Victron Charger/Inverter

[nicknorman]

?.on five 105ah sealed cells..

EEEK! Just noticed this. I'm not sure you should ever equalise sealed batteries, otherwise they will lose water and die prematurely. If you do, do it infrequently and not for long. Does the battery manufacturer have anything to say about it?

Edited April 18, 2014 by nicknorman

[pearley]

[quote name="nicknorman" post="1281960" timestamp="1396889959"

The Victron implementation is slightly different because if I understand correctly, the big dial not only reduces the max incoming shore power but also decreases the charging current even if the shore limit is not being reached. With MV, these are two separate functions. So I can see that the Victron might be easier to use for the technologically challenged.

Well that is, until the smoke falls out of it.

 

That's not how I understand it. I am under the impression that the control alters the point where 'Power Assist' kicks in. The only alteration in charge current being that mains output always has priority. ie, as the amount of mains current nears the limit you have dialled on the remote, it uses the remaining bit to charge the batteries until you exceed that limit when you are then drawing current from the batteries.

 

I have two settings for mine that I set via VEbus. A Shoreline one that utilises 'battery safe' with a lower charge current and a 'Cruising' setting. The problem with 'Battery Safe' is that it will switch to float before the batteries are fully charged.

 

Edited to add that as gas-free we charge via the generator when cruising so set the charge limiter to 28 amps.

Edited April 18, 2014 by pearley

[nicknorman]

That's not how I understand it. I am under the impression that the control alters the point where 'Power Assist' kicks in. The only alteration in charge current being that mains output always has priority. ie, as the amount of mains current nears the limit you have dialled on the remote, it uses the remaining bit to charge the batteries until you exceed that limit when you are then drawing current from the batteries.

 

Well that was how I presumed it worked, and looking at the 3kw phoenix multiplus manual that is how it works, but some time ago a forumite persuaded me that the dial also controlled the max charge current, scaled over its full range (so that charge current comes off max as soon as the dial is taken away from max). So the moral is either to never believe what someone else tells you, or perhaps that amongst Victron's large range of models, there is one like that. Anyway, that is one brownie point removed from Victron making Mastervolt the clear winner!

[ditchcrawler]

I am not sure that Victron is the industrial standard it is a very good unit

 

But a significant number of builders always use Mastervolt

 

 

Keith

We used Victrons on some of the gas platforms I worked on. They ran 24/7 for years powering the computer that kept the rest going

[nb Innisfree]

Well that was how I presumed it worked, and looking at the 3kw phoenix multiplus manual that is how it works, but some time ago a forumite persuaded me that the dial also controlled the max charge current, scaled over its full range (so that charge current comes off max as soon as the dial is taken away from max). So the moral is either to never believe what someone else tells you, or perhaps that amongst Victron's large range of models, there is one like that. Anyway, that is one brownie point removed from Victron making Mastervolt the clear winner!

That was me and yes that's how our 24/3000/70 Multiplus works. Set dip switches to give, say, 40 amps max charge and dial will cover zero to 40 amps throughout it's complete sweep, incoming power permitting.

 

Believe that or not, I could be bullshitting but that's not my problem.

Edited April 18, 2014 by nb Innisfree

[nicknorman]

That was me and yes that's how our 24/3000/70 Multiplus works. Set dip switches to give, say, 40 amps max charge and dial will cover zero to 40 amps throughout it's complete sweep, incoming power permitting.

 

Believe that or not, I could be bullshitting but that's not my problem.

Well tbh I don't really care since I don't have one - and if I did I'd know how it works. I'll have to leave you Victron owners to argue amongst yourselves!

[PeterDHS]

I have a Pheonix and it is totally reliable and trouble-free on the basis of switching on/off and not getting technical.

If anyone is writing to Victron can I add a plea for their Instruction Manual to be issued in English ?

[George94]

Otherwise, my impression is that MV kit is better than Victron. You just have to do a search of the forum to see how many folk are having issues with their Victrons vs MVs

 

You'd have to know the ratio of MV installations compared to Victron to be able to make a judgement. If, as I suspect, there are more Victrons than MVs, it would be reasonable to expect more problems. It could be that there are many more Victron installations, and that actually MV has a higher proportion of faults relative to the user base than the Victron.

Edited April 22, 2014 by George94

[nicknorman]

You'd have to know the ratio of MV installations compared to Victron to be able to make a judegement. If, as I suspect, there are more Victrons than MVs, it would be reasonable to expect more problems. It could be that there are many more Victron installations, and that actually MV has a higher proportion of faults relative to the user base than the Victron.

Yes that it of course true. But I did say it was my impression, not a fact. And it still remains my impression!

[George94]

Yes that it of course true. But I did say it was my impression, not a fact. And it still remains my impression!

 

Yes, indeed. Point taken.

 

I have Victrons, and can testify that their manuals are not the easiest to understand.

 

BTW, Shoreline AGM (sealed) batteries can be equalised. I am about to do mine, when I have worked out how!