Help with electrics for Battery Monitor / Identify electrics

LondonPride · Oct 27, 2021

I had a battery monitor / Victron Smart Shunt installed during the peak of Covid. Unfortunately when it was being installed the technician got pinged by track and trace and poor mobile reception at the time meant I couldn’t really get to bottom of what was going on. it doesnt work properly, I changed the cables round to what i thought was right but still doesnt work. Perhaps you guys can help!

Does anyone know what the bus bar on white blocks is in the top left of this picture? It has 2 cables coming out of it, but nothing connected to any positive voltage - just negative terminals from what I can tell. If it was a negative bus bar I thought it should have current going in and the out?

Secondly you might be able to see top right the blue victron smart shunt / battery monitor I had installed. There is a brown cable there which goes into the van floor. Is that the earth or something else? Cable was connected to the negative terminal on the battery?

Overall, trying to get the Smartshunt to work. All negative should to it and then it connects to the battery negative. But cannot get it work properly

Van is a 2015 T5.1 Beach

sidepod · Oct 27, 2021

I would hope an uninsulated bus bar like that is an earth bar. That said, there is no reason to isolate it on the white bobbins unless it’s a clean earth for something.

LondonPride · Oct 27, 2021

It looks odd to me. I’m not sure, but I’m guessing that is not OEM and was added after (guessing when they did the battery monitor). But not sure why as doesnt seem to be connected to anything. It is almost as though a job was started but not finished

Mike Currie · Oct 27, 2021

Section 3.3 on page 7 has a diagram that shows how to correctly install the SmartShunt.

LondonPride · Oct 27, 2021

Thanks @Mike Currie ive followed the instructions but still doesn't seem to be working correctly. Why I've come here to try snd work out what some of the cables from the van actually are and whether something is missing

yossarian · Oct 27, 2021

Mike Currie said:
Section 3.3 on page 7 has a diagram that shows how to correctly install the SmartShunt.

What @Mike Currie said particularly 3.3.3 which differs from your description.

sidepod · Oct 28, 2021

The pdf on the website is nice and clear, very simple. What isn’t working, the Bluetooth part?

LondonPride · Oct 28, 2021

I habe followed the manual and the setup is as per the manual. But the readings for State of Charge are not right. Voltage is. THat is why I’m trying to determine what the 2x cables above actually are - perhaps there is another cable which has been missed somewhere giving negative load, or I added a cable shouldn’t have.

sidepod · Oct 28, 2021

Well it all looks very simple, rip it out and start again.

yossarian · Oct 28, 2021

If the voltage and current are correct then the soc is calculated on those parameters plus some config in the module itself. See section 4.5.

LondonPride · Oct 28, 2021

So can anyone help identify what the cables in the pic are?

the brown one going to floor of van....in that earth?

and the BusBar in top left. Is that OEM or retro fit does anyone know?

sidepod · Oct 28, 2021

Brown is earth.
My money is on retro fit bus bar.

Hard to tell from that photo where the cables from the bus bar go?

Work with us here. Trace the cables, take a better photo.
Put a meter on it, is it live?

That’s all my crystal ball has got.

LondonPride · Oct 28, 2021

Thanks for your help.

So the odd thing about the retro fit bus bar. There is a thick cable going to the VictronConnect smartshunt.

Then another thiner cable which was going to negative of battery. As nothing should go to to the battery bypassing the shunt I moved this to the shunt

but now there are 2 cables coming from bus bar to the shunt. But there is
Nothing else on the bus bar. Just those 2 cables coming off it and nothing going into it. So I don't understand what the purpose of this bus bar is. It is as though it is missing another connection.

Thanks for confirming the earth. That has been moved from negative of battery to smartshunt too.