Victron Energy SmartShunt IP65 500 amp Battery Monitor (Bluetooth) install

[Miki]

@Jean Mercier and @emax yes I do understand that the Victron device measures accurately and can measure the current (in both directions) but that wasn't my point.
I asked @DCPU 'why' he had got the expensive device as he doesn't have any specific requirement for it (ie critical power montoring) and that the unit didn't collect as much useful data (to the charging of both batteries problem) as the other, significantly cheaper units, did.

Yes @emax the BMW IBS can't be accessed remotely or through the OBD port but even when it can it's only 'alive' when the car is turned on.
Actually you can access the information from the fitted shunt, it's on the information screen, but only when the car is on.
But there is no historical data, you turn the ignition off and it stops measuring.
The low cost devices provide a realtime monitoring solution of both batteries which will show, in detail, what is happening to the batteries even when the car is switched off, 24-7-365.
They produce a graphical trace against time using available historical data.

Members have reported quite a significant drain.
Owners have reported dual battery systems faulting.

These low cost monitors will identify these issues, the Victron unit will too but it's not neccesary to spend over £240 when £40 will achieve the same result.
Why would you spend six times as much as the cost of 1 unit to get half the results ?
The Victron is a shunt and needs to interupt the neutral circuit directly at the battery.
It requires a lot of 'fitting'.
The low cost monitors connect across the battery (+ to -).
The low cost units can be easily and quickly removed and lleave no ytrace.
The can be easily and quickly refited to other vehicles and are in effect, more portable.

The BMW IBS is used to control the smart alternator ... the two 'monitors' to fault find (which is what we are trying to do isn't it ?), the expensive shunt does what ?
Make you feel important ?

And with regards to sending China data, why did you buy the units with GPS tracking ?
All you needed to do was get the type than monitors the state of the battery votages.
Your phone (if GPS is turned on) is sending GPS data back to evey app that is asking for it, these devices are no more insecure than anything else.

 

[emax]

Why would you spend six times as much as the cost of 1 unit to get half the results ?

You don't have to. And what DCPU does is not your matter.

It's obvious that you're continuing your personal war against DPCU.
I find that shabby and poor, it doesn't show sovereignty and intelligence and I don't like it.

I won't comment on the rest of your omission, because apart from a few errors there's nothing new in it.

In case you ask: Don't expect any answers.

 

[Bruce]

@Jean Mercier and @emax yes I do understand that the Victron device measures accurately and can measure the current (in both directions) but that wasn't my point.
I asked @DCPU 'why' he had got the expensive device as he doesn't have any specific requirement for it (ie critical power montoring) and that the unit didn't collect as much useful data (to the charging of both batteries problem) as the other, significantly cheaper units, did.

Yes @emax the BMW IBS can't be accessed remotely or through the OBD port but even when it can it's only 'alive' when the car is turned on.
Actually you can access the information from the fitted shunt, it's on the information screen, but only when the car is on.
But there is no historical data, you turn the ignition off and it stops measuring.
The low cost devices provide a realtime monitoring solution of both batteries which will show, in detail, what is happening to the batteries even when the car is switched off, 24-7-365.
They produce a graphical trace against time using available historical data.

Members have reported quite a significant drain.
Owners have reported dual battery systems faulting.

These low cost monitors will identify these issues, the Victron unit will too but it's not neccesary to spend over £240 when £40 will achieve the same result.
Why would you spend six times as much as the cost of 1 unit to get half the results ?
The Victron is a shunt and needs to interupt the neutral circuit directly at the battery.
It requires a lot of 'fitting'.
The low cost monitors connect across the battery (+ to -).
The low cost units can be easily and quickly removed and lleave no ytrace.
The can be easily and quickly refited to other vehicles and are in effect, more portable.

The BMW IBS is used to control the smart alternator ... the two 'monitors' to fault find (which is what we are trying to do isn't it ?), the expensive shunt does what ?
Make you feel important ?

