Balmar SG200 acting erratic

[Mike_B]

Hi guys and gals
So I have a factory installed Balmar SG200 battery monitoring on my new R25 that’s acting erratically. After the factory delivery experience we cruised the sound for about a week and everything worked fine. Once we got the boat back home to Oregon I started experiencing some erratic behavior from the Balmar battery monitoring system. The boat is parked next to my house, it’s always plugged into shore power with the battery charger on and all power consuming switches turned off, I also pull fuses on all 3 bilge pumps. Despite all this I continued to get alerts from the Balmar claiming my battery bank is completely discharged ( 0%SOC). The display on the Kisae Abso 60amp charger indicates all battery banks are full. I can run the microwave on the inverter for 2 minutes with no problem so obviously the lithium bank is not dead as the Balmar sg200 suggests. I updated the Balmar software via the Balmar app on my iPhone. I also pulled the fuse on the Balmar in hopes that a reset might solve the problem . Neither of these efforts resolved the erratic Balmar readings. For example after unplugging and replugging the fuse the Balmar read 100% SOC for about 5 minutes then proceeded to periodically drop over about 10 minutes down to 0% SOC. A second time of unplugging and replugging the Balmar fuse it now just shows 0% SOC. I’ve reached out to Ranger customer support, but I figured I would post my problem here in hopes one of the members might have dealt with a similar problem.

Thanks

 

[DMD3]

Same experience with our new R27 LE. A week on the Sound after delivery, worked very nicely. We are now back east, boat is winterized. I head to marina every two weeks or so, hook up shore power and get the charger going.

It’s erratic, all over the place. Trouble starting up, initializing, connecting to network, gateway…I’ve read and reread the Balmar documentation. I’m starting to believe it could be something to do with the self learning and associated issues with accuracy. I’m not going to worry too much more about it until we get her back in the water and on regular cycles.

Very interested however in any other experiences others may have had.

 

[Gin]

I have a Balmar SG200 (self- rather than factory-installed). I haven’t had the exact problem described in the first two posts, but I did have some erratic readings on mine that started after it had worked well for nearly two years. Balmar support had some trouble pinning down the issue. But a full reboot — accomplished by pulling the fuse for 10 seconds, then restarting — often improved it for awhile. Eventually I spotted some uninsulated wire slightly visible on the backside of the Deutsch-style plug for the wiring harness (that connects the shunt and the monitor). It looked like the wire was backing out of the connection inside the plug, like the crimp inside wasn’t solid. I talked with Balmar and may have sent them a photo (not sure about that). They replaced the wiring harness, which solved the problem. Their and my combined thinking was that the connection on that one wire was weak and was cutting out from time to time, which would cause the monitor to behave oddly, and the reboot would correct it until the next time the connection cut out.

If the factory installed the SG200, and the electronics are still under warranty, start with the factory or dealer. It should be their problem to fix, yes? Otherwise, call Balmar. I found the people who work their support lines to be knowledgeable, helpful, and patient. And if they are stumped by your problem, take a close look at the connections on the Deustch plugs on the wiring harness. HTH.

Gini

 

[Mike_B]

Same experience with our new R27 LE. A week on the Sound after delivery, worked very nicely. We are now back east, boat is winterized. I head to marina every two weeks or so, hook up shore power and get the charger going.

It’s erratic, all over the place. Trouble starting up, initializing, connecting to network, gateway…I’ve read and reread the Balmar documentation. I’m starting to believe it could be something to do with the self learning and associated issues with accuracy. I’m not going to worry too much more about it until we get her back in the water and on regular cycles.

Very interested however in any other experiences others may have had.

Thanks for the reply, it’s nice to know I’m not the only one currently dealing with this problem. I’m currently waiting on a reply from Ivan and or Tim at the factory on further troubleshooting . I did a “Balmar”search on Tugnuts and found another user who had Balmar problems similar to ours, he never posted about how he resolved his problem, if he ever did.?

