Victron Smartshunt Battery Monitor

[XxAnthxX]

Is anyone using the Victron Smartshunt Battery Monitor?

Any thoughts, recommendations, issues or otherwise?

I’m thinking about adding one to monitor my batteries and compliment my Smartsolar controller.

SmartShunt - Victron Energy

The SmartShunt is an all-in-one battery monitor, only without a display. Your phone acts as the display. The SmartShunt connects via Bluetooth to the...

www.victronenergy.com

 

[Kannon Fodda]

Bought one last week, and now it's arrived I'm awaiting delivery of some cabling so I can attach it all. Big attraction is that it should link up with the connect app and so I don't need a visible gauge in the vehicle.

Had my leisure battery replaced to 120Ah Sterling Lithium and Sterling B2B a couple of months ago. A Victron smartsolar MPPT fitted on the solar in place of the basic manufacturer thing (so the smartshunt thing should link in with it ). I was asked if I wanted a battery monitor at the time, and declined, thinking it wouldn't be important. Since then curiosity kills the cat. Lithium voltages don't really change, so you have no idea from the old gauge or even the solar input what capacity you have left, unless the solar stops charge because it has topped off (and I find I look at the Victron connect app to check that too frequently).

 

[DBK]

Easier to fit I guess as you don't need to mount a display. But the advantage of a display is you can just glance at it.

 

[cmcardle75]

I'm lusting after one myself, or a BMV-712 (the same thing with a screen). Would be interested to know if either can estimate the actual capacity of your battery after a few cycles, rather than just relying on what you type in and running out early.

 

[XxAnthxX]

Thanks Kannon Fodda

It‘s the lack of cable running and hole cutting for a display that appeals......that and the VE.Smart Network link to the solar controller.

How expensive is the temperature sensor tho......

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[cmcardle75]

Thanks Kannon Fodda

It‘s the lack of cable running and hole cutting for a display that appeals......that and the VE.Smart Network link to the solar controller.

How expensive is the temperature sensor tho......

I think the BMV-712 has VE.Smart. I haven't checked out the temp sensor, would use the input for starter battery voltage.

 

[eddie]

We have been installing them for a while, easy to fit and on issues

 

[XxAnthxX]

I think the BMV-712 has VE.Smart. I haven't checked out the temp sensor, would use the input for starter battery voltage.

Yeah the BMV-712 does have VE.Smart.....that’s what I was looking at when I found the shunt.

The cheapest I can see the temp sensor is another 23 quid......which I think is a lot, considering what it is.

Well I thought I would use the input for starter battery voltage too.....but the diagram shows the ground from the starter battery having to go through the shunt too, which would suggest more than just voltage readings...but loads more heavy cable.

 

[Kannon Fodda]

As I read it, VE smart is a separate dongle thing. You won't need that if you have the smartshunt as it can do all it's coms, by bluetooth, including link to the Victron bluetooth solar controller. So the VE smart thing would only be needed for the smartshunt if you are wanting a gauge, or to link to something not bluetoothed?

We have been installing them for a while, easy to fit and on issues

I should have paid attention to the suggestion when my setup was added last August, on the other hand I was approaching bankruptcy just from what I did have done.

How expensive is the temperature sensor tho......

I won't worry about that at the moment. Could add later if I thought there was a need. Hopefully the inbuilt battery controller to my Sterling lithium simply prevents attempting a charge if the battery is too cold, otherwise over winter the solar constantly trying to top off charge whilst the van sits on the drive is an issue.

 

[cmcardle75]

Yeah the BMV-712 does have VE.Smart.....that’s what I was looking at when I found the shunt.

The cheapest I can see the temp sensor is another 23 quid......which I think is a lot, considering what it is.

Well I thought I would use the input for starter battery voltage too.....but the diagram shows the ground from the starter battery having to go through the shunt too, which would suggest more than just voltage readings...but loads more heavy cable.

I don't see that showing the starter battery negative going through the shunt. All the black wires to the left of the shunt are just common earths. In my case, they'd all the loads, starter battery, alternator and shunt itself will be connected to the nearest piece of structural metalwork using short heavy straps.

I think the odd layout is just to indicate that you want to minimise any earth shared cable between the loads and the starter battery, as that might result in a lower starter battery sense value.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[cmcardle75]

As I read it, VE smart is a separate dongle thing. You won't need that if you have the smartshunt as it can do all it's coms, by bluetooth, including link to the Victron bluetooth solar controller. So the VE smart thing would only be needed for the smartshunt if you are wanting a gauge, or to link to something not bluetoothed?

I think the Bluetooth connection itself is called VE Smart. The wired connection is VE Direct.

 

[Googlebot]

I have one and find it useful. Very easy to fit and I don’t find the lack of a screen to glance at a problem.

I know exactly what I have left and how long it will last.

 

[eddie]

I should have paid attention to the suggestion when my setup was added last August, on the other hand I was approaching bankruptcy just from what I did have done.

We were probably going to throw it in free of charge!

 

[XxAnthxX]

I don't see that showing the starter battery negative going through the shunt. All the black wires to the left of the shunt are just common earths. In my case, they'd all the loads, starter battery, alternator and shunt itself will be connected to the nearest piece of structural metalwork using short heavy straps.

