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Victron Smart Shunt - what next

Yes I would need the VE direct cable. Assuming I bought the cable will the Cerbo-S interface with the Smart shunt connect to my LAN and allow access through VRM?

I don't know that the cerbo wifi is strong enough to make it the 100', but I expect a good wifi access point located with the cerbo should do it.

My setup is:

CCGX (poor man's Cerbo) ethernet to Wifi AP (use wifi in the shipping container for Mini-PC), 100' direct bury ethernet to DSL modem/router to VRM. I can see my shunt and all my victron hardware from anywhere with phone VRM app, Victron connect connected through VRM/GX or through VRM website.

Assuming you need WiFi, I see it as:

Cerbo ethernet to WiFi AP, Wifi 100' to home WiFi to WAN to VRM to luscious joy.
 
I don't know that the cerbo wifi is strong enough to make it the 100', but I expect a good wifi access point located with the cerbo should do it.

My setup is:

CCGX (poor man's Cerbo) ethernet to Wifi AP (use wifi in the shipping container for Mini-PC), 100' direct bury ethernet to DSL modem/router to VRM. I can see my shunt and all my victron hardware from anywhere with phone VRM app, Victron connect connected through VRM/GX or through VRM website.

Assuming you need WiFi, I see it as:

Cerbo ethernet to WiFi AP, Wifi 100' to home WiFi to WAN to VRM to luscious joy.
I like it a lot so I have hardwire Ethernet at the shunt so that wouldn’t be an issue. Could you point me out the CCGX device you are using? My issue is that my Smart Shunt is located in our basement. If I want to check my shunt I have to go into the kitchen and hold my phone just right to get an adequate Bluetooth signal. What I want to do is attach my Victron smart shunt to my LAN so I can look at it from any location.

I was planning to try the Pi thing but it seems that’s a 50/50 deal to get that up and running so then I was looking at the Cerbo-S which may work but then you came along and have something working well. I don’t need to do any adjustments or really interact with it I just use it for SOC comparisons with my Sol Ark. I really don’t have a lot of distance to cover as my shunt is close to my router and I can pull more Ethernet if this can work. Cheaper is better.

Thank you
 
I like it a lot so I have hardwire Ethernet at the shunt so that wouldn’t be an issue. Could you point me out the CCGX device you are using? My issue is that my Smart Shunt is located in our basement. If I want to check my shunt I have to go into the kitchen and hold my phone just right to get an adequate Bluetooth signal. What I want to do is attach my Victron smart shunt to my LAN so I can look at it from any location.

I was planning to try the Pi thing but it seems that’s a 50/50 deal to get that up and running so then I was looking at the Cerbo-S which may work but then you came along and have something working well. I don’t need to do any adjustments or really interact with it I just use it for SOC comparisons with my Sol Ark. I really don’t have a lot of distance to cover as my shunt is close to my router and I can pull more Ethernet if this can work. Cheaper is better.

Thank you

You want a Cerbo-S. CCGX is more expensive and less useful. It's what was available in 2019 when I didn't know any better as I was seeking to duplicate a friend's setup.

Connect Cerbo-S to battery.
Connect shunt to Cerbo-S via VE.Direct cable.
Connect Cerbo-S to Ethernet cable (presuming this will connect it to an internet-connected router).
Connect to Cerbo-S via VictronConnect to get the VRM ID.
Sign up for VRM.
Add your Cerbo-S to VRM.
Install VRM app on your phone.

You will be able to access your VRM from anywhere you have Internet access either via your VRM app, Victron Connect trough the GX device (can even change settings), or the VRM website.

You could put an old phone or tablet on the wall with it continuously displaying your shunt data.
 
The Victron GlobalLink 520 is made exactly for remote small VE.Direct installations to upload data to VRM. Basically Cerbo light kind of but basically just plug into VE.Direct shunt and direct to VRM. $250ish inc. Cellular service for fist 5 years.

Actually you don’t even have to plug in a VE.Direct cable. You can use BT Smart networking to get data from smartshunt to globallink and then direct to VRM cloud. You need no other cables or accessories.

 
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Hey I really appreciate the suggestions. I think these solutions are probably better ultimately than spending hours trying to get Venus OS onto a Pi when I could spend almost as much for the Pi today.
 
The installation instructions document which RPi are compatible.



BT transmission from a polycarbonate/Styrofoam shell is going to be inherently different from a big chunk of metal that is imbedded in a EM field of its own creation. Comparing the two is the proverbial apples to oranges situation. Expectations of one based on the other is not realistic.

The BMV-712 has improved BT range because it's NOT in the shunt. It's in the display outside of the shunt's EM field.



