Victron SmartShunt in 2023 Tab 320

Charlessyverson

I purchased a 300A SmartShunt for my Tab 320 to monitor the 100 amp lithium battery.  I am having a tough time finding what wire to use to connect the shunt to the negative terminal of the battery.  From what I’ve read, it should be of similar gauge to the other wiring.  The other wires are not labeled very well, so it is hard to tell.  Best I can determine is a 10-12 awg.  Does that sound about right?  Any other things I need to consider?  The wire currently in the Tab are listed as 600 or 1000 volt.  Any help would be greatly appreciated!,

Bayliss

@Charlessyverson, I would recommend using 10 gauge, which is what nuCamp has likely used for the negative wire connection on your trailer if you purchased it with a single 12V battery.

For reference only, I am including a wiring diagram for my system (in a 2019 T@B 320 S Boondock Lite), which includes a 100 Ah Battleborn LiFePo4 battery, which I upgraded to from the original lead acid battery.

In the diagram, the wire between the negative ("-") side of my lithium battery to the shunt, as well as the wire between the "Main 12V DC Neg(ative) Busbar" to the trailer's Junction Box (J-Box) negative ("-") terminal (#7 in the diagram) located on the front external frame of my trailer, are both 10 gauge.  (12 gauge would be too small, in my opinion.)

The first photo, below, depicts the 10 AWG wire that runs between the busbar and the J-Box.  When I added the shunt, I added a separate 10 AWG wire between that busbar and the "system side" of the negative grounds to connect all the 12V DC grounds to the shunt (as depicted in the diagram) for monitoring of battery power status/usage.

To help you orient the wiring diagram with how my electrical compartment is organized, the third photograph depicts that (located under the driver's side bench seat inside the trailer.)  And, if it helps, the third photograph is a closeup of the shunt connections.

UPDATE:  Just to add to the input provided by @ColMag (below, re a 2022 T@B 400), the information I provided above is based on what I have in my trailer, but your electrical components may be different.  If you have other devices, such as an inverter (which I do not have), that could/would impact the wire gauge size, but from the information you provided re your 2023 T@B 320 S, it "appeared" that you currently have 10 AWG ground wires.....I could be wrong in that assumption.

  

ColMag

Battery side of shunt to battery negative post should be 4 AWG minimum (or larger cable if you have an inverter larger than our 1200W inverter). When I added a shunt to our 2022 Tab400 I just used the existing original battery cable, then moved the original remaining wires that used to go to the battery, over to the system side of the shunt instead. 

ColMag

Or if you have NO inverter then I would think to use 8 AWG, same as what goes off to the WFCO panel from the DC supply, at least on ours.

ColMag

Sorry, of course just a little more complicated, at least on ours. The moved wires were originally not all on the negative battery post, but on the distribution post, which was connected to the negative battery post. I stopped using the negative distribution post, and just used the system side of the shunt instead.

ColMag

Sorry folks, my info was probably not relevant for a 320, which I blindingly did not notice, but only relevant to the 400, and maybe only to my 2022 year at that, for all I know! Good luck. 

Marceline

Charlessyverson said:

I purchased a 300A SmartShunt for my Tab 320 to monitor the 100 amp lithium battery.  I am having a tough time finding what wire to use to connect the shunt to the negative terminal of the battery.  From what I’ve read, it should be of similar gauge to the other wiring.  The other wires are not labeled very well, so it is hard to tell.  Best I can determine is a 10-12 awg.  Does that sound about right?  Any other things I need to consider?  The wire currently in the Tab are listed as 600 or 1000 volt.  Any help would be greatly appreciated!,

10AWG should be fine. That's what I used. I assume that you have the SmartShunt installation guide?

https://www.victronenergy.com/upload/documents/Quick-Install-Guide-SmartShunt-EN.pdf

Take the negative lines that are currently connected to the negative post of the battery and put them on the SmartShunt SYSTEM MINUS terminal and add a line between SmartShunt BATTERY MINUS terminal and the negative battery post. Then attach the power cable (skinny red cable in the SmartShunt package) between the positive battery terminal and the SmartShunt Vbatt+