I've been using one of these for 2.5 years now, and it has been faultless. Since I first installed it, I've also fitted the Victron BMV 700 and 702 to other installations. The Aili is very basic, but if all you want is battery percentage available voltage, or current flow, it's fine. Just remember that all of these shunt monitors require that you calibrate first simple matter of charging to 100% then setting that on the monitor, and EVERYTHING on the load or charging negative must be connected to load side of the shunt. Think of the battery side of the shunt as being bolted straight to the batteries negative post, electrically speaking.
I noticed in the specifications that the unit has a power consumption of 50uA to 12mA (sleep 50-60uA, standby .5-.6mA, working 10-12mA). Does the unit keep track of these losses in the displayed numbers? Also, all batteries have a self discharge rate (my LiFePo4 cells
@@ForbiddTV To be honest, I think it tracks them and adjusts. I say this because, after several years of operation, with the monitor left on for long periods with no charge input, the battery percentage available drops very slowly.Then, if charging using a Victron smart charger, the battery percentage indicated and the battery percentage as shown through the charger, align. That said, I would periodically re-caibrate to 100% indicated after fully charging every so often, just good practice.
At 1:49 you can see the battery negative post with at least 2 connections. There should only be one which is the one to the shunt. All other connections, including chargers, should be to the load side of the shunt. When no charging source is energised the shunt will be measuring purely load on the battery. When a charging source is on the shunt will be measuring the nett result of the charge current less the load current. If the load is higher than charge current there will still be a measured draw from the battery. If the charge current exceeds the load current the shunt should measure reverse current flow and show that the battery is in fact charging. Having the charger connected directly to the battery bypasses the shunt and the state of charge of the battery would therefore be unknown as it's not measured. I believe it's a wiring issue. Change the wiring and reset the controller.
Thanks for this.... So are you saying the charging should be : positive charger straight to battey positive and negative charger to OTHER side of negative shunt?
Correct, EVERYTHING, everything runs through the shunt negative, nothing connects to battery negative except the shunt, otherwise it will not read what is directly connected to the battery, that would be ignored and thus not in the calculation. Your display is working correctly and showing you correctly what power is running through it, but you are tricking it. Do not even ground the battery to a ground without going thru the shunt.
@@ajriding Would that include the BMS most negative connection? The instructions for my BMS says to attach the first monitoring wire directly to the main negative post and does not address a smart shunt or monitor.
You may have done this but you must set the monitors 100% value initially with a fully charged or set the 0% with tour batteries fully drained so it has some frame of reference. It is outlined in the instruction manual on how to do this
I had the same problem at first. My charger was connected directly to the negative of my battery. I’ve now attached it to the negative side of the shunt and it’s working fine. Shows arrow up symbol when charging. Hope that helps.
I just spent like 3 min frame by frame trying to see if something else was connected to the battery negative, looking at mine to see if he had the shunt backwards.. I do see something else connected on the neg side of the battery. Come here and yall got it sorted heh
did you input what your amp hours total of your battery bank is, so your monitor knows how full or low the batteries are. if its at a high number, but your true AH are much lower, it will probably show like its not full. you have to hold the button for a few seconds, then raise or lower the AH numbers.
I have a 36 volt 63 ah lithium battery hooked up to my Aili Battery Monitor. Voltage and Amps are set but the percentages and amp hours dont ever count down. They stay at 100% or 63 amps even when the battery runs completely out of power. I am pretty sure the simple install is correct. is there something I need to do to start the monitor? Or something else?
Hi Curt Sorry no electrical genius here but as Junk mentioned under this comment you need to set the percentage at a 100% value with a full battery by holding the % button in for a few seconds, are you seeing inputs and outs on your amp button ?? If everything is wired correctly you should see volts running in and out of these parameters and then make sure your battery is 100% and set that percentage hope this helps Cheers Mark
@@markdebsauzzietravels Thanks, I have a couple of things to check. I have set the meter correctly. But, I did not hook all of my negative cables to the negative on the shunt. I am hoping this is what I need to do.