And with regards to sending China data, why did you buy the units with GPS tracking ?
All you needed to do was get the type than monitors the state of the battery votages.
Your phone (if GPS is turned on) is sending GPS data back to evey app that is asking for it, these devices are no more insecure than anything else.

I have a cheap BM2 unit on my Toyota. It's a chintzy piece of gear. Looks no better made than a 1990s TV remote. The Victron appears to be much better built (on purpose???), while also providing more information. I would have no qualms spending a lot more for the Victron next go around. I'm buying a vehicle for over 80k, what's another 100 or 2?

 

[Davman]

I have had one of these installed in my Amarok for quite a while .
I do find the shunt never really “learns” the correct state of charge that is in the battery, even after many months of activity.
You regularly see the shunt/app saying that the charge is around 90%, when the battery bms is clearly not accepting any more charge as it is full. This leads to you having to manually reset to SOC to 100% again, and give the shunt another point to learn from.
Another annoying factor is that the usage/ charge history is only available when the phone app is connected to the shunt. When your phone moves further than about 5 meters away from the shunt, you lose all history - no data is stored in the shunt.
Considering the price, I do find these issues a tad annoying.

 

[anand]

I have had one of these installed in my Amarok for quite a while .
I do find the shunt never really “learns” the correct state of charge that is in the battery, even after many months of activity.
You regularly see the shunt/app saying that the charge is around 90%, when the battery bms is clearly not accepting any more charge as it is full. This leads to you having to manually reset to SOC to 100% again, and give the shunt another point to learn from.
Another annoying factor is that the usage/ charge history is only available when the phone app is connected to the shunt. When your phone moves further than about 5 meters away from the shunt, you lose all history - no data is stored in the shunt.
Considering the price, I do find these issues a tad annoying.

I would ensure the charged voltage is correct for your battery (as well as the rest of the battery settings).

As for the memory, this is a great time to either go with a BMV-712 (which uses effectively the same device as a SmartShunt, but with a connector to the display, and the display is the BT device); or, if you plan on adding more Victron gear (DC-DC charger(s), MPPT controller, temperature sensors, etc) add a Cerbo GX which can not only record all the trends, but with a WiFi connection, do constant data uploads and remote control

 

[Davman]

Thanks - I have a BMV in my caravan which works well.
Cerbo GX is a way overkill for my needs - although an awesome piece of gear, particularly when you start linking it with other automated functionality.
But the shunt is expensive for what it does - and it’s inherent faults.

 

[Xrford]

Another annoying factor is that the usage/ charge history is only available when the phone app is connected to the shunt. When your phone moves further than about 5 meters away from the shunt, you lose all history - no data is stored in the shunt.
Considering the price, I do find these issues a tad annoying.

The manual seems to contradict you

 

[Davman]

Agreed - it does.
My shunt is about 3 years old - so unless they upgraded it recently - then my findings are in direct contrast.
There is a difference between the BMV 712 and the Smartshunt though.

 

[Miki]

I wholeheartedly agree with you guys who have these devices that if you have a critical requirement (for example comms. fridge etc) and you are miles away from civilisation then knowing and understanding the state of your aux power supply is a 'must'.
Understanding the state of charge in a car that isn't a 'daily' is also useful because when you need it and the battery is flat that is also an issue.
Knowing that your alternator is giving out a corrected voltage (ie under 15V) is also a good thing.

All of the above can be gained using a sub £20 device.

Knowing how many amps are being drawn from or given to a battery along with it's SoC and SoH, if you need that information, requires a more expensive device.
There are several out there.
Victron is just one and @ £120 offers a level of accuracy and detail of information that exceeds that given by the £20 device.
That's because it has a different purpose.
It becomes part of a power system and allows you insight into how you are using that system.
If you are installing solar or other third party charging systems and rely on your aux power within a complex system that also support starting your vehicle, don't spend £20 on a chinese/low cost monitor.
To monitor more than 1 battery. ie when using a split charging system, you need more than one device.

