Bergger
Explorer
Last January my family became the proud owners of an Adventure Trailer Chaser. The Deka 105ah battery it came with is without a doubt the most robust and expensive 12v battery I have ever owned. I wanted a way to easily and accurately monitor the battery’s current charge and state of health. Mario, from Adventure Trailers, turned me on to a neat little gadget called the Battery Bug. The Battery Bug is a product of Argus Analyzers based out of Jamestown, RI. I went ahead and purchased one, the BB-SBM12. While this model was very nice I found out it was actually designed for starting batteries and had functions specific to those types of batteries vs. a deep cycle battery.
A visit to the Battery Bug website, www.batterybug.com, revealed model BB-DCM12 which is specifically designed for large deep cycle batteries. Great I thought. This is exactly what I need. The problem was I could find no one who sold them. I then contacted Jim Hamann, VP of Sales at Argus, and inquired about the deep cycle model. Jim informed me that the deep cycle model would not be available until late March and that he would contact me when they were in. I patiently waited and sure enough Jim got back to me and sent me one last week. Jim has been more than helpful in answering my questions and he is very quick to return emails or phone calls. While I have no affiliation with Jim or Argus I liked this little monitor so much and his customer service was so great I decided to share my review of it with all of you. I also am by no means an expert in this field so these are of course just my opinions on what I think is a cool and very useful product.
The deep cycle battery bug is designed to measure the current charge and overall health of a heavy duty deep cycle battery. In other words it not only tells you how much juice your battery has but also when your should replace your battery. Once connected the microprocessor continuously monitors the charge level and battery health every 60 seconds. It does this by using more than just a traditional measure of the volts. It uses what is called Large Pulse Resistance Technology (LPR) to continuously monitor the internal resistance for your battery. While I don’t understand the science behind LPR I do know that it works by consistently measuring the battery’s internal resistance. By doing this you will get a more accurate measure of how much charge the battery is carrying over the standard and more common volt reading. Also the microprocessor in the Battery Bug learns and remembers your battery’s internal resistance each time it is fully charged. It stores and uses this data to monitor the life cycle of your battery by comparing this data at each full charge. It therefore tracks the decreased performance of the battery and can help let you know when it is time to get a replacement. I think that is a really cool feature. Now I don’t have to worry about how much life my battery has.
Currently only the DCM12-100 model is available. This model is designed to handle batteries in the neighborhood of 100ah. It is fully capable of monitoring my single 105ah Deka Battery. This model retails for $69.99. A 300 model will be available in the next few months designed to handle larger capacity batteries or those run in parallel with over 100ah. The price for the 300 is going to be $99.99. However Jim informed me that the current 100 model can actually handle 300ah! Once the 300 ships, the 100 will be “neutered” down to handle batteries in the neighborhood of 100ah.
The Battery Bug is very easy to install. Simply connect the positive and negative wires and place it in a convenient location using the supplied Velcro. I mounted mine directly on my battery as is suggested. It is approximately 2”x2” and .75” thick and is waterproof to IP-X5 standards. Once connected make sure you fully charge the battery so the Battery Bug can self calibrate itself and learn the full capability of the battery.
The LCD display shows a lot of information. It cycles constantly between three readings, volts, MHO (measure of internal resistance), and % of charge left. It also has a fuel gauge display made up of a series of lines. The right most line represents the overall life of the battery. When the Bug is installed this line will be at and remain at the far right and as the battery ages and looses capability it will move to the left. As the battery discharges from normal use the remaining lines will disappear from right to left. Kind of like a fuel gauge.
It also has a recharge battery indicator and a replace battery indicator. The recharge battery indicator will illuminate at 30% charge. This will also be accompanied by an audible alarm, 2 beeps every 2 minutes. If the charge drops to 15% the indicator will flash and the audible alarm will sound more rapidly. The replace battery indicator will illuminate when the overall battery life line reaches the middle of the gauge, 50%. It will also be accompanied by an audible alarm, 3 seconds of beeps every 30 minutes. When you do end up replacing your battery you can simply reset the Battery Bug by pressing the recessed button which is located under the label on the back side. It is then ready to start monitoring a new battery. There is also an audible alarm to alert you of your battery being overcharged. This will go off if 15 volts or more are being sent to the battery.
I installed the Battery Bug on my Deka 105ah battery in my AT Chaser Trailer. I did not have the opportunity to take the trailer out so I simple tested it in my garage. The only power draw was my Waeco 50. So far the Battery Bug works as advertised. It was easy to install and takes all the guess work out of predicting how much juice is left in your battery. As my battery drained the gauges and readouts reflected this and at 30% the audible alarm sounded. I like the fact that with one quick glance you can see the current volts, MHO (internal resistance), and percent of charge. While it is not a good idea to constantly drain your battery below 50%, if you do and it hits 30% the audible alarm will alert you that it is time to recharge. With the trailer nose box closed I could still hear the two alarm beeps if I was near the trailer. However they are quiet enough that, unless you are a light sleeper, they will most likely not wake you up. If you are a very light sleeper and your getting close to 30% charge remaining I suggest charging prior to sleeping. Otherwise you’ll hear that beep every two minutes, and I’m sure the better half will explain to you that you’d better crawl out of the nice warm sleeping bag and do something about it!
While I obviously was not able to test the long term features of the Battery Bug, so far I am very happy with the product. I really suggest that anyone who uses deep cycle and wants a very easy and accurate way to monitor it place on their battery. For someone like me, who was always nervous of the state of my battery, it makes monitoring your battery effortless. It’s nice to see how much power you have left and when it should be replaced.
Currently the best way to purchase one is by contacting Jim at Argus directly. They will be slowly making their way to different retailers for purchase I’m sure. For now Jim can be reached by phone or email.
