Victron Disappointment

[Bycrick]

I’ve got 4 L-16 batteries in a tall compartment with 1/4” vent hole at the top. The Victron shunt sits within 6” of the tops of the FLA batteries. It’s been there for more than 10 years with no noticeable corrosion.

[EmeraldCoastSailor]

My shore power charger and solar controller (also a Victron) are in same area as the house batts. No way around it my smallish boat. 2.5 years into my Victron experience and all is well. I especially like the Bluetooth smartphone app. If a board failed in my controller I'd expect to have to buy a new unit but I understand the desire for just getting a component replacement. It sucks but that is how the world works nowadays. And dielectric grease is used significantly on my connections. Love it.

[rfh927]

Check out the Aili Battery Monitor at Amazon. Does everything the 712 does except bluetooth, but only costs $44. Had mine since 2019 with no complaints.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by rfh927

Check out the Aili Battery Monitor at Amazon. Does everything the 712 does except bluetooth, but only costs $44. Had mine since 2019 with no complaints.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

That’s funny. Can it supply voltage, current, temperature and SOC info to chargers and controllers? Can it be programmed to turn charge sources off at x % SOC?

No, if all you want is a SOC display then this monitor may do that, I simply don’t know, but I’m pretty sure it doesn’t do any of the things we use the Smart BMV series for.

[ShinyHappy]

Originally Posted by Smokeys Kitchen

I have to agree with Time2Go in general, that component availability is becoming less. I have not experienced this issue with Victron, since all my stuff is pretty new, but I have experienced the issue in the past with other providers.

In general, most companies want you to buy a whole new system or at least a new unit, as compared to providing the components necessary to effect a repair of an otherwise good working unit. I believe that this has been discussed a few times previously on CF, but is true for most of the new items out there in the world. More money to be made selling the whole unit as opposed to the repair item.

This is for most anything, sea- or land-based. It saves the company money not having to stock so many individual parts, but costs those of us who like to fix things more money.

Needing a $2 part but having to buy a $100 assembly to get it sucks. Then you're left with the rest of the assembly which can be a bulletproof piece which you'll never need to replace.

[Bycrick]

Even if I don’t need/want all the fancy Bluetooth and other functions mentioned above, I’d question the statement that it’s "the same" as the Victron unit. For example, the voltage accuracy spec on the Victron is +/- 0.3%. The other is +/- 1.0%. Neither defines what that’s a percent of, full-scale or percent of reading. Remember that 1% of a 20 volt range voltmeter is +/- 0.2 volts. That means you aren’t sure that a reading of, say, 12.4 volts is really 12.2 or 12.6. But maybe the cheap on is good enough, but it’s not the same.

[Jammer]

Interesting thread.


I agree with the principle that vendors should provide parts.


I believe that the RJ-xxx telephone-style connectors are overused because they are inexpensive. They are not suitable for anything other than dry, dust-free environments.


I am having trouble feeling much outrage over this particular situation where parts availability for a relatively inexpensive, low-end piece of electronics is at issue particularly given that the device should be under warranty and the OP has not explored a warranty replacement through the dealer he used, regardless of where they may be (the internet is a means of communication, not a place, after all).


The posts upthread recommending some sort of grease for connectors in difficult environment, offer good advice. It is not my experience that purpose-made dielectric grease is necessary. Vaseline will work.

[Bycrick]

I will admit that the widespread use of RJxx connectors bother my sense of aesthetics. They’re obviously not the least bit waterproof, splash proof or proof against even high humidity. I’d "feel better" with a more robust connector. But I counted on my boat last night. I have 32 of these on four different systems. In 22 years, I’ve had one "failure" which resolved itself when the offending connector was removed and reseated. The boat has been in the tropics the entire time. So there doesn’t seem, in my case, an reason to fault their use. My first Victron unit read voltage incorrectly after several years. It was replaced without any questions in less than 10 days, including international shipping.

If I were looking to find fault with the shunt design, I’d complain about the +12 v sensing wires supplied with the unit. They use a tiny, not readily available low amperage fuse, in a flimsy inline fuse holder. I’ve had to replace both of them.

But if you get the shunt wet, all bets are off. And I don’t consider that a warranty problem.

[mitiempo]

Originally Posted by Time2Go

Here's where it goes off the rails. The PCB is not sold as a replacement
part.

It certainly is available. I have sold several to those who have managed to get their shunts wet. We stock them - we are a major Canadian Victron distributor.

They are not expensive.

[FlyingScot]

I paid a local dealer $40 to replace the pcb. Easy job if you have the part.
I was surprised it failed. I still love the product.

[Time2Go]

[QUOTE=mitiempo;3475860]It certainly is available. I have sold several to those who have managed to get their shunts wet. We stock them - we are a major Canadian Victron distributor.

They are not expensive.[/QUOT

PM Sent

[MHTinkler]

Xantrex battery monitor. 12 years "living" in battery compartment on compartment floor directly next to unboxed batteries. Flawless.

[CyKlop]

I'm not going to make any judgement about the placement of the board vis-a-vis batteryu compartment. However...

As a member of a notoriously egregious industry when it comes to repairing things (I worked in high tech, most notably for Apple Computer at one point), I have to side with the OP. Right-to-repair is an important issue. There are, possibly, some edge cases where a company might legitimately refuse right to repair - live support equipment for example - to anyone not certified to do such repairs. Maybe. But general things like a circui board for a battery charger? Yes, if it really screws up, it can cause a fire. So can operating a stove. There's nothing unique in that.

I think there are two priimary causes for refusal to make parts available - maybe three. One is the expense of investigating warranty claims by people who have tried to repair it themself - and defending against lawsuits from people who, say, had a fire after doing a self-repair improperly. Two might be the expense of running a parts warehouse for all the subassemblies. Sure, they probably have those parts in the storehouse for production but (A) that production/storehouse might well be in another country and therefore hard (and expensive) to pull a single part from and (B) that wareehouse isn't set up for pulling single parts - it's set up for efficient production. and then there's (C) wherein it might not be cost effective for them to sell individual parts because they might have to charge more for the part than a whole assembly would cost, factoring in manpower of running a parts-ordering system, a parts-fulfillment system, shipping single parts all over the place, etc. This last is highly speculative on my part, I admit. On the other hand, if the customer is willing to pay for that part anyway, yeah, they should probably be able to obtain it.

[CatNewBee]

You send it to the dealer within of 5 years after purchase and you get a refurbished or new item back within days. That's how it works.

If you have it installed by a certified company, they will take care to replace it.

[Brewgyver]

Originally Posted by EmeraldCoastSailor

If a board failed in my controller I'd expect to have to buy a new unit but I understand the desire for just getting a component replacement. Love it.

The OP's issue, which I share, is that Victron doesn't sell the complete shunt as a replacement. It's understandable, as far as I'm concerned, that they don't sell the shunt PCB separately, but it's not understandable to me that they sell the bare shunt, without the PCB, yet not WITH the PCB.

If there's a reasonable explanation for this, I'd love to hear it.