I always wanted an easy to read battery capacity meter on my home solar battery bank. Here is how I installed one in less than 10minutes.

Step 1: The Meter.

This meter I got off Amazon.com and it tells the capacity and voltage of the target battery bank. It has only one white pushbutton switch behind it from configuration. A long press is 3 seconds. To configure you have to;

Long press to get the first menu 1U. This changes the voltage offset of the reading by long pressing to go down in reading. To go up just release the button and long press again.

After the first long press, short press once to get the second menu. Long pressing this causes it to cycle through 4 values which are the nominal voltage of a cell chemistry. Since I'm on lifepo4 I used 3.2v.

After the first long press, short press twice to get the third menu. This allows selection of the number of series cells by a long press.

After the first long press, short press thrice to get the final menu. Long pressing allows cycling through voltage, percentage or both being displayed.

If any value is changed just leave it be for 3 seconds and the screen will flash to show it saving.

Step 2: Where to Put the Meter.

I decided to put the meter next to my Outback fm80 charge controller. To access the battery voltage I took off the access panel which is held by 3 Phillips head screws.

Step 3: Sticking on the Meter.

I cleaned both surfaces with Rubbing alcohol then used double sided tape to stick the meter onto the case of the fm80.

Step 4: Wiring in the Meter.

I loosened the lugs at the battery terminals and slid the meter leads inside. I paid careful attention to the polarity here. I made sure to properly torque back the lug screws after.