All Blog Posts

A Simple Guide to Caravan Awnings: Advice & Tips

The perfect time to relax and make memories that you won’t ever forget is during a holiday. One perfect example of a holiday that allows you to bond with family and friends and create wonderful memories together is a caravan holiday. Caravanning, whether you’re going camping or travelling across the country, is an affordable way to take your family on an adventure and bond. Read More →

A Simple Guide to Christmas Gifts For Gin Lovers

Christmas is just around the corner. This year is slowly coming to an end and most people couldn’t be happier about it. Although the world currently faces one of the biggest challenges in the past decades, we shouldn’t give up on our holidays. Maybe this year everything is different and we will delay our parties for some better days, but that doesn’t mean that we should forget about gifts. Giving thoughtful Christmas gifts can be a great way to wrap up this year in a bit more positive light.

A Simple Guide to Picking Stylish Clothing for Boys

Every mother wants the best for their little loves, from making the home a kid’s paradise to dressing their kids in cute outfits. It’s a common opinion that when it comes to clothing, girls’ attire choices are much wider compared to boys’. Choosing the right clothes for boys may be more complex as they damage them faster. However, having a few staples that you can mix and match with the everyday pieces might be a smart choice for dressing up your boy in style. With some careful consideration when picking the right material and design, your little boy may end up looking very cute and charming. Read More →

A Simple Guide to Buying and Installing Marine Battery Monitors

How do you know if the batteries on your boat are getting enough charge? Are the wind turbine or solar panels sufficient to power every appliance you need? These are all questions worth asking if you have a boat, and in order to find the answer, you need a marine battery monitor. These devices display the net amps that go in and out of your boat’s battery and the net amp-hours since the last charge. Most marine battery monitors also show things like the percentage of full charge and the battery’s voltage, the battery’s temperature and a few other things, depending on the type of unit you got.

As a general rule of thumb, you don’t want to use more than half of your boat’s battery, simply because it shortens its lifespan. In fact, some battery experts recommend using the battery only down to about 60-70% before recharging. For that reason, knowing your battery’s total capacity in amp-hours, and how much you’re down at any given time allows you to preserve the life of your battery. The amps in/amps out metric are also worth knowing as it helps you figure out which appliances on your boat are spending energy. You can test how much every power every appliance spends by plugging it in and turning it on.

Source: youtube.com

A boat battery monitor can monitor a single battery, or they can also show the voltage on a second battery (starting battery, for instance). You can also wire up relays that automatically start a generator (if you have one on board) if the battery’ charge state gets to a certain point. Some monitors also allow you to control the shore charger and inverter. Installing marine battery monitors is pretty straightforward, and most people can do it themselves. However, if you want to wire the relays for charger, inverter or generator, you should consider hiring a professional to do the job for you.

There are quite a few companies that make marine battery monitors, the most popular of which are Victron, Xantrex and Blue Seas. All of these brands feature similarly priced monitors. Victron monitors come with everything you need to install them, whereas Xantrex ones require a separate installation kit. Victron monitors are also easier to install – almost plug-and-play – whereas installing a Xantrex monitor is slightly more complex. Victron monitors work with just about any type of battery, including AGM, gel, Li-Ion and wet cell.

Source: faroutride.com

Before you install a boat battery monitor, make sure you clean up the previous wiring, if any. If you didn’t know, battery monitors operate with the help of a shunt that’s installed between the load (devices) and the negative post of the battery. If you want to properly track the amps in/out, you shouldn’t connect anything directly to the negative side of the battery beside the shunt. If you connect anything directly, it won’t be tracked. The easiest way to hook everything up is with the help of a bus bar. The negative wire will then go from the battery to the shunt, from the shunt to the bus bar, and then from the bus bar to every appliance.

I personally use a Victron battery monitor, the main reason being is that it’s too easy to install. It took me about a dozen hours to install it, but a fair portion of that time was making space to mount the monitor, and since I’m not a handy carpenter it took longer than it should. Where you decide to mount the monitor is completely up to personal preference, although that place should be easy and convenient to access so you can check the battery status whenever you want. The Victron battery monitor comes with a long cable, so you can place it almost anywhere on the boat, away from the battery itself. The Victron battery monitor is connected to the shunt with a phone cord, which makes it easy to run the wires and connect them properly.

Source: inutec-int.com

Lastly, you need to install the shunt and run the wires to it. You can use a negative cable to run from the shunt to the bus bar. The shunt features large posts, which are 3/8″, so you might have to place a new end on the negative cable. In order to do this, you might need wire cutters, crimpers and strippers that can be used on large wires. You’ll also need to buy and place the ends on a short jumper from the battery to the shunt. Lastly, you’ll need to connect the positive wire to the shunt so that the monitor is powered. Victron battery monitors come with either a single ring terminal on one end or a straight crimp and power wire on the other. There’s a fuse in between which you may need to remove while performing the connections.

A Simple Guide to Choosing Your Personal Locator Beacon

We could all benefit from spending more time in nature. The chaos of our daily lives can easily make us want a digital break. As enjoyable camping and hiking can be, you need to plan your trip ahead and make sure you stay safe at all times. How far you take your outdoor adventure depends on you knowing your abilities and limits.

Read More →

A Simple Guide to Using Essential Oils to Fight the Flu

When it comes to essential oils, we instantly associate them with aromatherapy and relaxation. This kind of therapy is one of the most commonly used in spas because it’s been proven to be great in reducing stress and anxiety and calming the mind. And luckily today, you don’t need to go to the spa to enjoy the restorative effects of aromatherapy. With the help of a diffuser and the right type of essential oils, you’ll be able to give yourself the needed time of relaxation without leaving the comfort of your bedroom. Read More →

Simple Guide to 4×4 Chassis Protection: Must-Have Accessories

When you are into 4WDing, everything needs to be tougher, harder, meaner. It is completely logical for your ride to be exposed to more wear than regular vehicles. The top threat to your chassis on a well-marked highway is a collision with another vehicle on the road and we know how to prevent that. But driving a 4×4 on an off-road adventure poses another bag of problems, hence the need for better protection.

Read More →

A Simple Guide to Helpful Accessories for Boats

Leaving the safety and comfort of the dock behind is no simple feat. If you’re considering owning a boat to go fishing or simply relax in your free time, then you must have a lot of questions in mind. You are probably repeatedly listing the necessities and those lists end up having different items every time. It’s ok, how can you know what every boat needs? This is where the input from others may come in handy.

A Simple Guide to Organic Haircare: Give Your Locks the Best Treatment

It’s likely that the words ‘organic’ and ‘natural’ hair products already sound familiar to you. You’ve heard of these terms at one point or another, as the topic of organic and eco-friendly products is becoming a growing trend. The world of clean beauty is booming, thanks to an abundance of both up-and-coming and established hair care brands which are taking responsibility into their own hands. Read More →