Victron VE.direct smart dongle incorrectly showing 11.77vdc

If you think about it, why would the reading change without a "significant event", like charging or discharging?

Because the Victron Smart Shunt is displaying real time voltage 24/7. This VE.Direct is the same technolgy that if I spend a $1,000 to add the Cerbo GX it would show what the Smart Shunt has on the tablet inside the RV. The VE.Direct is just sending via bluetooth.

Also, when the VE.Direct is working correctly, it is displaying the real time values in 1/100dreths


So is the "Voltage" display in the pic you posted the house battery voltage? If so, why didn't that value change when you started the engine? I'm not familiar with Victron specific apps...

This is good question on why house voltage did not go from 13.51vdc to 14.4vdc? I took a picture of what the DC2DC is saying and shows 14.4vdc being sent to the House battery when the engine was running. FWIW the Smart Shunt itself is only reporting 13.51vdc and the physical house battery is also showing 13.6 vdc

So the DC2DC is saying 14.4vdc output but only 13.6vdc is actually on the battery. I need to measure the actual output coming out if the DC2DC. My guess it is related to actual profile for Lithium or maybe the BMS is preventing from taking a charge?

I will turn a few things on tonight to drain the battery down from the 100% SOC
 

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Mine does the same.
I'll post readings tomorrow.

I don't care much.
It's just a guideline to me and since it's all working within the realm of usability I'm not much interested any more.

I'm pretty sure my dc to dc will show something entirely different.
 
Mine does the same.
I'll post readings tomorrow.

I don't care much.
It's just a guideline to me and since it's all working within the realm of usability I'm not much interested any more.

I'm pretty sure my dc to dc will show something entirely different.

It is interesting so I look forward to your findings.

In the meantime, I may have an issue with DC2DC charging not related to VE.Direct. I will have to look at tomorrow, but I think I may have an issue with my circuit breaker between DC2DC and the house battery? I will let the battery drain down tonight and see if DC2Dc will charge it tomorrow. My breaker may be stuck open or something? Because it has been on SP I had not noticed until the Chateau's question.

I am thinking I will return the ve.direct smart either way, just to get a new one to to see if it behaves the same way. I am going to take it off completely now just to go back to micro analyze the way the Smart Shunt was working before. I just have the hassle of going outside in the cold 55 degree weather to do it. I got a jacket around here somewhere, I will ask the wife about it tomorrow :rolleyes:
 
The Bluetooth display from my batteries shows the voltage of each of the four cells in each battery. When I installed the batteries I was laser focused on them being balanced ad nauseum. I was obsessed... near the point of joining "batteries anonymous". The numbers were wildly out of whack... the only accurate one was each battery's voltage.

After reading several forums about balancing, one poster had wise words... just use them and they'll eventually balance themselves. Lo and behold about six months later they did. The capacity numbers settled and all the cells balanced.

I calibrated the shunt to 300Ah and it's been smooth sailing. I stopped obsessing over the batteries not having full charge capacity... when in reality I think the app is whacky. I found the cheap $40 shunt to be extremely accurate and predictable.
 
The Bluetooth display from my batteries shows the voltage of each of the four cells in each battery. When I installed the batteries I was laser focused on them being balanced ad nauseum. I was obsessed... near the point of joining "batteries anonymous". The numbers were wildly out of whack... the only accurate one was each battery's voltage.

After reading several forums about balancing, one poster had wise words... just use them and they'll eventually balance themselves. Lo and behold about six months later they did. The capacity numbers settled and all the cells balanced.

I calibrated the shunt to 300Ah and it's been smooth sailing. I stopped obsessing over the batteries not having full charge capacity... when in reality I think the app is whacky. I found the cheap $40 shunt to be extremely accurate and predictable.
I only have one battery. House Battery was reading 13.5 only display tenths and the Shunt was reading 13.51.

The new issue is unrelated to shunt. The dc2dc is saying it is outputting 14.4 to the house battery but it is not. I will check the breaker tomorrow. It does not physically look tripped, but it may be the issue.

On original issue of the thread, I have removed the ve.direct smart dongle to try to watch the shunt closer for same test cases that the dongle was failing without the dongle in the equation. I also wish to here from seller.
 
I only have one battery. House Battery was reading 13.5 only display tenths and the Shunt was reading 13.51.

The new issue is unrelated to shunt. The dc2dc is saying it is outputting 14.4 to the house battery but it is not. I will check the breaker tomorrow. It does not physically look tripped, but it may be the issue.

