question

Hi @theferrett - sorry to ask the bleeding obvious question - but are you sure that the other end of the red power cable is plugged in completely to the B1 terminal on the shunt ? If so, and presuming you have a voltmeter, plus good eyesight, could you unplug the RJ12 from the back of the display unit and see if you can detect any voltage on any of the pins on the RJ12 ?

No worries on the bleeding obvious questions! This is our first electrical build, and I assume it's obvious. That said:

• We have confirmed the red power cable is plugged in on the shunt and the other end connected to a positive battery terminal. But:
• When I use a multimeter to put one sensor on the ring attached to the positive battery terminal and the other sensor on the ferrule on the other end of the red power cable, and there doesn't appear to be a current flowing through either of the two red power cables we have attached.
• This is a battery bank, so we have the power cable attached to the center battery and the battery on the end, nearest the Victron.

Does it matter which way the cable is facing? Is there some weird trick to how/where you're supposed to attach the red power cable to get power flowing through to the battery monitor?

Thanks,

T.F.

Hi @theferrett

OK - I may be misunderstanding what you are describing, so I will start with a picture.

Hopefully, what you have set up should look something like this diagram. You did not say what voltage your setup is, but I am assuming that it is a 12V system, with two or perhaps all three batteries connected in parallel.

So if I understood your description, you were checking for voltage along the thin red cable, with your red test probe on the '+' and the black test probe on the other end - having removed the ferrule from its little plug hole. If that is the case - it will not work - you will not detect a voltage there.

To check that the thin red cable is working correctly, you need to remove the ferrule from the B1 socket, connect it to the red probe of your tester, and put the black probe on the either of the brass bolts on the shunt. Just DO NOT touch the ferrule to any of the metalwork on the shunt - you will blow the fuse on the red cable.

If the thin red cable is intact, and the fuse is intact, you should see a voltage readout on your voltmeter.

Okay, got it! The red wire was hooked up correctly, but apparently you have to push the ferrules up to the hilt - we got to the point where something in the shunt was grabbing them, but that wasn't deep enough, apparently. But confirming the red wire had the correct power got us there, so thanks!