Victron Smart Lithium 160Ah Not Reaching 100% Charge – Normal or Battery Wear?

DIY
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1

Hello everyone,

I have a Victron Smart Lithium 160Ah battery installed in my camper for about 2.5 years. It is charged with a Victron MultiPlus, which is always connected.

For the past few months, I’ve noticed that the battery no longer reaches 100% charge. It often stays at 99% and remains in charge mode.

I would like to ask:

  • Is this behavior normal over time, or could it be due to battery wear?
  • Should I lower the charging threshold to avoid unnecessary charging cycles?

I’ve attached some images with my battery readings. Any insights or recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

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2

Via Victron Connect look at your Smart Battery and check if it reports as “balanced”

Reporting as balanced equals 100% Soc.

Is your shunt set up correctly?
Any loads or chargers bypassing the shunt?

3

Thanks for your reply.

The consumption is correct, and there are no loads or chargers bypassing the shunt.

The battery does report as balanced, so SOC is not the main issue.

The main concern is the continuous charging. As seen in the graph, the voltage stays at 13.5V, and the MultiPlus keeps charging instead of stopping.

Could this be due to the charge settings, or is it expected behavior after 2.5 years of use?

4

Looking at the graphs I’d say the system is running perfect.

Your voltage is at 13.5 ± 0.x volts with a steady change of discharge and charge on the current.

I don’t know what you expect ?

5

Where is the SOC coming from, the Multiplus or do you have a SmartShunt or BMV.

6

This is a priority.
Any loads directly connected to the battery will not factor into the shunts Soc calculation.
And any loads connected to the battery will bypass the BMS and will lead to grief

That’s good. The battery has been fully charged in the last 30 days.
The shunt should have reset to 100% Soc at the last full charge.

Meh. It looks like there is a small load cycling on-off.
The multi looks like it is reacting to loads turning on/off. (battery voltage)
The only thing that looks odd about your battery chart, is the lack of time scale.

As a comparison, my system today.
Winston battery charged by solar.
Only load a multi powering a fridge.

battery voltage-current wiggle
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More details needed about your system.

7

I don’t think we need more details, evrything is ok, on a normal ±-200a scale you wont even see a ripple.

8

Thank you for your insights.

I understand that the battery is functioning correctly. However, I’ve noticed an increase in charging frequency recently. For the past two months, my camper has been connected to a 230V mains supply, with a constant load of approximately 20W from devices like a modem and other equipment. Previously, once the battery reached 100%, it would remain in float mode. Now, it consistently reaches only 99% (as indicated by the SmartShunt) and often shows ‘charging’ in the VRM. I was concerned this might indicate an issue.

From your explanation, it seems the MultiPlus is responding appropriately to the small, fluctuating loads, causing these minor charging cycles. This behavior appears normal, and I appreciate the clarification.

Thank you for your assistance.

9

Depending on your SmartShunt settings and your charging voltage you may see changes in the SmartShunt behaviour, these setting can slowly drift with time and the battery can be full when the SOC say below 100% and it can be partially full when the SOC says 100% if the settings are not kept up to date. You could grab a screenshot of the SmartShunt settings and your absorption voltage. I think the issue is not with the batteries not charging, but with the SmartShunt not getting to the 100% synchronisation point.