On original issue of the thread, I have removed the ve.direct smart dongle to try to watch the shunt closer for same test cases that the dongle was failing without the dongle in the equation. I also wish to here from seller.
Long thread! I didn't read all and have a Balmar gateway dongle instead, and my Victron MPPT is a bluetooth anyways. I also have a Victron gauge connected to MPPT via VE connection. I have 4 apps now that I can use on my phone. (RV master, SeeLevel, Balmar, and VictronConnect)

Just be sure you mounted the dongle away from bundles of wires as my Balmar suggested to do. I never have any issues with readouts. Just be sure it's calibrated correctly. (sideways pic shows my Balmar downline from that panel, and next to water tank away from all the wires)

I love being inside the house 75' away and be able to see all the stats. I use both the Victron and Balmar apps and they never agree 100%. The BMPro is totally unreliable. Just estimates- and I am used to it by now.
Sometimes they are spot on. The Seelevel (4th pic, added b/c Bmpro is useless) is not as long range- gotta be right next to the RV- handy when filling the water tank, except I usually listen for the overflow...

(PS- ignore the 'reverse polarity' light on my breaker- that's a power indicator for the PV panels instead- see 3rd pic after labels applied- also shows voltage matching, except inverter)

Happy Holidays!
 

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If you think about it, why would the reading change without a "significant event", like charging or discharging?

So is the "Voltage" display in the pic you posted the house battery voltage? If so, why didn't that value change when you started the engine? I'm not familiar with Victron specific apps...

Very good sir. Unrelated to issue with the VE.Direct, but you were absolutely right. The outbound circuit breaker from DC2DC charger to House battery was stuck, would not reset. It was not physically tripped by the lever but closed but some defective had occurred as it was stuck and no longer resettable. I happend to have a spare it is working find now. I have no idea of when this occurred. My last tri was Thanksgiving and it charged fine while on the road. Glad I caught and fix this as I have a trip tomorrow. :rolleyes:

It is a Red Wolf 60 amp breaker I bought a 3 pak from Amazon this Summer. Not sure if I buy more spares or another brand.

The pictures show the Orion & Shunt after the breaker had been replaced.

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Screenshot_20241222_085546.jpg

Now I need to get back to original question of thread with the VE.Direct Smart Dongle.

I took it out last night, so I will just monitor the Smart Shunt. I have never seen the issue with the Smart Shunt. I will just confirmed that while I wait on hearing back from the seller. I may simply just have a bad, or returned device that seller tried to unload on me?
 
Long thread! I didn't read all and have a Balmar gateway dongle instead, and my Victron MPPT is a bluetooth anyways. I also have a Victron gauge connected to MPPT via VE connection. I have 4 apps now that I can use on my phone. (RV master, SeeLevel, Balmar, and VictronConnect)

Just be sure you mounted the dongle away from bundles of wires as my Balmar suggested to do. I never have any issues with readouts. Just be sure it's calibrated correctly. (sideways pic shows my Balmar downline from that panel, and next to water tank away from all the wires)

I love being inside the house 75' away and be able to see all the stats. I use both the Victron and Balmar apps and they never agree 100%. The BMPro is totally unreliable. Just estimates- and I am used to it by now.
Sometimes they are spot on. The Seelevel (4th pic, added b/c Bmpro is useless) is not as long range- gotta be right next to the RV- handy when filling the water tank, except I usually listen for the overflow...

(PS- ignore the 'reverse polarity' light on my breaker- that's a power indicator for the PV panels instead- see 3rd pic after labels applied- also shows voltage matching, except inverter)

Happy Holidays!

I only have or need one app Victron Connect. Victron Connect is working just find and have exact readings.

If you read the 1st few posts, you will see I was only trying to extend the range of the readings from my Victron Smart Shunt.

The VE.Direct Smart Dongle successfully does that, however it appears that it may randomly be reading, pulling displaying false data. It eventually self corrects itself and when it does it displays exactly what the Smart Shunt says as it should because both bluetooth devices are displaying from same source.

I am trying to find out Why. It was only a $40 part. As no fix seem eminent, I intend to at least replace to see what a 2nd one does.

In the meantime I can still read the Orion XS in the house, but the Smart Shunt requires I be in Kitchen or Garage for connection. No there is no issue with readings from Smart Shunt it is precise to the 1/100ths with my voltmeter.

And while I am saying the VE.direct sometime shows incorrect readings, it is more like it displays static false values from an historical reading until some event forces it to update the display, not that it is actually reading real time with calibration issue relative to smart shunt.

