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Received a new Smartshunt 500a and hooked it up to the RV battery which is connected to a Battery Tender. Downloaded the software and the installation went without a hitch. Today, I've no bluetooth connection. Disconnected the “Vbatt+” cable, reattached it and the blue and red LED lights simultaneously flash 3 times, then went blank. Tried two other phones and the software doesn't work. Anyone have any ideas on what my issue may be?
This is the only mention of the red light on the manual...
When the blue and the red LEDs are alternating blinking the SmartShunt firmware is being updated.
And the manual says nothing about the blue and red LED lights simultaneously flashing 3 times, then quitting. The Android 10 phone isn't connected to the shunt. I'm stumped.
Hi @nc750
Do you perhaps have a Victron VE.Diretc USB cable available? And if so, can you perhaps connect it to the SmartShunt and check the settings (on a phone via usb on the go or on a laptop), specifically the "Bluetooth enabled" setting in the Product info screen?
See also: https://www.victronenergy.com/media/pg/8778-VictronConnect_manual-html5/en/application-overview.html#UUID-a2bb3827-313c-1540-8091-84e9fc7ca0cb
What normally happens is that the dongle part of the SmartShunt is blinking both LEDs until a connection has been made with the Shunt part of the SmartShunt. From that point on, a blue led will blink as a sign that BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) is active and it is waiting for a connection. What could be the case here is that somehow BLE is disabled in the settings and then after the initial blinking, both leds will be off.
Kind regards,
Thiemo van Engelen
Hi Thiemo van Engelen
Thanks for the quick reply.
I don't have Victron VE.Diretc USB cable available as I intended to use an Android phone. As far as the settings go, the only changes I did the first day was for the "zero current calibration.", " Battery capacity setting " and " charged voltage setting ". And I saved a file for the settings.
So the shunt can somehow shut off bluetooth without input from the user?
Bob
Hi,
It is certainly not intended that it shuts off the bluetooth by itself. It is however a state that would explain the blinking pattern that you see. How long did you disconnect the Vbat+? It might need a minute or so.
Besides that, I am afraid there is not much else that you can do at this moment, besides perhaps going somewhere where they sell victron stuff. Perhaps they are willing to help with a VE.Direct USB cable to check the bluetooth setting.
Kind regards,
Thiemo van Engelen
As Thiemo van Engelen said, bluetooth was shut off. The manual should be updated to mention this is why the blue and red LED lights simultaneously flash 3 times. Better yet, as Rob Beckers at https://www.solacity.com/ mentioned ( great customer service as he sent me the cable to rectify my issue ), it really should have a 'factory reset' mechanism for the unit that doesn't involve more hardware. Perhaps a software update in the future can rectify this issue. Still stumped how it was shut off, but it's working as it should. I'm presently in a room about 25 feet away from the shunt and no signal drop off from the shunt. Nice!
Hi @nc750,
I was wondering if you have changed the Bluetooth pincode for your SmartShunt? Not changing the pincode will leave your device accessible for other users which might be an explanation why the Bluetooth mode has been disabled without you knowing about it.
Disabling Bluetooth via the VictronConnect app requires (1)disabling the switch on the settings Product info page, (2)selecting a tick box, (3)accepting the change by pressing "OK" and finally when exiting/leaving the product page, (4)confirming the final warning that Bluetooth is disabled (and giving you the option to undo your action). I don't see how this could have happened accidentally without you knowing about it, so might be that somebody else has been playing around in case you didn't change the pincode. Just an idea ...
