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Renogy Battery Monitor: How To Monitor Your Solar Batteries
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- čas přidán 15. 08. 2024
- Renogy Battery Monitor: How To Monitor Your Solar Batteries // The Renogy 500amp Battery Monitor is the best way to easily monitor your solar batteries. It’s affordable and easy to install on any solar system for a camper van, RV, or off grid solar system. It can also be installed on any 12v battery including lithium, GEL, or lead acid. The shunt keeps track of how many amps and watts are being used so you can see how much battery storage is remaining at all times. The monitor also calculates how long it will take to drain or recharge your battery storage system.
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• Renogy Battery Monitor...
Thank you guys so much for watching! What battery monitor are you using for your solar system?
Just installed the same one.
Don't have a solar system. Using a JK 4" on a golf cart
I have a litime monitor that it is a clone of that monitor, but There something weird because it only shows when the battery is discharging but never when it is charging. I checked the connections and they seem to be correct. I wonder what I made wrong.
@@Teporame sorry I don’t have any experience with that monitor. Did you install it the correct way?
This panel can put out close to 100 watts czcams.com/users/postUgkxOqI2yqX0XVrhR2BMJciTWrHJpG8FhJyg when positioned in the appropriate southernly direction, tilted to the optimal angle for your latitude/date, and connected to a higher capacity device than a 500. The built in kickstand angle is a fixed at 50 degrees. Up to 20% more power can be output by selecting the actual date and latitude optimal angle.The 500 will only input 3.5A maximum at 18 volts for 63 watts. Some of the excess power from the panel can be fed into a USB battery bank, charged directly from the panel while also charging a 500. This will allow you to harvest as much as 63 + 15 = 78 watts.If this panel is used to charge a larger device, such as the power station, then its full output potential can be realized.
*Super compact and easy to carry and travel with accessories for the electric **Generater.Systems** .I was worried this was going to be bulky or hard to use.Hooks up easy and charges quickly*
Thanks for the tip on bolting straight to the battery..... Game changer!!!!
No problem! Glad it worked out 👍
I have Renogy panels and charge controllers but I have to agree wth others that their website and instruction manuals are poorly written nor do they answer their Helpline phones. I was considering the same battery monitor but have decided on a Victron IP65 SmartShunt instead simply because it’s a BT device that can be paired with a phone or pc. No monitor installation required. A good explanation on how you have it hooked up though. Very helpful indeed. Thank you.
Yes I completely agree! Good luck with the install 👍
My Victron Smart Shunt constantly drops its signal 15 feet away if the door is closed. I still have it in series with the Renogy battery monitor but never use the app. I bought a WiFi Pet Cam from Amazon that reads the Renogy meter and shows live video from hundreds of miles away on my phone. $55, cheap and dirty monitoring.
Love this monitor. I’m using the BT2 to read when my batteries are fully charged then I’ll set the monitor to 100% thanks again for the great videos 🎉
Welcome! Thanks for watching 😄
Nice job showing how you installed and the battery monitor features. Small corrections you could make: a shunt is an accurate resister (micro ohms) that allows a very very small sensing voltage drop (mV) proportional to current which gives the accurate amp reading, also, the red “power wire” as you stated not only gives small parasitic power to the monitor, but more importantly it provides the voltage connection for the battery voltage sensing and capacity numbers.
Thanks for showing how you did it. I stopped here to validate how i plan to install my own new RBM500. Nice clean install you did!
Thank you!
Just ordered mine. Looking forward to interrogating my electrical system lol. Thanks for posting. This is a big help.
Welcome! Good luck with the interrogation lol
Awesome info! Thanx so much for posting this video!
PS: background music was too loud - very annoying - for all us A.D.D. people, it's hard to focus on what you're saying with the music distraction - lol
Thanks man! Yes, I wish I could change it but unfortunately I can’t
Thank you. Seems like a simple and accurate monitor. I like that it’s not overly complicated, just has what you need. ✌️
Yeah me too! Thanks for watching Andrew
Thanks you, this was one that made everything make more sense on how to setup the system and understand how it works
Welcome! Glad it helped you out 👍
Well done. I was planning of buying the round Victron model for my boaf, but opted for the Renogy model like yours because the display show everything at a glance without selecting menus. Besides, it over $100 cheaper, so a win-win.
I agree! Always nice to save a little money where you can
Did not want the blue tooth !
Thank you so much for this. I bought your guide a few months ago to install my system in my truck camper, and so seeing how to use this monitor with a bus bar is especially helpful. And it is so much more simple of an install than I thought - Renogy's instructions for this monitor are terrible - numbers that doesn't seem to correspond to anything, and the diagram makes it looks like you need to install more wires, rather than those just being existing wires in your system. Anyway, thank you again for what you do!
