How to Wire and Program a Budget Shunt Battery Monitor

Get the shunt here: amzn.to/46ApFpX
📖 My book on Amazon: cleversolarpow...
In this video, I'm going to show you how to wire a shunt and program it to accurately track your battery's energy usage, specifically for a 12V lithium battery. If you're looking to monitor the state of charge for your lithium battery, a shunt is an essential tool you need to understand. Unlike lead-acid batteries, where voltage can be a reliable indicator of charge, lithium batteries maintain a consistent voltage whether they're 30% or 80% charged-making it tricky to gauge how much power is left just by looking at the voltage.
I'll walk you through the step-by-step process of connecting the shunt, including all the essential details about which wires go where and how to ensure accurate readings. You’ll learn why it’s important to connect the shunt correctly and how to avoid common mistakes that could lead to inaccurate measurements. We'll also go over programming the shunt, setting it up to match your battery’s capacity, and ensuring it provides precise data on your battery's amp hours.
Whether you're using a shunt with a DIY battery setup or integrating it into a pre-existing system, this guide will help you install and configure it properly. I’ll also demonstrate how to install the display, giving you real-time insights into your battery’s performance under load.

[@cleversolarpower]

Get the 350A battery shunt here: amzn.to/46ApFpX

[@sebastjanbrezovnik5250]

I bought your book last year - So happy with it and so help full - Thx. - Glad I found you here on YT with these Videos - Keep going! - Much appreciate your time and effort putting in to it.

[@lostbeerman]

Thanks just bought one of those yesterday supposed to be here today. you give real good information I appreciate it.

[@nicke.3011]

Exact same one that has been working great for me for the past 2 years.

[@Ekanselter]

Very nice - and economical. Money well spent considering the benefit.

[@ajarivas72]

Yes; great video. Nick is very knowledgeable.

[@harrlisdavis84]

Just recently subscribed, your content is awesome, very much appreciated Nick.

[@MatthewYBarbo]

Helpful info as always. Thank you for sharing, sir!

[@TeresaPatterson-l5o]

I really appreciate your explanation ty very much

[@levtrader4015]

Hello Nick is it better to just use a watt metre they don't have to be programmed in anyway and give multiple readings

[@tacettingunduz6572]

Hi I have previously purchased a few battery monitors. However, they displayed the remaining capacity based on voltage values. The capacity value shown based on voltage is inaccurate. Does this product display the capacity based on voltage, or does it calculate the consumed capacity and subtract it from the battery's full capacity? Thank you

[@KellyKennedy-c5v]

How do you monitor a bank of batteries; particularly if the battery sizes are not the same? Must you measure each battery independently? Thanks

[@cleversolarpower]

Add the shunt to the most negative of the battery bank. You can say at the end of the battery.

[@Fatfreddy7]

Nick what do you think about flexible pv on the roof of my stationary truck, 200w mono 9.25a to power my 12v 3.5a truck fridge, battery incl 100ah lifepo4 2C eve cells, assume there are the associated connections mppt bms, what's your take on these? Cheers

[@ajarivas72]

It is great you have an off-grid system. I want to buy a RV to avoid the chaos when the lights go out. But then I realize that there won't be any gasoline nor diesel to fuel ⛽ the RV and then I go back to work to improve my place with more solar panels.

[@Fatfreddy7]

Good plan

[@nakorau]

flexible, my opinion only . had 760watts on roof of caravan . lasted 2 years and died. my opinion . not yet

[@cleversolarpower]

Flexible panels are not that good because they cannot dissipate heats as well as rigid panels. Depending on your location they will degrade fast which can lead to panel failure after a few years. And their efficiency is a bit lower. So i suggest using rigid solar panels if you can. If you still want flexible, lookup 'rv with tito' for a method on how to cool flexible panels.

[@Fatfreddy7]

Cheers

[@stephenwalford774]

hi nice review..question, do i have too set the voltage on the monitor to 12.7 as stated on my lipo4battery or just 12 v ?..cheers

[@cleversolarpower]

You don't have to set the voltage.

