Hi - I am a newbie working with a more electronic-savvy friend on tweaking my Victron setup. He’s wondering why my Honda 2200i generator is taking so long to charge my lithium batteries. I have two 100ah batteries, and as a for instance, yesterday I hooked up my Honda for 1 hr 32 mins via shore power and got 23.1 Ah, with the IP22 set to li-ion and 15V. The Honda is rigged up to run on propane.
Any ideas/things I should check? Again - I am new to this, I’m learning, please be gentle
Also - is there a simple way in the Victron apps to determine the average Ah I’m using in a day? And a way to download data so that I don’t have to keep taking screenshots every time I need to evaluate something later, when I’m not near the equipment and can’t connect to the SmartShunt/Solar controller?
So you are using a 2200W generator to charge your batteries at 220W, i.e. only 10% of the generators capacity. You should be able to charge at 100A if your charger is large enough and still not be running you generator flat out. You should consider increasing the allowable charge current if the charger is rated for more than 15A or consider buying additional charging capacity.
I do not know about downloading data from the items direct to the Victron Connect app. I only know about installing a GX device to upload data to VRM, Victrons cloud service.
So - what should I set the Victron ip22 app at for charging from this generator? Note that a Honda 2200i has a 15A outlet, so I’m using an adaptor to get the shore power plug from the 30A to fit.
Your generator will have a 15A socket at the mains ac voltage but your battery is at a much lower voltage so it can run a much higher amps for the same power. You do not need to limit your charger to 15A per the generator mains outlet. Are you on 230V ouput.
The IP22 name is the model range name, they have various output ratings at 12V you can get 15A, 20A or 30A models. As all of these are below your generator output you can set the charger to maximum.
The IP22 chargers are really for use when your boat is on shore power 24 hours a day so have a long time to recharge and a low amperage is OK. However, if your are off grid then you want to run your generator for as short a time as possible so consider a 60A or higher charger.
If you need more help, let us know what mains voltage you are using and what battery voltage. Also look on the charger front and see what Amp rating it says.
Bear with me here. I’m struggling to understand. The Honda 2200i specs say:
The Honda EU2200i generator has a maximum AC output of18.3 amps at 120 volts and 2200 watts.It has a rated output of 15 amps at 120 volts and 1800 watts.
It has a 15a plug on it.
My shore power plug is a 30a
The batteries are li-ion standard 100ah (two of them)
Here is a photo of the IP22. Let me know if you need more info.
You are confusing ac current capability of the generator output with the dc output current capability of the charger. Your charger has the ability to charge your battery at 30 Amps of 12v dc power. It uses ac power to do this. If you are wanting to accelerate the charging of your batteries, you need to add more chargers or find a bigger charging option. It is one of the reasons why it is nice to pair the lithium batteries with an inverter/charger.
Elizabeth, the other posters have explained the confusion you have between Amps at 120V ac and at 12V DC. There is no need to restrict your charger to 15A, set it to the full 30A to halve the recharge time. This will use around 450W of power (allowing for inefficiency of the charger), 25% of your generators rated 1800W capacity.
In the longer term you could buy a second charger to increase your charging capacity and reduce the generator running time. A Honda 2200 will support 100A of charging which will use 1500W, still below the rated 1800W and charge a 100Ah lithium battery from empty to full in 1 hour.
Thank you for the explanations. So you’re saying if I wanted to speed up charging, I’d get a second, identical charger to add to the setup? If so how would I loop that in?
Without knowing the details of your system I can not answer specifics. Generically, the AC in will connect to the ac supply through a suitable breaker and the DC out will connect to the DC busbars through a suitable fuse. I would suggest consulting an electrician experienced in mobile/ marine installations.
I’m attaching a schematic which shows my current setup. It includes:
SmartShunt 500A/50mV IP65
BlueSolar MPPT 100/30
Blue Smart IP22 Charger 12/30 120V with one output
If I were to add a second, identical IP22 to cut my charging times via the Honda in half - are you able to advise on where it would be wired in here? I would like to set this up for a trip and right now the soonest I can get an appointment with a tech is in December (yes, it is that backed up).
