Shunt & Fogstar battery - still not aligned. Orion XS low amps

[DJL220]

I tested the battery before leaving taking the battery from 100% full down to 39%. The shunt and battery were within 1% of each other. No pic of shunt though!

The sun came out before we left and the battery was up to 47% but the shunt was showing 100%. Totally confused!

Travelled 2 1/2 hours yesterday and the Orion wouldn’t charge above 28Ah, is this because the shunt was showing battery full or because the settings/install has issues? Was expecting 50Ah?

On the flip side the sun has been shining today and has topped the battery up nicely, still a disconnect between shunt and Fogstar though. When the battery was at 100% I did sync the shunt and battery.
Hope these are teething issues with new install, it’s great to be EHU free

 

[AdrianChen]

Was the fridge on 12v, and what size cables are installed for the run to/from the b2b? Final q is the fan belt tight?

 

[ChrisL]

What is triggering the B2B, voltage sensing or D+ ? On earlier Victron B2B's having the start voltage at the default setting prevents the B2B from delivering max current, try setting the start voltage to 13.3v and see if that helps, I was only getting 12 amps from mine until I changed the start voltage to 13.3v after changing i got the full 30amps.

See if this helps.

 

[DJL220]

Was the fridge on 12v, and what size cables are installed for the run to/from the b2b? Final q is the fan belt tight?

Fan belt is tight and I tried with the fridge on and off made little difference.
16mm2 cable less than 2mm to front battery and approx 12” to hab battery

 

[DJL220]

What is triggering the B2B, voltage sensing or D+ ? On earlier Victron B2B's having the start voltage at the default setting prevents the B2B from delivering max current, try setting the start voltage to 13.3v and see if that helps, I was only getting 12 amps from mine until I changed the start voltage to 13.3v after changing i got the full 30amps.

See if this helps.

Triggering with D+ tried adjusting the settings and then switched off engine shut down and used D+.

Settings below. (Still learning!)

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[Gromett]

Is the shunt installed correctly? Not wanting to cast aspersions. But I have seen people installing them with some connections still directly to the battery sidestepping the shunt.

 

[ChrisL]

Please watch the video, Roger covers D+ and engine shut down detection which I think you need to turn on but i'm going from memory.

 

[Speve]

My system does not have a smart shunt but a Victron battery protect system I get all of my info on all of my victron smart products on the phone as well as my 300ah Fogstar Pro battery. Works a treat

 

[DJL220]

Please watch the video, Roger covers D+ and engine shut down detection which I think you need to turn on but i'm going from memory.

Video watched and now adjusted
Can’t set the start voltage lower than 13.1

 

[ChrisL]

Video watched and now adjusted
Can’t set the start voltage lower than 13.1
View attachment 928442

That should work, mines at 13.3v.

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[DJL220]

Is the shunt installed correctly? Not wanting to cast aspersions. But I have seen people installing them with some connections still directly to the battery sidestepping the shunt.

Think this is right, happy to be corrected though (first install)

 

[ChrisL]

Here are Rogers shunt settings which should get you very close.

 

[Gromett]

Think this is right, happy to be corrected though (first install)
View attachment 928449

Can't tell for sure but looks right to me If there is nothing on the battery negative post except the cable to the shunt. And on the battery side of the shunt there is only the battery cable then it is good.

I have seen people connecting the inverter for example directly to the battery. This means the shunt sees all the charge going into the battery but not what is leaving to the inverter. This means the shunt can think there is a full battery when it is in fact well down from 100% due to inverter usage.

Not the case here by the looks of things

 

[DJL220]

Here are Rogers shunt settings which should get you very close.

Done and more settings now adjusted

 

[DJL220]

Can't tell for sure but looks right to me If there is nothing on the battery negative post except the cable to the shunt. And on the battery side of the shunt there is only the battery cable then it is good.

I have seen people connecting the inverter for example directly to the battery. This means the shunt sees all the charge going into the battery but not what is leaving to the inverter. This means the shunt can think there is a full battery when it is in fact well down from 100% due to inverter usage.

Not the case here by the looks of things

Lucky Lenny HB shares his install diagram and I followed and adjusted mine to match. Battery - to shunt then off to busbar. Nothing else on - side

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[M1EWK]

Hi, did you ever sort out the issue with the Orion not getting above 28a ? I think I have a similar issue. Thanks

 

[DJL220]

Hi, did you ever sort out the issue with the Orion not getting above 28a ? I think I have a similar issue. Thanks

I still haven’t got around to sorting as yet! Haven’t needed to as the battery has been charged nicely by the sun!