Thank you very much Tara. That’s reallly nice of you 😄 glad it was helpful
It looks almost like that negative shunt is just a cm or two away from the positive bus bar & lugs... Hope that's just some artifact of the camera angle, and there is really plenty of spacing in between, i.e. no possibility if the shunt got a bit loose and started swinging around might make contact. Would be a bad day in the van ;) If so, maybe a small chunk of clear acrylic sheet (plexiglas/lucite) in between those would ensure no potential disasters.
Thanks for the thorough review!
Welcome! The camera makes them look closer than they are for sure. Probably will do a little separator in the future though to be safe. The lock washers have never come loose so far and I’ve been down some wicked washboard
Great video mate. I'm doing a home power plant emergency battery system for our cyclone season and your info was very helpful, I just ordered the same unit. By the way I'm in Cairns QLD Australia. 👍
Thanks man! Good luck with the build 😄
Hey Steevie! I hope you got her up and running. I did my backup system and wanted to monitor it from a distance....like from 300 km away. I bought a $55 WiFi Pet Cam from Amazon and can monitor my 2 systems from anywhere in the world where I get a cell phone signal. The Renogy display shows me everything I need to know without scrolling. So if you are down in Brisbane for a bit and you want to know how your battery is charging, you could have a quick look....
My one system has been running 2 chest freezers and 2 house sized fridges and a few other things for over a year in NorCal. The live feed is shaper than what was transferred to this video. The Pet Cam from Amazon does remote pan tilt zoom from my phone, has 2 way speaker and laser pointer. This is the 24 volt system console. The cheap LED desk lamp causes the scan lines. The Renogy reads 0.3 volts too low at 27.2 volts. No big deal. Cheers!
czcams.com/video/mDv3vl3WlAM/video.html
Dude!!! Thank you for this video ...used my back light for the first time while charging and starting freaking out when it started flashing...hence me watching this now lol ...phew
Welcome man!
This was a great and very helpful video! Thanks for taking the time to post it!!
Your welcome! Thanks for watching 😄
Nice system
Thanks!
Your + and - Bus bars are super close to each other.. and not protected from short. You should cover your + probably with a cover of some type.
I’ve shifted them since this video and yes I have covers for both 👍
Thank you David, appreciate the time you took to review the monitor, explain all the details and provide tips.
Thanks for watching Victor!
Would you mind sharing what is the setup you have for charging the battery when you turned on your van in this video?
@@victoraouad8452 I have videos on almost all of my solar products. They’re all on my channel!
Many thanks for the details. One note you seem to have your neg and poss bus VERY close together! Would hate you to ark that lot .....
Welcome! Thanks for watching. Yes, I have shifted it over since making this video but I do appreciate the note!
Hi David, I have just stumbled across you channel, and as a complete solar beginner I have found it so very educational and interesting, subbed now so I don't miss more content. I have recently invested in a small system, all bought from Renogy, so some of your previous advice comes to me a bit late, but what I have gained is extremely useful. My little system is quite simple, 4 x 100w panels in parallel, Rover 30a mppt controller maintaining a single 200ah Lifepo4 battery, what could go wrong I hear you ask 🤣🤣.
The Rover has a Renogy BT1 controller, the battery has its own BT module built in and both of them are running on different apps. To make a very long story short, the Rover app shows my battery at 100% but the battery BT app shows it at 44%. I note in your video above you said that the battery monitor you are describing needed the battery to be fully charged before setting it up, I did not do this with mine, so I wonder if I should do this first. Anyway, I will be placing an order for your guide on solar and keeping it at easy reach. Oh, and I will be getting the battery monitor above. Thank you.
Thank you! I don’t have much experience with the Rover because I have the dc to dc with MPPT but I think you should be able to get them both to work on the DC home app. Good call on getting the battery monitor! I can’t use the app when I’m out of service which is frustrating 🤦♂️
Super helpful video ! Cannot thank you enough. Greetings and blessings from South Florida !
Thanks for watching! 😄
Please explain Alarm for high v, low v, alarm ah? What numbers are entered? What happens when the alarm goes off? How do you shut off the alarm? Instruction manual basically worthless as well as their website for info. Lots of numbers showing in the setting mode but where do they come from?
Did you ever find out how to shut off the alarm? Mine went off at 2.30 this morning, I felt like i was in the ICU
@@chemanley7484 Nope no answers to any of my questions from this page nor from Renogy.
Those numbers come from your battery manufacturer. It should list high voltage and low voltage.
We definitely agree on that lame ass manual.
I got the round one which is virtually the same but I remember reading in the instructions that you can find out the capacity of your battery by setting the amp hours as high as you want and calculating that way, but I guess you would just charge it up fully and then set it at 100% , but I’m not sure if it would know the amp hours that way automatically on the display, weird instructions. But I think it would start from a dead battery … Since batteries, lose capacity over time, especially lead acid, that would be a very useful feature
Agreed!
Hi, question for you, I am building a small off grid "shed" to house tools and snow removal equipment, I'll be living in the bus, which is fine. However, I want to be able to monitor my sheds power system even while I am 1000s of miles away. Do any of these major companies have a WIFI module? I've used renogys BT module and it's fine but the only other option they have is the data/cell module. I will already have wifi 24-7 for the security system.
