Fitting a shunt

[garry63]

Hi all
Thinking of fitting a victron smart shunt looked at a few vids but just want to make sure I've got it right here goes

I have a mppt solar controller fitted and a victron smart charger all fitted to a single 200ah battery. If I fit the shunt I take the black negative to one side of the shunt then everything that was fit to the negative side of battery then goes on the other side of the shunt then power for shunt is to red positive on battery. Bosh done and everything ie charger and solar still works and battery can be monitored
Have I got it right?

 

[suavecarve]

Having fitted a shunt, courtesy of Youtube, and no real recollections of what to do, my panel is right by my door as I enter, I dont even bother to look at it, and if I had my time again, I wouldnt bother.
I understand those who want to know on their app all the figures, but I have found out that I dont need to.
If it ever runs out of battery, then I ll get a warning sound and take appropriate action, rather than having the anticipation of wondering if it is going to run out.

 

[garry63]

Having fitted a shunt, courtesy of Youtube, and no real recollections of what to do, my panel is right by my door as I enter, I dont even bother to look at it, and if I had my time again, I wouldnt bother.
I understand those who want to know on their app all the figures, but I have found out that I dont need to.
If it ever runs out of battery, then I ll get a warning sound and take appropriate action, rather than having the anticipation of wondering if it is going to run out.

Sorry don't really get the point your making is it that the shunt in your case is pointless and that you go off the onboard panel to tell you if power is running low?

 

[suavecarve]

Sorry don't really get the point your making is it that the shunt in your case is pointless and that you go off the onboard panel to tell you if power is running low?

To me yes.
To others no.
If you like knowing exactly how much power you have then it is worth it for peace of mind or worry of mind.
I now realise I dont care because I have so much battery that it really doesnt matter if I have 100 ah left or 150 ah left. I am going to use the electricity until it runs out (if it runs out) so knowing how much I have left is of little to no consequence to me.
I suppose if i run out earlier than anticipated then it might point towards an issue such as the solar not filling it up but my victron app will point that out. My app will also tell me the state of the battery as well as my onboard panel (in voltage)
I m just making my observations on having one and not using it

 

[paddymcc]

Hi all
Thinking of fitting a victron smart shunt looked at a few vids but just want to make sure I've got it right here goes

I have a mppt solar controller fitted and a victron smart charger all fitted to a single 200ah battery. If I fit the shunt I take the black negative to one side of the shunt then everything that was fit to the negative side of battery then goes on the other side of the shunt then power for shunt is to red positive on battery. Bosh done and everything ie charger and solar still works and battery can be monitored
Have I got it right?

You have got it right

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[garry63]

To me yes.
To others no.
If you like knowing exactly how much power you have then it is worth it for peace of mind or worry of mind.
I now realise I dont care because I have so much battery that it really doesnt matter if I have 100 ah left or 150 ah left. I am going to use the electricity until it runs out (if it runs out) so knowing how much I have left is of little to no consequence to me.
I suppose if i run out earlier than anticipated then it might point towards an issue such as the solar not filling it up but my victron app will point that out. My app will also tell me the state of the battery as well as my onboard panel (in voltage)
I m just making my observations on having one and not using it

Fair point i just dont trust the panel on my van just done 3 nights off grid and the panel kept telling me vehicle battery critically low but when we moved on van started first time no labouring.
I thought you had to be carful not to discharge batteries beyond a certain point so as not to damage them

 

[garry63]

You have got it right

Bout time I ask questions on here and get my head mashed by all the conflicting posts

 

[Abacist]

My VictronConnect smart shunt is forever saying that the cab battery is low and it’s a pain in the backside for that reason. I have a VanBitz battery master as well.

 

[VXman]

Hi all
Thinking of fitting a victron smart shunt looked at a few vids but just want to make sure I've got it right here goes

I have a mppt solar controller fitted and a victron smart charger all fitted to a single 200ah battery. If I fit the shunt I take the black negative to one side of the shunt then everything that was fit to the negative side of battery then goes on the other side of the shunt then power for shunt is to red positive on battery. Bosh done and everything ie charger and solar still works and battery can be monitored
Have I got it right?

Does a shunt tell you anything a Victorn Bluetooth MTTP controller doesn't?

 

[bigtwin]

Does a shunt tell you anything a Victorn Bluetooth MTTP controller doesn't?

Yes, it tells you the whole picture (monitors all charge sources and all discharges to loads) whereas your MTTP tells you only how your solar charging is performing.

