All Posts in Questions & Answers

What are you guys using to charge a new 48volt battery? As it doesn’t look like I will have enough money to buy all the batteries I want in one. So I’m after a what solution that you use and to see if I can build it on my wall as a perm fixture so I’m not hunting in I need it or a battery goes wonky I could just disconnect and charge direct.

I am looking to see whether is it possible to use a dual pole breaker between the MPPT output and Battery.

I am asking this question as I read that there were some issues with using dual pole isolators for inverters (Multiplus II) in parallel. Even though this issue seems to have been fixed in newer revisions of the inverter, I just want to make sure that these issues or other problems are not caused on the MPPT by using a dual pole breaker.

MPPT i am looking at: SmartSolar MPPT RS 450/100-Tr.

Hello - I am struggling to find someone who will fit a Victron ESS (Quattro 8 KVA 48V) with 16kWh of BYD batteries. Plenty of PV suppliers willing to charge me £5K plus for the installation (plus another 12k for the kit itself). Anyone know an installer/electrician who can do this in Surrey for a reasonable fee? I am inclined to split the supply of the inverter/charger from the PV as it feels like I am being quoted a fat margin on top of subcontractor fee

Hi,

I'd like to install a Smartshunt in my VW T4 California. But there is already a shunt used to display the voltage on the central unit (and maybe also the graphical capacity availability, I don't really know).

So is it possible to add the Smartshunt without breaking or burning anything ?

Thanks !

I have a 2021 Mercedes Sprinter van that I installed a victron system in, complete with 2 Victron batteries, multi plus inverter, lynx distributor and the BMS 12/200. I cannot get the alternator to charge the system. I know power is coming from the alternator, I have checked the wire. I attached all the included wires, but was also confused at what a “remote on/off” was. The alternator comes into the BMS, the middle Li-Ion Minus goes to negative on the battery and the system exits into the positive bus bar of the Lynx distributor. I have the remote on/off (I think) wires hooked into the ”remote” and they go to the positive lug of the battery. Any suggestions or changes I could try?

I have a Multi II 48/10KVA 230V with a Fronius Primo (AC Coupled) and MPPTs connect to Pylontech US3000C batteries x 10.

The residencial area has a lot of solar and occasionally, the voltage on the grid gets to 253 which is the discconect limit on the Spain grid code so correct functionality. That is, at 253V, it disconnects from the grid.

The problem is this generally occurs when the batteries are fully charged and exporting excess power. Disconnecting causes the excess power to go to the batteries which are already fully charged and causing a battery overvoltage alarm.

It appears that the problem is caused because of the time it takes to ramp down the Fronius Primo and the 2 x MPPTs.

My feeling is that this is going to become an issue in many areas as solar grows and the grid is forced to up their voltages due to feed in.

I am thinking of changing grid code to one which accepts a higher overvoltage setting (UK for example) but wanted to know if anyone else has solved such issues and how it is solved. Suggestions welcome.

I have a setup with a Multiplus 12/1600/70 and a Smart Solar 100/30 MPPT which I am planning to convert to lithium using Smart Lithium batteries and a Smart BMS 12/200. My question is about the System+ port on the Smart BMS. The documentation is unclear about how use the System port, and where charge sources should be connected. The manual shows the following two setups, which would seem to contradict each other. Which is correct? If I connect the charge sources to the System+ port, do I need to connect the load disconnect to the charge sources, or will the System+ port handle the load disconnect?

In the appendix, the manual says:

"If These MultiPlus models are not connected directly to the System+ port, they can also be controlled from the Load Disconnect and Charge Disconnect outputs by using the Smart BMS CL 12/100 to MultiPlus cable"

It is unclear in the manual which setup one should choose or what the benefits and drawbacks of each are. It is also unclear whether I can connect other charge sources such as the MPPT to the System+ port with no load disconnect. This is important as my MPPT does not have a remote disconnect port, and the VE.Direct port is already connected to a Cerbo GX.

Manual: https://www.victronenergy.com/media/pg/Smart_BMS_12-200/en/system-examples---smart-bms.html

Example 1 - Multiplus connected to System+ port, no remote disconnect:

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Example 2 - Multiplus connected to batteries w/remote load disconnect

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Hey everyone,

I recently acquired a Phoenix Combi (for a good deal) 12V / 1600W / 75A inverter and charger for my boat . After going through the user manual, I noticed that the manufacturer recommends using a 300-600Ah battery with this unit. However, I believe that a 300Ah battery would be overkill for my intended usage.

I plan to use the inverter for basic power needs on my boat, such as running some lights, charging small electronics, and possibly a small refrigerator. A 200Ah battery seems more suitable for my requirements and would also be a more cost-effective option for me.

My question is, would using a 200Ah battery instead of the recommended 300-600Ah battery cause any issues with the inverter's performance or potential battery damage? (overcharging) I want to ensure that I have a reliable power setup without overspending on an unnecessarily large battery.

