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Can the SmartShunt be used as a DC meter for dc loads? I have a lot of DC loads and would love it I could accurately measure how much power they are using. My Battery is CAN connected.
This would be fantastic if it could be added to the Consumption numbers on VRM.
My hot water heater is DC and uses around 8kWh per day, this doesn't show up on VRM even tho it is a significant use of energy.
Thanks
This is (IMO) a bit of an ommision within the Victron monitoring kit (Simarine do a really nice quad shunt designed for just this purpose, but of course no use for a Victron setup).
Answer to the question is yes, you can have multiple Shunts (either Smartshunts or BMVs) and so record the current for each. I have 3 BMVs in my installation so I can see precisely what is going on with different battery banks, and the small DC loads are connected via an MPPTs Load Connection to monitor those (using the internal logging in the PV Controller)
In terms of VRM, there is no problem with multiple Shunts.
In the Venus OS unit (e.g. a Cerbo GX) you specify which is the primary BMV device and that is the one that determines the "System" data things like Battery SOC, DC Wattage, Voltage, Current, etc. And you then look at the Individual device charts to drill down. (I download to Excel and put the devices data into a Pivot Table to look at the breakdowns and combine them to see the overall picture)
Please could you expand further on this:
and the small DC loads are connected via an MPPTs Load Connection to monitor those (using the internal logging in the PV Controller)
I would like to monitor the DC load to my fridge, could I use this method?
You can track the load current on the PV Controller as per the example below.
You would need to do the maths yourself to get the Wattage using the Voltage data but best option I could find.
If you have a Compressor Fridge, I doubt this would work for you as the biggest PV controller with a Load Output is the 100/20 - so limit is 20A and when the fridge starts, the in-rush is above 20A and the Load output will cut out with an overlimit protection
Yes, you can use the SmartShunt for your purpose.
But I'm nut sure, what the VRM portal will do with two Shunts.
Why does your CAN connected battery not show your DC consumption? Is it not connected to your GX device?
Could you provide a circuit diagram?