I think the odd layout is just to indicate that you want to minimise any earth shared cable between the loads and the starter battery, as that might result in a lower starter battery sense value.

The instructions specifically state to connect the starter battery negative to the negative side of the shunt....not a local ground, but maybe it would work? Why not connect to the other side of the shunt, which would be effectively the same as a local ground tho?
If it is just for starter battery voltage I don’t see the need, but maybe required if it also monitors more than voltage at the starter battery, which I don’t think it does.

 

[XxAnthxX]

eddievanbitz would it only require the single ferruled cable to be connected to the starter battery positive?

T.I.A.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[XxAnthxX]

As I read it, VE smart is a separate dongle thing.

VE.Smart Networking is Victron‘s Bluetooth comms protocol.....it can be added to ‘dumb’ devices with a dongle, but is built into their smart devices such as the Smartshunt and Smartsolar etc.

 

[cmcardle75]

The instructions specifically state to connect the starter battery negative to the negative side of the shunt....not a local ground, but maybe it would work? Why not connect to the other side of the shunt, which would be effectively the same as a local ground tho?
If it is just for starter battery voltage I don’t see the need, but maybe required if it also monitors more than voltage at the starter battery, which I don’t think it does.

There wording is confusing. However, no-one's going to remove their heavy duty starter battery negative connection and run a long cable to the hab battery and expect the engine to still start!

Just connect all the earths together somehow, be that with thick cable or steel chassis.

 

[eddie]

eddievanbitz would it only require the single ferruled cable to be connected to the starter battery positive?

T.I.A.

yes

 

[Kannon Fodda]

We were probably going to throw it in free of charge!

Now you tell me

VE.Smart Networking is Victron‘s Bluetooth comms protocol.....it can be added to ‘dumb’ devices with a dongle, but is built into their smart devices such as the Smartshunt and Smartsolar etc.

I think I'm confusing myself with terminology . In future I'll refer to bluetooth embedded in the device, i.e. smartshunt, or bluetooth / other connection requiring the external dongle.

I don't see that showing the starter battery negative going through the shunt. All the black wires to the left of the shunt are just common earths. In my case, they'd all the loads, starter battery, alternator and shunt itself will be connected to the nearest piece of structural metalwork using short heavy straps.

I think the odd layout is just to indicate that you want to minimise any earth shared cable between the loads and the starter battery, as that might result in a lower starter battery sense value.

Interestingly, reading the installation blurb on the Sterling B2B (I got bored one evening and like to understand how these things work), they do make reference that the leisure and engine battery negatives should have a proper heavy cable between them as relying on the vehicle chassis could reduce charging capacity. So the diagram you have is sort of correct, but missing the B2B.

 

[cmcardle75]

Interestingly, reading the installation blurb on the Sterling B2B (I got bored one evening and like to understand how these things work), they do make reference that the leisure and engine battery negatives should have a proper heavy cable between them as relying on the vehicle chassis could reduce charging capacity. So the diagram you have is sort of correct, but missing the B2B.

In this case, it is just voltage sensing, so no requirement to ensure a particularly good earth. However, if the earth is particularly bad and the current high, it might lead to a slightly off starter battery voltage reading.

Any such bad earth is more likely to cause problems with other things, particularly if you bring a B2B or inverter into the equation.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[Deneb]

I have a BMV-712. I much prefer it to the newer Smartshunt as I can see the gauge instantly when in the van, without having to get my phone out and log in. But the BT connection means I can also check on the battery condition from inside the house when parked up at home.

The vehicle battery connection is simply a voltage monitoring connection. It tells you the current voltage of the vehicle battery, nothing more or less. It is a user configurable function that can be set for vehicle battery voltage, leisure battery temperature or battery bank midpoint voltage monitoring, depending how you wire it and configure the unit settings.

The vehicle battery does not require an earth connection to the shunt if the vehicle and leisure batteries share a common ground. The auxiliary (vehicle) battery sensing cable is simply a 1mm/2 or thereabouts cable with a 1A inline fuse. Some units were delivered with a 100mA fuse, but it was found that the lower capacity fuse caused a resistance which resulted in inaccurate voltage readings.

On my van, I spliced the vehicle battery monitoring cable into the 70A power connector from the vehicle battery to the conversion socket in the driver's B pillar, which is adjacent to my leisure battery and shunt location beneath the driver's seat.

The BMV does allow you to monitor the SOC of the leisure batteries quite accurately, provided that you program it correctly. It comes with default settings, but I made some alterations to the tail current and charged detection time to prevent early synchronisations at a false full battery reading caused by swings in solar charge input (e.g. from clouds) or solar/mains charger voltage swings caused by switching on and off of consumers such as the fridge.

I also configured the battery capacity about 10Ah lower than my rated battery capacity to allow both for battery ageing and to make the monitor readings slightly pessimistic, as I would rather they erred that way than be over-optimistic.