Hey! The Renogy M1 would be perfect. Gonna be releasing a video very soon.
Really enjoyed your video. You made it very easy to understand the operation of this battery monitor. Thanks!
Welcome! Glad you enjoyed it
You got you +pos and -neg bus bar almost touching. Hope you don't drop anything over there. You might get a spectacular fireworks show.
They aren’t as close as you’d think. The angle makes them look a lot closer but thank you for the feedback and for watching!
@@madetoexplore thanks for the reply and the video helped me decide to buy. Have a great day sir. 😀
@@theblackswordsman5171 awesome! Thank you very much and you too!
Great video about the product and good to see your progress over time here on CZcams :). Remember seeing a much earlier video, when you got the Sprinter Van. One note: the bottom part of the shunt looks dangerously close to your positive bus bar. If the screw for the shunt on the negative bar becomes loose for whatever reason (i.e. van vibrations, over time), the shunt might move close enough to create a short circuit or builts an arc with your positive bus bar. Not sure whether you still have it like that, but I though I bring that up - just in case . Safety/precaution is probably better here, give the AMPs going through that circuit.
Thanks! Yes, the angle of the camera also makes it look closer than it actually is. I’ve also moved it to a different location now. Appreciate the feedback tho and thanks for watching!
Great video thanks for fully going into detail and explaining!
Welcome! Thanks for watching
Thank you for the video. How do you go about grounding with the shunt in place?
The shunt is connected to our negative busbar which is grounded to the frame of the van.
Thanks for the video, it was very helpful while I was setting my battery monitor up. I am having an issue but I don’t know if its really an issue or not. I just setup my system a few days ago and have been using it for 3 solid days. Now at the end of the full third day and decided to charge my battery using the battery charger I purchased from the manufacturer. For informational purposes I purchase an Ampere Time 200 ah lithium with an Ampere Time 20 amp charger. Initially the battery monitor would not show the battery was charging. After some research I found that the charger couldn’t be connected directly to the battery otherwise the monitor would not show a charging status. I corrected this issue and now I am showing a charging status, however, now I am at my second issue. My charger is designed to stop charging when the battery is full, however, the battery monitor, while showing a charge status, has very quickly displayed that my battery is at 100% full and the battery icon is at 200ah. The monitor is still flashing to show it is charging. My gut tells me that I shouldn’t worry about this and that when the charger stops charging, I should reset the monitor to 100 percent. Do you have any suggestions or solution? TIA.
I wouldn’t worry to much about that! Is your charging designed for lithium batteries? This maybe the issue.
@@madetoexplore yes it is.
I had bought one of those round aili monitors for my set up, but that bloody flashing when charging is intolerable. I ordered this one and came here to find this one flashes too ugh.. however this one only being like 30 bucks more looks like it's at least 100 bucks better so theres that. And the flashing looks a lot less bright.
Maybe mount it in a different place that won’t irritate you?
Great video! My lithium cells are in a metal box for use in a golf cart. Does it look like I can cut the main 5 wire cable to solder in a pass through cable? Thanks
Thanks! Yeah I think you could do that.
Possibly a dumb qestion...can you connect the shunt directly to the -ve side of the battery?
I believe you could but you’d have to purchase a longer bolt and some other hardware to make it work properly.
@@madetoexplore Thanks - just thinking of getting it as close to the -ve as possible to be more accurate really. Appreciate the reply :-)
I saw that a guy used a MRBF mounted directly to the battery.
He took the fuse out and the shunt fits directly on the post that the fuse was on.
Then just ran a short cable to the neg bus bar on the load side.
As a mecp certified installer, I see that ground wire is a hair away from the ground block, if that we're to get loose it would short. Perhaps you just have a higher tolerance to risk than I.
I’ve shifted that over since I did this original install. I never had anything come loose or short. Thanks for catching that tho!
Thanks, if I have shore power charging batteries, will this monitor pick that up or does that shunt have to be placed in line to have monitor see it .
For the monitor to pick up shore power or any charge for that matter, the shunt has to be separating everything from the battery.
like this better than the victron i bought last year which works with an app on my phone
That’s good to hear! Victron has some great products
Thanks for all the help you are giving with this video as I got this same monitor and have been having alot of issues.
I did solve most of them after reading through all your comments from other people and realizing I only had the ground coming in from the solar regulator going to the shunt and all the other grounds from my system were still connected to the ground of my battery.
My battery is a 200ah Mighty Max Lead Acid 12 V that came with this partially built Sprinter T1N I have been finishing little by little over the last 2 years.
So after I connected all the grounds from my system to the Shunt ( including the chassis ground, inverter,solar regulator and ground going to a regulator hooked to the main on the motor) it seems everything is working as it should now except for one thing:
The capacity is still showing at 100% on the monitor even though I have the fridge running and the voltage has dropped down to 12.8 V. The amps have dropped to 199ah and the remaining hours seem about right at 72:10 but the capacity hasnt dropped at all and is still showing 100% full.
