Battery Monitor BMV 600s question

[monte]

Hola fron Spain
Ive just had a new lagoon 380 fitted with the following

airbreeze wind gen
550w solar panels with victron 60a MPPI controller
2 additional 140Ah wet cell batteries (total 700Ah)
victron BMV 600s battery monitor

My question is, I expect the BMV 600 to show amp in when the solar and wind is outweighing the amps out, however ther is no change in the I value (amps) when they are running. It only shows the amps out.
The only time I see a change is if I strat the engine and the alternator shows 40amps in on the monitor.

last night I checked the monitors values and are as below

V 12.55
SOC 90.4%
CE -133

12 hours later the values are

V 13.19
SOC 88.4%
CE 137

its been pretty windy ( 15-20k )but not much sun so it seems the wind gen is working.

So
the battery voltage is up, I guess this is a good thing.
state of charge is down
and CE (total amps out is only 4 amps down) even though tthe fridge would have used around 30Ah

My question is...if the battery voltage has risen, why hasnt the SOC
and
why cant I see a positive reading for amps in from my wind gen and solar?

The main reason I had the BMV 600 installed is to be able to monitor input from solar and wind. Maybe its been installed incorrectly?

Thanks for any tips or advice. Im finding the whole problem confusing but interesting!

Monte

[monte]

some additional info
I just put a multimeter across the positive and negative terminals and read the following

battery 13.3V
solar controller 21V
wind gen 13.3V then it spins for a minute till it reaches 14.1V and brakes and stops spinning for 5 minutes

NB The panels are 3 180W 24V victron

Thanks again

[Carmelo]

Monte

I can't quite figure out what is going on but it sounds to me like the BM must have been installed incorrectly. I recently installed one on my Lagoon 400. There should be nothing (i.e. no wires in or out) between the shunt and the negative terminal on the battery. It sounds like there are ah's going in and out of your battery which the BM is not picking up because the shunt is in the wrong place. You should be able to check this easily by following the - ve wire of your battery bank to the BM

[monte]

Thanks Carmelo
from the battery side of the shunt it goes to the -ve battery terminal
on that terminal are several 4 wires

one the shunt
two and three..the battery series connections to the other batteries
four ..runs to the inverter

the small red wire from the shunt runs to another batteries +terminal

[Maine Sail]

If the monitor is not seeing the charge input from solar and wind the shunt has likely been installed incorrectly and it can not "see" the solar and wind.

This is usually because the devices are by-passing the shunt and going direct to the battery and not through the shunt. Improper shunt wiring is my number one repair to battery monitors.. A very common thing...

If you can draw us an accurate wiring diagram we should be able to point out where the problem is..


The first test is to 100% turn off your "loads" then watch the "I" screen and see if you have any + current flowing. Test both the wind and solar.. If it never shows + current flow it is very likely wired incorrectly..

[Stu Jackson]

I agree. The Victron manuals are so clear and so concise that it is pretty hard to mess it up. That said... Only YOU can check it. Read the manual. If you don't have one, they are available online.

Ammeters & Shunts 101

[Stu Jackson]

Here's the Victron manual

Wiring & Installing A Battery Monitor - SailboatOwners.com

[monte]

Thanks for the replies.
Yes I have no + current on the I screen ever
Attached is a picture I took just now
note a lot of wires from both terminals of all batteries.

So if I understand correctly, any wires apart from those used to connect the battery bank in parallel (2 per pole) shouldnt be there and should be on a BUS after the shunt on both positive and negative poles?
Thanks again for the help

[Maine Sail]

Originally Posted by monte

Thanks for the replies.
Yes I have no + current on the I screen ever
Attached is a picture I took just now
note a lot of wires from both terminals of all batteries.

So if I understand correctly, any wires apart from those used to connect the battery bank in parallel (2 per pole) shouldnt be there and should be on a BUS after the shunt on both positive and negative poles?
Thanks again for the help

YES!! I can see a bunch of shunt by-passers in your pic. None of those would be seen...

Picture a shunt like the electric meter for your house. The first thing in the wire after it leaves the street is the electric meter. If you tap into the service wires before the meter you are stealing electricity from from the utility company. Same with a shunt except you're stealing from your own batteries or simply not recording "flow", in or out, depending upon the wire.. If you jump in front of the shunt and connect directly to the battery with loads it is no different than tapping into the electric meter before the meter can read it.

You might invest in some + and - distribution bus bars and neaten it all up.

[CharlieJ]

Maine Sail

+1

Charlie

[monte]

Wala, works perfectly now
I (with the help of V) transfered the wind gen, inverter, WM and solar to the load side of the shunt and its working perfectly now. Thanks again for all the advice and help from V as well !
Maine Sail +10