Victron - SmartShunt Battery Monitor (500A / 1000A, Bluetooth, no display needed)

The Victron SmartShunt is a battery monitor with no display - it is a precision shunt with Bluetooth built in, and your phone is the screen. It sits in the battery negative and counts every amp in and every amp out, so VictronConnect can show you state of charge, time to go, voltage, current and consumed amp hours. Supply range is 6.5 to 70 VDC, so it covers 12V, 24V and 48V banks. Self consumption is under 1 mA, which means you can leave it wired to the battery permanently without it becoming the parasitic draw you are trying to hunt down. This is the monitor for a build where the phone is already the dashboard. If you want a physical gauge on the wall, an audible alarm or a relay that can switch something when the battery gets low, that is the BMV-712 Smart instead. Same measurement engine, different head. 500A or 1000A - which SmartShunt do I need? Size the shunt to the maximum current that will ever pass through it, not to the battery capacity. Every amp your system draws or delivers goes through this one device, so the number that matters is your worst-case simultaneous load - and the load that catches people out is an inverter at peak, not at rated output. Add up the continuous loads, then add the inverter's peak draw on top, and pick the shunt that sits above that figure. A 400Ah bank with a modest DC-only load list is comfortable on the 500A. A build with a large inverter that can surge hard belongs on the 1000A. Oversizing costs you nothing in accuracy that matters at 12V house-battery scale, and undersizing is not a setting you can fix later. No relay and no buzzer - the honest difference from a BMV Victron state it plainly: the SmartShunt is not equipped with a buzzer or an alarm relay like the BMV series is. Alarms exist, but they are app-only notifications and they are disabled by default until you turn them on. There is no contact you can wire to shed a load, start a generator or trigger a warning lamp, and nothing on the device will make a sound. If your build needs a low-voltage alarm you can hear from the driver's seat, or a relay to switch something automatically, you want the BMV-712 Smart. If you check the app anyway, this is the cleaner install - one shunt, no head unit, no data cable to route. The bit no one explains: VE.Smart Networking The SmartShunt is a transmitter. It measures voltage and current at the battery and broadcasts them over Bluetooth, and a Victron charger that is listening re-tunes its charge voltage off that battery-side reading instead of its own terminals. This matters because the charger sits at the end of a cable. It always reads slightly high, so it always stops charging slightly early. Feed it the real number from the battery and the bank actually reaches full. The part that is easy to miss: a SmartShunt on its own broadcasts voltage and current only. It broadcasts battery temperature only if the optional BMV temperature sensor (ASS000100000) is fitted to the aux input and the aux input is set to Temperature. Without that sensor there is no temperature on the network, and temperature-compensated charging never happens - your MPPT keeps guessing from its own internal reading. If you want a SmartSolar MPPT or an Orion XS to charge correctly on a cold morning or a 40C afternoon, that sensor is the piece you add. A VE.Smart network takes up to ten devices, but only one sense source is allowed. If a BMV and a Smart Battery Sense are both present, the BMV takes precedence. With a SmartShunt in the system you already have your sense source - one transmitter feeding many chargers is the whole design. Do not add a Battery Sense alongside it. Key features All the measurement, none of the head unit - state of charge, time to go, voltage, current and consumed amp hours, read in VictronConnect over Bluetooth Wide supply range - 6.5 to 70 VDC covers 12V, 24V and 48V systems from the one part number Installer-grade accuracy - current to +/- 0.4%, voltage to +/- 0.3% Under 1 mA self consumption - it can stay connected to the battery permanently Battery capacity 1 to 32500 Ah - on firmware 4.19 and later, so it scales from a small camper bank to a large off-grid array Configurable aux input - one input, set to second battery, midpoint voltage or temperature Broadcasts to VE.Smart - voltage and current out of the box, temperature once the ASS000100000 sensor is fitted Comes wired-ready - two 1.5 m red cables with a 1A slow-blow fuse are in the box Installing it - read this before you pick a spot Polarity and position are the whole job. The SmartShunt has two big terminals and they are not interchangeable. The battery negative - and