Victron Smart Shunt

[SycloneDriver]

I installed a Victron Smart Shunt today. It took less than an hour. So far I really like it. It's basically the same as a Victron 712 battery monitor but it doesn't have a display. Instead of a display it uses a bluetooth connection to a smart phone. I didn't want to cut a hole I my nav-station to mount a display anyway.

Here are a few things I discovered.
1. Beneteau used loctite on the battery switch nuts. I was surprised that they didn't use something like no-ox.
2. The factory switch on the ground had a .2 to .3 volt drop across it with very little load. I don't care for a switch on the ground.
3. The data on the Victron seems fairly accurate & fast.
4. The resting voltage on my start battery is dropping faster than it should. It's time to investigate that.

 

[SycloneDriver]

Here are a couple of pictures of the shunt.

 

[Stu Jackson]

The factory switch on the ground had a .2 to .3 volt drop across it with very little load. I don't care for a switch on the ground.

Neat installation, thanks for posting.

Don't know if you've ever seen this:

Beneteau Wiring Diagrams - Maine Sail's corrections - Just in case you have a friend with a Beneteau and want to help him with his unusual switching Reply #8

One black and two red electrical switches

 

[lemoiney]

I installed the BMV-712 Smart, which is basically the same unit with a display, this past June in my Hunter. Basically same unit with a display, although I never permanently installed the display, preferring to access the information from the iPhone app.

I learned so much from about my batteries and charging in such a short amount of time that I was blind to prior. One of the highest recommended upgrades from my perspective. And, easy to install as you said. Gives me great peace of mind or valuable information when needing to diagnose battery/charging issues.

 

[serpa4]

I have one and love it. I heard that the power for the monitor is not calculated in the battery usage. It's a very very small number. However if you leave the boat sit for a couple months, it wi show 100 battery, but may be dead. Careful.

 

[SycloneDriver]

Neat installation, thanks for posting.

Don't know if you've ever seen this:

Beneteau Wiring Diagrams - Maine Sail's corrections - Just in case you have a friend with a Beneteau and want to help him with his unusual switching Reply #8

One black and two red electrical switches

Thanks Stu.
I've seen that article.
Fortunately my boat has an isolated start battery. Unfortunately my boat has a switch on the ground, I may remove that someday.
I hope to upgrade the charger soon, I have the charger already. The factory charger seems to have been installed before the cabinetry was finished, making it difficult to remove.

 

[HandsOnTech]

Thanks for posting this. I did not know the product existed. I would have purchased one for this trip. As you pointed out the display version is a nuisance to install and I questioned whether the value of the data matched the price tag.

 

[SycloneDriver]

Thanks for posting this. I did not know the product existed. I would have purchased one for this trip. As you pointed out the display version is a nuisance to install and I questioned whether the value of the data matched the price tag.

I didn't know it existed either, until about a month ago. I figured I wasn't the only one.
I'll post some more pictures when I get a chance to get back to the boat.

 

[SycloneDriver]

I got to play on the boat this weekend. The Victron Smart Shunt really is smart, it taught me that my stereo is wired to the start battery and not the house. This explains why my start battery resting voltage was low. I suspect this was done because most stereos specify a direct connection to the battery, the tech just chose the wrong switch terminal to connect to. I plan to connect it to the hot side of the cabin light breaker, with a fuse of course. Because I almost never turn the house bank off the memory settings should remain intact. This location also allows the factory shunt to see all the current flow, as well as the Victron.

I also used it to determine that the glow plugs function. Apparently some Yanmars are not wired for operation even though the panel has a "glow" setting.

Seeing the data in real time bears out the fact the incandescent lamps wast a lot of power and refrigeration uses even more.

I'm going to post some screen shots from my phone soon.

 

[SycloneDriver]

You can see that as I add load with lights and the fridge that the time remaining drops rapidly.
You can see when I turn the charger on and when I change the charge voltage (via the temperature compensation switch).

 

[sesmith]

Thanks for the post and pics. I'm actually planning on ordering one of these for the solar system I have set up on my cabin (not the one on our boat). Can you verify the size of the bolts on the shunt for the battery terminal connections? It looks like they should be M10, so 3/8" battery cables should fit? My battery bank has 5/16 terminals so I'll probably have to order a new cable to put the shunt in. I have everything sized for the current setup. Thanks.

 

[SycloneDriver]

Thanks for the post and pics. I'm actually planning on ordering one of these for the solar system I have set up on my cabin (not the one on our boat). Can you verify the size of the bolts on the shunt for the battery terminal connections? It looks like they should be M10, so 3/8" battery cables should fit? My battery bank has 5/16 terminals so I'll probably have to order a new cable to put the shunt in. I have everything sized for the current setup. Thanks.

Seems like it was 3/8" or 10mm but I'm not 100% on that.
I just bought a short 2/0 battery cable at Tractor Supply and it worked perfectly.