@@curtquesnell Hi Curt had the same problem at first all wires apart from my solar were connected ( wondering why I couldn't see the input from it ) all negatives have to go to the shunt to be recognised by the meter Cheers
Did you fix your problem? I am thinking the negative of the battery charger needs go on the shunt. I just got one myself and installing on my boat tomorrow.
@@markdebsauzzietravels 🤭🤣🤔 . I suspected it would be a simple oversight 😉😁 . Other than that small problem ? . Are you happy with it?? . I am going to mount 2 in my overhead console? . One for front and one for back batterys 🤔 and I want to just glance up and see a clear read out ?? .
hello following this with great interest,i dont have a rv but do have a boat. if you could show updated video on how you fixed the problem would be great. thanks john
@@markdebsauzzietravels excellent. Hey if I wanted to install one in my van, do I need to connect every negative wire to the part on the shunt or can I install a busbar and have the one negative wire from the busbar to the shunt ? Thanks
Esta mal instalado ! Solo el shunt se conecta a la bateria, resto de conexiones a negativo de la bateria van al terminal libre del shunt. De este modo el contador de Ah puede incrementar o decrementar.
Actually Jay you are correct. How do you know what the AH capacity of the battery is unless you did a capacity check of the battery before entering the AH number into the meter? You don't. Batteries degrade as soon as you put them into service. The AH number everyone is entering into the meter needs to be updated at least annually. According to the Ali instructions, if you set the AH setting as high as it will go or at least higher than your battery is rated and then discharge your battery to 10.5v and set the % to 0 by holding down the V button your meter will calculate the actual AH rating of your battery when you charge it back to full. You then use that number to enter in to AH setting window. Otherwise you can easily be setting the AH value higher that it actually is and when your battery reads 50% discharge it could actually be lower. The meter is just a calculator that is only as good as the user input.
Morning denis What I found was that all you negitive wires need to go through the negitive buse bar, my problem was I had 2 negitives coming to the battery 1 from the front battery ( which was linked in parrel and the other from the solar DC to DC charger The first time I wired it up I only had the 2nd battery hooked up through the buse bar hence getting no reading from the solar, once I hooked the DC to DC charge through the buse bar all was good, So all the negitives going to the battery need to go through the buse bar and and the negitives going out need to go through the buse bar, so you have Battery, negitive cabel to buse bar, cabel to negitive post and everything runs from that post in and out and hopefully you will be good to go, hope this helps Cheers Mark
@@markdebsauzzietravels Thanks Mark I think I have wired up the same as you did I will put my DC to DC charger wires straight to the bus bar and give it a go thanks for your reply
well another issue i have is it flashes when it its discharging instead of when its charging. So i know i got somthing wired backwards. My thought is the shunt might be marked backwards. But i will keep you informed of what i figure out. Other then that i like the montior.. Im using on a small camper. A frame and hoping do some boondocking.
I've been using one of these for 2.5 years now, and it has been faultless. Since I first installed it, I've also fitted the Victron BMV 700 and 702 to other installations. The Aili is very basic, but if all you want is battery percentage available voltage, or current flow, it's fine. Just remember that all of these shunt monitors require that you calibrate first simple matter of charging to 100% then setting that on the monitor, and EVERYTHING on the load or charging negative must be connected to load side of the shunt. Think of the battery side of the shunt as being bolted straight to the batteries negative post, electrically speaking.
Me too, mine is still going great a real nice cheap bit of kit that works great
Cheers Mark
I noticed in the specifications that the unit has a power consumption of 50uA to 12mA (sleep 50-60uA, standby .5-.6mA, working 10-12mA). Does the unit keep track of these losses in the displayed numbers?
Also, all batteries have a self discharge rate (my LiFePo4 cells
@@ForbiddTV To be honest, I think it tracks them and adjusts. I say this because, after several years of operation, with the monitor left on for long periods with no charge input, the battery percentage available drops very slowly.Then, if charging using a Victron smart charger, the battery percentage indicated and the battery percentage as shown through the charger, align. That said, I would periodically re-caibrate to 100% indicated after fully charging every so often, just good practice.
