Installing a Renogy RBM500 Battery Monitor // RV Renovation, Part 9

Get this battery monitor from Renogy! (Supports the channel)
renogy.sjv.io/...
Today we're installing a Renogy RBM500 Battery Monitor in our Motorhome so help us keep up with our power usage and battery capacity.
RV Renovation Series:
• RV Renovation
Instagram:
/ wilderadventuresyt
#boondocking #offgrid #rv
Questions about our setup? Here's the details! (If you use these links to purchase products it helps support the channel!)
Motorhome
- 2002 Fleetwood Fiesta 26-Q (27 ft.)
- 3x 100W Renogy Solar Panels (renogy.sjv.io/...)
- 40A Renogy Rover Charge Controller (renogy.sjv.io/...)
- 2x 110Ah AGM 12v batteries
- Renogy 500A Battery Monitor (renogy.sjv.io/...)
- Bluetti EB70S Portable 800 Watt Power Station (www.bluettipow...)
- Our solar setup (panels, charge controller, cables, fuses) can be purchased as a kit from Renogy. (renogy.sjv.io/...)
Local Transport
- RadRover 5 by Rad Power Bikes
- RadWagon 4 by Rad Power Bikes
- Sport Rider eBike Hitch rack by Hollywood Bike Racks
- Thule Yepp Maxi child bike seat
Internet Access
- T-Mobile unlimited iPad Plan w/ 20GB Hotspot
- 2x Unlimited Verizon mobile w/ Hotspots (30GB un-throttled, network management at 30+GB)

[@ChrisOsborn-Ozzy]

"gallons of light"!!!!!!!! best part!

[@HomeARoam]

Perfect timing! I'm going to be installing a similar monitor on our new battery bank when everything arrives. We've experienced the "furnace dying due to low voltage" a few times during winter boondocking and looking forward to not having to worry about it as much!

[@WilderAdventures]

Yep, we never knew when and how long to run the generator to leave us with enough battery for the night. We just finished a solar install and have a video coming out for it next week. Happy to report the monitor works extremely well for evaluating our solar performance as well!

[@LacroixCruiser]

Light gallons, too cute!

[@Jays1ndone]

Ha, love the light gallons comment!

[@bvcmargie5887]

Such a good video ..im impressed and want my don to watch these...he loves this kind of stuff 👍💯

[@Coopdundee]

Nice presentation

[@quoleo]

Great video, very well done.

[@easydiy224]

New subbie. Yeah, definitely need a good battery monitor that shows the SOC. Great video 👍

[@WilderAdventures]

We’re a year into this one and I can’t imagine boondocking without it! -Casey

[@campingwiththeadamss8552]

Nice! I just installed my solar and I was looking for an item like this.

[@WilderAdventures]

Glad it helped!

[@dupre7416]

I have one of those terrible and unhelpful four light meters. It thinks my 200aH is full until it is almost empty. Not great. I'm putting in the Renogy unit this weekend.

[@WilderAdventures]

How’d it turn out?

[@beagledad2478]

Awesome. Just what I was looking for, thanks.

[@WilderAdventures]

Thanks for watching!

[@ThrasherGnar]

Awesome video, installing mine next week, was hoping to find a video just like this. Thanks for sharing ✌️

[@WilderAdventures]

Thanks for watching! - Casey

[@Moh1cans]

Hey mate when charging an discharging at the same time what dose the AH read? ie 10 amps coming in, 2 amps going out will it read at 8 amps coming in? Hope you understand what I mean.

[@WilderAdventures]

You got it, it shows the cumulative amount. 10 amps in and 2 out would show a charge rate of 8 amps while 2 amps in and 10 out would show a discharge rate of 8.

[@JeepTJay6]

6:47 So does the P- side ground to the chassis someplace? If not, how does your bank ground to the chassis.

[@janiskubat5855]

I really appreciate project days! #lightgallons

[@WilderAdventures]

A couple more projects in the works before our next trip!

[@janiskubat5855]

@@WilderAdventures , looking forward to the solar install.

[@marcring4863]

My monitor is installed. It also shows when power is drawn from the battery and how much. But the level of the display does not change and always remains at 100 percent. What am I doing wron

[@WilderAdventures]

Sorry, I’m not sure about this! -Paige

[@tluva1020]

I built small systems for remote security. I run everything off the charge controller "load output terminals". Would this work for that config?? Or does it need to be tied directly to the battery?

[@WilderAdventures]

This would still work as far as I know.

[@chrisstanleymusic7436]

I installed mine and the battery level is showing 0%. It will show the amps being pulled when I turn my fan on though. It looks like yours did the same thing and then the video and then it cut out and then it was showing the percent (your battery was shaded too. Did you have to program the monitor to get the percent left to show it should the monitor do it automatically?

[@WilderAdventures]

Make sure your battery is fully charged and then hold the up button for 3 seconds or so. It will set your current charge level as 100%. You also need to set your capacity in amp hours via the menu. I think you push the bottom button to do that

[@xierxu]

15 minutes of run time. Acid 50% discharge for a healthy battery.

