Victron Smart Shunt

I can't quite correlate what you wrote with the pictures. But from what I can see in the pics, it looks correct.
In a nutshell - there should be no other connections between the battery negative terminals and the shunt. Everything on the negative buss goes through the shunt even the battery charger.
Another observation is that small red wire from the shunt that is connected to the battery negative terminal on the shunt. I think that is actually the +12V that powers the smart shunt and needs to be a fused wire to the boat's battery positive on the battery. Check the installation instructions to make sure...
One other comment is that is quite the "rats nest" on the batteries; Should you have an issue and need to get the batteries disconnected it would be quite the challenge. I would consider installing a positive buss bar and move all of those connections to the buss bar and have a single cable to the batteries. Something like this - https://www.bluesea.com/products/1993/PowerBar_1000_-_12_5_16in_Terminal_Studs
Hope this helps
 
Also, looking at the pic of the large fuse - did they run the battery negative through a fuse? I can't really tell because some of the negative wiring is red in color but if they did that fuse needs to be removed. All fusing should be on the positive wiring.
 
Ttmott - I agree..it is a rats nest. I had to label each of the cables when I replaced the batteries so I wouldn't lose track of what went where. Great tip. I will put that on my list. I see that red cable you mentioned and it shouldnt be there, you are right. I dont know what it is but in another picture I have its running inside of the black anti-chafe tubing so I need to figure that out. The fused wire you mentioned is coming from the bottom of the smart shunt and is going to the positive battery terminal. I will start by moving that red wire. Could that be the cause of the inverted metrics? That still seems weird. Thanks for the help!
 
Are you monitoring both banks through one shunt? I monitor the house bank separately from the service bank.
 
Are you monitoring both banks through one shunt? I monitor the house bank separately from the service bank.
No. My setup has 4 batteries, 2 batteries for the house, and then 1 for each engine. I am only trying to monitor the house bank of 2.
 
No. My setup has 4 batteries, 2 batteries for the house, and then 1 for each engine. I am only trying to monitor the house bank of 2.

Ok, The perspective is a bit hard to judge in the photos. Per the last post it looks like that red power wire might be the issue.
 
Yep. That's definitely not supposed to be there. Thanks guys! I will start there and report back.
 
Here is a drawing that might help. Sorry, not my skill set.
9E8D22C0-244A-49DF-A037-10F5604FF1CD.jpeg
 
The photos I took are of each part of this trail. I dont know what the piece is that has a plastic cover on it. Is there a fuse under there? The negative runs from the charger to a bus bar, then over to that plastic covered piece, then to battery 1, then battery 2, and then finally to the shunt (on the "to battery minus" side).
 
Here is a drawing that might help. Sorry, not my skill set. View attachment 129227
Yup, that is Incorrect. The only negative battery connection must be the shunt. Otherwise you would have no idea what is going into and out of the battery. Everything needs to go through the shunt. The battery charger negative must be on the load side of the shunt - not the battery side of the shunt. There is absolutely no need to have a fuse on any negative wiring including the battery charger negative wiring. My gut is there is something really amiss on that configuration. Seems like you have quite a lot of work ahead of ya getting this straightened out.
 
Thanks! The only thing the installer did was replace this junction with the smart shunt. Everything else is the factory setup.
 
In looking closer at the battery pic it seems that they are running the battery positive through the shunt. I'm going by seeing green tape on the wires which indicates ground. Normally, red colored wire is not used for negative conductors and conversely black wire is not used for positive conductors. The large fuse, the small circuit breaker below that large fuse and the charger cable are then correct. Having the shunt in the positive wiring is incorrect and a big no-no. Only the battery negative should be routed through the shunt. This configuration would mess up the data acquisition for sure and indicate the current reversed.
The "rats nest" seems to be the negative wiring on the batteries.
So, the positive wiring needs to be put back in the OEM configuration.
All of that wiring on the battery negative terminals needs to be landed on a separate ground buss then from that ground buss to the shunt then from the shunt to the negative battery terminals.
If what I see is correct you have a pretty major problem to deal with.
 
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In looking closer at the battery pic it seems that they are running the battery positive through the shunt. The large fuse, the small circuit breaker below that large fuse and the in-line fuse on the charger cable are then correct. Having the shunt in the positive wiring is incorrect and a big no-no. Only the battery negative should be routed through the shunt. This configuration would mess up the data acquisition for sure and indicate the current reversed.
The "rats nest" seems to be the negative wiring on the batteries.
So, the positive wiring needs to be put back in the OEM configuration.
All of that wiring on the battery negative terminals needs to be landed on a separate ground buss then from that ground buss to the shunt then from the shunt to the negative battery terminals.
If what I see is correct you have a pretty major problem to deal with.
TTmott - the negative wiring is running to the shunt. I traced that myself last night. It runs from battery number 2 over and around to the shunt. The other wiring I think you are referring to is between the batteries and the charger. That is where that red cables are. They are going into a junction point with a plastic cover on it.
 
OK that's better. I guess the green tape indicates wiring for the Starboard systems Then the battery terminals on the right in this picture are Negative? Even though they have Red positive shipping caps on the screw terminals and the cables are red in color .
Still, that negative cable from the battery needs to go nowhere else but to the shunt and shouldn't have any fuses.
upload_2022-6-22_12-9-25.png
 
I see the confusion. Those two fuses arent part of this. They are for the engine batteries. The plastic piece I am referring to is on the right of the photo. It looks like it covers the wire connection points.
 
I see the confusion. Those two fuses arent part of this. They are for the engine batteries. The plastic piece I am referring to is on the right of the photo. It looks like it covers the wire connection points.
Yea I see it also now. There are four batteries of which the right two in the pic are your house and the right posts on those two batteries are the positives. Then the black wire that is "sagging" across the front of the batteries is the negative to the shunt and it bridges the two batteries under all of the wiring on the engine batteries?
If so that black wire needs to connect to the Bat side of the shunt and be the only wire there. All of the other negative wiring needs to be on the other side of the shunt.
 
Yes, those two are house batteries. The sagging negative wire runs over to the charger through that connection point covered in plastic. The batteries are bridged with the negative cable which continues over around the back of the boat (toward the left of the picture) to the transom. At that point there was previously a junction point/bus bar with negative connections. This is where the installer swapped out the two pole connection piece for the smart shunt (where you saw the red cable on the right that shouldnt be there). So....is that the right connection point in the system for the shunt ??
 
Yes, those two are house batteries. The sagging negative wire runs over to the charger through that connection point covered in plastic. The batteries are bridged with the negative cable which continues over around the back of the boat (toward the left of the picture) to the transom. At that point there was previously a junction point/bus bar with negative connections. This is where the installer swapped out the two pole connection piece for the smart shunt (where you saw the red cable on the right that shouldnt be there). So....is that the right connection point in the system for the shunt ??
Yes but the charger must be on the other side of the shunt; not on the battery.
 
I agree! Yes. Ok, let me look at it further. I dont see how its possible for that configuration with what I have now.
 

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