Multiplus II GX lost connection with Smart Shunt via ve.direct

Q&A and troubleshooting
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1

Hi,
yesterday I installed a new Smart Shunt IP65 300A to my Multiplus II GX without any problem.
After I was finished I disabled bluetooth on the Smart Shunt (yes I know…) and everything worked fine the whole day.
Today I had to do a zero volt calibration on my BMS and because of that I powered off the Multi and switched off the battery main fuse.
After I switched everything on again everything looked ok, but the shunt stopped reporting after a few minutes and has not reported back since then.
All components are running latest firmware.

I tried following things:

  • Removed smart shunt from power for >5 minutes (ve.direct cable + power cabel)
  • checked cabling
  • replugged all cables (I am using a 0.9m ve.direct cable)
  • I checked the fuse in the power cable of the smart shunt - everything OK
  • rebooted the GX part
  • powered off/on the whole multi

Tomorrow I will check with a ve.direct USB cable but I am really puzzled.
Any Idea what I could still check or how to diagnose this?
Does someone know which log file I could check to see more informations of the ve.direct connection?

2

Not sure whether our MP-II GX is representative but it is extremely finickity about the length and quality of the USB part of the USB to VE-Direct cable. Certainly some EMI sensitivity issues there so keep the USB cable as short as possible, 30cm or less even. The VE-Direct (part of the) cable is basically just rs232 and can be as long as you need.

3

Hi @UpCycleElectric, thanks for your response.
currently the connection is not using USB - I am connected via the cable from the Smart Shunt IP65 and a 0.9m ve.connect cable (shortest available) what I have seen. Weird thing is that it worked without problem and then stopped after today’s power cycle.

4

In the off-chance there might be a hardware issue with the ve-direct connection on the MP-II GX end, there is a secondary connector inside the casing you could try.

5

I will check if it’s on the shunt or the multi side tomorrow with a ve.direct to USB adapter. Depending on the result I will try the internal port. Thanks for the tip.

6

Easiest way to test the Smartshunt, if you have an in USB to VE-Direct cable, is to use your phone or tablet with victronconnect app. And maybe an USB-C adapter.

7

Seems the smart shunt is dead. I tried to connect from my MacBook via ve.direct USB cable but VictronConnect does not find anything. Seems I have to replace the smart shunt… very weird after just one day of usage…

8

Actually, even when failures are very rare, if they happen it’s is quite common to do so very early on in operation: ‘Dead On Arrival’ failure.

9

The Smart Shunt indeed was completely dead. After I exchanged it to a new one everything is working fine again.

10

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