If you have an aux battery setup in your Grennadier and are interested in understanding what is happening with the charging system across the two batteries and want to help understand why some owners are losing power to the point that they become stranded and need assistance to start their car, then please spend less than £40 on two, low cost, battery monitors and post the info into the group so that it can be analysed and any anomalies identified.
There is no need to buy the type of monitors that can also (by using GPS) determine your position, unless you want to use that information yourself.

 

[Jean Mercier]

I blocked the sending of my place for the battery monitor.

I blocked mine too. My Chinese gadget definitely shows me that the second battery is getting charge (I am using a 100W ham radio from it a lot) and it's constantly over 90% and usually 100%.

Well the Chinese are clever: unless I missed something, when I block my location information the app doesn't work anymore, I mean it doesn't synchronize the data anymore between the car and the app on the phone!
I still want to make some tests, but after that I will probably block the app.
If I really need a decent measuring device and app, I can still buy the Victron. Not a fortune after all, compared to the price of my car.

 

[ECrider]

never trust a cat called Chairman Miaow

 

[Lollo050968]

Well the Chinese are clever: unless I missed something, when I block my location information the app doesn't work anymore, I mean it doesn't synchronize the data anymore between the car and the app on the phone!
I still want to make some tests, but after that I will probably block the app.
If I really need a decent measuring device and app, I can still buy the Victron. Not a fortune after all, compared to the price of my car.

My one is still working, maybe your App „needs“ the support of china mainland and „men power“ to make the graphs

 

[DCPU]

So all of the bits I wanted have been slowly arriving this week, so the thread continues...

I had previously identified a spot on the side of the bracket for the Littelfuse 5 way fuse holder for a simple bracket to perch the shunt on. It's up off the floor, easily accessible and there's plenty of holes to use so no drilling of any original equipment:

The shunt sits on it quite nicely:

However, I was not happy with the cable runs coming off the shunt horizontally and then having to change directions by 90 degrees in both planes almost immediately. So I got some 90 degree lugs (I suppose I could have just bent my own?) and reversed the shunt:

The flashing LEDs will still be visible from above, and perhaps the more delicate electronics are more out of harms way this way around.

 

[DCPU]

And using a bus bar to collect all the various negative feeds, rather than "clutter up" the Load Minus terminal on the shunt, the setup is going to be like this:

All mounted on a single carrier so easy to remove as a unit on just the rear two bolts.

 

[DCPU]

Installed:

Tomorrow, I'll cable it up and hopefully get it working.

 

[DCPU]

There are currently 3 connections on the negative terminal of the auxiliary battery. I have to decide which ones to move to the bus bar - the Victron instructions suggest move everything.

There's:

1. Negative lead from the D250SE - I think this needs moving;
2. Black lead from CTEK Smartpass - I think this needs moving;
3. Temperature sensor from CTEK Smartpass - I'm wondering if this should stay where it is?

 

[anand]

There's:

1. Negative lead from the D250SE - I think this needs moving;
2. Black lead from CTEK Smartpass - I think this needs moving;
3. Temperature sensor from CTEK Smartpass - I'm wondering if this should stay where it is?

Leave the temp sensor (so it gets battery temp accurately), move the rest

 

[Trialmaster]

Looking forward to seeing images of the Victron monitoring system in action.

 

[DCPU]

Leave the temp sensor (so it gets battery temp accurately), move the rest

Yes, this makes sense to me - I very wondering why it appears to have been moved in this install:

 

[DCPU]

So the final part of the install - cabling it all up.

But before I started, and whilst the auxiliary battery was disconnected, there was the positive supply cable run from the auxiliary to the in line fuse...it just had to be re-routed, it bugged me every time I lifted the seats:

Unfortunately, there's plenty more where that came from...