RV battery monitor kit
$251.03 complete kit
Ground shipping is $9.95 per order, added at checkout. Ships to the lower 48 states.
3 parts, picked to work together. Bring your own battery.
Add the whole kit to cartAlready own a part? Set it to 0 in the list below and add the rest.
A real fuel gauge for your RV battery: Victron BMV-712 monitor with a display and Bluetooth, a busbar to gather every negative behind the shunt, and 2/0 lugs. Bring your own battery.
- $9.95 ground shipping, lower 48
- 30-day returns
- Secure checkout
- Specs from the maker
- Questions? 831-477-9600
Guides that help
Description
A real fuel gauge for your RV battery: Victron BMV-712 monitor with a display and Bluetooth, a busbar to gather every negative behind the shunt, and 2/0 lugs.
Bring your own battery: this kit is everything around it.
Add all parts to cart. Already own a part? Set it to 0 below.
What’s in the box
| Qty | Part | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Victron BMV-712 Smart battery monitor, black | Battery monitor with a round display for the helm or dash, plus Bluetooth. Same counting job as the SmartShunt. |
| 1 | Victron Busbar 250A 4-point with cover | Busbar, 250A, 4 points, with cover. Gathers every negative on the system side of the shunt. |
| 1 | Pacer Tinned lug 2/0 AWG, 3/8 in stud, 10-pack | Tinned copper lugs for 2/0 cable, 3/8 inch stud, 10 per pack. For the main cable ends where the stud is 3/8 inch. Check each stud before you crimp. |
Swaps on this page: Victron SmartShunt 500A/50mV Bluetooth. Set the part you don’t need to 0 and the swap to 1.
Not in the box
- The battery
- Cable from the battery negative to the shunt, and from the shunt to the busbar (keep both short)
- Lugs with a 5/16 inch hole for the busbar studs
Who it’s for
RV owners who want to know how full the battery really is instead of guessing from a voltage light. Works with lead-acid or lithium.
Good fit if: You want to know how full your RV battery really is, lead-acid or lithium, on a display and over Bluetooth.
Not the pick if: You don’t need a display: swap in the SmartShunt 500A on this page and read it on your phone.
How it goes together
You can do this. Here’s how.
- Turn everything off and disconnect the battery, negative first.
- Battery negative goes to BATTERY MINUS on the shunt. Nothing else goes there.
- Run one cable from SYSTEM MINUS on the shunt to the negative busbar. Every other negative lands on that busbar.
- Connect the shunt’s thin fused red wire to the battery positive. That’s how it reads voltage.
- Move every negative still on the battery post (converter, solar, inverter, chassis) to the busbar.
- Plug the display into the shunt with the cable in the box, reconnect the battery (positive first, negative last), and enter your battery size in the app.
Read next: SmartShunt vs BMV-712 vs BMV-700 · RV lead-acid to lithium: what has to change
Fit rules
- Only the battery negative goes on the battery side of the shunt. The converter, solar, inverter and chassis negatives all move to the busbar on the system side. Anything left on the battery post is not counted. (Victron SmartShunt / BMV manual)
- The shunt needs a thin fused wire from its Vbatt+ terminal to the battery positive. That’s how it reads voltage. The BMV-712 box has the 500A shunt, two fused red wires and a 10 m cable to the display. (Victron BMV manual)
- The shunt’s battery and system bolts are M10. Check the 3/8 inch lugs fit before you crimp. (Victron BMV manual)
- Victron busbar studs are 5/16 inch (8 mm), 250A max. The 2/0 lugs in the kit are 3/8 inch, for the battery and shunt ends.
Maker’s pages: Victron BMV-712 · Victron busbar
Questions
Why not just read the battery voltage?
Voltage tells you little while the battery is charging or under load, and with lithium it barely moves until the battery is nearly empty. A shunt monitor counts the actual amps.
Do I need the display?
No. Swap the BMV-712 for the SmartShunt on this page and read it on your phone instead.
My readings drift over a few days. Why?
Almost always a negative still bolted to the battery post. Move it to the busbar.
Each part ships from the maker’s distributor, so a kit can arrive in more than one box.