[@lighto999]

what size lugs do u need for the shunt?

[@robertgregory2618]

Did you pit a small fuse on that small wire from the shunt to the battery. I can't tell..Hope this works well for you. I have one to install that's similar. Please understand i am not trying to be critical but those big cables should have been crimped on. IMHO

[@WilderAdventures]

Hi Robert, thanks for your comment. The battery cables came pre-assembled from a reputable manufacturer. I'm not sure how they fasten the terminators on, but I'd have definitely crimped any cables I made myself. They have held up great for nearly a year now!

[@evenstargalaxy9586]

I have one. Monitoring 26v batteries, 232amp hours. Set it all up. First use ran the Rv background draw, about 1.5A, plus 2.5A CPAP for 10 hours and other minor draws. Indicated it was using about 19 watts. By next morning it is still reading 100%, 99.99 hours remaining. Voltage dropped from 12.8 to 12.5. Any idea what I have going on?

[@WilderAdventures]

If it showed 19 watts @ 2.5A that would be around 7 volts, so either the voltage is set wrong, or you have some of your loads terminating at the battery instead of the shunt. The shunt will not be able to track any loads that do not pass through it.

[@finfish260]

Did you have to drill out the holes on the plastic mounting block before screwing it to your wall?

[@WilderAdventures]

Nope, no screws, it just clips in. I only drilled out pilot holes to get the jigsaw blade started. - Casey

[@norbertrivera]

The battery capacity is performed automatically or is set by you?

[@WilderAdventures]

It is set manually, the device shows 0 ah by default. So, you can use it with any size system. Since we're running AGMs and not lithium, we set ours to show half of the battery capacity. The monitor will hit 0% when we've discharged the batteries to 50%.

[@norbertrivera]

@@WilderAdventures Ok,thanks

[@lukeneave]

Awsome video mate, do you have a link to electrical connectors kit you brought?

[@jimdandy4329]

You’ll want the 1-0 gauge wire (at least) and 3/8” 1-0 wire lugs for the shunt and 5/16” for the terminals. You can find them on Amazon. You’re also going to need a wire crimping anvil, wire cutter and some 1” heat shrink tubing.

[@SuperMario127.]

Does the indicator work with a battery powered fan?

[@WilderAdventures]

Yep, it shows any load in or out from the battery.

[@BushRatNZ]

Is the remaining time on the screen hours and minutes?

[@WilderAdventures]

Yep, you are correct.

[@davidl2022]

Were your batteries wired in series or parallel?

[@WilderAdventures]

They are parallel, running it as double capacity for a 12v system.

[@adry441]

I just installed itI need to know why the screen light is blinking????

[@WilderAdventures]

It blinks when charging, solid when discharging. You can hold the top button for a few seconds to turn off the backlight.

[@no1stato]

What size wire did you run from the shunt to the neg on battery?

[@WilderAdventures]

I believe it’s 6 gauge. A few people have pointed out it’s “wrong” to have a smaller gauge wire there than our chassis wiring (which is huge, 2/0 wire) but for a 12” run the 6 gauge is well within tolerance for our max 1000W load

[@NK-dl2nc]

😳👍

[@Macrotron85]

can you control the light somehow or is just always on while charge/discharge?

[@WilderAdventures]

It's always on while discharging, and pulses during charging. It turns off for loads < 2W from what I can tell. That's probably the one thing I don't love about it so far, as it does produce a visible green glow in the motorhome at night. Almost like those green square night lights from the 90s.

[@Macrotron85]

@@WilderAdventures ah thanks for your answer mate. I saw in another video in the meantime that whenn you press and hold the top button (two secs or so) the light will be switched off

[@nonyabizness.original]

you talked about the parts in the box, talked about installing it, talked about changing out a terminal, and then showed a quick shot of the whole thing installed. no install instructions.... i'll keep looking.

[@WilderAdventures]

Never said it was a tutorial, good luck!

[@hoozierdaddy57]

Hello. What type of batteries did you connect this to?

[@WilderAdventures]

We're running two 110AH 12V Sealed AGMs in parallel currently, but I believe the monitor works with any battery type. - Casey

[@True__North]

@@WilderAdventures Hey Casey, nice video. Keep in mind that AGM batteries can be discharged to 50% without damage. If you discharge them below 50% it will reduce batteries lifetime. I would suggest setting an alarm on battery monitor to 110Ah. Good luck!

[@WilderAdventures]

Thanks Yury, these are deep cycle AGMs and the manufacturer says they can be safely discharged to 25% on their spec sheet and maintain > 90% of their cycle count expectations. I've got the alarm set for 75Ah to give me some cushion on the manufacturer recommendation! -Casey

[@jamesgriffin1376]

I dont know what your rv is like but it seems super dangerous to have the positive post and cable lug that close to the metal enclosure. It seems like it could bump it and ground out and arc.

[@WilderAdventures]

Shipped that way from the factory, 80,000 miles and going strong.