Way to disable AC charging

Q&A and troubleshooting
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1

I am using a MultiPlus-II 48/5000/70-50 in ESS mode.

Attached are

  • via DC: 2 x SmartSolar Charger MPPT
  • via AC-OUT: AC PV Inverter
  • two 48V batteries
  • A raspberry Pi running VenusOS large

Is there any way to charge the battery using DC only?

I have tried the following using Node-Red:
-1- Set “ESS max charge power (W)” to zero. Setting this disables charging not only via AC but also prevents charging via DC.
-2- Set mode to MP2 mode “1: Inverter only”. Unfortunately this disconnects AC-IN. Thus the AC PV Inverter can not be used any more except on AC-OUT.

Is there any way to disable the charger via AC on the multiplus without disconnecting AC-IN?

2

On the inverter itself disable the internal charger

3

How can I disable the internal charger of the multiplus?

4

In victron connect or ve config.

Setting 1.

6

Thanks.

Thought that I had tried this. As far as I remember this switch does not have an effect in ESS mode.

7

It does.

If the internal charger is not enabled you cannot charge from grid or AC PV. This setting has nothing to do with ESS.

There is a node in node red for the ac charger, but i have not personally played with it yet. So i am not sure if it works or not.

8

I have testet the follwing using node-red:

-1- In node-red, there is is the possibility to “disable charger” (ESS-control, Multiplus II, “disable charger”).
-2- In VE.BUS System/Multiplus there is a “disable charge flag”…

Both disables the charger. But unfortunately this also disables charging via Victron MPPT (DC).

I will try what happens if I disable the charger in VE-Config.

9

I have now disabled the internal charger in VEConfigure 3:

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Unfortunately the charger still charges via AC. As I remember this switch does not have any effect when using ESS mode.

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Any way to disable the internal MP2 charger so that I only charge vie MPPT (DC) and not using AC?
And yes, I am using the actual firmware of the MP2: v552

10

Looks like chatgpt knows more about this than we do.

The first option seems to work

Steps to Disable the Internal Charger on a MultiPlus

  1. Connect to the MultiPlus
  • Use a computer or mobile device with the VictronConnect app or VE.Configure software.
  • Connect via Bluetooth, USB, or VE.Bus to the MultiPlus.
  1. Access Charger Settings
  • Open the device configuration and navigate to the “Charger” settings.
  1. Disable AC Charging
  • In the “Charger” section, set the “Charge Current” to 0A.
  • This effectively disables the MultiPlus from charging the batteries using AC input.
  1. Verify AC Input Behavior
  • The MultiPlus will still use AC input to power loads (bypass mode) if connected to the grid or a generator, but it will not charge the batteries.

So, the trick ist not to disable the internal charger. The trick ist to set “Charge Current” to “0”.

Alternative options that chatgps suggests did not work.

11

Find this odd. All i have ever had to do is disable the internal charger.

12

Are you on-grid or off-grid?
Is the PV Inverter support enabled in the ESS Assistant or the is the PV-Inverter assistant installed?
(Is the feed-in of AC PV enabled in the GX ESS settings?)

On-grid it shouldn’t use AC PV to charge the battery.

Off-grid the AC PV energy has to go some where.
With the PV-inverter support enabled it would increase the frequency to throttle down the PV inverter.
Not sure how it will react without the PV-inverter support, I guess it will not increase the frequency and uses AC PV for charging but it will shut down at some point to protect the battery from overcharging.

13

It is an on Grid system. ESS ist configured.

PV inverter is enabled in the ESS assistant.

14

This didn’t work for me. An external inverter connected to AC-IN charges the battery via AC even when the internal charger is not enabled, I wanted to stop this.

Maybe you connected your inverter to AC-OUT? In this case, the internal charger is not used on ESS.

15

This is how you describe your set up.

And yes ac pv on the output, with ESS assistant, grid connected.

16

My problem is an additional PV inverter on AC-IN.

If you connect it this way (which is needed in my configuration) disabling the internal charger on VEConfigure does not have any effect. Only setting “Charge Current” to 0 does the trick.

Whatever it is. The solution by setting “Charge Current” to 0 works.

17

Logically that makes no sense though is what i am saying.
PV on the AC in is the same as grid on the ac in.

Definitely the issue needs to be tested by replication.
Disabled charger menas the charge current is zero according to the manual.

18

So it is not this as a cause.

I played with the settings. And can replicate the over ride.

If you set ESS to keep batteries charged it will use the internal charger even when it is disabled in settings. (Not set to zero amps)

But using optimised with battery life even set at 100% it does not charge the battery.
Then looking at all the systems I had previously just disabled the internal charger on and realised none of them use keep batteries charged, which is why it was never noticed before.

So thank you @herzigwi. Appreciate the contribution. I have learned something new.

1 Like
19

Thanks. I now know how to disable the charger.

Any way to enable the charger again without using VEConfigure?

20

This is my Node Red Flow:

[
    {
        "id": "879cb0e7a6fb8010",
        "type": "victron-output-ess",
        "z": "a537a42d19040213",
        "service": "com.victronenergy.vebus/288",
        "path": "/Hub4/DisableCharge",
        "serviceObj": {
            "service": "com.victronenergy.vebus/288",
            "name": "MultiPlus-II 48/5000/70-50"
        },
        "pathObj": {
            "path": "/Hub4/DisableCharge",
            "type": "enum",
            "name": "Disable charge",
            "enum": {
                "0": "No",
                "1": "Yes"
            },
            "writable": true
        },
        "initial": "",
        "name": "",
        "onlyChanges": false,
        "x": 1170,
        "y": 560,
        "wires": []
    },
    {
        "id": "88c2a3940210ca7e",
        "type": "victron-output-ess",
        "z": "a537a42d19040213",
        "service": "com.victronenergy.settings",
        "path": "/Settings/CGwacs/AcPowerSetPoint",
        "serviceObj": {
            "service": "com.victronenergy.settings",
            "name": "Venus settings"
        },
        "pathObj": {
            "path": "/Settings/CGwacs/AcPowerSetPoint",
            "type": "integer",
            "name": "Grid set-point (W)",
            "writable": true
        },
        "name": "",
        "onlyChanges": false,
        "x": 1140,
        "y": 660,
        "wires": []
    },
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        "type": "mqtt in",
        "z": "a537a42d19040213",
        "name": "",
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        "datatype": "auto-detect",
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        "id": "acda69fccbe6da32",
        "type": "switch",
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        "property": "payload",
        "propertyType": "msg",
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                "tot": "num"
            }
        ],
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    },
    {
        "id": "0d9f7488c19aa6c8",
        "type": "comment",
        "z": "a537a42d19040213",
        "name": "Battery Low, switch to grid but hold off charge until 11.30 pm",
        "info": "This is an emergency backstop, just in case the battery is empty but SOC is incorrect i.e too high.",
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        "y": 580,
        "wires": []
    },
    {
        "id": "29140ea396afdc39",
        "type": "mqtt-broker",
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        "broker": "192.168.68.108",
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        "clientid": "",
        "autoConnect": true,
        "usetls": false,
        "protocolVersion": "4",
        "keepalive": "60",
        "cleansession": true,
        "autoUnsubscribe": true,
        "birthTopic": "",
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    }
]
21

Thanks. I think I tested this before, but of course I will test it tomorrow again. As far as I remember this will also disable MPPT charging via DC. I only want to disable AC charging. Means I only want to disable the internal multiplus charger.

How ist your configuration?