Either you start over, or you finish the exercise. The correct RPi can be had for < $150, and in this market, you can probably recoup some of the cost of your 400.
I'm not against throwing more money at it if it will bring a solution. But, if I buy a couple more components and still have to walk out in the snow to get the battery status by looking at an LCD display, vs standing there looking at my android phone app via Bluetooth, I am still standing out in the snow.

I have literally thousands of dollars of equipment stored in boxes that were part of design projects that were never implemented. I spent my working career as a electronics engineer, working in R&D, doing design and implement, and as a senior software development engineer. I wrote software to control the machines and report data readings in human readable formats. Also, during that time I spent nearly 30 years in the IT profession. From it infancy to present.

The big difference is that now, being retired, I do not have a fortune 500 company supplying me with whatever I want/need to think up, design, troubleshoot, implement, and support, the gizmos that make things, work and communicate with other gizmos, and of course, humans. I have no sponsors, no freebies, and certainly no way to recover my costs from items that just don't fit the project or perform as expected. R&D is expensive because not all stuff works as advertised or designed. And, some devices do not play well with others.

So, that is my reason for asking. I am gleaning from the research and development (R&D) of others so I can obtain the results I need with out putting more in boxes for my descendants to get rid of when I am gone.

I hope some if this makes sense.

Ken
 
In your case, getting the cheapest compliant RPi and selling the one that won't work to offset - and perhaps coupled with < $100 of wifi boosters/access points should get you there.
 
Again...Globallink 520. No fussing around. Just connect power, pair BT between ShartShunt and GlobalLink and data is on VRM available from any device anywhere in the world with all the VRM data logging as well.
 
Again...Globallink 520. No fussing around. Just connect power, pair BT between ShartShunt and GlobalLink and data is on VRM available from any device anywhere in the world with all the VRM data logging as well.
Sounds great, but we do not have cell service here where we live. We have starlink internet and are able to make wifi calls using that service. Looks like to me that the GlobalLink is not a match since it requires LTE-M. Rats!
 
Again...Globallink 520. No fussing around. Just connect power, pair BT between ShartShunt and GlobalLink and data is on VRM available from any device anywhere in the world with all the VRM data logging as well.
Decided on the Victron Energy Cerbo GX. It can connect via bluetooth, victron-direct the smart shunt, and connect to wifi. Description says it can then be accessed using the victronconnect app. It also has a HDMI port which can be connected to a LCD display. I have that as a leftover from the RPi that was not compatible with the Venus OS.

This has been a journey. Thanks for your help.

I will post when all this is put together. I am sure someone else out there is doing an off-grid solar system, and needs to monitor the battery status through the smart shunt. Currently, the only notification I have for spent batteries, is when the lights go off because the inverter shuts down (low batteries). The solar comes into the load center through a manually switched 10 circuit transfer switch.
 
Decided on the Victron Energy Cerbo GX. It can connect via bluetooth, victron-direct the smart shunt, and connect to wifi. Description says it can then be accessed using the victronconnect app. It also has a HDMI port which can be connected to a LCD display. I have that as a leftover from the RPi that was not compatible with the Venus OS.

This has been a journey. Thanks for your help.

I will post when all this is put together. I am sure someone else out there is doing an off-grid solar system, and needs to monitor the battery status through the smart shunt. Currently, the only notification I have for spent batteries, is when the lights go off because the inverter shuts down (low batteries). The solar comes into the load center through a manually switched 10 circuit transfer switch.

My only concern is the strength of the Cerbo Wifi. You might need to get an extender or access point if you're trying to make it the 100'
 
My only concern is the strength of the Cerbo Wifi. You might need to get an extender or access point if you're trying to make it the 100'
You were right on the weak Cerbo Wifi. It is about as robust at the Bluetooth.

It is now installed and registered with the VRM. I have loaded the the VRM app and the VRM Portal all. I had to connect the CERBO GX to an access point. The Cerbo shows up on the app now. But still a bit "disconnected" after all. Either I do not understand how to connect the Cerbo to the Smart shunt via bluetooth or, it isn't meant to do it and there is yet another step.

Any thoughts
 
You were right on the weak Cerbo Wifi. It is about as robust at the Bluetooth.

It is now installed and registered with the VRM. I have loaded the the VRM app and the VRM Portal all. I had to connect the CERBO GX to an access point. The Cerbo shows up on the app now. But still a bit "disconnected" after all. Either I do not understand how to connect the Cerbo to the Smart shunt via bluetooth or, it isn't meant to do it and there is yet another step.

Any thoughts

Connect via VE.Direct cable. If you have a VE.Direct to USB cable as you would need with RPi, that should work too.
 
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