Replacing my Magnum inverter with Victron to work with my Cerbo GX

DIY
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1

I have a Magnum inverter at my off-grid property, 240V, with each leg running 120V to my house. Nothing in the house is 240V. I will never have anything 240V. I purchased a Victron Inverter, one recommended by NAZ and find now that it only produces one 120V leg. It is a Victron MultiPlus-II

Inverter & charger 5000 Watts, 24 Volts DC, 120Volts AC, 95 Amp, PMP242505110. I can’t believe they did not recommend 2 X 120V OR a 240V inverter, they know what system I have, and I told them as well. I guess some of my fault for not researching it better.

I do not want to tie both legs together in the house and run them with the one 120V output. This does not seem to be a good idea, maybe I am wrong? I have verified all of the neutrals and I do not see an issue with shared neutrals.

I am mainly going from the Magnum to the Victron because I have a Victron Charge controller and a Cerbo GX to monitor the system and I would like to see the inverter on it as well. My plan was to leave the Magnum as installed as a backup system.

I suppose I could just buy a second Magnum, easy enough to replace if the original broke down. But, I would like to monitor the inverter on Victron Connect.

I guess I could also buy a second Inverter like the one I have and run two of them at 120V for each line.

I do not find a Victron 4 or 5000 watt, 240V inverter unless I am missing it? Is there a different brand that would communicate with the Cerbo GX?

I see a 230V Quattro but I do not believe that is what I want either?

Running EVERYTHING in the house at one time, I measure 29 amps on one leg and 19 in the other. I can balance that better. No big loads, gas dryer, gas stove, evaporative cooling, small freezer, new refrigerator, new washer and dryer. All LED lighting.

Thank you for any input.

2

Pretty sure Victron doesn’t has a single unit 240/120V split phase inverter. The 2x120 is a 240V 50A grid pass-thru, but inverts at 120V (2.4kW) with L1 & L2 tied together. A 240V inverter makes 240V, but you say none of your loads are 240V.

Looks like the MP inverter you have is 5000VA, which is rated for 4,000 Watts (at 25C). Your loads add up to about 5.8kW. You could tie both legs together (verify your neutral wiring can handle the current) and run 30ish amps from your current MP device. If that’s not sufficient you can get another identical unit and run it as split phase. I have no experience with that setup, others can weight in on the complexity & nuances of that configuration. The Cerbo would communicate only with Victron inverters, VRM is excellent for monitoring a system.

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Thank you for the reply. I am wanting to keep all of the cabling and wiring to a minimum, but i guess one more Multi-Plus is not that much more. Curious as to why Victron does not make a single 240/120 split phase inverter. My Magnum has worked so well for 8 years and still does, just wanting to monitor the inverter over Victron connect.

4

I don’t know whats involved in designing a split phase system vs. adding another MP in parallel. Do your homework first.

I’m not certain why, but it appears they tend toward modularity.