If I can read all my Victron devices in my house, I will never need Cerbo is the end game. I now know I can get all of the data even with what I believe to be a defective VE.Direct Smart. When I am in or around the RV, I don't need the VE.Direct Smart as I can see accurately real time while I am driving
 
Voltage seems to match(for the first time)
Amp draw is double on the shunt because I have two batteries(and the screen shot is just one of them)

This is my battery's Bluetooth vs the shunt.

The 200a batteries are very early tech, maybe 7 years old.
Few cycles but certainly uncared for.
Three of them were free to me. Two are installed.
The balance thing doesn't bother me on this battery and the Bluetooth doesn't work on the other.
 

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Voltage seems to match(for the first time)
Amp draw is off either a bit by an amp or off by 59% whichever you choose to be either a catastrophe or a slight variation.

This is my battery's Bluetooth vs the shunt.

My my sir.... what is charging your House batteries at 14.72vdc given it is at 100% SOC?

This morning I was down to 87% SOC just because I turn things on to drain it down. I wanted to make sure the DC2DC & Converter had some to charge up. But I noticed that even though my Progressive Dynamics was in Bulk mode which is normally 14.4vdc, it only sent about 13.75vdc? It took about 2 hours and I was back up to 100%. Now if I was in a rush, I could press a button so it is forced at 14.4vdc


Also you seem to have two different apps that you are comparing. What I was trying to explain to Mark54 and I may have may it more confusing, I am not really trying to make two device read the exact same values.

In use case, I only have one Victron Smart Shunt. That Smart Shunt calculates voltages and loads based on actual draw off negative post.

I may be wrong but my belief is that Victron has additionally added bluetooth capability so as to read those values with the Victron App. In my case ot has worked flawless an no issues. Few times I have check what was on the phone with actual battery they were the exact same.

The VE.direct Smart device I just bought plugs direct into my Victron Smart Shunt. It is simply a 2nd Bluetooth source for same device. It is actually redundant except the VE.direct has a longer bluetooth range which is what I was trying to accomplish. It has been confirmed to have a longer range maybe 20 - 30 feet, but what I am seeing is that when it working properly it says the exact same thing as the bluetooth built onto the Smart Shunt, however sometimes it is displaying a value for Starter battery based on some previous stored reading. That value is as if it was frozen as it does not update up or down with the battery. It does not always do this so it is random. Something eventually will trigger it or it activates to read the current input Starter value from Smart Shunt and when it does it is the exact same value as the other bluetooth display.

Seller / Dealer has not responded yet, I may try calling Battle Born if they will hear me out. Worst case I will try to get a replacement.
 
Voltage seems to match(for the first time)
Amp draw is double on the shunt because I have two batteries(and the screen shot is just one of them)

This is my battery's Bluetooth vs the shunt.

The 200a batteries are very early tech, maybe 7 years old.
Few cycles but certainly uncared for.
Three of them were free to me. Two are installed.
The balance thing doesn't bother me on this battery and the Bluetooth doesn't work on the other.

Cells are all hovering close to 3.7 volts... 3.6 is perfect. I call that balanced! You got a sweet deal. All three of mine eventually settled at about that voltage
 
Cells are all hovering close to 3.7 volts... 3.6 is perfect. I call that balanced! You got a sweet deal. All three of mine eventually settled at about that voltage

Boy am I glad to read that.
I didn't know what to expect voltage wise.
It seems to be some voodoo they don't want to explain.
 
Update

We made a 7 hour trip yesterday. I had reconnected the VE.Direct Smart

It worked perfectly the entire trip. Only thing of relevance to be different is I was always in the RV not in my house.

Red Wolf told me yesterday that the breaker between the DC2DC and Battery was defective since it had locked up. I was lucky to have a spare. I have been trying to get the Duck to buy in on his premise that he teaches, that one is none for years :hide: Red Wolf is going to send a replacement, I declined their offer for refund.

20241222_202247.jpg

This is what it looks like. It is 60 amps if someone has a better idea. It need to be able to handle 0 - 4 AWG wire.

No work yet from Victron Seller. But make no mistake, the VE. Direct Smart has very good range compared to the Smart Shunt. Not sure where I will mount permanently but it will b ea keeper eventually.
 
Update

Here is Update

1. The Amazon seller gave me the name of a real Victron Authorized Reseller who can troubleshoot. By chance the the Dealer is the same dealer I bought my Orion XS from.

