Smartshunt cannot connect via Bluetooth

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question

hjarnek asked Jun 2, '22

Smartshunt cannot connect via Bluetooth

Hi,

I just got myself a second Smartshunt 500A. The problem is it won't connect to my phone. I've repeatedly tried disconnecting the Smartshunt and wait, but it doesn't make any difference. Gone through the entire Victron troubleshooting guide, but there's not much to be done from there: I can't remove it from paired devices because it never pairs in the first place, restarting the phone does not help, GPS positioning is turned on in the phone, I'm as close to the Smartshunt as I can be, the Victron Connect app is up to date – and then finally the fact that my phone can connect to my old Smartshunt. However, it does show up in the devices list in the app. The problem is that it never asks for a PIN code, it just loads for a while and then comes then error message, same thing when trying to reset the PIN code. The only reaction I get is the error LED on the Smartshunt flashing quickly once every time I press connect on my phone.

Any ideas what the reason could be? Is the unit damaged/faulty, or is there anything more to try?

SmartShunt Bluetooth connection issue

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Answer 1 · 2022-06-02T20:11:58Z

Thiemo van Engelen (Victron Energy staff) answered · Jun 02, 2022 at 08:11 PM

Hi @hjarnek

This is very unexpected behavior. Can you please make a service report and attach that here as an answer/comment? The procedure for a service report is described here: https://ve3.nl/VictronConnect_How-to-create-a-VictronConnect-Service-Report

Kind regards,

Thiemo van Engelen

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hjarnek commented · Jun 02, 2022 at 09:01 PM

I tried creating a service report, but the only options I got when I pressed the button was to share it over NFC, Android Beam or WhatsApp, none of which worked. But given that the report file has already been created once I pressed the button, where in the filesystem should I look for it?

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Thiemo van Engelen (Victron Energy staff) ♦ hjarnek commented · Jun 03, 2022 at 06:31 AM

Hi @hjarnek

I use File Manager (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.alphainventor.filemanager) to store the file on the phone. When pressing "Create service report", it allows me to select File Manager and that then opens and allows to choose where to store the file.

Kind regards,

Thiemo van Engelen

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hjarnek Thiemo van Engelen (Victron Energy staff) ♦ commented · Jun 03, 2022 at 07:23 AM

The file manager did the thing! Can you see anything of interest in the log? All I've done is open the app and try to connect to the Smartshunt, then press "Create service report".

VictronConnect_report.log

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victronconnect-report.log (51.9 KiB)

Thiemo van Engelen (Victron Energy staff) ♦ hjarnek commented · Jun 03, 2022 at 09:34 AM

Hi @hjarnek

Thank for the service log. Unfortunately it did not show much, just that it immediately disconnects when a connection is made. And it only showed 1 SmartShunt. Was the other SmartShunt indeed out of range when making this service log?

There are a few things that you can try to diagnose the problem:

Try to pair from the Android bluetooth menu. This is normally not advised, but it is worth trying.
Check the cabling and then especially the red cable going to the battery+.
When you have a second phone, check if that phone is able to connect and pair.

Kind regards,

Thiemo van Engelen

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hjarnek Thiemo van Engelen (Victron Energy staff) ♦ commented · Jun 03, 2022 at 02:07 PM

Thanks for your response. None of the Smartshunts are permanently installed where I currently have them, so I have just been temporarily testing them by clamping the cables to the poles of a 12V car battery. Nothing connected to the "system minus". So, the cabling is what it is. Do you think that it can have impacted in some way? How, in that case? As far as I have noticed, the Bluetooth LED has always been flashing steadily, on both of them.

I have already tried connecting via the Android bluetooth menu, but the result is the same. Although the error message I get from Android is that it couldn't connect because of an invalid key or PIN code (it never asks for one).

Testing with a different phone can be tricky, but I'll see what I can do during the weekend. Will get back here!

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Thiemo van Engelen (Victron Energy staff) ♦ hjarnek commented · Jun 03, 2022 at 02:28 PM

Hi @hjarnek

Regarding the cabling, I was thinking about a bad battery+ connection. This might cause the supply voltage to drop when more current is drawn, for example when a BLE connection is made and the red LED is also turned on. This might then cause the internal dongle to reset while the phone is making the connection and trying to pair.

I am not really surprised that the Bluetooth menu gave more or less the same result. I do hope that you are able to test with a different phone as this will rule out whether the problem is somehow the phone/smartshunt combination or just the smartshunt.