 

[Mike_B]

I have a Balmar SG200 (self- rather than factory-installed). I haven’t had the exact problem described in the first two posts, but I did have some erratic readings on mine that started after it had worked well for nearly two years. Balmar support had some trouble pinning down the issue. But a full reboot — accomplished by pulling the fuse for 10 seconds, then restarting — often improved it for awhile. Eventually I spotted some uninsulated wire slightly visible on the backside of the Deutsch-style plug for the wiring harness (that connects the shunt and the monitor). It looked like the wire was backing out of the connection inside the plug, like the crimp inside wasn’t solid. I talked with Balmar and may have sent them a photo (not sure about that). They replaced the wiring harness, which solved the problem. Their and my combined thinking was that the connection on that one wire was weak and was cutting out from time to time, which would cause the monitor to behave oddly, and the reboot would correct it until the next time the connection cut out.

If the factory installed the SG200, and the electronics are still under warranty, start with the factory or dealer. It should be their problem to fix, yes? Otherwise, call Balmar. I found the people who work their support lines to be knowledgeable, helpful, and patient. And if they are stumped by your problem, take a close look at the connections on the Deustch plugs on the wiring harness. HTH.

Gini

Thanks for the idea. I went down the boating forum internet rabbit hole on this problem and found other people that had issues with the plug you are referring to, others seem to struggle with getting the Balmar to work properly despite a great deal of effort ( I read this on the internet so take that into consideration :lol: ) Anyway, I think I will inspect that plug you referred to next . The boat was delivered in October so yes it’s under warranty, however the factory is a 8 hour drive away so I would like to figure this out on my own with some guidance from the factory if possible. Thanks, I’ll keep you all posted if I learn anything more.

 

[ID1890]

Mine on my 2021 25OB also acted erractically from new. Sometimes it worked, then it would go dead. Pulled fuses, checked the deutsch connecters/wiring at the gauge and shunt. Finally tracked it down to a poorly installed (at the factory) small gauge wire ring connection to the battery terminal. The small gauge wire at the ring connector was barely making contact initially, and then no connection. Repaired and Balmar has worked fine since then.

 

[Mike_B]

I figured I would update this thread incase anyone else has any similar Balmar SG200 troubles. After many email exchanges with Ranger tug customer service (who were great) and additional correspondences with Balmar corporation tech support it boils down to the following. The Balmar sg200 system doesn’t like discharges below 10% SOC. Deep discharges cause the system to act erratic, which then gives incorrect readings. If you happen to get erratic readings as a result of a deep discharge the fix is easy. Just adjust the battery capacity to a different amount in the settings menu then return it back to the correct setting in the gauge settings . It’s best to do this “fix’’ when the batteries are fully charged as indicated by the onboard charger. Since going through all this I’ve been very careful to not discharge below 10% and have not had this problem again. Those of us with Luxury Edition boats have to be very mindful of battery SOC because these boats by nature are power hogs if your using the heating / cooling system in very cold or warm conditions. I hope this helps someone !

 

[DMD3]

Same experience with our new R27 LE. A week on the Sound after delivery, worked very nicely. We are now back east, boat is winterized. I head to marina every two weeks or so, hook up shore power and get the charger going.

It’s erratic, all over the place. Trouble starting up, initializing, connecting to network, gateway…I’ve read and reread the Balmar documentation. I’m starting to believe it could be something to do with the self learning and associated issues with accuracy. I’m not going to worry too much more about it until we get her back in the water and on regular cycles.

Very interested however in any other experiences others may have had.

Quick follow up on this after five or so weeks on the water. Working flawlessly on local display and the iPhone app via Bluetooth. Looking into adding the start and thruster banks. I see there is support for multiple banks and I’ve identified the spare (yellow and yellow/ black) wires for this purpose on the shunt. Really do appreciate having this battery monitor on board. Certainly must have been self learning routines.