Victron Energy SmartShunt 500A

The SmartShunt is a good alternative for a BMV battery monitor, especially for systems where battery monitoring is needed but less wiring and clutter is wanted.

The SmartShunt is equipped with Bluetooth, has a VE.Direct port and an auxiliary connection that can be used to monitor a second battery, for midpoint monitoring, or to connect a temperature sensor.

How does the battery monitor work?

The battery monitor continuously measures the current flow in and out of the batteryand will take various factors into consideration when calculating the state of charge.

Readout overview

The the VictronConnect app battery monitor status screen, displays an overview of the most important parameters. These are:

• State of charge: The actual state of charge of the battery in a percentage.
• Voltage: The terminal voltage of the battery.
• Current: The actual current flowing in or out of the battery.
• Power: The power drawn from or received by the battery.
• Consumed Ah: The battery monitor keeps track of the Amp-hours removed from the battery compensated for the efficiency.
• Time remaining: The battery monitor estimates how long the battery can support the present load. This is the “time-to-go” readout and is the actual time left until the battery is discharged to the set “discharge floor”.
• Aux input reading: Starter battery, midpoint or temperature.

Trends

The VictronConnect app provides battery monitor data logging. The battery monitor will store up to 45 days of past data and two of the following parameters can be viewed alongside:

• Voltage (V)
• Current (A)
• Power (W)
• Consumed Amp Hours (Ah)
• State of charge (%)
• Temperature (°F/°C)

History

The battery monitor stores historic events. These can be used at a later date to evaluate usage patterns and battery health. The history data is stored in a non-volatile memory and will not be lost when the power supply to the battery monitor has been interrupted or when the battery monitor has been reset to its defaults.

• Discharge Information in Ah: Deepest Discharge, Last Discharge, Average Discharge, and cumulative Ah drawn.
• Energy in kWh: Discharged Energy and Charged Energy.
• Charge: Total Charge Cycles, Time Since Last Full Charge, Synchronisations, and Number of Full Discharges.
• Battery Voltage: Minimum and Maximum Battery Voltage. 
• Voltage Alarms: Low Voltage and High Voltage Alarm.

Alarms

The battery monitor can raise an alarm in the following situations:

• Low battery state of charge (SOC).
• Low battery voltage.
• High battery voltage.
• Low and high starter battery voltage (if the AUX input has been set to ‘Starter battery’).
• Midpoint voltage (if the AUX input has been set to ‘Midpoint’).
• High and Low battery temperature (if the AUX input has been set to ‘Temperature’).

Operation as a DC meter

The battery monitor can be set up as a DC energy meter. It is used to measure DC production or consumption of a specific device in a system, like for example an alternator, wind turbine or hydro generator. Or similarly, the consumption of a specific circuit or load in a DC system. When in DC monitor mode, the voltage, current and power is displayed.

Differences compared to BMV-712 Battery Monitor

• No visual and audible alarm (alarms are only visible via the VictronConnect app or GX device)
• No programmable relay