Idea

Kevin Windrem suggested Oct 7, '23

Enhancements to solar/wind charging priority

To enable solar/wind charging priority you currently need to make changes to the VeBus configuration via VictronConnect or veconfig. You also need to set a battery VOLTAGE threshold for the feature. Currently, you can override solar/wind priority and force ONE full recharge using grid power, but after the recharge completes, the system returns to solar/wind priority.

I understand that this allows the functionality without a GX device. But I can see situations were you would want control over the functionality from the GX menus if a GX device is present.

I propose that the system be updated to allow the GX device to turn the charging priority on and off from it's menus and further to set a state of charge threshold for grid charging.

Venus OS

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Mike Dorsett commented Oct 8, '23

The concept of " one full charge" would appear to be a hangover from needing to fully charge lead acid batteries. With lithium batteries, this is not an issue, as there is no "memory" effect.

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Kevin Windrem commented · Oct 08, 2023 at 07:54 PM

Actually most lithiums still need a full charge occasionally so the cells can balance.

However my suggestion has nothing to do with this need. Rather there are times when solar/wind priority is not desired. For example when parking an RV where solar energy is insufficient. In this case it becomes necessary to enable the recharge with grid power repeatedly.

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lklmenterprises commented · Oct 24, 2023 at 07:34 AM

I think - don't confuse "1 Full Charge" with a 0%>100% calibration type charge, as though it lets it go flat first then charges. It just means the moment you press the button, it will switch to charging the Batteries from Shore power until they are Fully Charged, i.e. 100% - then it will go back to the Sustain/Float.

From what I have seen so far, if you have the Inverter ON or set to Charger Only - Shore power still actually Powers any AC requirements you have, but Charging goes back to coming in from Solar/Wind. for instance normally even at 98% in the below - I would see up to 1800W Shore usage for Inverter power and Charging at the same time.
Here you can see a few images:

the First is with Normal Sustain where AC loads are ON as Inverter is set to ON.
The Second is as I have changed Inverter to OFF.

you can then see PV is going through to Battery (although not enough for the DC loads...as it is Sunset at the moment.)
Next - AC has finally dropped off as the Charger is powered down.

One thing to note - You have to have the Inverter set to Charging or Inverter in order to Click the Charge 100% option

So with Sustain now running, Inverter ON, and pressing Charge to 100% we get the following.

This is definitely a feature I didn't know I wanted - but mainly because I typically configure the AC ignore and Assistants - which can be set to Only charge when the battery hits a certain level, and is very much the same functionality (slightly more configurable.) - but with one major difference - Assistants can only be configured from within VE Configure.

This is potentially a game changer - I would normally not plug the van in to charge for a week, as I like to avoid it being used Constantly off mains when Solar should suffice for at least half of the week, but without assistants configured, I can now basically keep the van plugged in most of the time it is parked, and just trigger a Full charge the night before travel, or calculate the hours before and make sure I hit the mark.

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