Will there be enough power for another night at anchor - or will the engine have to chug a little to recharge the batteries? But if so, for how long? A battery monitor can provide answers to these questions. The Pico from Simarine is designed to provide precise information on the state of charge of the batteries on board, calculate the remaining time until charging and even show how much power the refrigerator is consuming or a solar panel is supplying.
The Pico can be operated with an operating voltage of 6 to 35 volts DC, making it suitable for both 12 and 24-volt vehicle electrical systems. When the lighting and Wi-Fi are switched off, the monitor has a power consumption of just 18 milliampere hours. The monitor has an aluminium housing and measures 98 x 84 x 10 millimetres and is designed for mounting on or recessed in the bulkhead.
The Pico System Monitor is available in three versions: The Pico One Set can monitor battery banks of up to 300 ampere hours, but no more than the voltage of two batteries (starter and consumer battery). It can also display the fill levels of up to two tanks, and alarms can be programmed as soon as the fill level falls below a defined level. Two temperatures can also be recorded and displayed.
The Pico standard set can monitor up to four batteries, display the fill levels of up to four tanks and register four temperatures. It can also be expanded with additional modules.
The Pico Blue set can monitor battery banks with a capacity of up to 500 ampere hours, display the voltage of up to four different batteries, the fill levels of up to seven tanks and four temperatures. In contrast to the other two sets, it is also possible to monitor consumption and charging current via four measuring shunts (25 amps).
All versions have the waterproof and dustproof display, which is said to offer high colour fidelity and good readability with a particularly wide viewing angle. The display lighting is automatically regulated by a light sensor, and it is operated with four touch buttons that should also work with wet fingers. All data can be transferred to the smartphone via Wi-Fi. The Pico One Set costs 299, Pico Standard 399 and Pico Blue 499 euros. Available from SVB.
Michael Rinck
Redakteur Test & Technik