[@stephenwalford774]

@cleversolarpower Ok thanks for reply

[@djungul2916]

Hi, I have a battery with 2 separate anderson plugs, blue for charging and grey for power. Would I need to connect both negative terminals to this shunt? thanks

[@cleversolarpower]

Yes, a shunt needs to see the power going into the battery and going out of the battery.

[@strikemaster1]

Can I connect P- to negative buzz bar ... And B- direct to battery negative? Also, could B+ go to the positive buzz instead of battery?

[@volvogt21]

As long as the bus bar is attached to the new negative terminal it would be fine. Everything has to go through the shunt so nothing can be connected to the negative terminal of the battery other than the shunt. Taking the power from the + bus bar is fine.

[@strikemaster1]

@@volvogt21 Thanks. it seems to be all good now.

[@RucioLoco-p2x]

My setup is 24v 1000ah, will this work for it?, I dont know if the shunt has to match the battery bank's amp hours?!.

[@KellyKennedy-c5v]

But I'm arranging my batteries in the bank to all connect to a positive and negative bus. So it seems like I'd be getting a reading on the state of the whole group. Am I to assume each battery is acting the same and therefore both are at the same state of charge as shown on the single display. I currently have 2 100 aHr batteries but it is expandable to 3. Also, I've seen that the wires for the source DC should be the same length on the way to the inverter. Otherwise the batteries won't work evenly (?). If I add the shunt, or an on-off switch or a fuze, do I increase the other wire's length by the length of that device? For instance, on one leg I will have both a switch and a shunt. On the other leg, just a fuze. So the net length of each side will then be different unless I adjust the length of the wire on the fuze size. Right? And thanks.

[@cleversolarpower]

The shunt monitors energy in and out. if you batteries are in parallel, they are balanced and at the same state of charge. if they are in series, then it might not be. you will need a battery balancer. No need to adjust the length of the wire because internal resistance of a device is different than internal resistance of a wire. i recommend watching my video about 'parallel batteries' and 'current sharing'

[@ob1tx]

Is there some additional value for this aside from seeing the capacity left on the battery? I've been trying to figure it out and at one point thought I should consider the Victron shunt thinking it would communicate with the Victron MPPT to regulate charging more efficiently. What are your thoughts?

[@cleversolarpower]

Shunts do not regulate charging. They are only a means of seeing how much is left in your battery. When the battery is full it stops charging. That programming happens in the charge controller itself, not through the shunt.

[@harrlisdavis84]

So if the battery 1000 orion by goldengate has this on a screen, there's no purpose for shunt? ​@cleversolarpower

[@linossinkala7840]

Where can i get that

[@ArturZagaj-Izraelita]

Jest problem z matą kauczukową! Śmierdzi strasznie spaloną gumą. Kupiłem matę kilka miesięcy ty temu, leżała raczej w cieniu ale mogła dostać trochę słońca, Wczoraj przykleiłem ją na sufit 19mm ( z myślą; że jak przywalę dach panelami pv to nie będzie się on nagrzewał i nie będzie uwalniał smrodu- ale jeszcze paneli nie położyłem) niestety dach nagrzewa się a zapach jest mocno intensywny. Też tak masz? Ktoś w was miał taki przypadek? #kauczuk #kauczuk_syntetyczny #kflex #mata_kauczukowa *Zostało mi jeszcze z pół rolki na ściany, ale jak będzie taki smród to jej nie przykleję. **To nie jest działanie kleju tapicerskiego bo wrzuciłem ją dzień wcześniej do busa, a następnego dnia poczułem spalona gumę.

[@Electronzap]

Sounds good.

[@robert4027]

that is great 👍👍👍. I depend on my charge controller reading. I use victron brand..... my original EP EVER controller . I threw it away

[@NiallWardrop]

Does anyone know how to program these monitors to a different shunt? I have one which was supplied with the wrong shunt and it is not accurate. They are available in 50, 150 and 350 amp versions and the display seems to be matched to the shunt - when first powered up it briefly displays a number which is the shunt size it is programmed for. The one I have says "350" but has a 150 amp shunt. I have another one which has the right shunt for the display and it works well.

