NewMar DCE User manual

Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
E-Mail: [email protected]
P.O. Box 1306
Newport Beach,
California 92663
Introduction
The DCE provides accurate low cost instrumentation for 3
banks of batteries between 9.5 and 33 Volts. The unit
displays voltage for three banks and amps or amp-hours for
your house bank. It tracks all current entering and leaving
the house bank and applies Peukert's and efficiency factors.
You can set Low and High voltage alarms and Low Amp-
Hours Remaining alarms on the house bank. When activated,
the built-in 85 dB alarm will sound and the display will
flash. The DCE outputs NMEA 0183 serial data or the data
line can be programmed as an external alarm output or as a
charger on-off control. Five levels of backlighting can be
selected and all set-up, calibration constants and alarm
values are saved to non-volatile memory. The DCE comes
complete with a precision 500 amp shunt and is designed to
work with 50-500 amp 50mV shunts. (Unit must be
recalibrated if other than 500 amp shunt is used.)
Installation
Before starting the installation, please read this entire
section first. The instrument may be installed in a bulkhead
or in NEWMAR's Single or Dual Universal Meter Panel
Blanks (contact factory). Remove the rear bracket, attach
wiring as explained in the following section, then reassemble
and install as shown in the diagram below. Finger tighten
the nuts that secure the bracket - do not use tools. (You may
use Lock-Tite to keep the nuts from vibrating loose.) Be sure
to slide the bulkhead gasket over the instrument body before
you install the instrument.
Drill a 2-1/8" (55mm) mounting hole (or use NEWMAR's
Single or Dual Universal Meter Panel Blanks) as shown in
FIGURE 1.
Model: DCE
DC Energy Monitor
INSTALLATION/OPERATION MANUAL
FIGURE 1
Bring the shunt wires, ground, and power lines out of the
mounting hole and through the large opening in the DCE
mounting bracket. Use a small flat-tip screwdriver to make
the connections to the screw terminal on the instrument case
back as shown in FIGURE 2 and FIGURE 3.
FIGURE 2
(FIGURE 3 ON REVERSE)
M-DCE
AUG 2010

Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
E-Mail: [email protected]
P.O. Box 1306
Newport Beach,
California 92663
FIGURE 3
* Note: Optional programming On-Off switch may installed
in line with terminal C. Locating this switch near the DCE
will simplify the programming of certain functions such as
the battery bank capacity, charge efficiency and Peukert’s
Exponent. While the factory set (default) values of the latter
two functions will work in most situations, the default value
for battery bank capacity (factory set at 500A-H) will vary
from installation to installation.
Carefully check all your wiring against that shown in
FIGURES 2 and 3. If everything is wired correctly you can
mount the DCE in the instrument hole. Be sure the bulkhead
gasket is in place and use only finger tension to tighten the
bracket hold-down nuts. Do not overtighten the bracket or
you may damage the case - do not use tools to tighten the
nuts.
Note: Because wire lengths and sizes will vary with each
installation, the auto zero procedure that follows should be
performed to initialize the unit.
Auto Zero Procedure
To make the ammeter read zero when no current is flowing,
press and hold the key for 10 seconds while viewing
Amps. The DCE will display "AUTO", automatically zero
the reading and save the auto-zero information into memory.
If the reading does not stop at zero, repeat the above proce-
dure until it does.
Calibrating/Zeroing the Instrument
The DCE is factory calibrated and under most circum-
stances should not require re-calibration after being
installed. If however, you suspect, then confirm incorrect
(Return to SHUNT)
(Fuse H+ and G+
also, if used)
(to DC Negative)
*
voltage and/or amperage readings, the unit may be re-
calibrated as follows:
To re-calibrate the voltmeter, press and hold the key
while applying power to the instrument. Use the and
keys to make the displayed value read correctly. Press
the key for 1/2 second to save the calibration data to
memory.