It’s on my list to check the cables/settings in the next week or two. I will also check cable length to rule out losses etc.

Pretty sure it’s going to be a setting somewhere, there was another thread recently will screen shots of settings.

What’s the most you have seen so far?

 

[MichaelT]

They need a few cycles for BMS to get to right information so after 5 or 6 get it to 100% then recalibrate with shunt.

 

[potwalloper]

Two thoughts:
1. Is the 280AH capacity of the battery correct on the shunt / battery setup page?
2. After a number of months of excellent XS performance at 50A, I recently found I was only getting 25A out of the XS into the leisure 280AH battery, but then noticed that the starter battery voltage (as read by the shunt aux) was 12.2V. The problem turned out to be a corroded negative terminal on the starter battery - not easily seen. This a 2021 ducato.
Hope this is helpful.

 

[M1EWK]

I still haven’t got around to sorting as yet! Haven’t needed to as the battery has been charged nicely by the sun!

It’s on my list to check the cables/settings in the next week or two. I will also check cable length to rule out losses etc.

Pretty sure it’s going to be a setting somewhere, there was another thread recently will screen shots of settings.

What’s the most you have seen so far?

Earlier this week I drove for about 4hrs starting off with the battery quite low. Current didn't go much above 35a all the way home which was enough but clearly something not quite right.

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[M1EWK]

Two thoughts:
1. Is the 280AH capacity of the battery correct on the shunt / battery setup page?
2. After a number of months of excellent XS performance at 50A, I recently found I was only getting 25A out of the XS into the leisure 280AH battery, but then noticed that the starter battery voltage (as read by the shunt aux) was 12.2V. The problem turned out to be a corroded negative terminal on the starter battery - not easily seen. This a 2021 ducato.
Hope this is helpful.

Interesting. Definitely worth a check. Thanks

 

[ChrisL]

Earlier this week I drove for about 4hrs starting off with the battery quite low. Current didn't go much above 35a all the way home which was enough but clearly something not quite right.

See post #3 and watch the video, in particular the part about reducing the start voltage within engine shutdown detection.

 

[M1EWK]

Just done a bit more testing. My start voltage had defaulted to 14v so tried reducing it to 13.3v however at this setting the engine running detection decided that it wasn't running so must be some interaction with other parameters I will need to look at. Lowest I could go was 13.8. At this setting the amps rose to about 40a on tickover and a couple more when I revved up a bit so probably need to test it properly while driving. Incidentally as a test I turned off the automatic engine detection mechanism and the current went straight up to 50a so I guess this shows the wiring is up to the job. So that video in post#3 was very helpful but I need to do a bit more tinkering with the settings.
P.S Apologies to the OP for hijacking this post.

 

[ChrisL]

Just done a bit more testing. My start voltage had defaulted to 14v so tried reducing it to 13.3v however at this setting the engine running detection decided that it wasn't running so must be some interaction with other parameters I will need to look at. Lowest I could go was 13.8. At this setting the amps rose to about 40a on tickover and a couple more when I revved up a bit so probably need to test it properly while driving. Incidentally as a test I turned off the automatic engine detection mechanism and the current went straight up to 50a so I guess this shows the wiring is up to the job. So that video in post#3 was very helpful but I need to do a bit more tinkering with the settings.
P.S Apologies to the OP for hijacking this post.

What is your shut down voltage set at?
These are my settings for my 30amp B2B, see if they work for you.

 

[M1EWK]

Hi ChrisL , wow that's sorted me out! Copied your settings exactly and straight up to 50a.(screenshot below). Really appreciate your help.

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[Pausim]

I take it that your motorhome did not have a split charge relay before you installed the Orion, causing it to loop back to the engine battery. Apologies if I have misread or missed something.

 

[DJL220]

So I popped down to the MH and tried the above, still no better so I’m going to look at the split charge relay I wired in.

With settings of 13:25/13:25/120/12.8

With engine shutdown off - slightly better after I calibrated the shunt at 100%.
The battery is full so didn’t expect much different. Will run it down and check all my wiring and will make this work at 50A.
The battery has done 7 cycles now.