Does this seem normal to you?
I have the CAP set at 14.4 V and the Low set at 11.5 V and the alarm set at 100 mah.
So what do you think I might be doing wrong here?
Could the monitor be defective?
Im wondering that because during form fitting into the plywood I was pulling it out of the hole which is really tight and it slipped out of my hands and flew on to the hard wood floor.
Thanks for your thoughts and any advice.
The included manual is pretty limited especially on the troubleshooting section.
It’s good to have the alarm set at 20% capacity. It’s isn’t great to draw lithium batteries below 80%. I would focus on the amps going in and out, not so much the voltage and percentage. If it’s still reading 100% then the shunt is installed correctly. Is it facing the proper way? The shunt should be separating EVERYTHING from the negative terminal on your house battery.
Thanks for your response.
To clarify here my battery is not a Lithium, its a Mighty Max Sealed AGM Lead Acid 200AH.
Yes everything is connected correctly. All grounds are going to the P- connector on the shunt and then from the B- one short 4 AG cable going to the negative terminal on the battery.
After running the fridge for two days now I noticed the battery percentage has dropped slightly and reading lower at 92% and the AHs are 198.
So it appears to be working correctly now.
At night since there is no sun charging up the 200 watt solar panels, it is showing drawing only on the monitor and the voltage drops down considerably.
But during the day when there is full sunlight,the two small arrows are facing up and the hours remaining are much less indicating remaining time for a full charge.
On looking at other videos and comments here on CZcams from other persons that have installed these units I came across this information from users thwt installed this monitor in their rigs that is interesting and may benefit those who need to know:
Comment: I have noticed that this unit monitors the capacity by “voltage and not amperage” So I have since installed a Lithium setup.
Comment: After many days of troubleshooting on this monitor I finally worked it out: don’t set the high and low voltage,( leave them both at 0.00 and it will then work as it should)
Why Renogy cant just say that in the instructions is beyond me.
Comment: I totally agree with everything you are saying as it seems fine when its discharging, but as soon as it sees charging voltage from solar or alternator it displays 100%.
Comment: This worked for me: High Voltage needs to be above the charge rate to stop it showing 100% as soon as you start DcDc charging.
Awesome video man! Very helpful. I have a 1500w inverter, can you put the inverter through the shunt or should I leave it on the battery? Cheers
Thanks! Yes you can definitely put it through the shunt.
Thanks for your video. I’m trying to work out why my battery monitor is beeping constantly. (Every 10 seconds) Having left a few things on whilst in storage) the battery was totally flat. I’m recharging the 2 x 100 amh batteries from mains power. Even when showing full the beeping continues. Can you help please.
Thanks, Trevor
It’s probably the low capacity alarm. You can change it to whatever you like
Great video. I’m about to upgrade my tv to lifepo batteries. Just a quick question: will it harm my batteries to leave my RV plugged in to shore power, knowing that the converter is always on? I leave my rv plugged into power when I’m at home.
No, as long as your charger is compatible with Lithium
Hey mate you should set your battery amp hour at 80% as that’s the usable amp hours, so 80% of 200amph, got that info from our sales guy in Aus. Great vid and subbed👌
Yeah, I completely forgot to mention that Lithium batteries shouldn’t be drained below 80% of their capacity in this video 🤦 thank you!
@@madetoexplore all good mate still a great vid
@@madetoexplore You did, however, mention that an alarm could be set to 20% or whatever number one chooses to address this topic in a different manner.
Excellent and very helpful information presented in your video. I'm going to buy this device for my setup.
So glad it helped, thanks for watching!☺️
Hi will this work with lead crystal battery’s as Iv got too there 170ah each so I’ve Iv got 340ah linked so there still 12v and NOT 24
Looking forward to your reply Dave.,,
I don’t have a lot of experience with lead crystal but I don’t see why it wouldnt work? I would order it off Amazon and test it out within the 30 day period just to be safe.
So I’ve got 2 x 130a batteries so I would set it to 260a once fully charged?
@@MAllwayyes that’s correct
Blew up my renogy 50a mppt dc to dc charger hooking up the positive wire to the wrong place.. they should REALLLY emphasize that the positive goes into the little green connection and it’s easier to do that first…
Yeah, their instruction manuals are certainly lacking a little bit!
You’ve helped me by a lot. THANKS!
Welcome! Thanks for watching 😄
Hey, Ive just fitted this monitor but, in case you didn't know the DCC50S prioritises solar input and limits both to 25amps therefore you will only get a maximum of 25amps from the engine battery. I live in Scotland, not known for it's tropical weather, so I fitted a double pole isolator switch to my solar panels so today I was getting 25W from my 460W solar because a crap day and 25amps from bus battery. When I shut off the feeble solar input I boosted to 48.8amp charge from the bus battery so when I'm driving and running the engine I'm getting fantastci charge and when I parrk up I'll flip the solar back on. Thought that might be useful info
Thanks! Yes I did this on my install too.
