For the nitpickers: all matter is magnetic, so of course aluminium and copper too. Aluminium is paramagnetic, copper is diamagnetic, and iron is ferromagnetic.
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“the market” is in general shifting to less reliable solutions, planned obsolense, etc. See automobile industry…
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There’s an online video from Victron in Australia going into new models and plans – one of them is the new Multiplus 48/20000 which does use aluminium windings for the transformer. And the reason is that this means they can make a bigger transformer (enormous going by the drawings…) which is both lighter and cheaper, and balance this off against a lower-loss MOSFET bridge to end up with a product which is lighter and cheaper and lower loss.
It didn’t say whether they’ve done the same with the 4k5 and 6k5, but it wouldn’t be surprising, for the same reasons. Nothing wrong with CCA windings done properly, it’s not a case of “cheap and nasty” so much as “cheaper and lighter” – in other words, a better end product.
I guess these transformers are custom-made by a specific supplier since almost everyone uses copper, maybe a supplier who also does aircraft transformers so is set up to do manufacturing with CCA?
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I have the following feeling, but it may be just me…
For some time the new things in the inverter/charger area were lagging…
These 4k5, 6k5 and 20k are just some quick “new” products.
Some bigger FETs and some bigger transformers and voila, new products, but technically nothing new.
As per features like minigrids, only different software on the same old/new hardware, like spoken on the video.
So, design-wise, minimal things, old things, probably to leave the impression that the ball is still moving.
In the HF area, like RS19 and HS19, next year will be on their third (3) year of, and I quote, “development and there are only a few test systems running”. Three (3) years nowadays, from technical evolution point of view, is an eternity.
Launch them, for God’s sake, on the market and fix things on the move, experimenting onto the users that are already used to this…
But, in Victron shoes, I somehow understand this, because of the size of the company and the way it works.
Design and test something inhouse, send the project to the Chinese, agree on the PCB manufacturing process, agree on the BOM and components availability and source them, design and source the transformer, design and source the box, synchronize all these diffent companies between them, make the final product and quality test it on a trustworthy company before shipping it to the world, etc…
It’s not so easy, I admit, I’ve saw the whole process in a much demanding and fault intolerant industry, the casino/gambling industry…
Launching more quickly and then experimenting on users is exactly what Victron said their customers told them they didn’t want, so it seems strange that you’re pushing for it… 
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That’s true for consumer goods where the technology is advancing rapidly and which are either thrown away or sold on/replaced after a few years, including cars.
It’s not true for installed equipment where field failures are much more expensive to fix and the lifetime is a lot longer, typically up to 10 years or so.
Speaking as someone who is actually involved in the design of networking infrastructure (which has similar requirements to power infrastructure), not a keyboard warrior who dislikes Victron…
The users may not want that, but considering the amount of feedback from this community and the quantity of “fix” word in the changelogs, one can say that exactly this is doing Victron. Close to 600 “fixes” on Venus OS changelog. Just open it and search for “fix” word…
As per Multi RS19… just design and reinstall a Multi RS hardware in a rack mount layout and voila. No experimenting needed.
I am anxious to see what marvels hides an RS19 besides what a Multi RS is doing, to justify 3 years of additional experimenting.
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It’s easy for an enthusiast or DIYer who doesn’t suffer the consequences of field failures or bugs to say “Come on Victron, get that new kit out there bugs and all, you can always sort them out later!”. It’s what many people want to happen with phones or computers or cars, woo woo new flashy shiny gear, brilliant innit!!!
But for installed equipment it’s not good business for either the installers – who are Victron’s biggest customers, not keen DIYers who might post on here! – or Victron themselves, because fixing gear that’s been installed (and may be remote…) is time-consuming and often very expensive, and lots of bugs found by end users who then complain to installers (and Victron, and on the internet…) is a good way to get a bad reputation.
There’s a very good reason that a lot of installers and companies prefer to use known well-tested gear – not just in this area! – that hasn’t just been launched onto the market in a hurry without proper testing – and if this is what Victron’s customers big are telling them (which is exactly what the video says), who are we to argue?
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I am that kind of DIYer, indeed, I admit.
