BMPRO Smart Monitor

Picture this. You’re sitting at the campfire, enjoying a beer or a glass of wine, when suddenly the lights in the van flicker off or the water pump seems to be grinding away for a little too long.

BMPRO has developed a product that provides caravanners with real-time information concerning various features and functions of their van, with that information transmitted directly to an app on their smartphone.

ProSmart is, in essence, a hub for sensors that the vanner can place around their RV, and receive the relevant info via the free, dedicated app.

WHAT’S IN THE BOX?

ProSmart is certainly a useful device. Its principal purpose is to monitor the following: the amount of gas remaining in the cylinder(s), the ambient temperature, the temperature of various spots in and around the RV, such as the fridge, and the pressure of the rig’s tyres. Additionally, it has provision to be wired to up to four onboard water tanks to provide an instant and accurate water level indication.

While I didn’t test the water level indication function of the ProSmart – as this would’ve required some amount of rewiring of my van – I did spend quite a bit of time with the other functions and even installed the unit myself.

ProSmart comes in a kit that includes everything you need to get going. The kit includes the SmartLink, the central node that collects the information from the sensors before sending it to the app. The SmartLink must be wired to the van’s battery via the supplied cables (the positive cable has an inline 5A fuse); therefore, the location of the van’s battery will, to a large extent, dictate where you mount the SmartLink.

The sensor that monitors the ambient temperature (known as the TempSense) is easy to connect to the SmartLink.
The kit also includes two SmartPressure tyre pressure monitoring transmitters (complete with an anti-theft system). These transmitters are screwed to the valve stems of the tyres you wish to monitor.

One SmartTemp sensor for wirelessly monitoring a specific location, such as the fridge’s internal temperature, is also included, as is a SmartSense gas cylinder monitor. The gas cylinder monitor uses magnets to attach to the base of the cylinder.

EXCELLENT APP

The ProSmart app is very intuitive and easy to use. I had no problems pairing each sensor to the app. In fact, the entire product is intuitive – while an instruction manual is available online, you’ll probably find that you won’t need it.

The app, by the way, also provided the state of charge of the van’s battery; however, because the SmartLink is wired to the battery already, no other equipment is required. Great!

The wireless sensors are connected to the SmartLink via bluetooth, as is the SmartLink to the app. I wandered about 15m away from my van and the app was still connected – I would have kept wandering had I not had a fence in the way – so the range of the SmartLink appears to be more than adequate.

The SmartLink can accommodate up to 40 individual wireless sensors, which you can purchase separately according to your needs. Say, for example, you’d like to customise the setup to include tyre pressure monitors for the tow vehicle as well as the van – no problem. Or, perhaps you’d like to monitor two gas cylinders, or the temperature inside the tunnel boot as well as the fridge – again, no problem.

The fact that ProSmart combines a number of different functions within the one device, with all relevant information displayed on the one screen – your smartphone – makes it particularly clever and worth adding to your RV.