At 1:49 you can see the battery negative post with at least 2 connections. There should only be one which is the one to the shunt. All other connections, including chargers, should be to the load side of the shunt. When no charging source is energised the shunt will be measuring purely load on the battery. When a charging source is on the shunt will be measuring the nett result of the charge current less the load current. If the load is higher than charge current there will still be a measured draw from the battery. If the charge current exceeds the load current the shunt should measure reverse current flow and show that the battery is in fact charging. Having the charger connected directly to the battery bypasses the shunt and the state of charge of the battery would therefore be unknown as it's not measured. I believe it's a wiring issue. Change the wiring and reset the controller.
I think that sounds right I’ll give it a go , as my charger is going directly to battery not the negative shunt
Thanks for this.... So are you saying the charging should be : positive charger straight to battey positive and negative charger to OTHER side of negative shunt?
@@bobbyfischer6786 ALL negative wires go via the shunt
Correct, EVERYTHING, everything runs through the shunt negative, nothing connects to battery negative except the shunt, otherwise it will not read what is directly connected to the battery, that would be ignored and thus not in the calculation. Your display is working correctly and showing you correctly what power is running through it, but you are tricking it. Do not even ground the battery to a ground without going thru the shunt.
@@ajriding Would that include the BMS most negative connection? The instructions for my BMS says to attach the first monitoring wire directly to the main negative post and does not address a smart shunt or monitor.
You may have done this but you must set the monitors 100% value initially with a fully charged or set the 0% with tour batteries fully drained so it has some frame of reference. It is outlined in the instruction manual on how to do this
So i found tbe issue with my monitor. Apparently the shunt is marked backwards. I reversed the wiring
did you set the AH of the Batterys in the settings first? i have the same one and thats how i fixed it
Yes mate I did and all is and has been running like a dream ever since
Cheers
I had the same problem at first. My charger was connected directly to the negative of my battery. I’ve now attached it to the negative side of the shunt and it’s working fine. Shows arrow up symbol when charging. Hope that helps.
Does the % show true ?
I have the same ,I’ll give it a go
@@denisvincent3249 it seems to be pretty accurate, yes. Tested it against another ammeter that I have.
I changed it around works great 👍
@@denisvincent3249 did you set the AH of the Batterys in the settings first? i have the same one and thats how i fixed it
I just spent like 3 min frame by frame trying to see if something else was connected to the battery negative, looking at mine to see if he had the shunt backwards.. I do see something else connected on the neg side of the battery. Come here and yall got it sorted heh
did you input what your amp hours total of your battery bank is, so your monitor knows how full or low the batteries are. if its at a high number, but your true AH are much lower, it will probably show like its not full. you have to hold the button for a few seconds, then raise or lower the AH numbers.
I have a 36 volt 63 ah lithium battery hooked up to my Aili Battery Monitor. Voltage and Amps are set but the percentages and amp hours dont ever count down. They stay at 100% or 63 amps even when the battery runs completely out of power. I am pretty sure the simple install is correct. is there something I need to do to start the monitor? Or something else?
Hi Curt
Sorry no electrical genius here but as Junk mentioned under this comment you need to set the percentage at a 100% value with a full battery by holding the % button in for a few seconds, are you seeing inputs and outs on your amp button ?? If everything is wired correctly you should see volts running in and out of these parameters and then make sure your battery is 100% and set that percentage
hope this helps
Cheers Mark
@@markdebsauzzietravels Thanks, I have a couple of things to check. I have set the meter correctly. But, I did not hook all of my negative cables to the negative on the shunt.
I am hoping this is what I need to do.
@@curtquesnell Hi Curt had the same problem at first all wires apart from my solar were connected ( wondering why I couldn't see the input from it ) all negatives have to go to the shunt to be recognised by the meter
Cheers
@@markdebsauzzietravels Thanks. I think that is it
@@curtquesnell Good luck :)
Did you fix your problem? I am thinking the negative of the battery charger needs go on the shunt. I just got one myself and installing on my boat tomorrow.