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Has anyone had experience using a lower capacity battery with a similar inverter/charger setup? Any advice, insights, or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you in advance for your help!

Can I mount the smart shunt between the JK BMS and the battery cells or is it better after the JK BMS?

If i wire the smart shunt between BMS and cells, In the event of a BMS shut down the smart shunt will still be providing cell voltage info to the Victron MPPT charger. Will this raise the voltage on the bus to dangerous levels if the bus is disconnected from the cells by the BMS? Will. The MPPT be damaged?

Not sure if it was caused by the last update from the Cerbo GX (version 3.00), however my PV system is not shown anymore on the screen.

I've done several reboots of the system, but till now no luck.

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VRM is showing this:

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Anyone here who might know what is wrong?

Issue is related to ModbusTCP connection from CerboGX to SolarEdge. I have used SolarEdge ModbusTCP over LAN, in my local management system integration, to read various PM data from SolarEdge. Now I have got Victron MultiPlus with CerboGX and its "/opt/victronenergy/dbus-fronius/dbus-fronius" is constantly connected to my two SolarEdges inverters through modbus sunspec as well. It works perfectly well. Problem is SolarEdge allows only one concurrent connection through modbus-tcp. I have reconfigured my local management system to read data from what Victron dbus and mosquito broker (mqtt) can output on pvinverters topic of 20 and 21, what corresponds to both SolarEdge inverters. Unfortunately Victron reads only basic inverter modbus data without meters import/export power and energy. According to SolarEdge meters data are bit further from 40000 modbus address: 1st meter: 40000 + 121, 2nd meter: 40000+295, 3rd meter: 40000+496 Were you able somehow to force Victron cerbo to read SolarEdge meter data as well through modbus? Any help/hint would be very much appreciated. BR, Mariusz

Hello, all and thanks for all the helpful information I've gleaned thus far from this forum.

Context would be sailboat where previously 200W solar MPPT controlled to 12V AGM house bank entirely isolated from 12V AGM engine start battery which was charged exclusively by the alternator. Then we had three weeks of cloudy weather on our last trip.

So now have an Orion TR12/12-30 to allow the alternator to charge both the start (with priority there) and then also the house.

What remains (forgive my ignorance here) is a basic electrical engineering question: while my house panel loads are connected to and regulated by the MPPT load output (less than 15 amps altogether) there are higher amperage loads (inverter, fridge, and then bilge pumps that I never want cut out by MPPT) directly connected to the house bank by a separate fuse box. With the Orion charging output maxing at 40 amps to the house bank, what keeps all that current from frying the loads downstream? All are fused appropriately, just want to learn something here--does the battery itself act as an effective buffer to absorb that current? Is the bilge pump going to be fine because it's going to draw only what it needs in terms of amperage and as long as the voltage is regulated appropriately nothing gets fried?

Appreciate the help and again, please forgive my ongoing learning process here.

Hi,

I intend to replace my burned original charger in my VW T4 California (Westfalia 1994) with a Victron IP67.
On the Westfalia charger, there is a secondary ouput line (around 12v) that feed the electronic unit of the vehicle to display the plug symbol.
I wonder if I can use the optionnal Si output of the Victron to feed the unit... I think it's ok for the voltage, but what about the current intensity ? I would like to avoid burning the central unit...

If someone knows, thank you in advance !

I would like to double check the configuration settings for a pair of Skylla IP65 chargers. Scrolling through the LCD, on multiple units, is painful and error prone. Is there any method of retrieving the settings programmatically?

The units are connected to a CCGX. I checked the MODBUS registers, but to not see them there.

Thanks,

Allan.

My Multiplus is running offgrid and is used to load a e-car. The inverter is switched on and off via VRM. To automatically stop the inverter I use the programmable relais K1 (<20% SOC -> Off) and connect the output to the security Assistent at AUX1, This runs fine.

But.

To connect a Grid-Meter i bought a passive USB Hub. I plugged off my solar inverter 2 from USB and plugged in the HUB. There was a „click“ and the GX device was off. This happens in state OFF of the Multiplus.

I thought Uihh... and other thoughts… broken? Defect?

I remembered the warning about a deadlock with the GX device.

1. Plugged of the GX internal from the VE Bus. Nothing changed

2. Temporarily connected the Multiplus with the grid. Nothing changed

3. Opened the Remote On/Off on the Multiplus terminals. The display of the GX device was on for a second.

4. Short cut AUX1 to enable Inverter via AUX1. That was it.

My Multiplus is running again. Puhh

Some technical background would be fine. And maybe a warning in the manual of the Multiplus GX,

I opened the Multiplus for step 1, and surprise there is a additional VE Direct port (required for internal MPPT in Easy Solar devices). Is this port usable? If yes I do not need the USB Hub

Be carefully with USB Hubs.

Harald