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the-doon avatar image
the-doon asked

Can’t get full charge current out of MultiPlus-II

Hi all, I have a 230V MultiPlus-II 12/3000/120 connected to 650Ah of lithium. I have the charger set to 120A but I can only get the charger to pump out 85A for some reason. I notice that at 85A charge current the input voltage is down to 219V. Could the reduced charge current be due to voltage drop measured at the input voltage?

Multiplus-II
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the-doon avatar image the-doon commented ·
Just to add to the details I have a smart dongle connected so I can switch the inverter on which in turn is sending battery temp and voltage to the multi.
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6 Answers
the-doon avatar image
the-doon answered ·

A big thank you to all that offered advise, I have found the problem and it was because I’m an idiot!!! I was trying to fix 2 issues as I had the reduced charge current but also an alarm on 1 of the BMS’s saying over voltage on 1 set of cells. I had 4 profiles saved with different absorption voltages that I was swapping between and for some reason (me being an idiot) I had inadvertently left the weak AC box checked in the 1 profile that I ended up using. Again thank you all for helping me.

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snoobler avatar image
snoobler answered ·

Per the datasheet:


https://www.victronenergy.com/upload/documents/Datasheet-MultiPlus-II-inverter-charger-EN.pdf


It can accept down to 187V; however, it might need to be configured to go that low. My 120V Quattro needs a special setting to allow input down to 101V.


I doubt that's your issue.


What is your battery voltage? If the charger is in absorption mode, it is voltage limited and will not run at max current.



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the-doon avatar image
the-doon answered ·

It’s right through the bulk stage. I ran the batteries right down to 20% so the bulk stage was going for at least 4 hours.

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snoobler avatar image
snoobler answered ·

Weak AC input enabled will reduce the output by about 20%. Is that enabled?


Are you using loads while charging? Charging can only be done with surplus AC.


Is your charger configured to charge at 120A


Is your AC input current limited?

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the-doon avatar image the-doon commented ·
Weak AC is off, no loads only charging. Charger set to 120A and AC input set to 15A.
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snoobler avatar image snoobler the-doon commented ·

Just to eliminate it as a possibility, you indicated "BULK" - is that you know you're in bulk because of the depth of the prior discharge, or you noted that the charger reported it was in BULK mode for 4 hours?


If you have wiring losses or connection issues, the voltage at the charger is at absorption when the battery is lower, and it's reduced the peak current to hold it. LFP charge curve is flat, so the current would taper much slower than it does with lead acid.


Worth checking voltage at the battery terminals and voltage at the MP terminals with a meter when moving the 85A.


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the-doon avatar image the-doon snoobler commented ·
The bulk was indicated both by the orange LED on the multi and by viewing the smart dongle via Bluetooth. Thanks for the suggestions, I’m going to do some testing today including unplugging the smart dongle just in case the temperature being sent to the multi has something to do with it.
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snoobler avatar image snoobler the-doon commented ·

That answers that.


Hopefully the temperature sender doesn't have any influence as temperature compensation should be disabled for LFP.


I don't know the exact relationship, but the internal temperature of the MP will affect it's performance. Hotter MP will throttle back on performance to protect itself.

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bbmz avatar image
bbmz answered ·

Can you share details on your battery - to be a bit more specific: especially the type and configuration of the BMS. Are you sure, that the charging rate isn‘t limited by the BMS?

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the-doon avatar image the-doon commented ·
It’s 2 batteries in parallel each made up of 8 x 163Ah CALB cells and a Daly 250A BMS. Both BMS’s are set to the same settings and charge current limit is set to 250A. If I connect the solar (30A) the BMS’s accept the extra 15A each so the BMS’s don’t look to be the limiting factor.
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nickdb avatar image nickdb ♦♦ the-doon commented ·
That's 326AH not 650.
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the-doon avatar image the-doon nickdb ♦♦ commented ·
It’s 652Ah as there’s 8 cells per battery (2 parallel x 4 series)
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nickdb avatar image nickdb ♦♦ the-doon commented ·
Your original post implied 8x 163ah in series (ie 163ah total) and 2 of these in parallel (ie 326ah).

Now you clarify it is 4 series pairs x 2.

Its much easier to help with less ambiguity.

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snoobler avatar image snoobler nickdb ♦♦ commented ·

@nickdb


I don't see you actually being helpful here:


Information:

  1. 12V system.
  2. 2 batteries EACH consisting of 8S 163Ah LFP.


There is NO ambiguity. 2P4S is the only option for 12V.


Rather than scolding the OP, an apology for your inability to interpret the information is more appropriate.


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nickdb avatar image nickdb ♦♦ snoobler commented ·
@snoobler apart from the 12/ on the victron model it was easy to miss, not being mentioned anywhere else. The phrasing was serious ambiguous, so when taking the time to read all the waffle it isn’t easy to help.

On the helpfulness scale, your last post is about the same. Good luck and crack on.

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snoobler avatar image snoobler nickdb ♦♦ commented ·
Maybe put more effort into it. You just had to read his original post and his reply to you. Just two posts - all the info you needed. No ambiguity. Still got it wrong, and you told the OP they did it wrong for your mistake.


Again, an apology rather than a scolding is warranted.

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snoobler avatar image snoobler commented ·
Most BMS do not "limit" current. They engage protection mode if the current limit is exceeded. This means current goes to 0A.
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Al avatar image
Al answered ·

@The Doon Although it does seem a bit low 120/85A = 70% of rated output, I think your 'low' input voltage may not help. It's already dropped to 219V with 85A so would probably drop much lower if it would get to full output. The rest maybe poor DC cables / connections.

I've noticed if I set our generator: @ 50Hz = 220v then I get 200/165A = 82.5%

@ 52.2Hz = 234v then I get 200/180A = 90%

I've just set it to 53.4Hz = 240v but I need to run the batteries down to see what I can put in before the sun shines tomorrow.

My Suspicion and hope is that the Quattro will have full output at 240v.

This is rough and unscientific averages I've seen at the start of bulk, my genset is massively oversize (57kVa) and 3 phase 380v so 220v @50Hz for each single phase output, but increasing the frequency (RPM) gets a higher voltage for gensets.

Are you able to test with a 'stiffer' input voltage, assuming the cables and connectors are good?

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