Hi, I’m Amy from the altE Store. Five years ago I did a video comparing the Bogart Engineering
TM-2020 and 2025 battery monitors, now we’ll look at the newer TM-2030 models.
The only difference between the TM-2030-A and the TM-2030-RV is the size and label color.
The RV version has it’s own case and a white label. It can be attached right to the wall.
The TM-2030-A does not come with a case, so it can be flush mounted, and fits nicely into
a standard double gang electrical box that can be purchased locally, or with their own
optional box.The A is 4-1/2" x 4 -3/4" x 1-1/4" deep,
the RV is 3" x 5-1/4" x 1-3/8" deep.
The optional twisted pair wire comes with a fuse and holder, and the pre crimped lugs
make installation much easier than providing your own wire. But if you do use your own
wire, both of the meters also come with a fuse holder and fuses as well.
The Trimetrics are a popular choice for monitoring off-grid homes, Recreational Vehicles,
or boats. It can be used on a 12V to 48V system. They can be used to monitor the voltage of
a second battery bank, for instance on a boat or RV that has both a cabin battery bank and
a starter battery. It can be used on a battery bank from 10-10,000 amp hours. It shows 3
digits, and depending on which shunt you use, either 1 or 2 decimal point for the amps.
100 or 500 amp shunts are used most often, and purchased separately. 100A shunt allows
amp measurements from 0.01 to over 70 Amps. 500A shunt allows amp measurements from 0.1
to over 400 Amps.
All models show volts, battery charging and discharging amps, % full based on measured
amp hours, days since last fully charged, and for flooded batteries, days since equalized—and
more. The simple data logging focuses on identifying system problems for troubleshooting.
New to the TM-2030 is an audible alarm that can signal a low battery, which can be silenced.
And a new display shows Replaced Percentage, which shows how much of the most recent discharge
has been replaced to your batteries during the next day's charging. You want to constantly
be putting more power in than taking out, to make up for system losses.
The TM-2030 has Data logging available to diagnose system problems. For each of the
last 5 days, it logs the daily maximum battery voltage level, the minimum charging amps,
and the percent of overcharge achieved. It also logs for up to five of the most recent
charge/discharge cycles. This is useful diagnostic information which a technician can use to
determine that your whole system is working properly. It also has a Serial 0-5V data output,
for extreme techies, with streaming “real time” serial data that could be used to
control other electronics. You can select one of four Operating Levels
at which this meter will operate. It is factory set to Level L1, the basic level suitable
for most users and recommended for starting. Level 2 adds observing Data Logging. Levels
3 and 4 have all functions of Level 2, and also adds additional programming functions,
including some used only when also using the SC-2030 charge controller. You can see more
details of these additional features in the manual.
That’s about it for the Bogart TM2030s. I recommend you also watch our video on the
Bogart SC-2030 charge controller. The TM-2030 meter and SC-2030 charge controller work together
in such a way to make a unique solution. Please subscribe to our altE Store channel, and visit
our website at altestore.com, where we've been making renewable doable since 1999.