How to Set Up the Simarine PICO - the most beautiful and versatile battery monitor ever? - Part 1

[@rosslukeman]

Get the Ultimate Van Power Cheat Sheet: www.rosslukeman.com/vanpower

[@chrisheath623]

This is one very well made YT video. very clear camera work and excellent explanations and commentary. well done and thanks.

[@CodigoNomada]

This content and all of your channel is pure GOLD, my friend. As a van conversion professional is incredibly helpful for me. You've got one more sub!

[@melekbas4390]

Another great video. I have just started kitting out my new boat with Victron charging products (MPPT Solar & Phoenix) and I was also looking at the Victron shunts and monitors but this has made me think of going down the Simarine route for monitoring because this looks better than the Victron offering. Using two apps instead of one could be a bit of a pain but then again I’m not sure how much I’ll use the apps if I have a nice display. Decisions decisions!!

[@pjritts1]

I'd love it if you could do a video to explain/demystify the Pico C/5, C/10, and C/20 configuration values for various batteries. Maybe a part 3?

[@rosslukeman]

Those are manufacturer ratings that some battery manuals provide. Most amp-hour ratings are C/20, so a 100Ah battery only puts out 100Ah if you run it down over 20 hours. If you burn through it in 5 hours, you don't get 100Ah, but maybe 50Ah, even though the label says 100. This is more pertinent for lead-acid, as it loses capacity the faster you burn through its power. These would be in your battery manual, if your manufacturer provides these ratings at all. If not, just put the 100Ah or whatever the label says in the C/20 category. Simarine's video on it: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eKDHc4mXfKZ3g80

[@KevinMoyer]

Thank you so much for covering these products! I’ve been highly interested in the Simarine ecosystem for a while for an upcoming boat refit of mine. Any, and all information you can give on Simarine products I am certainly appreciative of 👍👍

[@rosslukeman]

Awesome Kevin! Good to know you're interested in this system. I'll keep them coming, at least 1 or 2 more videos. Thanks for tuning in!

[@keithbrookshire]

This looks like a fantastic system. I'm looking forward to the additional videos using the Pico.

[@rosslukeman]

Awesome Keith! I'm glad you're interested in the upcoming videos. That gives me a little motivation to make them, knowing people are interested. Thanks for the comment!

[@davidpatrick1813]

What first crossed my mind when you said the incline meter... It might be nice on a solar panel and make up a little stepper motor and adjust it by had ... I have an apple phone too and couldn't help but see the 15%. whew

[@rosslukeman]

Hey David, that's kind of what I like about the Simarine, all sorts of things can be plugged in for all sorts of reasons. A fun little system for sure. Yeah my phone got pretty run down...all of that off-camera testing I suppose.

[@tiborchren]

Very interesting and nice devices, looking forward to more videos on this system. I'd be interested in a comparison of the accuracy of the Simarine Shnuts versus the Victron Smart Shunt. I assume there is no option to connect to the Venus OS even with the additional RPi programming.

[@rosslukeman]

Hi Tibor, thanks for stopping in, and good to know you want to see more of this system! Good idea on the shunt comparison. I may have to do some sort of Simarine versus Victron video in the future. As the Venus OS is open-source, perhaps it could be programmed to work with Simarine, although I am not sure Victron would be very helpful to make that happen. Thanks for the comment!

[@campervan-vlad]

Hi Ross. Looking for advice. Have a simarine shunt + tank sensor. Works totally fine for me. Also have mppt /dc to dc - charger brand is SRNE. And inverter for 3000w. Now looking for add offshore charger/inverter. So thinking about replacing my inverter to victron multiplus 2000 or 3000va - not sure yet. So my question: is it will works fine with this setup? Or probably need add something else from victron range to the system? For control it?

[@stephenhill6017]

Great video! Really helpful

[@rosslukeman]

Thanks for the kind words Stephen, I'm glad this video was helpful. Thanks for tuning in!

[@damienpenza1656]

G'day mate have you got any videos of wiring up a inverter into the simarine system

[@rosslukeman]

Hi Damien, thanks for tuning in again. If you just want to use the Simarine as a battery monitor, then you would follow what's shown in this video, and connect your inverter to the positive/negative bus bars. The Simarine will track what the inverter draws from the batteries. Hope that helps!

[@Kobluk]

Super cool :) Can I somehow pair it with Victron Smart Shunt? Also what do you think about Simarine Via monitor for RVs?

[@rosslukeman]

Hey there, thanks for tuning in. I like the SmartShunt but in this case the Simarine SC303 or SC503 or Quadro Shunts would be a much better choice because they will network and show up on the PICO or the VIA. I do have a VIA here and will be doing a full review soon. It is basically the PICO with on-board controls. Very elegant. More soon...thanks for stopping in!

[@pjritts1]

Great video! I just installed my Pico system with SC503 shunts this past weekend. And I wish I had found this video BEFORE I started my install. It would have saved me a lot of time. Other videos I have seen are not nearly as clear and comprehensive. So, congratulations, and thank you! Also, I learned that you can configure your monitor display for Advanced->Detailed, and then select and hold the down & up arrow simultaneously on the home screen to instantly learn the percentage value of the battery, rather than wait for the Pico to learn it. Finally, at 15:27 I see you hooked up the wires to the voltage input on the shunt. I didn't need to do this for my installation. I have a standard wet lead acid battery and I'm receiving voltage readings without this extra connection. Is this required for Lithium batteries?

[@rosslukeman]

Hey there, thanks for checking out my video! Great to hear you found it helpful. Thanks for the additional details about Advanced->Detailed and the 100% reset option. On the voltage input, I tend to do that with every battery monitor, and the cord came with the Pico, so I used it for my demo. The Pico is also connected to the same battery, so its internal meter will give you a voltage reading. Voltage distortions occur in these systems due to high currents sometimes, so I tend to take the voltage reading right at the battery, but in this case it's probably not as critical as there's hardly any current in the lines running the Pico. Regarding lead-acid vs lithium on the voltage reading, it's a nice reading to have regardless of battery chemistry. Hope that helps, thanks for your input!

[@GQme]

Can it work as switch panel in case I wanted to turn lights on … etc or it’s just a monitor ?

[@rosslukeman]

Hey there, they have a model with switches called Simarine VIA which you can check out here: simarine.net/via/ Hope that helps, thanks for tuning in!

[@luidabruin]

Do you have any information on the "via"?

[@rosslukeman]

Not yet but that’s my next video.

[@k6travels545]

great job with this mate, very informative :)

[@rosslukeman]

I'm glad that was helpful, thanks for tuning in!

[@nitrolanzallamas]

Hello Luke I am having issues with the last firmware , have you hear something ? the screen is blocked.

[@rosslukeman]

I would contact Simarine at [e-mail] and see if they have any suggestions. I don't know what to tell you on this one.

[@InfiniteIndie]

Great video! I wanna get 2 200Ah Lithium Batteries and my system is 12V. Will the Pico one handle that? I’ll plug the batteries parallel.

[@rosslukeman]

Hey thanks for tuning in. Yes the Pico will definitely handle that, just put it in the main cable (positive or negative) running to your battery bank, and it will keep track of both batteries (so long as you tell it the total amp hours of both batteries). Thanks for watching and leaving a comment! Ross

[@xiangchen2569]

You are the best ❤

[@rosslukeman]

Thank you!