Installation

How to install the PwrTool 500

This is an extreme work in progress. Please be patient and feel free to ask any questions in our discord.

There are 3 quick steps to get going with the PwrTool 500

1. Wiring

2. Connect to Wi-Fi

3. Adopt in Home Assistant

4. Adopt into ESPHome optional

Wiring Example

The basic installation of the PwrTool 500 puts it inline with the negative terminal of your battery and it's loads/chargers. Use properly sized cables for the devices you intend to connect.

Hot or Cold // High or Low // Positive or Negative

Most shunts of its type are "low-" or "cold-" side only, meaning the shunt itself is inserted in the ground path of your system. In some circumstances it may be difficult to intercept the ground path in a way that produces accurate results so we've built in an option to switch the PwrTool 500's polarity. The "hot-" or "high-" side mode will allow you to intersect the positive line to your load or battery.

This should be selected before wiring and is factory set to Cold. Do not use a metal object to remove the jumper.

Delta Readings as a Battery Monitor

In this configuration, current sensing will only be that which flows into and out of the battery. Reading will be the delta between loads and chargers. For example if charging at 100 watts with a 50 watt load, the reading will be 50 watts charging. If you want to see the actual charging and load readings you will need to compare it to other data you have in your system, such as a solar charge controller, or use additional PwrTool 500s to separate loads and chargers.