Is there a way to contact the company for tech support without going through a dealer? I purchased my unit on Amazon and was assigned a “dealer” who says he doesn’t have my unit on his list.
I am going to day a big hmmmm because of the statement here. All amazon sellers have to buy from somewhere. And it can all be traced to the from where…
You have done some due diligence in this regard when you have used the support page.
Maybe there is something we can do to help?
What kind of tech support do you need?
We get tech support calls from buyers on Amazon several times a week. If they are up front and say they purchased on Amazon and tried contacting the responsible distributor but haven’t received a response then we’ll try to help them. Call a local distributor, be polite and honest with them and you might find they will give you a few minutes of their time. I’ve explained the situation, thanked them for nice about it, and helped them.
Then there are those that are rude or feel entitled to receiving help from distributors they didn’t purchase from. For these people I suggest they enter their serial number on the support page on the Victron website and then click on request support. This does two things: first, it puts you in touch with the original distributor that bought the product from Victron and second, Victron sends that distributor an email asking them to help the customer and Victron will follow up with you to make sure the responsible distributor did their job. If not, it’s a ding on their record with their Victron rep.
As LX said, if it’s a specific question you have then ask it here. Or, you can try one of the approaches I mentioned above.
Good luck!
Thanks for the replies! I did put the serial number on the tech support site and got routed to a nice person in Ft. Lauderdale FL. He did his best to answer questions and his advice was good. I guess I need someone who can “get in the weeds” with software related things. I really don’t want to become a burden to someone who technically didn’t sell me the device. I posted one question on this forum and have no replies as of now. The unit is a MultiPlus-II with a Cerbo-GX that I’m using as backup power like a UPS for sensitive server equipment.
I found your previous question and answered it over there. What are your questions about the Multi and Cerbo?
The community is good for asking specific, pointed questions. A lot of us here don’t answer questions that are very long, seeking design advice, or FAQs. I can’t speak for everyone, but my “free” time is hard to come by and I leave the more basic questions for others to answer. I come to the community for a mental break and to see if I can add value. Even for the pros who’ve been doing this a long time, there is always something new to learn.
I am in the same boat, with a simple question, and amazon does not give the sellers phone or info
I know the feeling, i purchased a victron smart shunt, and have a simple question, and victron, the seller are not available or to be found, victrons instructions on line, victron videos and all youtube videos don’t answer the question, i am building a system with 2 280ah lithium battery, in the shunt and the videos and instruction it only talks about monitoring one battery, midpoint of batteries and a separate cracking battey, i wanted to know if i can put one wire per battery on the bank and monitor both batteries individually to know the state of charge of each battery?
Your question about “special” shunt functions is often asked on this forum, use the search function to find those questions, the important thing is what you want to do with the shunt data: just for monitoring or use it in ess/ dess functions.
If your batteries are in parallel then monitoring them individually is pointless, they are connected together, they have the same voltage. This is not a SmartShunt question, it is basic electrics.
some folks call it basic electric, but with new lithium batteries, you can think it is common sense that they would have the same voltage, but does not mean that they are balanced, just doing a simple search i can find this, but unless you have battery monitors you crystal ball won’t know it, but thank you for your opinion
: Yes, lithium-ion battery cells can have the same voltage and still be unbalanced, particularly when they are not fully charged or under load. Voltage is only a rough estimate of the State of Charge (SoC), whereas balance refers to cells having the same capacity/charge percentage. A cell with lower capacity (e.g., degraded) can show the same voltage as a healthy cell at 50% charge but will reach empty or full much faster. :
The shunt is a tool for a lot of things Data, Monitoring, alerts and more, as stated on the original question, the instructions,and videos are short and general, i talks about monitoring the health of 2 batteries, but not the way i have my battery bank, i was able to submit the question directly to victron for clarification, i asked that question here to see if someone has had the same question and maybe the answer, for general answers i can google which most times knows more that personal opinions, specially when the opinion comes from folk arrogant enough not to know the answer. not in you case , but definitely in the case of others, the worst thing is when some one thinks they know it all, but in fact know nothing at all. thanks for the post.
