For Magayon II’s 48V batteries
Why?
The simple charge unit for the 48V motor batteries built in a rush did not work. A main problem was that the cheap voltage meters bought from Lazada did break after a few days. The unit also got very hot, caused also by the voltage meters. This, in combination with the total lack of wind, led to us abandoning the plan to sail Magayon II to the All Souls Regatta in October 2024. See the Regatta post for details.
After the regatta, which we then joined on Kareem’s Sonija, I had some time in November to design and build a better battery monitor based on an Arduino Nano. To allow for expansion it is designed for 3 LiFePo4 batteries, currently we only have two installed.
Specifications
Based on the learnings from the testing and during the abandoned trip I developed the following specifications:
- Display of all battery voltages (48V Starboard, 48V Port, 48V spare, 12V for lights) digitally
- Charging batteries individually switched
- Display charge status in %, based on battery voltage
- LED display for charger connected
- LED display for battery low (20%)