To re-calibrate the Ammeter, press and hold the key
while applying power to the instrument. Use the and
keys to make the displayed value read correctly. Press
the key for 1/2 second to save the calibration data to
memory.
Key Functions
The keys are used to select what to
display, backlights, calibrate volts/amps, turn alarms on/off,
set alarms and set/change constants. New information is
automatically saved to memory.
Turning Alarms ON/OFF
Press the key 1/2 second to turn alarms ON. In Voltage
mode, the Battery 1 icon will blink. Press the key 1/2
second to turn the alarms OFF.
Backlight Intensity
Press the key 1/2 second to adjust the backlight level for
night-time viewing. Each time you press the key 1/2
second, the level will get brighter 1, 2, 3, 4, OFF, 1, 2...etc.
Screw terminal pin (D) must be connected to battery hot (+)
for the backlights to work.
Display Volts/Amps/A-H/ A-H % Remaining
Quick press the , or keys to select
Battery Voltage, Amps or Amp-Hours display. Pressing the

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Fax: [phone]
E-Mail: [email protected]
P.O. Box 1306
Newport Beach,
California 92663
key repeatedly will step the display through
Battery 1, 2, 3, 1, etc. To display the Capacity Remaining
(Amp-Hours % Remaining), press the and
keys simultaneously.
Setting High Volts Alarm
While viewing Battery #1 volts, press and hold the key
for ten (10) seconds. You will hear a beep and the High
Volts alarm value will be displayed. Use the and
keys to set the desired alarm value. Press the key
for 1/2 second to save the High Volts Alarm value to
memory.
Setting Low Volts Alarm
While viewing Battery #1 volts, press the key for ten (10)
seconds. You will hear a beep and the Low Volts alarm
value will be displayed. Use the and keys to set the
desired alarm value. Press the key for
1/2 second to save the new alarm value.
Setting Low Amp-Hours Alarm
While viewing Amp-Hours, press and hold the key for
ten (10) seconds. You will hear a beep and the Low Amp-
Hours alarm value will be displayed. Use the and
keys to change it. Press the key for 1/2 second to
save the new value.
Changing Battery Capacity
Press and hold the key while applying power to the
DCE. The Battery Capacity (in Amp-Hours) will be
displayed. Use the and keys to change it. Press
the key for 1/2 second to save it.
Changing Charge Efficiency
The Default Charge Efficiency is 80% (meaning you get
back 80% of what you put into the battery). To change it,
press and hold both the and keys and apply power to
the DCE. Charge Efficiency % is displayed. Use
the and keys to change it. Press the key for 1/2
second to save the new value.
Changing Peukert's Exponent
Peukert's Exponent relates how efficiently you can draw
current from a battery. Because of inefficiencies, the faster
you drain the battery, the smaller it appears to be. The
default Peukert's Exponent is 1.25 (shown as 125), which is
typical for many batteries. To change it, press and hold the
and keys while applying power to the instrument.
Peukert's exponent will be displayed. Use the and
keys to set the desired value. Press the key for 1/2
second to save the new value. If your battery seems to
discharge faster than what the DCE is telling you, try
increasing Peukert's Exponent slightly. Lower the exponent
if the reverse is true. The correct setting will depend upon
how your battery was manufactured and it's age, etc.
NMEA 0183 Sentences
Volts: $IIXDR,U,xx.x,V,VAH35,*CS
Amps: $IIXDR,I,xxxx,A,VAH35,*CS
A-H Remaining: $IIXDR,G,xxxx, ,VAH35,*CS
*CS = Check Sum
Selecting NMEA 0183, External Alarm or Charger Control
Output
Screw terminal pin (B) can be programmed as an NMEA
0183 Data Output, External Alarm Output, or as a Charger
On-Off Control. The factory default is NMEA 0183 serial
data output.
