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G3X Shunt and Vertical Power at Same Time

iamtheari

Well Known Member
I have a VP-X Pro talking to my G3X panel. I also wired an ammeter shunt between the alternator and the main power bus. The purpose of this is so the G3X can tell me how many amps are going through the VP-X and how many are coming off the alternator. The difference is the current flow to or from the battery.

At first, I wired the GEA 24's "shunt 1" pins for my ammeter shunt. In trying to configure the display, though, it seems that the VP-X current meter can only be selected as Main Bus on shunt 1 and Aux Bus on shunt 2. So today I moved the pins on the GEA 24 over to shunt 2.

Unfortunately, I can't get the configuration to work. I can select the VP-X as the shunt 1 data source and I can call shunt 2 my Alternator Amps. But each time I configure one of these, the other one is reset to blank.

Is there a configuration option I am overlooking or getting wrong to be able to display both the VP-X and shunt amps?
 
I experimented a bit today. With SHUNT 1 set to VP-X Main Bus amps, I can set SHUNT 2 to Bus 2 Amps, Essential Bus Amps, or Battery Amps, and it does not reset the SHUNT 1 setting. But if I set it to Alternator Amps, it does. Very weird and frustrating since that's the one accurate way to state what SHUNT 2 is measuring. Anyone have any ideas?
 
I found the same problem. Speaking with Garmin about it a few months ago, it seems for some reason they (the guys on the software side) wanted it this way. The guy I spoke to (very helpful) agreed that it doesn't make a lot of sense if you have it wired the way you describe, which is what I had originally intended. I just left mine Bus 1 amps and Bus 2 amps for now, hopefully there will be a software update that lets me call it Main Bus Amps and Alternator Amps down the road.

I only have an accessory mounted alternator so I really want to know at what RPM I start generating power, and how much of it as I'm asking a lot of that small alternator.
 
I found the same problem. Speaking with Garmin about it a few months ago, it seems for some reason they (the guys on the software side) wanted it this way. The guy I spoke to (very helpful) agreed that it doesn't make a lot of sense if you have it wired the way you describe, which is what I had originally intended. I just left mine Bus 1 amps and Bus 2 amps for now, hopefully there will be a software update that lets me call it Main Bus Amps and Alternator Amps down the road.

I only have an accessory mounted alternator so I really want to know at what RPM I start generating power, and how much of it as I'm asking a lot of that small alternator.
Thank you for that. I’m not just losing my mind, after all. As a former software guy, it bugs me to no end when software developers do something without any consideration for how the end user will use the thing. It’s a common problem. I wish they had at least documented this in the G3X manual. If it is an intended feature, it should be a documented feature. Anyhow, I can live with calling it something other than what it is, until the software guys change it so that the one option that is accurate in my installation does not cancel out other things from my installation. :)
 
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