2. After understanding the problem, the Dealer wanted me to try disabling the Bluetooth on the Smart Shunt; so I would only see the VE.Direct Smart on the app

3. The VE.direct smart then pulled the correct voltage to match what the Orion XS was saying as well as the reading from voltmeter

4. However, now none of the historical data for charts, graphs or trends are available. Worst, when I disabled the bluetooth on the Smart Shunt, there is no way the re-enable it without a special usb cord to connect to the phone. The cord is $18 and the Dealer is going to send me one.

5. I am concerned because tomorrow it may be misreading again, because it is random. It tends to work upon some big event. And when it does work it has only been temporary.

If anyone has both do you ever see the issue, or have you seen the issue and just choose to ignore? I will have to wait a few days to see if it works with only the VE.Direct connected and if it does decide if I wish to forgo all of my historical data?
 
I been reading your thread and have never had or seen misreading victron Shunts and I have installed least a hundred or more. I use and setup victron portal for remote viewing and alerts. Hopefully they will get u fixed.

I like Current Connect for parts, they test and update before shipped and have awesome support.
 

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I been reading your thread and have never had or seen misreading victron Shunts and I have installed least a hundred or more. I use and setup victron portal for remote viewing and alerts. Hopefully they will get u fixed.

I like Current Connect for parts, they test and update before shipped and have awesome support.

I explained to him that a few on a forum and several videos I watched all say that both can be connected and it should be the same.

I was in cordial protocol mode so I had to comply with his request. Remember I bought from a Amazon Seller that has some kind of arrangement with them in Texas. I now know it worked on the phone because we had just initiated an event. I just checked again and sure enough it is misreading again. This time it had NOTHING to do with Bluetooth from the Smart Shunt.

I will be reaching the support guy to see what he says. He is suppose to be sending me the special USB cable so I can connect the Smart Shunt to my phone. I will have to stay cordial just so I can get the bluetooth on the Smart Shunt reenabled or turned back on. It may have had a shorter range but it was dead accurate to the 1/100ths.

If I can get it back to doing what it was with both, I can then hopefully get then to agree to replace the VE.Direct Smart and hope that fixes it.

Notice how starter batter is actually 12.8vdc and this VE.Direct Smart is showing 12.49

If I go out their and start the RV, connect to SP etc. it will update and both will have the same reading.
 
Here ya go! Build your own! A fun winter hobby when you retire!!

P.S. Add BLE board for about $3 to read data on your phone.

https://www.instructables.com/DIY-Amp-Hour-Meter-Arduino/

$3 are you %&$#@#, I am not retired but my salary is fixed annualized income.

FWIW, as I get older, I am pretty convinced I may never optionally be able to retire rather I suspect I will get fired instead. In some corporate venues, there are some cases when an employee just asked about retirement and plans they were suddenly let go.

I will have to have this issue fixed the old fashioned way with good Customer Service. I have been told that it should work. I have seen it work but randomly.
 
If you have never been fired, you aren't trying hard enough. My most memorable "firing" was about 15 years into a job. Two months before I had received the "Employee of the Year" award and a sizeable bonus. It took a new "boss" about a month to figure out I was suddenly not "making the grade"... :LOL: He had a... ahem... "favorite" (wink, wink) who performed better than me... Fortunately that job paid a huge chunk into my retirement!
 
I explained to him that a few on a forum and several videos I watched all say that both can be connected and it should be the same.

I was in cordial protocol mode so I had to comply with his request. Remember I bought from a Amazon Seller that has some kind of arrangement with them in Texas. I now know it worked on the phone because we had just initiated an event. I just checked again and sure enough it is misreading again. This time it had NOTHING to do with Bluetooth from the Smart Shunt.

I will be reaching the support guy to see what he says. He is suppose to be sending me the special USB cable so I can connect the Smart Shunt to my phone. I will have to stay cordial just so I can get the bluetooth on the Smart Shunt reenabled or turned back on. It may have had a shorter range but it was dead accurate to the 1/100ths.

If I can get it back to doing what it was with both, I can then hopefully get then to agree to replace the VE.Direct Smart and hope that fixes it.

Notice how starter batter is actually 12.8vdc and this VE.Direct Smart is showing 12.49

If I go out their and start the RV, connect to SP etc. it will update and both will have the same reading.

I just realized I didn't attached the picture that shows how the VE.Direct had wrong reading even with the Bluetooth of Smartshunt disabled. :confused:

The Victron Dealer did not return my call when I had this new information. Maybe tomorrow?

I really need that cable now to re-enable bluetooth on my Smart Shunt. If I get a chance to return and get a refund with Amazon seller, I may try that and then buy from another dealer and take my chances.
 

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