@@lewhamy7445 yes, I did and nor that expensive but quite big.
I installed this exact monitor into my 2015 Ice Castle fish house. I wired according to the same diagram, fully charged my 12v deep cell battery and calibrated the sensor to the full charge. It seems to display the draw, percentage, etc correctly. But when I plug the house into my generator or 110outlet it instantly goes to 100% charged and flashes like it’s charging. What would cause this to jump immediately to 100% vs. showing the charged percentage like yours?
That’s strange! Seems like the percentage is based on voltage and not AH. I would double check the wiring diagram and orientation of the shunt.
Thanks for the video. Just wondering how you configured the monitor with high/low voltages etc. I noticed when you turned your vehicle on, the charging voltage was around 13.3V. Is your battery at full capacity at 14.7V?
I also have the same monitor, however, my voltage when my battery is at full capacity is 12.8V (as per the specs). But the charging voltage is 14.4 (as per the specs). Just want to know how your charging voltage is lower than your high voltage?
I have this unit (but a cheaper unbranded one) on my boat for the trolling motor lithium batteries.
Works great best for the price by far.
Nice! I definitely agree
I just purchased my first LifePO4 batteries for my small boat's electric trolling motor and I'm trying to find a good monitor for them. Are you satisfied with the one that you are using and would you mind sharing what brand it is? I'm not sure if Renogy makes a portable monitor that doesn't require mounting. Thanks!
@@jamesrobbison I’d get one of there new Bluetooth batteries! Should be able to monitor with the Renogy app. Otherwise you’ll have to mount a shunt to your battery. Wouldn’t be hard tho
Man it's really bad practise having your Positive and Negative Busbars so close together.
If anything conductive shorts them out there's a high chance your van gets burnt
Thanks for watching Chris. I have shifted my busbars since creating this video.
Potentially stupid question.. are you also using your alternator to charge your batteries when necessary? Can this monitor the charging for both? I’m trying to build a little solar generator that I can also keep topped off when driving in the back of the 4Runner and then just put up the panels when at camp.
Yes I am. Would recommend the Renogy DC to DC with MPPT 👍
Just a hint - I have the same shunt but unbranded off Amazon - slightly cheaper. Also the Renogy inverter charger inverter same as yours mounted horizontally which I’ve been told they must me as the windings can fall out internally causing a short - manual also says mount horizontally- worth looking into. The feed to the shunt I fused mine with a 5A fuse.
Thanks! Appreciate it 👍
I’ve got a 120aH AGM battery, could I set my monitor to 60aH so it says 0% when I’ve used 50% of my useable battery?
Yes you could
If I have four 100ah Renogy batteries in parallel. What should my setting be for Ahours on the Renogy 500amp Battery Monitor? 100 or 400? Great video, great info!
400ah. Thanks for watching! 😄
Hey, quick question that no one has been able to answere for me. I have all of the negative cables in my system on a bus bar. All of the components are all grounded to this bar as well. My question iis, should this bus bar be grounded to the chasis? I have the system in my rv.
@@michaeldesmit5577 yes you should
@@madetoexplore Thanks for that answer. I have one more question, please: the quest is about seperating the two chargers that can charge the batteries. I have the same transfer switch used to switch from shore power and solar power, wired the same way you did. I also have an internal battery charger housed in the circuit breaker a/c d/c distribution panel. I have two battery switches in the system, one to turn on the dc power to the inverter from the batteries and also allows the charge controller to charge the batteries. I have the other battery switch between the dc charger cord coming from the AC DC distrubution box to the batter bank to charge when on shore power. So, I dont overcharge the batteries , When Im on shore power, I turn off the battery switch coming from the solar charge controler so it cant charge the batteries and open the battery switch coming from the ac dc distribution box that has the charger in it to charge the batteries and supply 12 v to the system when I am connected to shore power. I have seen some folks on youtube say the MPPT charge controller if you leave connected to the batteries, that it will sense how much power is going to the batteries and will not over charge the batteries. So essentially I really dont need to shut off hte battery coming from the charge controller to the batteries. Is there a better way to wire this? Thanks
Question on the Renogy inverter do I have to use the provided on and off remote switch? Or can I just turned it on and off on the inverter?
You can turn it on and off from either switch. You don’t have to install the remote switch if you won’t use it.
@@madetoexplore thanks so much!
Didn't want to read the manual. Thank for teaching me how to use my monitor.lol
I can relate to that haha welcome!
If you have 2x 88ah you set the Cap to 176Ah if I understand correctly. What do I set the Full V, Zero V, PowerOff and Alarm to? I have 2 SRM-27 Interstate batteries. Thanks for the vid it was awesome
Look at the specs of the battery and set the voltages according to those values.
Great presentation.
