question

tduncklee avatar image
tduncklee asked

Maximum input voltage for Smart Battery Sense

The datasheet says the Smart Battery Sense (I have the blue one) is compatible with 48V battery banks. A "48V" LiFePo4 bank can be as high as 58V. Is this OK? I ask because some time ago I hooked one up and it never worked so I'm wondering if I fried it with too high of a voltage. I have a new one and don't want to kill it also.

Smart Battery Sense
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kziolk avatar image kziolk commented ·

I just burned out 2 of them hooking up to a 54 volt battery. These units have issues that Victron needs to address.

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5 Answers
ozaaron avatar image
ozaaron answered ·

The datasheet says operating voltage is between 8V to 60V. Absolute maximum voltage is 65V (so I'd assume any voltage connected above that might be damaging). If you've only connected to 58V, then I'd assume that it should be OK.

Here is a link to the datasheet FYI.

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kziolk avatar image kziolk commented ·

You are correct that it should be OK to connect to a 58 volt battery, but people are blowing these things up left and right hooking them up to 48 volt (nominal) systems.

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Chris Stockton avatar image Chris Stockton kziolk commented ·

I think the datasheet is wrong as I have fried 2 of them now on ~53v

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Chris Stockton avatar image
Chris Stockton answered ·

I just ran into the same problem that they fried when connected up to my 48v Lifepo4 system. I measured the battery bank with 2 multimeters and they both read +/- 54.31v however when I connected the Smart Battery Sense it cooked it. I took a second unit, connected it to a 24v system and it worked no problem. Moved it to my 48v system and its cooked as well. I now have 2 paper weights that I need to talk to my dealer about.


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kziolk avatar image kziolk commented ·

Exact same thing happened to me at 53.74 volts. It worked fine before

I charged the battery.

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Chris Stockton avatar image Chris Stockton kziolk commented ·

I am finding more and more people having issues with these monitors when running them on 48v systems. It sounds like to me that the spec sheet is not true as there is no way it got more then 57V well with in the 60-65 upper limits. Here is the SmartSolar and what it reads from the same bank.


Is someone from Victron able to comment on why the Smart Battery Sense cannot handle a 48v system? I have 2 of these sensors now that are paperweights.

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1616422461655.png (341.7 KiB)
tduncklee avatar image
tduncklee answered ·

I guess I'll give up on this one. These things appear to just not work. The first one failed within minutes of hooking it up. 2nd one caused a tiny spark but still more than what one would expect and never light up and does not appear in the app. Yes, polarity is correct. I did not lengthen the wires. Simply connected is as-is to positive and negative terminals. I even watched the Victron video on the Smart Battery Sense before I hooked up this time. My battery bank is 53.85V. Of course, I waited too long to hook it up and am past my return window. At least it's cheap!

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Daniël Boekel (Victron Energy Staff) avatar image
Daniël Boekel (Victron Energy Staff) answered ·

Hi all,


I was notified of this topic, we are (were) not aware of any issues, and will try to get some of the failed units back to our lab for research.

My apologies for the inconvenience.

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Daniël Boekel (Victron Energy Staff) avatar image
Daniël Boekel (Victron Energy Staff) answered ·

I've sent all four users here an email, please check your spam-folder if not received!

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Chris Stockton avatar image Chris Stockton commented ·

Hi Daniël. I got your email and replied with the details

Thanks


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dmikits avatar image dmikits commented ·
I also have fried two of these units on a 48V system. The dealer says they never had a problem with these. Should I just keep getting them warranty till I find one that works? Battery voltage was at 54.6v the first one and 54.8 on the second.
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Related Resources

Additional resources still need to be added for this topic

Smart Battery Sense Product Page

Smart Battery Sense Manual