question

eagleview77 avatar image
eagleview77 asked

Is it reasonable to expect our Victron Controller to display accurate information on what our solar system is doing?

In October 2020 we had installed on our property a Solar system that includes a Victron 10kva invertor as the core of the system i.e.

  • 10kva Victron Invertor
  • 5kva Fronius Invertor (soon to be increased to 2 x 5kva Fronius invertors)
  • 9kw of PV collectors (shortly to be increased to 18kw of PV collectors)
  • 50kw PylonTech Batteries


To date, our installer has been unable to get the Victron Controller panel to display accurate data/information of what the system is doing i.e. system is apparently doing one thing whilst the display says the system is doing something different.


This has been very disconcerting as a user of the system.

The feedback from our installer is that it has been difficult to get information/support out of Victron Australia on the system.

Display/software issues occurring in our Victron controller:

  1. When the PV collectors are generating power, in the Victron controller there is no progression/power direction markers on display between the PV/Fronius indicator box (bottom right of the Victron controller screen) and the blue Victron10kva invertor indicator box (center of the Victron controller screen)
  2. When the PV collectors are generating power, the Victron controller displays the generated power as going to the grid and batteries, rather than just going the batteries
  3. The status of the batteries data in the Victron Controller ‘Pages’ screens does not match the status of the batteries data in the Victron Controller ‘Menu’ screens


Any assistance/insights would be much appreciated.

Q: Would this fall into the area of a malfunctioning controller and possibly a warranty issue with Victron Australia?

victron products
2 comments
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shaneyake avatar image shaneyake commented ·
Can you post some pictures of the display in those 3 cases?


It seems like PV inverter location has been misconfigured but pictures will help.

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nickdb avatar image nickdb ♦♦ commented ·
Sounds like an installer who doesn't know what he's doing, blaming support.
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3 Answers
ponzoa avatar image
ponzoa answered ·

Sounds like a set up issue to me. Is the Fronius set up in AC Coupling or Grid Parallel? Like Shaneyake mentioned, pictures of the different screens would help.

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knownot avatar image
knownot answered ·

@nickdb , um lack of support is a thing with victron, no? I had a tech question and the retailer sent me here. Im happy to be here and interact but victron support is a little light on, here at least.

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nickdb avatar image nickdb ♦♦ commented ·
This isn't a support channel. While frequented by their staff from time to time, it is a community and one that volunteers their time.

Retailers buy from distribution who are responsible for support and escalation.

Not fond of the model myself, but the distie is the place to start if you can't get help here.

There is a link here somewhere that shows how to find your distie.

I would give the retailer a kick if their idea of support is to just send you to a public forum.

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shaneyake avatar image shaneyake commented ·
I would find another retailer. Most distributors do a good job of providing support but some a terrible. They can contact Victron if they have a problem they can't solve.


The model has some down sides but does work well if distributors valve their customers.

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kevgermany avatar image
kevgermany answered ·

There is a find a dealer link in this page:

https://www.victronenergy.com/support

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christern avatar image christern commented ·
And do you think another installer, who has gotten no benefit from the initial purchase, would help? Doubt that unless there is a possibility of future business with the customer. But I may be wrong here.


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shaneyake avatar image shaneyake christern commented ·

If a customer comes to me, I would help them even if I didn't do the original install. Most Victron problems are quick to solve and the customer will most likely come to me next time to buy more stuff. If it is a very complicated problem I might charge an hourly fee.

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