second battery (typically the engine starter battery).

Victron Energy SmartShunt Range

The Victron Energy SmartShunts are standalone Bluetooth devices which don't have a physical screen, so the information that they produce can only be accessed via Victron's app (or a Cerbo GX or similar GX device). 

We also stock some non-branded monitoring devices, including voltmeters, panel mount battery meters, and more. These are not as accurate as the Victron devices but can definitely serve a purpose in a campervan. Please see a link here to our range of these.

Batteries

We hold a wide range of AGM & lithium batteries in stock, some of which are Bluetooth enabled. Currently, our most popular batteries are the Fogstar Lithium Batteries, and the range consists of three different lines: the Drift, Drift Pro and Drift ECO batteries, which all have slightly different features.

The Drift and Drift Pro batteries are Bluetooth enabled so you can access the battery charge information through Fogstar's free app. With these batteries, an external battery monitor would not be needed, unless you would prefer a physical display like the Victron Energy BMV-700. The Drift and Drift Pro batteries both have in-built heaters to keep them above 0°C while charging (lithium batteries do not accept a charge below freezing) and they come with a 10 year warranty, which shows the trust Fogstar have in the build quality of these units.

The Drift ECO batteries do not have Bluetooth capabilities or a built in heater, but they are a great price for a high quality battery. With these units, an external battery monitor would be useful to keep track of your battery's state of charge.

Along with the Fogstar range of lithium batteries, we also stock a range of Victron's lithium batteries (which do not have Bluetooth), TN Power's lithium batteries (again without Bluetooth) and Topband's lithium batteries - the B and T Series have Bluetooth capabilities and the S Series does not. The Bluetooth for the Topband series works similarly to the Fogstar range in that you can use an app to monitor the battery and check on its state of charge and more. 

Finally, we stock a range of Victron and TN Power AGM batteries, none of which are Bluetooth enabled, so it would be advantageous to have a battery monitor to keep an eye on the battery's state of charge. This is important for the health of AGM batteries as they do not like to be discharged below 50%.

As you can see from the above, the variety of chargers, monitors and inverters that we stock suits the needs of our customers whether they are interested in their system having Bluetooth capabilities or not. 

We hope that this article helps you make an informed decision of which type of units will suit your setup. If you have any questions regarding this article or anything else about your electrical system, send us an email to sales@12voltplanet.co.uk and we will be happy to help.