question

lincoln-crawley avatar image
lincoln-crawley asked

DCDC charge and DC load both showing negative

I have a Victron off-grid setup in my Amarok which is working great except for being able to monitor alternator charge and therefore battery charge percentage while the engine is running. When alternator is not on, the DC load through the smart shunt is displayed as a negative which in turn reduces the battery charge % displayed as it should. However when the alternator kicks in and the dcdc charger is working, instead of the load turning into a positive and increasing the battery charge%, it is displayed as an increased negative (not sure if it's cumulative or then difference) and reduces what is displayed as the percentage charge % of the batteries by that amount when we know the batteries are being charged. SmartShunt battery monitor and "Have DC system" are both selected on the Cerbo GX.

Setup summary

2 X 100ah LiPro lithium batteries

Victron Multiplus 12/2000

Cerbo GX with touchscreen

Victron SmartSolar 100/30

Smart Shunt

Amarok smart alternator

Redarc BCDC 40 dcdc charger

House batteries earthed through to main vehicle battery earth

All DC load and DCDC charger connected to load side of shunt

Only the two house batteries are connected to input side of shunt

SmartSolar and Multiplus hard wired to CerboGX

Any guidance would be appreciated.


Lithium Battery
1 comment
2 |3000

Up to 8 attachments (including images) can be used with a maximum of 190.8 MiB each and 286.6 MiB total.

klim8skeptic avatar image klim8skeptic ♦ commented ·

@Lincoln Crawley do you have your redarc wired up like this?

redarc-b.png


0 Likes 0 ·
redarc-b.png (185.0 KiB)
3 Answers
kevgermany avatar image
kevgermany answered ·

What is connected to the negative side of the house batteries? They should be earthed through the load side of the shunt, not directly and nothing else should be connected there.

2 |3000

Up to 8 attachments (including images) can be used with a maximum of 190.8 MiB each and 286.6 MiB total.

lincoln-crawley avatar image
lincoln-crawley answered ·

I thought I knew until I started this reply but will double check and get back to you

2 |3000

Up to 8 attachments (including images) can be used with a maximum of 190.8 MiB each and 286.6 MiB total.

lincoln-crawley avatar image
lincoln-crawley answered ·

Ahhh found the problem. The common earth was wired to the battery side of the shunt instead of the load side. Have swapped it aroundbajdbhey presto, it's showing charge from the alternator.


Thanks for your help on this one.....was doing our heads in lol!

2 |3000

Up to 8 attachments (including images) can be used with a maximum of 190.8 MiB each and 286.6 MiB total.

Related Resources