Victron smart shunt

[stepbill]

I purchased the Victron smart shunt and read in the instructions to attach one wire to the negative terminal and the positive wire of the battery to loads and chargers then from loads and chargers to the other terminal of the shunt. I just want to monitor the status of the lithium battery. Can I just wire the shunt to the positive and negative battery terminals to check the status of the battery?

 

[Lou Schneider]

The shunt goes between the NEGATIVE battery terminal and the loads attached to it, the small wire goes to the Positive terminal of the battery to supply power and measure the battery voltage.

If you just want to make itinto a dumb voltmeter you can keep the wires on the battery's negative terminal and just connect it to the terminal marked BATTERY on the shunt. But you'll lose 90% of the Smart Shunt's functions including the amount of charge remaining in the battery.

 

[stepbill]

I'm not real sure how to tie into the load. What would I connect that wire to?

 

[Lou Schneider]

The small wire goes directly to the positive battery terminal. The shunt with two large terminals goes between the negative battery terminal and all of the wires currently on the terminal. Remove the wires from the battery terminal, connect them to the LOAD terminal on the shunt. Then connect the BATTERY terminal on the shunt to the negative battery terminal you removed the wires from (will need a short jumper wire).

 

[stepbill]

Lou, how would I then connect a battery disconnect to this system? Sorry for all the questions but you have been great! Also, does it matter that the only wire on my negative battery terminal is the ground to frame?

 

[Lou Schneider]

Nope, just put the SmartShunt between that cable to the frame and the negative battery post. As far as a battery disconnect, it's installed on the positive side between the battery and everything else. I'd leave the SmartShunt positive wire on the battery side - there's no need to disconnect it while the RV is in storage as it only draws a miniscule amount of current.

 

[xrated]

I purchased the Victron smart shunt and read in the instructions to attach one wire to the negative terminal and the positive wire of the battery to loads and chargers then from loads and chargers to the other terminal of the shunt. I just want to monitor the status of the lithium battery. Can I just wire the shunt to the positive and negative battery terminals to check the status of the battery?

WHOA! STOP...DO NOT PROCEED with that. That would be a direct short across the terminal of the battery. There will be fire, smoke, emergency room treatment, and that is just the beginning of it. DO NOT DO THIS!

 

[stepbill]

Xrated, guess that I should have my wife do it then?

 

[DonTom]

I just want to monitor the status of the lithium battery.

Be sure there is NOTHING on your battery negative terminal except for the large bolt of the SmartShunt where it says "to battery minus". And I mean NOTHING else under any conditions. All the wires that used to be on your negative battery terminal go to the large bolt on the opposite side of the SmartShunt where it says "To System Minus". You will need a small thick cable to connect the lith battery neg. to the SmartShunt.

The small red wire that connects to "V+" of the SmartShunt goes to the positive of your lith battery.

The other small wire (Aux) is not needed to be connected at all unless you wish to view your engine battery voltage. I connected mine, but it has nothing at all to do with what you really want to monitor, your lith house battery.

The SmartShunt is a VERY handy device. For an example, it will tell you exactly when to turn off your generator when your battery is 100% charged as well as provides much other handy info. You want to install it correctly.

-Don- Tom's Place, CA

 

[stepbill]

Thanks Don!

 

[Lou Schneider]

Be sure there is NOTHING on your battery negative terminal except for the large bolt of the SmartShunt where it says "to battery minus". And I mean NOTHING else under any conditions. All the wires that used to be on your negative battery terminal go to the large bolt on the opposite side of the SmartShunt where it says "To System Minus". You will need a small thick cable to connect the lith battery neg. to the SmartShunt.

The only exception to the above is if you have more than one battery, the wire that runs to another battery. All of the battery (-) terminals should be connected together, then the SmartShunt "To Battery Minus" connects to them. Everything else connects to the "To System Minus" terminal on the shunt.

 

[DonTom]

The only exception to the above is if you have more than one battery, the wire that runs to another battery. All of the battery (-) terminals should be connected together, then the SmartShunt "To Battery Minus" connects to them. Everything else connects to the "To System Minus" terminal on the shunt.

True, but the OP says "The battery" which usually means one battery. " the lithium battery" in his case.

-Don- Tom's Place, CA

 

[xrated]

Xrated, guess that I should have my wife do it then?

I guess that depends on how much you love her....and how long you want her around....and how willing you are to cover the cost of all that carnage!

 

[Rob&Deryl]

Since I have a series connected pair of 6v batteries, the aux wire goes to the connection between the batteries and can then tell you about how close to identical they are.

 

[Grid Point Designs]

Don't forget to program the Smartshunt so it will give you accurate readings! For example, the capacity of the battery bank will give you an accurate SOC (State of Charge) as the battery is used. The Peukert is usually disregarded and set to 1.00 with lithium.
When wiring the smartshunt it can be difficult to place all the negative loads on one side of the shunt, especially if you have more than 3 or 4 lugs. I recommend installing a junction post near the smartshunt, connecting it to the load side of the smartshunt via a 2/0 or 4/0 cable, and creating a new master negative.