Thank you!
Awesome video, thanks heaps for making that simple to understand. Just ordered :).
Welcome!
Great video thanks! How would you wire the shunt, to the negative bus bar and to 2 x 200amp batteries ? Your input would be appreciated thks!
There would be a cable connecting the negative terminals of the batteries and then the shunt would be installed between one of the negative battery terminals and the bus bar.
How do you mount the monitor? Didnt see and mounting holes...
There aren’t any mounting holes. It’s essentially a pressure fit.
Hey David me again. I'm fixing your wiring instructions. One question first. After I've hooked up my renogy battery monitor now my buss barr is getting extremely hot. In fact 260° F
I don't know if it's wire size or what but can't run the ac, obviously. My neg buss does not get to the battery it runs thru the shunt. Maybe that's the problem ?
I'm lost
Usually that’s due to a bad/loose connection or undersized wires.
@@madetoexplore you were right bad connection
My monitor isn’t showing when it’s charging the arrows going up and the monitor flashing it’s not doing that
Those sound like symptoms of a shunt that’s installed the wrong way?
@@madetoexplore I’ll check it again 👍
@@madetoexplore I checked it and it wired up properly on the video when you’re going through the settings on the monitor if you keep going down there’s two more what are they for
Did you figure it out?
Can I ask please, you say to configure, make sure the battery is at 100% and then calibrate to 100% on the device, but without having had the device in previously, how would you them be able to tell when the battery is at 100% to do this in the first place? My battery 300Ah, is not compatible with Renogy BT monitors for me to know this.
Charge that battery until the voltage is at its max and then calibrate. The battery manual should have the max voltage
@@madetoexplore Thank you very much 😇
Hi mate,
I've watched a couple of your videos featuring Renogy products. If it's possible could you be able to tell me about Renogy and their after marketing reputation.
Here in Australia, the reviews on Trustpilot are dismal. We have no contact information at all and to register for warranty, make warranty claims or returns is near impossible. You just get delayed response to your emails and have to send numerous emails for next to no results from Renogy.
Are there people from other countries that have the same experiences as we do here in Australia?
Thanks again for your informative videos.
Yeah there customer service sucks….especially internationally. It’s their biggest downside for sure.
Great video, thanks so much!
Welcome! Thanks for watching
Thank you for the excellent information on the renegy battery monitor. I'm getting ready to install this unit on my home solar with dual 200 amp hour batteries, I'm running both batteries in series to a bus bar. So I guess I need to install the unit on the inverter side of the bus bar and not the battery side of the bus bar to monitor both batteries ,correct??
It doesn’t matter which side of the bus bar, only that it is in between the busbar and the negative battery terminal.
Wonderful video! I'm wondering about something in my trailer that's different from the configuration described in the video. In my Keystone Bullet 22, I have my 170 a/h Renogy lithium battery located externally on the tongue of the trailer, which precludes a convenient connection of the shunt which the video showed as being handy to the battery. I'm wanting to install the monitor near the entrance door near the back of the trailer co-located with the existing monitor panel, which is about 22' aft of the battery. It would also be directly above the converter/charger. Is there any important reason that the negative wire leading to the converter/charger couldn't be interrupted by the shunt to allow a series connection about 22' from the battery?
As long as you size the wiring properly it should be fine 👍
New subbie. I absolutely need this for my setup since the Rover Li 40 amp does not accurately read LiFePO4 batteries. This is must. Great video 👍
Thank you! 🍻
Hello from Germany, how can I easily determine that my battery is fully charged before I install the monitor? I also have a Renogy 170ah battery
Test the voltage. When the battery is full it should be around 14.6v I believe.
Hello, my question is, i installed my monitor but i do not why it does not show the arrows when it is reciving charge, when is drawing it does, could you help me please, thank you very much.
Are you sure you have the shunt installed the proper way?
Presumably this shunt is still compatible with non renogy mppt, dc-dc chargers etc? Great video, much appreciated in the UK.🙂
That’s right, it doesn’t have to be Renogy. Welcome! 😁
hello when I connect the battery monitor between my battery and my renogy inverter charger and it is connected to 110v the battery charges but the charger screen turn off is this normal?
No, this is definitely not normal. I’d double check your wiring connections.
Very helpful thank you. Mine reset itself and the alarm keeps beeping every 10 seconds. I’ve tried everything I know. Do you know how to stop the beeping. Thanks mate.
Welcome! Thanks for watching. The only reason the alarm should be going off os because of voltage and/or low amp hours
I know this is an older post but I just bought a Renogy monitor. I’m some what of a newbie. The instructions say to connect the B- in series to the shunt. I have 2-100ah lithium batteries wired parallel. Do I just wire to the negative post leaving the two batteries? Also, the small wire connected to the P-post just goes to any of the positive posts, correct?
Yes you can either connect the B- to the negative battery terminal or I connected mine to the busbar. As long as it’s separating the battery from all other negative connections. Do you mean the small wire for the B+ connection? Yes that can be connected to the positive busbar or battery terminal.
