Victron Energy BMV-700 Battery Monitor

[Jfrano]

Thinking of installing this at the helm .

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01BVQR0V8/re ... UTF8&psc=1

Two main concerns here:
— How do you drill a clean hole into the soft helm material ?
— What’s the best way to route the cables back to the house battery bank?
— shunt battery connections .

Thanks for your insights,
Joe

 

[trailertrawlerkismet]

Can not help you with dash install info however we installed the same device on the R29S we sold recently. I mounted it on the cabinetry facing, below the counter top and to the stern of the cabinet drawers. I drilled the appropriate hole, ran the wires down into the cabinet cavity and then back into the port side locker where everything else was connected and mounted. Easy enough to read in this location and I think an easier install.

Jim

 

[Red Raven]

Since the battery monitor will only be monitoring house batteries you likely will not be checking it when at the helm. We check ours typically every morning. Any location visible when you are up and about the cabin is best. I chose a location in the aft of the cabin to make running the wires to the batteries and shunt easier. Rather than drilling a large hole in the boat I made a bezel out of teak to mount it in and then attached the bezel under a shelf. The specifics are different for us in our R27 but I sure there is another suitable location as Jim suggests.

Curt

 

[CruisingElvinRay]

Get the BMV-712 with Bluetooth. I put the gauge at the electrical panel in the mid-berth and have my phone at the helm to monitor while underway. Can check from the bed in the middle of the night. At home, I can check it from the couch (about 50 ft away)

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[Jfrano]

Yes, as you guys are mentioning it. Makes sense, to remote mount...especially I will be adding an iPad mounted above the helm for Navionics, as the new IPad will be coming out in a few days, so I can easily keep multiple windows open on the device.

How did You route the wire to the house battery? . Did you need to buy extra battery straps to mount to the shunt?

Thanks

 

[gswearin]

I’m thinking of this as well-the 712. I looked at som you tube installs and doesn’t seem that complicated, but Jim in a prior post I believe it took you 4 or 6 hours so I think I am overestimating the simplicity. What is the most time consuming part?

 

[CruisingElvinRay]

Yes, as you guys are mentioning it. Makes sense, to remote mount...especially I will be adding an iPad mounted above the helm for Navionics, as the new IPad will be coming out in a few days, so I can easily keep multiple windows open on the device.

How did You route the wire to the house battery? . Did you need to buy extra battery straps to mount to the shunt?

Thanks

I ordered an extra negative battery cable and added a negative bus. I’ll try to get a pic or video of that I the next day or two. I actually left the monitor next to the shunt for a few weeks while cruising to make sure it was working properly.

Install probably took 2-3 hours.


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[CruisingElvinRay]

Here’s a video I did on the installation of a BMV-712 on our 2021 R-23.

https://youtu.be/3AT0mBg6cGg

 

[gswearin]

Hi Dave, great video. Did you add the additional bus because it was needed by the Victron or just while you were at it?

 

[CruisingElvinRay]

Good question. I needed to move the two connections that are on the new buss off of the negative battery terminal. They were on the same terminal as the bilge pump, and I had to get them on the other side of the shunt.


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[Submariner]

Hi Dave, great video. Did you add the additional bus because it was needed by the Victron or just while you were at it?

On the R27-OB, there is no negative bus nearby. So you end up moving ALL the negative connections off the two house battery banks (there are several cables to move). You move them from the house bank negatives over the thruster battery negative (since the thruster battery is right next to the house bank). All you're left with is 2 house batteries that have 1 yellow negative cable between them. Then you connect another negative yellow cable from either house battery negative to the shunt. The other side of the shunt goes to your thruster battery (with all the other negative cables. It's a tight fit on the thruster battery negative post as there's about 6 or 7 connections).

I ended up re-doing my entire battery set up, put in a positive and negative bus bar, relocated the batteries to the center cockpit, and upgraded the house bank to 3 Firefly AGM batteries for 348Ah (225Ah usable). It works fantastic now, especially since I can swap out a battery in about 5 minutes without cursing. 🙂

 

[Cutwater28GG]

slightly different but when I mounted a balmar smart guage in the cave berth under the power switches on the cutwater, I was able to run a new cable to the batteries through the bulk head on the starboard side, out a gap into the engine bay and under the lip of the engine hatch with all the other cables around into the battery compartment. no holes were required to be cut.

since then I did add the bluetooth battery sense from victron which has a similar but subset of features as the BMV - love the bluetooth feature. for context my bluetooth battery sense works from the battery locker in the stern port to the helm with no issues.

 

[Toucan]

I cut a nice clean round hole in the padded dash using a Forstner bit run backwards. After the padding has been cut and removed, the bit can be run forward to cut the hole in in the wood panel. Push down on the padding when cutting the wood to keep wood chips from getting behind the padding, which will make the padding look lumpy.

Barry Thompson
TOUCAN, R-27 Classic

 

[JeffRad54]

Hi Dave, great video. Did you add the additional bus because it was needed by the Victron or just while you were at it?

On the R27-OB, there is no negative bus nearby. So you end up moving ALL the negative connections off the two house battery banks (there are several cables to move). You move them from the house bank negatives over the thruster battery negative (since the thruster battery is right next to the house bank). All you're left with is 2 house batteries that have 1 yellow negative cable between them. Then you connect another negative yellow cable from either house battery negative to the shunt. The other side of the shunt goes to your thruster battery (with all the other negative cables. It's a tight fit on the thruster battery negative post as there's about 6 or 7 connections).

I ended up re-doing my entire battery set up, put in a positive and negative bus bar, relocated the batteries to the center cockpit, and upgraded the house bank to 3 Firefly AGM batteries for 348Ah (225Ah usable). It works fantastic now, especially since I can swap out a battery in about 5 minutes without cursing. 🙂

You can swap the Thruster battery (buried, third back) in 5 minutes?! Tell me how, please.
I also have a 2019 RT, light grey (if the color matters. LOL).

 

[Submariner]

Hi Dave, great video. Did you add the additional bus because it was needed by the Victron or just while you were at it?

On the R27-OB, there is no negative bus nearby. So you end up moving ALL the negative connections off the two house battery banks (there are several cables to move). You move them from the house bank negatives over the thruster battery negative (since the thruster battery is right next to the house bank). All you're left with is 2 house batteries that have 1 yellow negative cable between them. Then you connect another negative yellow cable from either house battery negative to the shunt. The other side of the shunt goes to your thruster battery (with all the other negative cables. It's a tight fit on the thruster battery negative post as there's about 6 or 7 connections).

I ended up re-doing my entire battery set up, put in a positive and negative bus bar, relocated the batteries to the center cockpit, and upgraded the house bank to 3 Firefly AGM batteries for 348Ah (225Ah usable). It works fantastic now, especially since I can swap out a battery in about 5 minutes without cursing. 🙂

You can swap the Thruster battery (buried, third back) in 5 minutes?! Tell me how, please.
I also have a 2019 RT, light grey (if the color matters. LOL).

Yes I can. See attached pictures.

My house battery bank.
gallery2.php?g2_itemId=78687

My thruster battery bank.
gallery2.php?g2_itemId=76771

5 minutes. Probably less, as I've not actually timed myself.