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birdsNboards · 05-06-2021, 10:32 AM

I picked up one of these inexpensive battery monitors off Amazon and it came with a 500A shunt. I'm pretty sure I ordered the 100a but that's no matter. Except for the fact that this 500a shunt has no considerations for mounting. There are no mounting holes or brackets or anything.

Has anyone gotten this particular, 500a shunt and found a good way to mount it? Does it generate any heat? If the heat is minimal I imagine I could use some double-sided mounting tape or glue. Otherwise, I'm going to put my furniture making skills to work and fashion a wooden holder to mount somewhere.

SteveJ. · 05-06-2021, 10:42 AM

I have the same shunt. Amazon has/had a holder for it made out of clear plastic. I didn't use it. I just snipped the neg cable, put new lugs on it, installed the shunt into a small Rubbermaid type plastic bowl with a cover and let the cables hold it in place on top of a battery. Holes were cut into the sides of the bowl to accommodate the cables.

If you will be drawing less than 100 amps(per your original order), heat will not be an issue at all.

Dutch Star Don · 05-06-2021, 05:25 PM

If you use a short cable, like 6" for the connection between the shunt and the negative side of the battery, the stiffness of the cable is enough to support the shunt.

153stars · 05-07-2021, 08:21 AM

You could rough up bottom epoxy to plastic or plexiglass or Drill some holes in plastic use zipstrips or rubber lined one hole tubing clamps on cables. Or get small plastic electrical enclosure / junction box notch out for cables and wires. If it gets warm drill some holes.

birdsNboards · 05-09-2021, 08:16 AM

Thanks for the good ideas folks. I think anyone of them would work great. The idea of a little plastic container did cross my mind, but the length of the data wire provided dictated a lot of where I had to mount it (inside the front pass-through). In one sense it did make it easier since I didn't have to worry about keeping it out of the elements.

I found a nice piece of ash (very hard wood) from a project I'm working on. I put a dab of super glue on the back of the bolts from the shunt and stuck them down to the board so I could trace around them. I used a drill bit to remove most of the material and then a couple of chisels to clean up the edges. Then I used some JB Weld to hold the bolts in the wood. I did put on the shunt and nuts while the epoxy dried to ensure the bolts were both vertical/alinged. Finally, I was able to just screw it down to a piece of 3/4 plywood that I had already installed to mount my Inverter. Now it's just a matter of getting the last of the wires all hooked up.

It really sounds like a crap-shoot when you order one of these monitors. Some come with a plastic mounting bracket but mine didn't, the size shunt that shows up is a surprise, and mine came without any directions. Kind of weird but I guess as long at it works as it should, for $40 you have to take it all in stride and hope you've got some DIY skills.

153stars · 05-09-2021, 12:28 PM

I didn't know the bolts went through you could of drilled and tapped the heads for screws. I have made a few hollow bolts to put a grease zerk on.

KRum · 05-17-2021, 04:31 PM

I have a 6” 2/0 black cable that is very taught and then put Velcro on the shunt and attached it to the battery...

bpu699 · 05-17-2021, 05:39 PM

I slipped a radiator hose over it with zip ties on either end. Works flawlessly.

birdsNboards · 05-18-2021, 09:50 AM

Well, there is no shortage of ideas for securing this shunt. By the sound of it I could have taken an easier route than I did, but oh well. Every good craftsman knows there are many ways to get a job done.