nothing else - lands on BATTERY MINUS. Every load, every charger and every inverter lands on SYSTEM MINUS. If anything with a current path connects directly to the battery negative post instead of passing through the shunt, that current is invisible and your state of charge will drift and never come right. This is the classic install error and it is the reason a monitor reads wrong. If you are using the aux input to monitor a second battery, such as a starter battery, that second battery's negative also goes to SYSTEM MINUS. The aux positive picks up the second battery's positive. The aux input is a single input with three possible functions - second battery, midpoint voltage or temperature - so you pick one. You cannot watch a starter battery and read battery temperature on the same shunt at the same time. The terminals are M10 bolts with a maximum torque of 21 Nm. Do not go past it - overtightening distorts the shunt and changes what it measures. Ingress protection is IP21, so mount it inside a battery box, a locker or a cabin, not in a wheel arch or anywhere it will be hosed. Both supply cables come pre-fitted with a 1A slow-blow fuse; keep that fuse in circuit. Full specifications Supply voltage range: 6.5 to 70 VDC Current measurement accuracy: +/- 0.4% Voltage measurement accuracy: +/- 0.3% Self consumption: under 1 mA Battery capacity range: 1 to 32500 Ah (firmware 4.19 and later) Auxiliary input: second battery, midpoint voltage or temperature (one function at a time) Alarm relay: not fitted Buzzer: not fitted App alarms: disabled by default Terminals: M10 bolts Maximum terminal torque: 21 Nm Ingress protection: IP21 Dimensions, 500A: 46 x 120 x 54 mm Dimensions, 1000A: 68 x 168 x 75 mm Supplied cables: two 1.5 m red cables with a 1A slow-blow fuse VE.Smart Networking: transmits voltage and current VE.Smart temperature: requires the optional BMV temperature sensor ASS000100000 SKU, 500A: SHU050150050 SKU, 1000A: SHU050210050 Warranty: 5 years Frequently Asked Questions Should I buy the 500A or the 1000A SmartShunt? Size it to the maximum current that will pass through the shunt, not to your battery capacity. Add your continuous loads, then add your inverter's peak draw on top of that, and choose the shunt rated above the result. A DC-focused touring build is usually fine on the 500A. A build with a large inverter that surges hard should be on the 1000A. What is the difference between the SmartShunt and the BMV-712 Smart? It is not just the screen. The SmartShunt has no alarm relay and no buzzer - Victron state that plainly, and its alarms are app notifications that are disabled by default. The BMV-712 Smart has a 60V/1A bistable relay, an audible buzzer and a panel display. If you need something to switch, or a noise you can hear, choose the BMV-712. Why does my state of charge drift and never come back to 100%? Almost always a wiring position problem. Only the battery negative may land on BATTERY MINUS. Every load, charger and inverter must land on SYSTEM MINUS. If any of them is bolted straight to the battery negative post, that current bypasses the shunt and is never counted, so the reading walks away from reality. Can I monitor my starter battery and battery temperature at the same time? No. The aux input is a single input with three selectable functions - second battery, midpoint voltage or temperature - and you pick one. If you set it to second battery, note that the starter battery negative also has to land on SYSTEM MINUS. Will the SmartShunt make my MPPT charge on battery temperature? Only if you fit the optional BMV temperature sensor, ASS000100000, and set the aux input to Temperature. On its own the SmartShunt broadcasts voltage and current only, so a SmartSolar MPPT or Orion XS on the network gets no temperature reading and keeps using its own internal one. Do I also need a Smart Battery Sense? No. A VE.Smart network allows only one sense source, and where a BMV or SmartShunt is present it takes precedence. The SmartShunt is your transmitter. One sensor feeding several chargers is how the network is designed to work. Can it be mounted outside? It is rated IP21, so it belongs inside a battery box, a locker or the cabin. Do not mount it in a wheel arch, under the tray or anywhere it can be hosed or splashed. Shipping and support Dispatched from our Queensland warehouse, with tracking Genuine Victron stock, backed by the full 5 year warranty Australian owned and operated. Questions before you buy? Call us on 07 5211 0841 Pair it with a SmartSolar MPPT 100/30 or a SmartSolar MPPT 100/50 so the charger works off battery-side readings, or browse the full Victron range for the BMV temperature sensor and the rest of the system.