Hi have you installed it yet if so does it work properly,ie % rate
@@denisvincent3249 yes and it works great
@@maritimetees2315 Thanks for your reply
I have the problem. Did you find the solution?
OH OH 😬. I am just about to mount 2 of these ?? . Did you get this problem sorted ??. If so how and what was it ?? . Regards Peter .
Hi Peter Just make sure ALL EARTH'S are through the monitor
Cheers Mark
@@markdebsauzzietravels 🤭🤣🤔 . I suspected it would be a simple oversight 😉😁 . Other than that small problem ? . Are you happy with it?? . I am going to mount 2 in my overhead console? . One for front and one for back batterys 🤔 and I want to just glance up and see a clear read out ?? .
@@ThePopypete Yes mate very happy has all the info you need I'm just about to add one to my son's settup :)
12.67 volts indicates that you are not charging the battery. When charging, the voltage should be 13.3 or better.
hello following this with great interest,i dont have a rv but do have a boat.
if you could show updated video on how you fixed the problem would be great.
thanks
john
Hi John if you read through the comments I explain what I did to fix it cheers Mark
Hey Watho, how are you finding the unit? I have bought one off eBay for my van. Cheers
@@markdebsauzzietravels excellent. Hey if I wanted to install one in my van, do I need to connect every negative wire to the part on the shunt or can I install a busbar and have the one negative wire from the busbar to the shunt ? Thanks
@@markdebsauzzietravels and it all works properly still then
Hi mark, what was the issue in the end? Mine is showing discharging when I activate my charger??? Wondering if it needs to be flipped around?
Esta mal instalado ! Solo el shunt se conecta a la bateria, resto de conexiones a negativo de la bateria van al terminal libre del shunt. De este modo el contador de Ah puede incrementar o decrementar.
Dont you need to run battery to zero then zero the device?
Hi Jay
if your talking about the percentage you are better off charging the battery to full and then setting to 100%
Cheers Mark
@@markdebsauzzietravels i was repeating what i heard on another video.....im basically clueless about solar/electrity.
Actually Jay you are correct. How do you know what the AH capacity of the battery is unless you did a capacity check of the battery before entering the AH number into the meter? You don't. Batteries degrade as soon as you put them into service. The AH number everyone is entering into the meter needs to be updated at least annually. According to the Ali instructions, if you set the AH setting as high as it will go or at least higher than your battery is rated and then discharge your battery to 10.5v and set the % to 0 by holding down the V button your meter will calculate the actual AH rating of your battery when you charge it back to full. You then use that number to enter in to AH setting window. Otherwise you can easily be setting the AH value higher that it actually is and when your battery reads 50% discharge it could actually be lower. The meter is just a calculator that is only as good as the user input.
I got the same problem mate it’s driving me nuts , as I really want to know the % that’s why I brought it ,
Morning denis
What I found was that all you negitive wires need to go through the negitive buse bar, my problem was I had 2 negitives coming to the battery 1 from the front battery ( which was linked in parrel and the other from the solar DC to DC charger
The first time I wired it up I only had the 2nd battery hooked up through the buse bar hence getting no reading from the solar, once I hooked the DC to DC charge through the buse bar all was good, So all the negitives going to the battery need to go through the buse bar and and the negitives going out need to go through the buse bar, so you have Battery, negitive cabel to buse bar, cabel to negitive post and everything runs from that post in and out and hopefully you will be good to go, hope this helps
Cheers Mark
@@markdebsauzzietravels Thanks Mark I think I have wired up the same as you did I will put my DC to DC charger wires straight to the bus bar and give it a go thanks for your reply
I have ran into the same issue.
When the weather clears im going to see what i can do to remdy the problem. But i also. Got it to monitor the percentage
well another issue i have is it flashes when it its discharging instead of when its charging. So i know i got somthing wired backwards. My thought is the shunt might be marked backwards. But i will keep you informed of what i figure out. Other then that i like the montior.. Im using on a small camper. A frame and hoping do some boondocking.