question

vicky avatar image
vicky asked

BMV 712 Amp reading 50% off

I freshly installed a BMV712 with included shunt, Smart solar 150 and a battery protect 100A in my remote cabin. 2 x 6 V 190Ah AGM batteries, as 12V in series. All running the latest firmware. Charging works pretty well with the two panels, the fast MPPT seem to be way better than the one of the old charger I replaced.

However the BMV Amp reading is approx 50% off, I.e. half of the true value. Whilst the A reading of the Smart solar is correct.

Interestingly the Smart solar receives the Amp from the BMV via VE Smart Networking.

I am wondering if this 50% deviation is related to the fact that battery flooring level is set to 50%? maybe a SW bug?

BMV Battery Monitor
4 comments
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klim8skeptic avatar image klim8skeptic ♦ commented ·
Do you have any other loads drawing power?
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vicky avatar image vicky klim8skeptic ♦ commented ·

No, there were no other loads connected when I stumbled across this deviation. Having no loads connected and missing 50% of Amps triggered my attention.

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klim8skeptic avatar image klim8skeptic ♦ vicky commented ·

Perhaps you could share a screenshot from the mppt and BMV?

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vicky avatar image vicky klim8skeptic ♦ commented ·

Took a picture of mppt and bmv which shows thr deviation in Amp. Not exactly 50% but I didn't get it better and sun is gone meanwhile.



20220328-113253-copy-1024x705.jpg

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4 Answers
snoobler avatar image
snoobler answered ·

Is it programmed for the correct shunt?

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kevgermany avatar image
kevgermany answered ·

Battery floor is for time to go, doesn't affect current.

MPPT should be wired so that it only reads current through the battery.

MPPT display usually shows it's values.

Nearly 30A into a 190Ah battery at 13.3V is highcurrent/low volts and either very discharged battery or some other load preventing the MPPT from outputting at normal charge voltage..

You say MPPT current is correct. So guess you have a clamp meter to verify. Did you measure current through battery?

Please add a shot from Victron connect of all the readings from the MPPT.

Is the shunt wired direct to the negative of the 12V pack. Is anything else connected to that neg pole?

Is there a load connected between MPPT and shunt.

Guessing you have a high current load that you think is off.



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vicky avatar image
vicky answered ·

kevgermany thanks for looking into this

Battery floor is for time to go, doesn't affect current.

-》 OK txs for confirming


MPPT should be wired so that it only reads current through the battery.

-》well the shunt is wired directly to the negative of battery. As far as I understand this transmits the Amps to BMV which transmitted to Smart MPPT via VE network. There is nothing wired between battery and shunt.


MPPT display usually shows it's values.

-》smart MPPT doesn't have an own display or an own wired shunt, thus no "own" Amp values for the battery. It does read its solar Amps itself only. For battery Amps readings it has to rely on the BMV


Nearly 30A into a 190Ah battery at 13.3V is highcurrent/low volts and either very discharged battery or some other load preventing the MPPT from outputting at normal charge voltage..

-》 correct, after two days w/o sun the battery was very deeply discharged. Which I want to avoid in future by cutting off the heavy load through the battery protect, but this is not activated yet. I want the system running in a stable manner before activating the disconnect.


You say MPPT current is correct. So guess you have a clamp meter to verify. Did you measure current through battery?

-》I did not measure the mppt (solar) Amps. I relied on the mppts Solar W and V and compared to its solar Amps which matched, all in the Victron connect app.


Please add a shot from Victron connect of all the readings from the MPPT.

-》I am out in the bush with no Internet. I have connection only when I am at the next truckstop and even there it takes ages to upload pictures. The one above took almost 15 minutes.
I will take all screenshots today (w/o sun though) , but upload them here later when I am "back in civilization".
Also I will travel back home later today, thus no access to the system until June. Will shut system down after charging battery with generator.


Is the shunt wired direct to the negative of the 12V pack. Is anything else connected to that neg pole?

-》it is wired directly, nothing else is connected to that neg pole


Is there a load connected between MPPT and shunt.
-》don't understand this one I am afraid.
All loads as well as the MPPT are connected to the load and charger side of the shunt. Nothing between battery and shunt.


Guessing you have a high current load that you think is off.

-》this is what I thought as well first hand, would perfectly explain the deviation, but the only high current load I have is the fridge which was surely unplugged at the point in time when I took the picture.

But you made me thinking...there is the possibility though, my inverter for the fridge, which was not disconnected, could be damaged. However It would mean it draws 15A " now and then" only, as currently it is working normally, just feeding the fan. On the other hand if loads are disconnected the 15A x 12V should create a bit of heat somewhere.
Although a bit unlikely I'll watch the inverter carefully as a potential root cause, as soon as I am back out here.

Thanks for the help, hopefully pointing me in the right direction

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kevgermany avatar image
kevgermany answered ·

Vicky, on the mppt/shunt load.

Shunt should only see current through the battery. The 712 is a battery, not system monitor. Let's assume for now that this is the case. Mppt usually reports the voltage it sees from the panels, the voltage it sees from the battery connections and the current it puts out. It doesn't report battery current.

As the 712 is reporting about half the value in the screen on the left, my interpretation is that you have loads being serviced direct from solar. I'm not sure where the current measurement on your left screen comes from, but let's assume it's the battery output of the MPPT. This points to a load on the mppt which the 712 and shunt don't see. Fridge inverter sounds promising, but you need to check wiring and measure the currents. Hope this explains my question. MPPT reported values are not from the shunt, but from the MPPT itself.

If this is the case, they system is working properly, just the values on the screen are confusing. I hope this is the case, but we'll have to find out. No point in posting the pics etc. Until you get back to a decent connection.

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kevgermany avatar image kevgermany ♦♦ commented ·

@Vicky Just occurred to me. 15 Amps at 12V is 180 Watts. That's not a lot for a fan running on AC.

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