Victron - BMV-712 Smart Battery Monitor (Bluetooth, round head unit display) - BAM030712000R

The Victron BMV-712 Smart is a battery monitor with a round panel display and Bluetooth - the same measurement engine as the SmartShunt, plus a screen you can mount where you can actually see it. It ships with a 500A/50mV shunt and reads state of charge, voltage, current and consumed amp hours, on the head unit or in VictronConnect. Supply range is 6.5 to 70 VDC, so one part covers 12V, 24V and 48V banks. Current accuracy is +/- 0.4%, and self consumption is under 1 mA with the backlight off. This is the monitor for a build where someone other than the phone owner needs to see the battery - a hire van, a shared tourer, a workshop rig - or where you want the battery to be able to tell you something without anyone opening an app. SmartShunt or BMV-712 - which one suits my system? Both measure identically. The decision is about what the monitor can do besides display a number. Choose the BMV-712 Smart if you want a physical gauge on a wall or a dash panel, an audible buzzer, or a relay. The BMV has a bistable alarm relay rated 60V/1A that can be inverted in the settings, so it can switch a warning lamp, drop a non-essential load, or trigger something else when the battery hits a threshold you set. Nothing on a phone does that when the phone is in someone else's pocket. Choose the SmartShunt if you check the app anyway and you would rather not cut a hole in a panel or route a data cable. It has no relay and no buzzer, and it is the simpler install. Shunt sizing is not the variable here - the BMV-712 comes with a 500A/50mV shunt. If your worst-case current, including inverter peak, exceeds that, look at the 1000A SmartShunt instead. The 10 metre rule - plan the cable run before you buy The head unit talks to the shunt over the supplied 10 m RJ12 data cable, and that is your working limit. The shunt has to live at the battery, hard up against the negative post. The head unit has to live somewhere you can see it. If the distance between those two points is more than 10 metres of actual routed cable - and routed cable is always longer than the straight line, because it goes around, under and along - the supplied cable will not reach. Measure the run properly before you order, especially in a long-wheelbase van or a caravan where the battery is under a seat at one end and the panel is at the other. The bit no one explains: VE.Smart Networking The BMV-712 is a transmitter. It measures at the battery and broadcasts over Bluetooth, and a listening Victron charger re-tunes its charge voltage off that reading instead of its own terminals. The charger sits at the end of a cable, so it always reads slightly high and therefore always stops charging slightly early. Give it the real battery-side number and the bank actually gets full. What it broadcasts, precisely: voltage and current out of the box. Battery temperature only if the optional 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 at all, and a SmartSolar MPPT or Orion XS keeps compensating off its own internal reading rather than the battery's. That sensor is the real attach on this page. A VE.Smart network takes up to ten devices, but only one sense source is allowed. Where a BMV and a Smart Battery Sense are both present, the BMV takes precedence. The BMV-712 is your sense source - one transmitter feeding several chargers is the intended design, and adding a Battery Sense alongside it does nothing. Key features Panel display and Bluetooth - read it on the head unit or in VictronConnect, no need to choose 500A/50mV shunt included - the monitor and its shunt ship together Bistable alarm relay, 60V/1A - invertible in the settings, so it can switch a lamp or shed a load on a threshold you set Audible buzzer - a warning you can hear without opening anything Wide supply range - 6.5 to 70 VDC across 12V, 24V and 48V systems Current accuracy +/- 0.4% - installer-grade measurement, not an estimate off voltage Under 1 mA self consumption with the backlight off - it can stay connected permanently Configurable aux input - one input, set to starter battery, midpoint voltage or temperature Broadcasts to VE.Smart - voltage and current, plus temperature once the ASS000100000 sensor is fitted Round and square mounting - a square face plate and screws are supplied for a flush panel fit Mounting it - read this before you pick a spot The head unit. The front face is 63 mm diameter, the bezel is 69 x 69 mm, and the body behind the panel is 52 