Ian

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[garry63]

Does a shunt tell you anything a Victorn Bluetooth MTTP controller doesn't?

It would tell me more than my mppt as its not Bluetooth

 

[Lenny HB]

Does a shunt tell you anything a Victorn Bluetooth MTTP controller doesn't?

All the MTTP controller tells you is what your solar charging is doing to me a bit pointless.
Where as a battery monitor like the Smart Shunt or BMV712 tells you the state of your battery and how much power you have used & more. Invaluable if you need to monitor your battery

 

[pappajohn]

If I fit the shunt I take the black negative to one side of the shunt then everything that was fit to the negative side of battery then goes on the other side of the shunt then power for shunt is to red positive on battery

If you want but it won't work
You will have a POS and NEG connection to one POS post only and nothing on the NEG post.

 

[garry63]

If you want but it won't work
You will have a POS and NEG connection to one POS post only and nothing on the NEG post.

No the pos is to the power port on shunt to power it not to one of the sides of the shunt

 

[suavecarve]

Invaluable if you need to monitor your battery

Thats what I was trying to say.

I don't need to monitor it.

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[ChrisL]

If you want but it won't work
You will have a POS and NEG connection to one POS post only and nothing on the NEG post.

Have you got one and if so how is yours wired? Mine is wired as per the manual as described by the op and works fine.

 

[Lenny HB]

Thats what I was trying to say.

I don't need to monitor it.

That would drive me insane, not knowing the state of my batteries.

 

[Itsmcb]

What a confusing thread.
Answer:-

 

[Itsmcb]

If you want but it won't work
You will have a POS and NEG connection to one POS post only and nothing on the NEG post.

I think you may have mis-read the original post?

 

[garry63]

What a confusing thread.
Answer:-
View attachment 739293

Wtf that suppose to be

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[Itsmcb]

Thats what I was trying to say.

I don't need to monitor it.

That's fine if you have 200plus amps of useable lithium power. Some of us need to know if we have enough power to run the electric blanket all night and still make a nice espresso in the morning

 

[Lenny HB]

Wtf that suppose to be

A drawing to confuse you.

Its the correct way to wire a shunt but not the clearest.

 

[Lenny HB]

That's fine if you have 200plus amps of useable lithium power. Some of us need to know if we have enough power to run the electric blanket all night and still make a nice espresso in the morning

If the new van ever arrives I'll be fitting a BMV712 even though I will be fitting 460 ah of Lithium.

 

[ChrisL]

Wtf that suppose to be

That example shows it wired using positive and negative bus bars.

Edit: ignore the red cables, the earths are all connected to the load side of the shunt and the battery is connected to the other terminal, nothing else should be connected to the negative battery terminal. The power to the shunt can either go direct to the positive terminal or the positive bus bar if you have one.

 

[Itsmcb]

Wtf that suppose to be

Is that not what you meant? That's your negative from the battery to one side of the shunt, all the negative connections on the other side of the shunt and all the positives to the positive side of the battery

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[Itsmcb]

A drawing to confuse you.

Its the correct way to wire a shunt but not the clearest.

I thought it was reasonably clear.

 

[garry63]

A drawing to confuse you.

Its the correct way to wire a shunt but not the clearest.

No shit sherloc

 

[Itsmcb]

No shit sherloc

 

[garry63]

That example shows it wired using positive and negative bus bars.

Edit: ignore the red cables, the earths are all connected to the load side of the shunt and the battery is connected to the other terminal, nothing else should be connected to the negative battery terminal. The power to the shunt can either go direct to the positive terminal or the positive bus bar if you have one.

Chris you've nailed it

 

[suavecarve]

That's fine if you have 200plus amps of useable lithium power. Some of us need to know if we have enough power to run the electric blanket all night and still make a nice espresso in the morning

No hairdryer, no electric blanket, no coffee machine, my wifes used to it now.

We didnt monitor the 200 ah of gel we had for 12 years and ran out maybe twice so doubling the available use just makes me want to watch my victron app with all the "floating" or excess power from the solar.

It might have come in worthwhile when I was in the snow in Luxembourg charging up the e bikes, but I just dont see how it would change what I was going to do. either I have enough electric and dont worry, or i get an audible warning and take appropriate action before I run out, then abstract buy some more which would have happened if I had noticed it on the shunt anyway.

Even charging the 2 Ebikes up daily during our next 3 holidays of 28 days each isnt going to have too much effect on the battery. I doubt we will get an audible warning in all that time.