Installing an inexpensive 12V battery monitor

Discussion in 'Hyundai Kona Electric' started by KiwiME, Feb 29, 2020.

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  1. Great find, thanks for that, working @ 4 V could be very beneficial at a time when it would be most useful.
    Any link to this product?
     
    mho likes this.
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  3. Tim94549

    Tim94549 Active Member

    I mentioned in another thread that a simple BLUELINK Feature addition would be really convenient - to show the current VOLTAGE of the 12v Battery in the VEHICLE STATUS display. If anyone thinks this is a good idea, you can send that Feature request to [email protected]

    Maybe if enough ask for it they'll add this to a future update to BLUELINK. IMHO It's kind of ridiculous that we're on our own out here, buying various "monitors" and hacks for something that THEY already have the information for us.
     
  4. search for Hyundai HYBM-2
     
  5. navguy12

    navguy12 Well-Known Member

    My wife's Kona is getting three (software update) recalls taken care of this Friday morning.

    Have folks temporarily removed their BM2 unit from the 12 volt battery prior to bringing the vehicle into the dealership for recall/software updates?

    Thanks.
     
  6. Yup, figured it best that they don't see it.
     
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  8. I did not because I wanted to document the beating my aux battery got while under the knife. No one mentioned its presence and I doubt they even noticed, being as it's wrapped behind the battery.
    09FA7971-C9BC-4BAA-BD5F-23E38B0172C3_1_105_c.jpeg
     
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  9. navguy12

    navguy12 Well-Known Member

    Well, I guess I'll wait and see how I feel Friday morning. :confused:
     
  10. navguy12

    navguy12 Well-Known Member

    The service visit was done this morning and I kept the monitor in place.

    12v_monitor_after_26feb2021_update.PNG
     
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  11. Pretty much consistent with KiwiME chart, additionally shows recovery after the initial plunge.
     
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  13. I'm updating this thread with a pic of the BM-2 internals. I bought a second one for my ICE car and it cracked open when I tried to stick it in place with BlueTack.
    The main visible chip is a Bluetooth Low Energy modem and there is an LED above the pot that flashes once every time a reading is made. I would expect that a microcontroller is located on the underside but the PCB is glued into the case. Like much of the amazingly-cheap hobby technology we can buy from China these days, this appears to be state of the art.

    The pot is for calibrating the voltage to a reference and I was able to adjust that against my DMM to get it perfect. The crap glue used to hold the case together means that the unit is not going to be 100% watertight so best keep these located in a mostly dry area or seal it up with epoxy as I did.
    A final note is that when you have more than one BM-2 you can only assign one to the app. You need to upgrade the app (NZ$17) to monitor multiple units.

    IMG_0790.JPG
     
  14. Too late to edit but I'll add that the free app does work with two units as you can select any that are in Bluetooth range via the settings. I suppose the pay app allows alerts from more than one device, a feature I'm not using.
     
  15. And just for reference here are typical results from the two ICE-specific tests. Note that the charging voltage is the same as what we see on the Kona.

    upload_2021-4-4_17-46-30.png

    upload_2021-4-4_17-46-11.png
     
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  16. Does anyone know of a similar battery monitor that will retain data when it's disconnected from the battery, or if the battery dies?
     
  17. Hey KiwiME,

    Do you intend to use this device with an Apple device or Android? Because if it's with Android I'm afraid you're out of luck - my seller tells me the app has been withdrawn from Google Playstore, though the iOS version is in Apples App Store and I'm told works ok. Being Android only, I am in the process of getting a refund.

    My seller was https://iroogroup.com.au, who seem to have a fair bit to do with Hyundai, so if they can't find the app I don't hold out much hope.

    If you know of anyone with an apk file or can find one I'd appreciate a heads-up, otherwise I'll go ahead with the refund.

    Cheers
     
  18. It still loses data when the battery goes completely dead (or when disconnected), I suppose?
     
  19. The Hyundai HYBM-2 monitor I bought turned out to be a piece of junk so I returned it many months ago. It doesn't do logging, just instantaneous voltage, hardly any better than using a simple voltmeter.

    And as far as using two BM-2 devices, it turns out that the free app can't deal with two sets of history data. I'd have to try the pay app to get my second one going again, if I can find it again as I'm not seeing it anymore.
     
    Last edited: Jul 6, 2021
  20. hieronymous

    hieronymous Active Member

    BM-2? BM12V? Free app? Paid app? This is getting confusing...
    Aren't all these the same but differently labelled? There isn't a paid app for the BM12V mentioned anywhere, and its free app runs two (or more) vehicle histories OK...
     
  21. Ignoring the Hyundai device which doesn't seem to be related, I've found three apps so far, Battery Monitor BM2, Century BM12V and Matson.

    I have one hardware device marked BM2 the another marked Matson, was sold at SuperCheap a few months back. The one currently sold at SuperCheap is marked Century BM12V and looks similar but not identical.

    I've been using the BM2 app on iOS and Android for over a year and it works with the BM2 and Matson devices, but in my experience from some months back in iOS it loses history if both are accessed over time. It was also a pain to select the device if they were both local, it picks the first on in the list. I didn't try this in Android.

    But there is a paid version called BM3 (Android only) by the same developer, indicated as being multi-battery but it was a bit too pricey for an experiment so I haven't bothered, nevermind the terrible reviews. I haven't tried multiple devices on the free app recently, noting that it has been updated frequently, last time only 2 months ago, it's now at 2.19.2 (iOS), 3.3.1 (Android).

    The Century BM12V app (1.2.1) looks exactly like the BM2 app but hasn't been updated and looks abandoned. I'm deleting that one.

    The Matson app (see pic below) looks totally different, handles four devices but doesn't oddly won't connect with either of my 2 devices, iOS or Android. The QR code on the Matson device amusingly goes to the BM2 app. The developer of this app is the same as the Century BM12V app. I'm deleting the Matson app.

    Confusing? How? lol

    86BBF816-2C86-4F49-9AAE-C0A5FDF13F21_1_105_c.jpeg IMG_0313.jpeg

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    Last edited: Jul 7, 2021
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  22. hieronymous

    hieronymous Active Member

    Whoa, scratched a nerve there! Thanks for the detailed reply, I think?
    So far, my 2 bm12v installs (android) have performed as expected, including reloading the last data set previously viewed...
     
  23. No nerve scratched, just joking about how silly it all is!
     

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