mm diameter by 31 mm deep - so you need that clearance behind the hole, not just a flat face in front of it. The supplied square face plate lets it sit as a square rather than a round gauge if that suits the panel better. The head unit is rated IP55. If you would rather not cut a hole at all, we stock a wall mount enclosure that lets the head unit surface-mount on a flat panel instead. The shunt. Rated IP21, so it lives inside a battery box, locker or cabin. Terminals are M10 bolts, maximum torque 21 Nm - do not exceed it, because overtightening distorts the shunt and changes what it measures. Wiring position is the whole job. The battery negative, and nothing else, lands on BATTERY MINUS. Every load, every charger and every inverter lands on SYSTEM MINUS. Anything bolted straight to the battery negative post bypasses the shunt entirely and its current is never counted, which is why a monitor drifts and never returns to a true 100%. If you set the aux input to starter battery, that starter battery's negative also goes to SYSTEM MINUS. The aux input is one input with three functions - starter battery, midpoint or temperature - so you commit to one. Both supply cables come with a 1A slow-blow fuse fitted; keep it in circuit. Full specifications Supply voltage range: 6.5 to 70 VDC Current measurement accuracy: +/- 0.4% Self consumption: under 1 mA with the backlight off Supplied shunt: 500A / 50mV Alarm relay: bistable, 60V/1A, invertible Buzzer: audible buzzer fitted Auxiliary input: starter battery, midpoint voltage or temperature (one function at a time) Data cable supplied: 10 m RJ12 UTP Head unit front diameter: 63 mm Head unit bezel: 69 x 69 mm Head unit body: 52 mm diameter x 31 mm deep Head unit ingress protection: IP55 Shunt ingress protection: IP21 Shunt terminals: M10 bolts Maximum terminal torque: 21 Nm VE.Smart Networking: transmits voltage and current VE.Smart temperature: requires the optional temperature sensor ASS000100000 In the box: head unit, 500A shunt, two 1.5 m fused red cables, 10 m RJ12 UTP cable, square face plate, 4 screws, quick guide SKU: BAM030712000R Warranty: 5 years Frequently Asked Questions Why would I pick the BMV-712 over a SmartShunt? Three things the SmartShunt does not have: a bistable 60V/1A alarm relay, an audible buzzer, and a physical panel display. If you want the battery to be able to switch something or make a noise, or you want anyone in the vehicle to read the state of charge without an app, the BMV-712 is the one. Measurement accuracy is the same on both. How far can the display be from the shunt? The supplied data cable is 10 m RJ12, so the head unit has to be within 10 metres of the shunt as the cable actually routes, not as the crow flies. Measure the real run before you buy, particularly in a long van or caravan where the battery and the panel are at opposite ends. What size hole do I need to cut? The body behind the panel is 52 mm diameter and 31 mm deep, the visible front face is 63 mm diameter, and the bezel covers 69 x 69 mm. Check you have 31 mm of clear space behind the panel as well as room on the face. If cutting is not an option, we stock a wall mount enclosure so the head unit can surface-mount instead. Why is my state of charge wrong? Check the negatives. Only the battery negative may land on BATTERY MINUS. Every load, charger and inverter must land on SYSTEM MINUS. Anything connected straight to the battery negative post is invisible to the shunt, so its current is never counted and the reading drifts. Can the BMV-712 tell my MPPT the battery temperature? Only with the optional temperature sensor, ASS000100000, fitted to the aux input and the aux input set to Temperature. On its own the BMV broadcasts voltage and current only. Fit the sensor and a SmartSolar MPPT or Orion XS on the same VE.Smart network can apply temperature-compensated charging. Can I watch the starter battery and the temperature together? No. There is one aux input with three selectable functions - starter battery, midpoint voltage or temperature - and it does one at a time. Is it suitable for outdoor mounting? The head unit is IP55 and the shunt is IP21. Treat the shunt as an inside-the-battery-box component and give it a dry, protected location. 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 Put it on a network with a SmartSolar MPPT 100/20 or a SmartSolar MPPT 100/30 so your charger works off battery-side readings, and see the full Victron range for the temperature sensor, the wall mount enclosure and the rest of the system.