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Victron Blue Smart IP22 Charger 12V 30A Battery Compatibility with Renogy 50A 12V DC to DC In Vehicle Battery Charger W/ MPPT Solar Lithium

Hi

I am deciding to purchase

Victron Blue Smart IP22 SLA/LiFePO4 Charger 12V 30A


Victron Blue Smart IP22 Charger 12V 30A Battery Compatibility with Renogy 50A 12V DC to DC In Vehicle Battery Charger W/ MPPT Solar Lithium

https://au.renogy.com/renogy-50a-dc-dc-on-board-battery-charger-with-mppt/

in particular when I am on shore supply connected to 240V and the Victron charger is doing its thing overnight AND then the sun starts shining in the morning what happens ?

Ideally Id like to add the Renogy ~50A of solar charge to the Victron ~30A of 240v charge. Is this possible ?

How do you set which item has precedence ? Im assuming its internal settings on one of the devices to cutout near the max voltage of the batteries an allow the other device to finish off.

How do you stop them cycling or turning each other off as thresholds are reached ?

My preference would be for the Renogy Solar to have precedence with the Victron charger being an additional source. Ideally the Victron 30A helping the solar get the Lithium batteries (2x250AH) to near full charge then cutting off to let the solar take the last bit.

The reason being when I park up overnight I can have shore supply on for 10-18 hours BUT I don't intend to connect shore supply unless I have to. Thereby meaning I wont be using the Victron charger often. As such I wouldn't want to 'decrease' any of the Renogy Solar charger characteristics as the Solar and Alternator Driving are my main source of charge for 99% of occasions.

I also don't want to have to 'just switch XYZ or just turn off XYZ' when you connect shore supply as human intervention is the worst type of system (that's code for i will forget to do XYZ ! :) )


Is it possible to program custom modes into this Victron Charger:

mode 1 - I am parked up for 18 hours overnight undercover with no solar - 100% Charger

mode 2 - I am in sorta bad weather parked outside - split charger/solar


Any explanations welcomed !


Other random info:

Australia

240V

2x250AH Lithium batteries in parallel

Victron Blue Smart IP22 SLA/LiFePO4 Charger 12V 30A

Renogy 50A 12V DC to DC In Vehicle Battery Charger W/ MPPT Solar Lithium

700W solar panels



battery chargingmppt charging
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2 Answers
Nev avatar image
Nev answered ·

There is no need to over complicate it all. Many do.

In our motorhome:

A single 4 cell Sinopoly 300Ah LiFePO4 battery that both starts the truck and supplies all the house requirements.

Victron IP22 15/30A battery charger rarely used.

Victron 75/50 MPPT solar controller connected to 3x 270W 24V paralleled panels.

Truck 100A alternator feeding a Victron Argodiode Isolator 120-2AC added to lower the output voltage to a maximum of 14.1V. The alternator has survived the 70-85A charging currents for 7 years despite all the doom YouTube videos.

All monitored by a Victron 500A Smartshunt, BatterySense and BatteryProtect (12.1V - untriggered).

The alternator, solar controller and battery charger are all permanently paralleled.

My current śetup numbers for the battery and solar chargers. 14.1V maximum then "float" at 13.40V. Others will have their own settings.


The battery has survived for 7 years and counting of fulltime travelling without active cell balancing, visible bulging or releasing any smoke yet.



4 comments
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kris-bird avatar image kris-bird commented ·
Do you check cell voltages or ever manually balance? I’d be surprised to hear that someone would series 4 cells for 7 years of active use and not check for cell over-voltage etc
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Nev avatar image Nev commented ·

Originally top balanced 7 years ago. 3.65V has never been allowed to occur since. Yes I do occasionally check the cell voltages but they all remain within c0.01V at 14.4V battery voltage.

I have experimented manually balancing to within .001V but the tiny fraction of energy required is irrelevant. Less than a Wh or three.

I have an unused H02 active balancer here patiently waiting to be connected. It would achieve nothing apart from the psychological satisfaction that all cell voltages (not SOC) are identical.

My annual 30A battery discharge test last November revealed that the capacity has slowly declined from the original 314Ah to a disappointing 302Ah. Next months test will be interesting.

We must be doing something right.


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plipaus avatar image plipaus commented ·
I think its more a situation of i dont want to blow up this thing i just paid for rather then being overly complicated on purpose.


I have renogy, victron, cabac, off brand solar panels and many yumcha brand suppliers - all of whom will point to some fineprint BS spec on some documentation somewhere if I fry any of my components.

Also just buy it and see is not an option for me with some items costing $750 Aud. I need to get 5 years out of these components - not smoking up 2 x $750 batteries early on.


Also all the suppliers will just point at each other and blame the other guys brand if anything happens, meanwhile my van that contains all my worldly possessions is on fire.

SO I think caution is warranted whilst complication is not.


Thanks for your details specs though. You say they are in parrellel, so i am hearing you can (but dont) run the charger and the solar at the same time.

So do their charging currents add together ?

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Nev avatar image Nev plipaus commented ·

My usual battery charging mode is solar plus alternator while driving.

During our rare 230VAC hookups I have tested with the battery charger also in operation.

The solar and battery charger obviously reach "float" mode at different times but within a minute or two of each other.

The battery "floats" at c14.05V while driving with both solar and alternator charging.

Maximum current observed with all charging sources combined:

Solar 50A + alternator 90A + mains charger 30A = 170A

I have no commercial BMS involved as the battery also starts our 3.9l TD engine often several times daily. Finding a device capable of delivering the observed 740A peak current could be difficult.

No high voltage cut-off apart from the inbuilt Victron BatteryProtect 16V protection. No source here can exceed 14.2V. Low voltage cut-off is set via the BatteryProtect to 12.1V. Never triggered.





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plipaus avatar image
plipaus answered ·

So can you just run 2 chargers in parallel ?


240V victron 30A charger

renogy solar 50A mppt (also alternator but obv will not used when plugged in to shore power)

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