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09-19-2020, 05:55 AM
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#1
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Montana Master
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Northville, NY
Posts: 807
M.O.C. #21158
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Battery monitor wiring
I am looking at installing a battery monitor/usage meter. My control/fuse panel is located near the rear of my rig a good distance from the battery. I was wondering if the shunt needs to be at the battery or if I can install it where the cable comes into the fuse panel making it easier to run the wire to the meter readout.
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Jim B
2017 Lariat F-350 FX4, CC, SB, 6.7 PSD 4WD
2018 MONTY 3731FL, at our private winter site in GA
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09-19-2020, 06:01 AM
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#2
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Montana Fan
Join Date: Sep 2016
Location: West Melbourne
Posts: 310
M.O.C. #18980
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Shunt needs to be at the battery in order to measure the total battery current.
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Butch and Kathy
2016 3160RL Legacy, Sailun S637, Centramatic Balancers, 2-T105s, Amish Refrigeration, ARPrv, SoftStartRV, FlexArmor roof
2016 F350 6.7L SRW
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09-19-2020, 06:21 AM
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#3
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Montana Master
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Ore City Texas
Posts: 1,648
M.O.C. #2224
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Quote:
Shunt needs to be at the battery in order to measure the total battery current.
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Yes, I will add from personal experience: The Renogy battery monitor came with inadequate length of wire from shunt to display. I had to purchase wiring from a different source to bring the monitor inside my trailer.
The point? The wiring to the display can be extended; the shunt needs to be kept close to the battery. Also, the wiring for the shunt requires heavy, thick wiring; the wiring to the monitor display is small wire--though I can testify that in my case it was made up of 5 very small wires which required delicate splicing.
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09-19-2020, 06:27 AM
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#4
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Montana Master
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Northville, NY
Posts: 807
M.O.C. #21158
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Tks for quick replies. That is what I expected but wasn't sure.
Has anyone tried one of the wireless monitors available on Ebay? I'm a bit skeptical of them.
__________________
Jim B
2017 Lariat F-350 FX4, CC, SB, 6.7 PSD 4WD
2018 MONTY 3731FL, at our private winter site in GA
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09-19-2020, 08:09 PM
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#5
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Montana Master
Join Date: May 2019
Location: Alton
Posts: 2,656
M.O.C. #24086
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I have a Victron BMV-712 with Bluetooth. I can monitor my batteries and solar panel from the house 100' away on my phone.
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Daryl and Marianne,
2019 3130re 20th Anniversary Edition
2016 F350 Lariat
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09-20-2020, 08:19 AM
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#6
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Montana Master
Join Date: Nov 2015
Location: Arlington
Posts: 1,522
M.O.C. #18081
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It does not matter which end of the battery negative you mount the shunt on. What does matter is that you do not have ANY other connections of loads and/or sources between the shunt and the battery terminal it is connected to. You may have to do some digging around to ensure there are no frame bonding wires between the shunt connection and the battery negative terminal.
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SOB
2015 Volvo VNL780 D13, iShift, 32k ET air hitch, Idle Free LiFePO4 APU
16.8KWhr LiFePO4, 2.52 kw solar, 10kva Victron split phase
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09-20-2020, 02:02 PM
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#7
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Montana Master
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Northville, NY
Posts: 807
M.O.C. #21158
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PNW Fireguy
It does not matter which end of the battery negative you mount the shunt on. What does matter is that you do not have ANY other connections of loads and/or sources between the shunt and the battery terminal it is connected to. You may have to do some digging around to ensure there are no frame bonding wires between the shunt connection and the battery negative terminal.
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Thanks, that makes complete sense.
I've ordered a monitor that is hard wired in. I will need to just figure out where to mount it. I would have preferred the switch panel area but that is located a good 25 or 30 feet from the battery with the bathroom and kitchen in between making wire routing very difficult with out dropping the coroplast. I'm not going solar or boondocking, I just want to know the condition of our battery if we overnight on the road or something. Also interested in knowing what our usual a/h usage is. I have a new 200 ah battery coming and don't want to shorten it's life by going below 50%. I may take the trouble to disconnect the neg bat cable at both ends and run a continuity check to ground. I suppose that would tell me if there is any connection in between.
__________________
Jim B
2017 Lariat F-350 FX4, CC, SB, 6.7 PSD 4WD
2018 MONTY 3731FL, at our private winter site in GA
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10-01-2020, 07:18 PM
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#8
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Seasoned Camper
Join Date: Aug 2020
Location: Edinburg
Posts: 88
M.O.C. #26856
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I also just got the victron 712. I can pull up the display on my phone in about 20 seconds. Plus it comes with a very long wire.
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10-02-2020, 05:33 AM
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#9
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Montana Master
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Northville, NY
Posts: 807
M.O.C. #21158
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I ended up going with a somewhat less expensive monitor due to the fact that we don't have solar and don't boondock other than an occasional overnight at a rest area. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
This one doesn't have blue tooth. I have not decided where to mount the readout. With the front L/R the control panel is located near the rear just outside the B/R so a long run with no good way to get there w/o dropping the underbelly. I may just put it in the battery compartment for now.
Got the 130lb. battery installed with the help of my portable engine lift. I installed the shunt right at the neg cut off switch to keep it close to the bat.
__________________
Jim B
2017 Lariat F-350 FX4, CC, SB, 6.7 PSD 4WD
2018 MONTY 3731FL, at our private winter site in GA
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