Can you explain how your battery disconnect is wired with respect to the battery monitor? I currently have the same monitor and have wired up the monitor btw the disconnect and the negative battery terminal. This is to ensure the monitor doesn't lose power (and all my settings have to be re-entered) if and when I need to turn the battery off. Thank you.....
The shunt for the monitor is connected to the negative. The disconnect is wired between the positive battery terminal and the positive busbar
Thank you. There continues to be a raging discussion about how to wire up a battery disconnect....with many (most?) folks leaning toward installing it on the negative side of the battery.
@@robertallen7186 Greetings! I agree that many people intuit & rationalize installing cut-offs on the negative side due to "received" wisdom (perhaps due to frequently quoted historical advice regarding safely uninstalling automotive batteries where there is the most-commonly seen chassis negative ground?) I'm not an electrician or expert, but my current understanding is that ALL switching AND fusing needs to be on the positive side of any electrical connections so that the current is 100% off the system instead of just partially disconnected (i.e "after" the energized positive current flow portion of a circuit.) Typical household & appliance wiring protocol shows many examples of this principle in action. Any informed counter opinions welcome, Cheers!
Great vid 👌 exactly what I needed.
Just bought one wanted to know if I can fit it to my bus bars also how to set it up.
Thanks! Good luck with the install
Hey what's the point of setting the high and low voltage? What does it affect and my 6v batteries only say 230cca so I enter 230 for amp hrs or.
It’s for the alarm
When i entered the amp hrs. Then the trailer was used it fell flat on its face. Not sure if that happend becouse I entered it in when the trailer was plugged in? My battery's where charged up all the way before.
I just installed this monitor, and it seems great but I have one question. Does the backlight come on when you have a load on it? If so, is there a way to stop that? I feel like the light will be on/off all night long whenever the fridge runs, or if I plug my phone in. I've looked for a way to turn it off but no luck. Do you have any advise or thhoughts?
Also, thanks for the review! Super helpful, I didn't realize that the arrowa indicated a charge/discharge -- thats cool!
That’s a good question. I believe the backlight pulses when the batteries are being charged but I’ll have to check mine to see if it stays on when it’s discharging or it turns off.
Thanks for watching!
@@madetoexplore Thanks for the response. I haven't noticed the pulses while charging, but I'll pay attention to that -- maybe it's turned off or something too.
Very helpful. thanks very much !
Welcome! Glad it helped 👍
thanks for the video, i have 2 200ah renogy agm's and a giandel 4000w inverter for my truck because i find myself needing power for my tools and i hate carrying 2 200ft extention cords to find power. since i have 2 batteries that are link together at 12v will the shunt work properly if it is hooked to the negative of one of the batteries ? for example ( battery 1 negative to battery 2 negative to B-to shunt then from P- from shunt to chassis )
Yes that’s correct.
You said that it monitors how much solar comes in. No, it does not account for the solar that you are using directly that bypasses the battery. Your solar charge controller does that.
My system was set up with batteries from China. My Monitor has gone out. I have Series of 16 batteries. Can I use the the product on what I have.?
As long as your system isn’t over 500a and 120v it should work
I know this is an older post, but I would like to add a question - everything I have in my Renogy components says to NOT install the battery and inverter in the "same cabinet?. It looks like yours is not only in the same cabinet, but is VERY close to each other. I know that lead acid batteries couldn't be in the same cabinet, but why would they say that about LifePo? Are you worried at all about that?
Yes, this because of heat. My cabinet is open and vented very well so I’ve never had any issues with overheating but if it was in an enclosed space I would be worried. I haven’t had any issues at all.
@@madetoexplore no room for my inverter to be inside, so have to put it in one of my toolbox cabinets built into my truck bed. Would like to get both my batteries inside, but not sure I can make them fit. If I have to put my 300ah battery in toolbox, I will probably have to install a cooling fan. May have to for just the inverter anyway.
Great job, Please help as my renogy monitor shows it's full but it displays 0 hours and when I use the inverter it won't work. Thanks Franco
Sounds like it may be installed in the wrong spot or possibly backwards? Make it’s the only connection between the negative battery terminal and the negative busbar.
I have a 3000 watt pure sine Renogy inverter. I have 3 lithium 100 amps batteries. I've had this hook up since last April (2022). I had this installed a distance from where I live now. All was running well, to include my Dometic CxF75, which ran constantly as is wired to AC and 12 volt. I just noticed the refrig is no longer operating on 12v. If I turn on the inverter it will run but when inverter turned off, it stops. My batts are at 74. So batts are good. I've checked fuses, even the fuse in the refrig 12 v hookup line. All seem good. Do you have any idea what the problem is. I'm a newbie to all of this and this has my 65 year old mind stumped. Any help would be appreciated.
I’d imagine the fridge should have some type of automatic switch to switch back and forth automatically from 12v to 120v? Sounds like an issue with the fridge electrical for sure.