[@cleversolarpower]

Best is to return it, get another shunt, or another display. Some brands are similar. There are multiple brands who are the same as I show in this video. I suspect they might be compatible with each other.

[@NiallWardrop]

@@cleversolarpower For various reasons I wasn't able to return it. There are contact pads on the pcb which I suspect are for programming but there doesn't seem to be any information out there.

[@daniellapain1576]

I bought some different shunts and so far I have given up on them simply because they work for a little while but then they spark and burn up on me. It’s been my experience with them, even though I have followed the directions on each of them and connections were done properly. There has to be a quality one out there that acts like a regular voltmeter but can be permanently installed. That’s the only measurement device that works so far.

[@aabrbrjj]

Burn? First time I've heard of it. You probably wired it wrong after all. Notice how BOTH big terminals are on the negative side.

[@skid4482]

So I hooked it all up and it counted down from 100%. But it will not count up or even arrow up. I checked and it is charging up, just not showing. I don't know what I did wrong.

[@cleversolarpower]

Do you use the one i use in the video? If not, it's possible you use a one way shunt (only monitor discharging).

[@curtw8827]

I installed a battery monitor that uses a current sensor that you run the negative wire through the hole rather than this shunt type, less power cable connections.

[@curtw8827]

@@markawbolton it's measuring DC so I assume it's a hall effect sensor. It is bidirectional with a 4 wire cable, the display module needs separate +/- power connections to the battery bank. Just another way to monitor the bank without the in-line shunt. The shunt measures voltage drop to calculate current.

[@thriveforbest3217]

Guys it's great but I need it to be able to drow 400-800amp in that range Any suggestions what batery🎉 monitor to use?

[@cleversolarpower]

In what world do you need a 800A shunt 😅. Victron has a 1000A shunt .

[@nakorau]

my mate .. you have a setup only ppl can dream of @that amps

[@thriveforbest3217]

@@cleversolarpower I run LTO cells 12x40ah In car audio and fast discharge at some points are way over 800+ amp:)

[@thriveforbest3217]

@@cleversolarpower please can I have link to this item sir 🤝💙

[@thriveforbest3217]

@@markawbolton you must be kidding 😂 are you fresh to car audio? Never seen 50.000 80.000w systems with 60+ cells? The one I built is 12 LTO cells bank 14+v It be running solid 70mm double cable for positive and negative (1.2m long) What I building is nothing special sir All.that sits in car Sound insulation 20+ kg All cables are industrial grade high quality copper Fuses runs 450amp on each cable (4x

[@linossinkala7840]

Thax boss

[@ewardw6062]

If you have to tell it the maximum capacity 100ah what if the battery has less already and you tell its 100ah won't the actual capacity be less overtime than u realised or one you say 100ah will automatically show 90ah so you know the battery has 10ah less than when it was new

[@cleversolarpower]

You have to charge your batteries fully before programming the shunt. I thought that was clearly mentioned in the video.

[@craig00000]

Discharge the battery, set the capacity higher than the battery capacity (e.g. set 20Ah battery as 30Ah), charge the battery. When charged it will show the true capacity. Go back into the settings and set the capacity to this new value.

[@ewardw6062]

@@cleversolarpower yes was clear in the video but was asking about how it works if the battery actually has less ah than stated eg 100ah but only has 90ah fully charged wouldn't the true capacity be 10ah lower than what you have set without you even aware and how would you find out the true capacity to set it up correctly the other guys answer seems like a good way to find out the true capacity thanks for replying tho

[@ewardw6062]

@@craig00000 nice idea thank you for that

[@nkosenhlekumalo]

All this long and short press i can't why not buy victron

[@nakorau]

i personally use renogy 500 amp shunt. lots of fakes so only get original .

[@Zerpersande]

I use what appears to get the exact same shunt as used in this clip. The quality of the build for the setup used in this tutorial, the detail of explanation make me comfortable with my purchase. I think I paid about $25 and the Renogy was about times that much at the time. I like Renogy, I use their solar panels, but the monitor isn’t as critical as the panels, and controller.