Kind regards,

Thiemo van Engelen

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hjarnek Thiemo van Engelen (Victron Energy staff) ♦ commented · Jun 03, 2022 at 03:21 PM

I see. But why would it necessarily have to be the battery+ connection? Couldn't a bad battery- connection yield the same result? By the way, do you think that a loose connection could have damaged the Smartshunt to behave in this way, or would it rather be completely dead then?

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Thiemo van Engelen (Victron Energy staff) ♦ hjarnek commented · Jun 07, 2022 at 09:08 AM

Hi,

I deemed it more likely that the positive connection would be problematic as that is a wire that is only used to power the SmartShunt (and measure the battery voltage) and nothing else. The negative is normally also uses by other equipment and a problem there would thus be more likely to show up. But yes, the battery minus could also be the problem.

About the loose connection, I have no idea if a loose connection could lead to damage that leads to this behavior.

Kind regards,

Thiemo van Engelen

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hjarnek Thiemo van Engelen (Victron Energy staff) ♦ commented · Jun 07, 2022 at 02:45 PM

Hi,

Again - thanks for your response. I have finally found another phone to try with and it worked! I'll attach both log files here: the one with the "new" phone and new Smartshunt, working together, and the one with my original phone and original Smartshunt, working together. The log file with my original phone and new Smartshunt, not working together, you already have. Perhaps you can find something from these together to indicate what goes wrong. I'd be very happy to hear.
VictronConnect_report_New_phone_Old_smartshunt.log VictronConnect_report_Old_phone_New_smartshunt.log

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victronconnect-report-new-phone-old-smartshunt.log (104.7 KiB)

victronconnect-report-old-phone-new-smartshunt.log (76.5 KiB)

Thiemo van Engelen (Victron Energy staff) ♦ hjarnek commented · Jun 09, 2022 at 07:41 AM

Hi @hjarnek

Thank for the service reports. Unfortunately we did not find any clue on these log files why that one phone does not want to pair with the SmartShunt and the other does want to pair. We also tried to reproduce the issue here with the same type of phone and the same type of SmartShunt, but here the combination worked perfectly.

Do you also have some other app installed that might use bluetooth? Something that communicates with other devices or gadgets?

We have seen on Android that this can interfere with the pairing process.

Kind regards,

Thiemo van Engelen

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hjarnek Thiemo van Engelen (Victron Energy staff) ♦ commented · Jun 09, 2022 at 02:40 PM

Unimaginable.

Did you test with the same phone and Android version?

I have no other apps using Bluetooth, and no other Bluetooth devices in the proximity whatsoever actually. Plus, I never keep apps that I don't use running in the background.

The most odd thing is that my phone works with my old Smartshunt, but not with the new. I noticed that my old Smartshunt is running firmware 4.09, while the new one is running 4.08 (on the new phone). In both cases, they claim to be running the latest firmware. Why is that? Has it got something to do with them being "different types of Smartshunts"? I didn't even know there were different types. Do you think a firmware update to 4.09 on the new Smartshunt could solve the problem, and how do I even do that as it already claims to be running the latest firmware?

Best, kindest, desperate regards

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Thiemo van Engelen (Victron Energy staff) ♦ hjarnek commented · Jun 10, 2022 at 06:28 AM

Hi @hjarnek

We did test with exactly the same phone model (which is available in the service log). I am not 100% certain we tested with the same android version, but given the phone model, I assume the one here and the one you used both run the latest available update.

Regarding the software version, the software version you mention here is the software version of the internal battery monitor part. Internally there is also a bluetooth interface part. This can be seen when going to the product info menu and then scrolling down. And although they have the same software version, there is a software different between the two SmartShunts that you have. But also with this, we used the same version. So all in all, it remains a mystery why your phone does not want to pair that particular SmartShunt.

There is one is just one more thing that I can think of that might solve the issue and that is a factory reset of the phone, although I also understand the inconvenience of this.

Otherwise, I would advice you to contact the seller and see if you can have the SmartShunt replaced, and then preferably with a SmartShunt with serial number HQ2139 or later (21 is the year, 39 the week number). This should contain the same bluetooth module software as the one that you have and that is working.

Kind regards,

Thiemo van Engelen

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Answer 2 · 2022-06-03T03:44:00Z

Matthias Lange - DE answered · Jun 03, 2022 at 03:44 AM

What phone do you have? Can you try another phone?

On some phones (Android) there is coming a message in the notification bar at the top that you have to pull down.

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hjarnek commented · Jun 03, 2022 at 07:20 AM

Yes, I read that. No such message. I have a Samsung phone.

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