Now I understand the monitor, thanks!
Welcome!
My big question is my mppt shows 1/4 of battery 🪫 left epever 40w. Every thing else shows 3/4 of my batteries left.
Unless I am missing something, .....when you start your engine and your engine battery is fully charged (usually the case), and your alternator detects a discharge condition, ....ie your l-ion house battery, it starts charging your house battery AND your fully charged engine battery as well. No Bueno! Not good for the alternator ($$$) or a now overcharging engine battery ($$$)!
Additionally, the charge profile of an l-ion battery is distinctly different than a flooded or gel high cranking amp battery....
If your solar system is not handling your electrical demand, switch to propane on the refer and take it off the inverter and see if the solar can keep up. If not then add solar capacity on the roof or throw out freestanding panels on the ground with an additional charge controller if necessary. This helps on those cloudy days as well.
I have not had to charge my class A motorhome in five years with 600 watts on the roof/200 watts of freestanding panels if/when I occasionally (cloudy days) need them.
Just throwing my two cents in....
Safe travels, and thanks for the vid.
Yeah you’re definitely missing a lot there… You must live in a sunny place! Thanks you too 👍
@@madetoexplore
Just to add....
We winter in AZ (lots of sun) but are in coastal Oregon (rain/clouds) from April through October. Can be challenging....
I have 3/105 AH l-ions which give me fairly good storage capacity.....
Occasionally I have had to go into conservation mode for a few days using the batts conservatively, meaning diesel heater, propane on refr. always, lots of tv and lights, etc....
Generally don't go below about 93% on a sunny heavy days use: micro, wifes hairdryer, curling iron, Keurig, 3-4 hrs tv, and the rest of the stuff....
On the continuously cloudy consecutive days, I roll out the 200 watt freestanding panels (I use flexible high efficiency panels) They make a huge difference.
Usually get enough gain on regular cloudy days to get to 100%.
Panels on the roof always lay flat. I am too old and lazy to angle them....
Happy trails.....!
Well explained video, David. Thanx for putting in the time and effort to help us. I have a question about initial setup of the monitor. Could you please tell me how you chose the values for high and low battery voltage alarms. i.e. how did you choose the numbers 14.7 and 11.0. Thanx in advance.
Welcome! Thanks for watching. Look at the min and max voltages for your make/model of battery.
I’ve never been able to get the monitor to show it is charging with the arrows up. It displays the load only. Any ideas what might be wrong? Great video, by the way. 👍
Make sure that the shunt is installed in the correct location and that it is the correct orientation. This happened to me at first because I had a ground installed to the battery terminal.
@@madetoexplore Thanks. It’s working now. 👍
So i want to use this for one of my battery builds. If the charger is not connected to the shunt will it still accurately measure voltage for the low voltage alarm function?
No it wouldn’t work. There’s only one cable that connects the shunt to the controller so you would need to connect it for the alarm to work.
This is awesome information thank you
Thanks man!
Thanks for the video, I do have a question. For the life of me I cannot figure out why my monitor will not record incoming charging? I checked and double checked the setup and it appears to be correct. Any thoughts
So it will only pick up an out going charge?
@@madetoexplore It only detects watts going out, Not until the batteries reach a full charge will it reset to 100%. No incoming watts. Thanks for the reply btw!
I have been searching everywhere!!!! Man!!! Same problem. I get accurate reading of watts getting spent.... but wont pick up charge in percentage from driving/ alternator or solar.... if thats a thing? Guys truth???
That it doesn't read an accurate % on the monitor until its at 100?... then resets to the 100% once full???
Cos ive been so lost on this also!! And this is the closest info and best by far so far!!!!
Please any help guys... much appreciated always!
My electronic guy tells me ots set up as the diagram shows.... so its not that its set up wrong.
@@bennys_vanlife744 That's exactly what I'm saying. It will not measure incoming watts. I gave up on it and purchased another brand. Not installed yet, probably this weekend. I'll come back here and let you know if it works better then the Renogy. God Bless you!
Hi. The company that installed my Renogy 2000w Pure sine inverter charger put it in the back of a cupboard that i have No access too..
So i need to a add a battery monitor screen.
Can i use this Renogy shunt monitor on my Renogy 200w pure sine Inverter charger ?
(I contacted Renogy directly but they've replied saying it cant be used with my 2000w charger inverter)
(I am a bit confused because I've seen videos on youtube of people using them together)
Your inverter charger looks the same as mine. Thanks
The Renogy monitor is used to track anything that draws or inputs a current into a battery including a 2000w inverter/charger
Kinda confusing? The shunt doesn’t have Bluetooth ability and the BT-2 only connects to battery or solar controller?
So kinda behind the times verse victron shunt
Renogy has a Bluetooth shunt now! 👇
czcams.com/video/jFoX7rnXQqY/video.htmlsi=9vBIbnUITA4ftEhK