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jeffk asked

Victron Phoenix Charger Ghost Temperature Sensing

I'm curious how my Victron charger senses temperature without any temperature sensors in the VE Network. In our Airstream trailer I replaced the stock WFCO charger with a Victron Smart Phoenix 50A configured for our lithium batteries. I also have installed a Victron Shunt and two 100|30 Smart MPPT controllers, but no battery sense or external temperature sensors.

We have the trailer plugged in and I disconnected the batteries since with our bargain-basement lithium batteries I don't entirely trust the BMS to prevent cold temperature charging. This frosty morning (2C) the inside lights didn't come on and the battery switch light is out. I switched on the batteries and the lights were working but checking the charger it had a message that it wasn't charging because the temperature was too low (<5C).

A light went on in my head and I figured out the charger wasn't powering anything because of the low temperature cutoff. However, I don't have any temperature sensors attached to the shunt or the solar controllers; the charger was correct and shut down, but I don't know how it sensed temperature. (There is an option to enable the low temperature cutoff which I now have disabled.) Do any of the devices in my network sense temperature without an external sensor?

Phoenix Smart Charger ip43
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mkuiken answered ·

Hi @jeffk,

Can you check if the Bluetooth Interface firmware of the SmartShunt has been updated to v2.46?

There's a fix in v2.46 specifically for this issue so please let us know in case you're already on v2.46. If not running on v2.46, please update first.

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jeffk avatar image jeffk commented ·

Hi! I can't find the Bluetooth version. The SmartShunt is at version 4.14 and all the other devices are up to date. What issue does this version resolve specifically?

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mkuiken avatar image mkuiken jeffk commented ·

When connected to your SmartShunt via Bluetooth, go to the Product Info page where you can also see the SmartShunt firmware v4.14. Then, if you scroll down you'll see that there's another product "SmartShunt Bluetooth Interface". Its firmware needs to be v2.46.

Assuming you're using the latest VictronConnect, you'll get the option to update the firmware in case it's not v2.46 yet.

There's a fix in v2.46 for occasional erroneous battery temperature broadcasts on VE.Smart networking, causing chargers on the same network which are configured for low temperature cutoff to stop charging. These erroneous temperature broadcasts can occur even when no temperature sensor is configured.


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jeffk avatar image jeffk mkuiken commented ·

Thanks, I needed to scroll. It's v2.46 for the SmartShunt. However, if it matters, I checked the SmartSolar controllers and they are v2.44, but no option to update (latest version).

img-8116.png


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img-8116.png (56.7 KiB)
jeffk avatar image jeffk jeffk commented ·
... I can't find any temperature readings in the shunt or charger displays. Is there a place temperature is displayed. Or do I need the Smart Battery Sense?
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mkuiken avatar image mkuiken jeffk commented ·

No, the temperature is only visible in your chargers when you have a temperature sensor in your VE.Smart Network (such as SmartBattery Sense or a sensor on the auxiliary input of the SmartShunt).

The Phoenix charger uses external temperature information to handle the low temperature cutoff so that would mean the Phoenix charger received the low temperature from the SmartShunt (even though the SmartShunt isn't configured for a temperature sensor).

@JeffK Can you share a service report after connecting to the SmartShunt? See here for an explanation on how to do this.


Btw v2.44 is the correct version for the SmartSolars.

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jeffk avatar image jeffk mkuiken commented ·
Thanks, I'll file the report. However, I went out this morning when it is -3C or so and the charger with the battery temperature protection on is not preventing it from charging like it was before. So, the phantom temperature broadcast is apparently no longer.
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