Jim Hamann
VP of Sales
jhamann@argusanalyzers.com
401-398-2959 x151
Packaged Battery Bug
View attachment 18022
Battery Bug with manual
View attachment 18021
Attached to my battery
View attachment 18023
A visit to the Battery Bug website, www.batterybug.com, revealed model BB-DCM12 which is specifically designed for large deep cycle batteries. Great I thought. This is exactly what I need. The problem was I could find no one who sold them. I then contacted Jim Hamann, VP of Sales at Argus, and inquired about the deep cycle model. Jim informed me that the deep cycle model would not be available until late March and that he would contact me when they were in. I patiently waited and sure enough Jim got back to me and sent me one last week. Jim has been more than helpful in answering my questions and he is very quick to return emails or phone calls. While I have no affiliation with Jim or Argus I liked this little monitor so much and his customer service was so great I decided to share my review of it with all of you. I also am by no means an expert in this field so these are of course just my opinions on what I think is a cool and very useful product.
The deep cycle battery bug is designed to measure the current charge and overall health of a heavy duty deep cycle battery. In other words it not only tells you how much juice your battery has but also when your should replace your battery. Once connected the microprocessor continuously monitors the charge level and battery health every 60 seconds. It does this by using more than just a traditional measure of the volts. It uses what is called Large Pulse Resistance Technology (LPR) to continuously monitor the internal resistance for your battery. While I don’t understand the science behind LPR I do know that it works by consistently measuring the battery’s internal resistance. By doing this you will get a more accurate measure of how much charge the battery is carrying over the standard and more common volt reading. Also the microprocessor in the Battery Bug learns and remembers your battery’s internal resistance each time it is fully charged. It stores and uses this data to monitor the life cycle of your battery by comparing this data at each full charge. It therefore tracks the decreased performance of the battery and can help let you know when it is time to get a replacement. I think that is a really cool feature. Now I don’t have to worry about how much life my battery has.
Currently only the DCM12-100 model is available. This model is designed to handle batteries in the neighborhood of 100ah. It is fully capable of monitoring my single 105ah Deka Battery. This model retails for $69.99. A 300 model will be available in the next few months designed to handle larger capacity batteries or those run in parallel with over 100ah. The price for the 300 is going to be $99.99. However Jim informed me that the current 100 model can actually handle 300ah! Once the 300 ships, the 100 will be “neutered” down to handle batteries in the neighborhood of 100ah.
The Battery Bug is very easy to install. Simply connect the positive and negative wires and place it in a convenient location using the supplied Velcro. I mounted mine directly on my battery as is suggested. It is approximately 2”x2” and .75” thick and is waterproof to IP-X5 standards. Once connected make sure you fully charge the battery so the Battery Bug can self calibrate itself and learn the full capability of the battery.
The LCD display shows a lot of information. It cycles constantly between three readings, volts, MHO (measure of internal resistance), and % of charge left. It also has a fuel gauge display made up of a series of lines. The right most line represents the overall life of the battery. When the Bug is installed this line will be at and remain at the far right and as the battery ages and looses capability it will move to the left. As the battery discharges from normal use the remaining lines will disappear from right to left. Kind of like a fuel gauge.
It also has a recharge battery indicator and a replace battery indicator. The recharge battery indicator will illuminate at 30% charge. This will also be accompanied by an audible alarm, 2 beeps every 2 minutes. If the charge drops to 15% the indicator will flash and the audible alarm will sound more rapidly. The replace battery indicator will illuminate when the overall battery life line reaches the middle of the gauge, 50%. It will also be accompanied by an audible alarm, 3 seconds of beeps every 30 minutes. When you do end up replacing your battery you can simply reset the Battery Bug by pressing the recessed button which is located under the label on the back side. It is then ready to start monitoring a new battery. There is also an audible alarm to alert you of your battery being overcharged. This will go off if 15 volts or more are being sent to the battery.
I installed the Battery Bug on my Deka 105ah battery in my AT Chaser Trailer. I did not have the opportunity to take the trailer out so I simple tested it in my garage. The only power draw was my Waeco 50. So far the Battery Bug works as advertised. It was easy to install and takes all the guess work out of predicting how much juice is left in your battery. As my battery drained the gauges and readouts reflected this and at 30% the audible alarm sounded. I like the fact that with one quick glance you can see the current volts, MHO (internal resistance), and percent of charge. While it is not a good idea to constantly drain your battery below 50%, if you do and it hits 30% the audible alarm will alert you that it is time to recharge. With the trailer nose box closed I could still hear the two alarm beeps if I was near the trailer. However they are quiet enough that, unless you are a light sleeper, they will most likely not wake you up. If you are a very light sleeper and your getting close to 30% charge remaining I suggest charging prior to sleeping. Otherwise you’ll hear that beep every two minutes, and I’m sure the better half will explain to you that you’d better crawl out of the nice warm sleeping bag and do something about it!
While I obviously was not able to test the long term features of the Battery Bug, so far I am very happy with the product. I really suggest that anyone who uses deep cycle and wants a very easy and accurate way to monitor it place on their battery. For someone like me, who was always nervous of the state of my battery, it makes monitoring your battery effortless. It’s nice to see how much power you have left and when it should be replaced.
Currently the best way to purchase one is by contacting Jim at Argus directly. They will be slowly making their way to different retailers for purchase I’m sure. For now Jim can be reached by phone or email.
Jim Hamann
VP of Sales
jhamann@argusanalyzers.com
401-398-2959 x151
Packaged Battery Bug
View attachment 18022
Battery Bug with manual
View attachment 18021
Attached to my battery
View attachment 18023