What you need is the ‘ i-bms system’ as shown in one of the latest YouTube videos of “ off grid garage”
one more before you tell someone “it is basic electrics.”:
Lithium-ion cells can have the same voltage yet be unbalanced because
voltage is not a linear measure of remaining capacity
(State of Charge, SoC), especially in the flat discharge curve of LiFePO4 cells. Unbalanced cells have different internal resistance and capacities due to aging or manufacturing differences, causing them to reach different SoC levels despite showing similar voltage, particularly under load or at partial charge.
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Flat Voltage Curve (LiFePO4): Lithium iron phosphate cells maintain a very stable voltage over a large portion of their capacity. Two cells with significantly different remaining energy (e.g., one 80% charged, one 50% charged) might still measure nearly identical terminal voltages, such as 3.3V, causing a false sense of balance.
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Different Internal Resistance & Aging: Even if matched during manufacturing, cells degrade differently, creating variations in internal resistance (Rintcap R sub i n t end-sub 𝑅𝑖𝑛𝑡). Under load, a cell with higher resistance will experience a greater voltage sag, making it look lower, even if its actual capacity is fine, or vice versa.
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Capacity Disparity (Ah): If one cell has a lower total capacity (Ah) than others, it will charge faster and discharge faster, despite having the same voltage when measured mid-cycle.
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Partial Charge Misconception: People often mistake voltage for capacity. A 3.2V reading doesn’t inherently mean a cell is 50% charged; it depends entirely on the chemistry, temperature, and previous load history.
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Load Dynamics: Under heavy loads, the voltage of a weak, unbalanced cell drops faster due to higher resistance, even if it was “balanced” at rest.
As a result, a “full” battery pack might have one cell fully charged (4.2V) and another only 80% full, but both appear roughly balanced. A BMS (Battery Management System) is necessary to correct these capacity imbalances, as resting voltage only indicates balancing at the very top or bottom of the charge curve.
the question is, if i can do with the smart shunt, what i want to do, i appreciate the effort, but if you do not know the answer, i rather not get general unrelated info,
A bank of batteries in parallel monitored by a single shunt will give you a single SOC
If you want individual monitoring of each battery in a bank, you need to use a shunt for each battery
But the second connection on a SmartShunt only measures voltage, not SOC, so it will only measure the common voltage, which is the same as the voltage measured by the main connection, so it has no purpose in parallel systems, it does not show the 2 batteries are unbalanced.
THank you, that is exactly what victron wrote back to me, i will thank others for there efforts, but some are narrow minded and when they don’t know the correct answer they give wrong arrogant information, victron acknowlaged that the simple question was not address in the instruction or videos but was able to give me the same answer as you, thank you so much, “chrigu”
I am sorry to hear you have had such a hard time getting a straight answer from other sellers. It can be frustrating when the documentation covers complex setups but misses the simple questions. I’m happy to clear this up for you.
To answer your question directly: No, you cannot monitor the State of Charge (SoC) of two parallel batteries individually with a single SmartShunt. —
Why it works this way:
A SmartShunt calculates State of Charge by measuring the current (Amps) flowing through the large metal block (the shunt) on the negative side.
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To get an individual SoC for each battery, each battery would need its own dedicated shunt to “see” its specific current flow.
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Because your batteries are in parallel, they act as one single “bank.” The SmartShunt sees the combined energy moving in and out of that total bank.
What the two red leads are actually for:
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Lead 1 (Vbatt+): This is required to power the shunt and provide the primary voltage reading for your system.
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Lead 2 (Aux): This is an optional input. It can be configured in the VictronConnect app to monitor one of the following:
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Starter Battery: The voltage (only) of a separate engine cranking battery.
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Midpoint Monitoring: Used for batteries in series (24V/48V) to check for imbalances.
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Temperature: Requires a specific temperature sensor (sold separately).
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The Proper Resolution for Your Setup:
Since you have two 280Ah batteries in parallel, you have a 560Ah total capacity.
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Wiring: Connect all negative loads to the “System Minus” side of the shunt and both battery negatives to the “Battery Minus” side.
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Configuration: In the VictronConnect app, go to Settings > Battery and set the Battery Capacity to 560Ah.
The SmartShunt will now give you a very accurate State of Charge for your entire 560Ah bank as a single unit, which is the standard way to monitor a parallel lithium system.
Best regards,
Thanks for sharing the more detailed answer from Victron, helps when someone searches for this