But a DIYer that, after a field failure because of an inverter firmware bug, repaired the hardware, decrypted the firmware, reversed engineered it, fixed it, adapted some timings for the new upgraded components and now I’m enjoying the device.
And you know what’s the funny thing? The basic code was OK, the software engineers were not at fault, but a know fault on the optimization engine used by their compiler introduced the bug, for a certain rare and marginal conditions.
My fixed firmware is an old one (almost two years old), but guess what… the latest one carries the same ticking bomb.
Why they didn’t address noise issues? I just sold my three MP II 48/5000 for two reasons - i decided i want more power available and the noise they were generating under load. I’m now to decide whether to go 6k5 or 8000. Come on, this is the area Victron should focus on as well developing new model. K-series is same mistakes - fans fixed to the enclosure with no cushioning, no modulation (?), trafo buzzing like hell so the whole enclosure is resonating. With 3 units running like this it was hard to stay calm in the room next to my power-station-room. Is it really so hard to make it silent? I know magnetostriction and Lorentz forces are there and will be there but man has already visited the Moon over 56 years ago! I think the technology is already developed enough.
I, the Keyboard Warrior, will stay with my claim it was not the weight but to make it cheaper to produce (not necessarily sell) the main driver for change. If it was the other way round we’d see oh and ah Victron went copper:)
“That’s true for consumer goods where the technology is advancing rapidly and which are either thrown away or sold on/replaced after a few years, including cars.” - that’s not true. I’m in oil&gas industry, big facility. The quality of the new models of sensors, energy related apparatuses, Ex-barriers for field instruments signals (crazy), limit switches, valves of all kind, pumps is visibly decreasing over the years while purchase costs are sky rocketing resulting in big (i mean BIG) increase in operational costs. Really we can see the old stuff was more reliable. It looks like a “new technology “ is more focused to provide more and more income via selling spare parts. Just like planned obsolescence in home appliances, car industry. This is what we can see over the years of operation in surprisingly many areas. You may have different impression in your area of expertise - i respect it, no issues.
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I’m not an expert, but I don’t think aluminum core doesn’t do much for magnetics.Great mesolyft
Victron originally catered to the off-grid market, where it excels. The home battery/(D)ESS market has emerged only in recent years. While the Multiplus models are well-suited for this market, it’s important to remember that the original design was not intended to lower electricity bills. It was about providing power to people without a grid connection. In my region, having reliable power is much more crucial than achieving a 99.9% inverter efficiency for feed-in purposes.
As Victron is increasingly sold to homeowners for (D)ESS, it seems the original philosophy is forgotten. An identity crisis looms: Victron serves different types of customers. Should we continue to satisfy our original off-grid clientele, or shift focus to the larger and potentially more profitable homeowner market, which values Victron’s reliability?
I doubt that Victron would risk its reputation for reliability by incorporating unproven components into its inverters. In my experience, the Multiplus is a reliable off-grid inverter. Whether parts are made of aluminum or copper, I’m choosing Victron for its reliability and ecosystem. Trust takes years to build and seconds to break, and Victron understands this. Why be quick to complain before giving a product the opportunity to prove itself?
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We will see initial reliability in at least few months of use, and the long term in a couple of years. Everything else are only theories. I need a 3 phase system, and now I’m not sure whether to buy new ones or old ones.
They have the same warranty.
Isn’t that a little dramatic? Nothing wrong with aluminium wiring by the way, it’s all just a matter of engineering, including engineering for cost, performance, reliability, manufacturability, maintainability you name it. But not engineering for identity I’m pretty sure of 
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As an aerospace engineer I am completely comfortable with first time right engineering principles, no need to wait a couple of years before boarding a new airplane (with possible exception of anything boing boing 
)
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Does it has something to with the Mono-Phase Feed-In?
In Germany and Estonia is Mono-Phase Feed-In (230V) limited to 4,6kW.
The MPII-5000 just meets this limit. But since this year, there’s a new limit: above 4.2 kW, a remotely controllable smart meter is required so that the grid operator can throttle the PV output if there’s too much power on the grid. The new MPII-4k5 is just below this limit.