Keeping a watchful eye on the state of your vehicle’s battery charge is just as important as checking your tyres and oil. A faulty charging system, or parasitic drain from something as small as a bad relay can completely drain a battery over the course of an evening, leaving you stranded when you least expect it. Not even installing a new battery can guarantee that you’re going to receive years of trouble-free service.
The fact is, you generally won’t know that your battery’s on its last leg until it’s already too late. And while you can periodically pop the bonnet and check its voltage with a multimeter, it’s not an approach that’s preferable, practical, or can give you a complete picture of what your battery’s doing at any given moment. This is the time that you need a simple, straightforward tool for diagnosing and troubleshooting battery problems anywhere and anytime; and fortunately, that’s exactly what Ultimate9 has to offer.
Precision Bluetooth Battery Monitors Help Eliminate Battery Problems
Let’s be honest: regardless of the type of vehicle you drive, you need a reliable way to check your battery status from time to time, and an Ultimate9 Bluetooth battery monitor is the ideal device to do it. These multifunctional monitors offer precise, affordable oversight of any battery system, and they’re a crucial way of ensuring that you’re always up to date on your battery’s condition, regardless of its age or how you’re using it.
Ultimate9’s compact Bluetooth battery monitors install in minutes, and you’re able to monitor its charge state and voltage in real-time through their free iOS- and Android-compatible BM (Battery Monitoring) app. The app’s not just for monitoring, though. The app makes it possible to use the device to perform a range of automotive battery monitoring tests, including:
- A voltage test. This simple measurement tells you what your battery’s voltage is, along with what percentage of its charge is relative to its power output.
- A cranking test. Depending on the voltage of your battery, this test lets you see whether your battery is producing sufficient cranking voltage.
- A charging test. With your vehicle running, this visualization allows you to see your battery’s charging voltage at either idle or high RPM.
Ideally, once you’ve installed a battery monitor with Bluetooth on your vehicle, you’ll never have to worry again about unexpectedly experiencing a flat battery. And you can even set up the monitor to generate alarms for any time that your battery’s capacity falls below a specified level, or is in urgent need of recharging.
Bluetooth Monitoring Gives You Full Battery Charging Control at All Times
Although Bluetooth monitors are designed to be used with any 6V-20V charging system, it’s no secret that they’re most likely to be used with the 12V systems found in utes, RVs, or even boats. That’s a perfect arrangement though, as 12V battery monitors are an essential device to have any time you expect to be off the grid. You don’t want to wait until the sun begins setting to realize that your battery doesn’t have the volts you need just to keep the lights on, and battery monitors are the solution to that dilemma.
And not only are 12V monitors vital for going off the grid, they can even help you fine-tune your power consumption while you’re out there by storing, and preserving a range of battery specs, such as:
- A 31-day history of your battery’s power measurements;
- Measurement histories for up to 4 separate batteries (including batteries in parallel); and,
- A trip function record that measures battery charging activity while you’re driving.
The ability to manage multiple battery monitors through the BM App is an especially valuable function. It gives you the flexibility to install a 12V monitor on your daily driver, a separate device on your RV during the winter season, and to keep simultaneous tabs on both vehicles’ charging systems at all times.
Top-Quality Monitors That Work With All Types of Batteries
Ultimate9’s standard Bluetooth car battery monitor can be used with the full array of lead acid cranking, auxiliary, and off-grid deep cycle batteries sold in Australia, including:
- Flooded, and sealed lead-acid batteries;
- GEL cell batteries with gelled polymer electrolyte; and,
- AGM (Absorbent Glass Mat) battery cells.
Ultimate9 also makes a 12V battery monitor for lithium batteries that’s fully compatible with the BM Bluetooth App. It fits, performs, and delivers the same high-quality battery monitoring as their standard Bluetooth unit, and it won’t interfere or conflict with any of your other advanced electronic automotive controls, or monitoring systems.
Battery Monitors are the Perfect Charging System Troubleshooters
Although it’s hard not to appreciate the benefits that effective Bluetooth battery monitoring has to offer, it’s important to consider that aside from the battery warning light on your dashboard, battery monitoring is as much about the integrity of your vehicle’s charging system as it is about your battery itself.
A malfunctioning alternator can overcharge, or simply refuse to charge your battery altogether. And depending on the nature of the malfunction, it can even proceed to drain energy from the battery when your engine’s not running. There could be a myriad of charging system problems contributing to your battery’s woes, including:
- Worn brushes or a bad voltage regulator;
- Faulty ECM or a blown fuse; or,
- A failing rectifier that’s stopped converting AC to DC.
While a Bluetooth car battery monitor can’t fix any of these problems, it can be an invaluable help in identifying and isolating them well ahead of them becoming significant enough to show up as dashboard warning lights. Regular battery testing and performance trending with a high-quality monitor will allow you to recognize charging problems like these that could go unnoticed otherwise, potentially sparing you a world of inconvenience.
The Final Word
At the end of the day, with practically every system in most modern vehicles relying on a continuous supply of power from your battery, you can’t afford to be caught aware if a problem is starting. You need as much advanced notification as possible to avoid an unenviable outcome.
With an Ultimate9 Bluetooth battery monitor, you can stay on top of everything that’s happening with your battery, and be ready to respond when you see a problem. They’re the perfect diagnostic and troubleshooting tool for your vehicle’s battery, and you’ll sleep easier knowing that you’ve got one installed.