To toggle Screw Terminal Pin (B) between NMEA 0183,
External Alarm Output and Charger Control, press and hold
down both the and keys for 10 seconds (until you
hear a long beep). The display will toggle between showing
“dAtA” (Data), “E-AL” (External Alarm) or “-CC-”
(Charger Control) to show you which mode is selected. The
new output mode is automatically saved to memory.
A 5V signal (10 mA Max.) is output on screw terminal (B)
whenever an alarm condition exists and the alarms are
enabled or whenever a charger is to be turned on
automatically.

Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
E-Mail: [email protected]
P.O. Box 1306
Newport Beach,
California 92663
Setting Charge Control On-Off Limits
If the Charger Control function is selected for screw
terminal (B), the DCE can be programmed to automatically
turn a charger on and off, depending on the amp-hours
remaining. The factory default is to turn the charger on when
Amp-Hours Remaining drops to 50% of battery capacity and
switch off when it returns to 90% of capacity. Screw
terminal (B) outputs a +5V signal to activate the charger.
To set the upper charge control output limit (charger “off”
point) in percent, press both the and keys to display
amp-hours remaining in percent. Then hold the key
down for 10 seconds (until you hear a long beep). The upper
charge limit will be displayed in percent. Use the and
keys to set the desired value. Use the key to save the
new value to memory.
To set the lower charge control limit (charger “on” point) in
percent, press both the and keys to display amp-hours
remaining in percent. Then hold the key down for 10
seconds (until you hear a long beep). The lower charge limit
will be displayed in percent. Use the and keys to set
the desired value. Use the key to save the new value to
memory.
Resetting Amp-Hours Remaining
While viewing Amp-Hours Remaining, press and hold the
key for 10 seconds (until you hear a long beep). The
Amp-Hours Remaining will be reset to the full amp-hour
capacity of the battery.
Adjusting Amp-Hour Drift
If the battery system remains unused for several weeks, the
amp-hour tracking function of the DCE will start to lose
accuracy. This is because small calibration and measurement
errors can accumulate, causing the displayed amp-hours to
“drift” so that it no longer reflects true amp-hours remaining.
To minimize this long term drift, you can program an amp-
hours drift compensation value between 0 and 100, which
will increase the accuracy. The nominal drift value is 55. To
change this value, press and hold both the and keys
when applying power to the DCE. Use the and keys
to set the desired value. Press the key for 1/2 second to
save the new value.
If the displayed amp-hours is drifting down faster than actual
amp-hours, increase the drift compensation value slightly. If
it is drifting upward faster, then decrease the value slightly.
Notes and Warnings
a) When setting functions that require you to hold down a
key while applying power - turn OFF the power, then hold
the key(s) down during and for at least 3 seconds AFTER the
power has been applied.
b) A display of " - - - - " means the unit thinks the amp
reading is greater than -500 amps.
c) It is important to run the ground wire from pin A all the
way back to the shunt negative.
NMEA 0183 Sentences
Volts: $IIXDR,U,xx.x,V,VAH35,*CS
Amps: $IIXDR,I,xxxx,A,VAH35,*CS
A-H Remaining: $IIXDR,G,xxxx, ,VAH35,*CS
*CS = Check Sum
Specifications
Power supply: 9.5 to 33.0 VDC, .018 amps nominal
Operating temperature: 32 to 122 F ( 0 to 50 C)
Size: 2.5" dia X 4.1" deep (61mm x 104 mm).
Accuracy: Better than +/- 0.1 VDC for volts and
1% +/-1 Amp for amps, front panel adjustable.
Ranges: Volts 1,2 & 3 -9.5 to 33.0 VDC
Amps --500 to +500 Amps*
Amp-Hours -100 to 3000 A/H*
Capacity Remaining - 0 to 100%*
Shunt: 500 Amp, 50mV*
*Applies to Bank 1 (house bank) only
Alarms: High, Low Voltage & Low Amp-Hours
Display: 4 digit LCD, 5 levels of backlighting.
NMEA 0183: $IIXDR,V; $IIXDR,A; $IIXDR,G