Victron CL12-100 Smart BMS questions for sailboat

Q&A and troubleshooting
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1

Having read the manual and searched for the answers online, I pose the following questions in the hope that someone has the correct answers.

My setup is a marine system. Two 10Hp outboards with a maximum of 12A of charge current via stator. The starter battery is a small 16Ah FLA. I have a homemade LiFePo pack, 12V 70Ah, that powers my anchor windlass. The pack is managed by a Overkill Solar BMS. The windlass will draw 50A under maximum load.

I plan to use the CL to limit the charge current from the outboards, to prevent overloading the stators, and at the same time use the outboards as the charge source for the LiFePo pack for the windlass. The starter and windlass battery are independent from the house system and I would like to keep them separate.

  1. Does the CL work correctly if you are not using Victron smart batteries?
  2. If the charge current is limited by fuse to 12A does this also limit the load to 12A? Since the load is drawn downstream side of the fuse this would seem to be the case but it is not clear to me from the documentation.

TIA

2

Victron BMSs are for use with Victron batteries only; usage on other batteries is not supported.

There are a fair number of 3rd-party BMS systems that you can look at for homemade battery packs - I think Daly is a popular one, not sure of others.

3

I have a Overkill Solar BMS on the lifepo, so I’m not concerned about the bms function. I only need to know if the charging function will work if it’s not connected to a victron battery.

4

I would not expect it to, no, but as with anything non-supported, you’re welcome to give it a shot at your own risk!

Better would be to just install a DC-DC charger, that way you can limit the current as necessary as well as deliver the appropriate charge profile.

5

Thank.you Justin. I think you are probably correct. I have a limited charge current from my outboards, so a small Orion TR should do it.

But now I have a useless CL12/100. Shoulda read the fine print more carefully, I did not know Victron made some devices to only function with their batteries.

6

I got a confirmation from the dealer that the BMS CL 12-100 will only work with a properly connected Victron battery.