The gauge readings can become less accurate over time, as they are based on the figures programmed into the unit, which are always going to be a best guess unless you are prepared to spend hours fine tuning them and taking measurements with a separate calibrated meter, but if you manually resync the monitor regularly when you have a known fully charged battery state, it will stay pretty accurate IME.

I usually make a point when we are touring of resyncing the BMV at some point each day, when I either have a battery full indication from the solar regulator (usefully indicated by the Votronic regulators) or can see that the charging current is in float mode.

Overall, I'm very happy with the device. It takes away a lot of guesswork as to the condition of the batteries when off-grid for extended periods, which is useful to calculate how much longer you can go without having to seek a charge if necessary, and is piece of mind as to the condition of the batteries, both at home and away.

 

[Wissel]

I have one here ready to fit, along with the temp sensor.

My main reason for buying was wanting temp sensing on my MPPT as a second safeguard against charging in minus temps (bad for LiFePO4). I already had this protected via my BMS, but using the SmartShunt seemed cleaner to me and like my Votronic 90A B2B, which has it's own sensor.

This is part of my (hopefully) final upgrades, which also include a Victron voltage/temp sensor on starter battery (these are only £35) and a VanBitz BatteryMaster. Although I may build/buy a GX device at some point.

 

[Kannon Fodda]

View attachment 437021

That's far too neat and tidy. You have too much space in your MH.

 

[Stacetop]

We have the smartshunt fitted by the guys at eddievanbitz.

I can’t tell you how it’s fitted as I haven’t seen it or looked for it!

The device is .... addictive.

It was installed along with a lithium battery, alarm etc so for our first few days off hookup I was monitoring it a lot!! It was really interesting to see how much each device or light bulbs used and that varied around the van. Having had a basic battery monitor of the last van the smartshunt is really good for seeing what power you are using and have left (obviously this varies).

Overall I’m happy with smartshunt and even happier with the lithium. It’s early days but we appear to have much much more usable power than the twin battery set up in our last van. With the smartshunt it gives me a good idea of average use over a few days where as in the past with lead acid I would always be super cautious not to use too much.

 

[Raul]

I have one here ready to fit, along with the temp sensor.

My main reason for buying was wanting temp sensing on my MPPT as a second safeguard against charging in minus temps (bad for LiFePO4). I already had this protected via my BMS, but using the SmartShunt seemed cleaner to me and like my Votronic 90A B2B, which has it's own sensor.

This is part of my (hopefully) final upgrades, which also include a Victron voltage/temp sensor on starter battery (these are only £35) and a VanBitz BatteryMaster. Although I may build/buy a GX device at some point.

View attachment 437021

Not sure why you wanted a temp sensor with the bmv, the blue tooth bat sensor I have fitted on the bat terminal and linked into smart network to the charger. I set a threshold of 4 deC to stop charge. The inverter charger is set the same and the B2B doesn’t mater. When I drive is warm enough to charge.

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}

 

[DBK]

Not sure why you wanted a temp sensor with the bmv, the blue tooth bat sensor I have fitted on the bat terminal and linked into smart network to the charger. I set a threshold of 4 deC to stop charge. The inverter charger is set the same and the B2B doesn’t mater. When I drive is warm enough to charge.

I suspect it is because temperature effects battery capacity. So to work out how much capacity is left it needs to know the temperature to make a more accurate estimate.

 

[DuxDeluxe]

Bought one last week, and now it's arrived I'm awaiting delivery of some cabling so I can attach it all. Big attraction is that it should link up with the connect app and so I don't need a visible gauge in the vehicle.

Had my leisure battery replaced to 120Ah Sterling Lithium and Sterling B2B a couple of months ago. A Victron smartsolar MPPT fitted on the solar in place of the basic manufacturer thing (so the smartshunt thing should link in with it ). I was asked if I wanted a battery monitor at the time, and declined, thinking it wouldn't be important. Since then curiosity kills the cat. Lithium voltages don't really change, so you have no idea from the old gauge or even the solar input what capacity you have left, unless the solar stops charge because it has topped off (and I find I look at the Victron connect app to check that too frequently).

You’ve got me going on that, Rob...

 

[DuxDeluxe]

We were probably going to throw it in free of charge!

Didn’t see that one coming.....

 

[Kannon Fodda]

The device is .... addictive.

This is what I am afraid of - and one of the reasons I don't want a smart meter any where near my house

 

[Kannon Fodda]

I'm not really sure that the temp sensor will work that well, at least in my case. It clips to the outside of the battery I believe. But for the purposes of monitoring the battery temp itself, you really want to know about the temp inside it, not just the case, which may fluctuate rapidly.

My battery is under a rear bench seat, in the same space as the Truma (there isn't much alternative to that, other than the opposite bench seat). Idea of it being with the heater is in cooler months, when using the van, the heater will keep the battery toasty so it will be more efficient.

Cooler temps will affect capacity and discharge / charge rates, but also too warm and things will go awry. Sterling's data sheet says max temp is 50 deg C for a cut off (inbuilt BMS) operation temp of -30 to 60 deg C, although the installation sheet says a charging temp range of 0-40 deg and contradicts the operation temp showing discharge as -10 to 55deg C

^{_{Subscribers  do not see these advertisements}}