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Old 19-10-2019, 19:21   #1
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Victron VRM = Rasp Pi

Hi have recently tested out my Rasperberry Pi running Venus OS to send data to the Victron cloud portal so I can keep an eye on my 360Ah of Gel batteries/solar when I am away from the boat.

The Rpi3 is hooked up to a Victron BMV712 battery monitor and Victron Smart Solar 100/20.

What a match made in heaven. The information I get is so detailed and it only sends a trickle of data even though its updating every few minutes.

I was initally bit worried about what it would draw as I am powering the raspberry Pi as follows:

1. Rasp Pi 3 (about 3W)
2. Mikrotik MiniLTE AP (9W)
3. Victron Pheonix Inverter to power Rpi and Mikrotik.

Surprisingly this lot only seems to need 1.2-1.4Amps, which is pretty good.

I know what your about to say - use a DC-DC converter to save powering up the inverter and its more efficient. Well thats exactly my plan...

a. Instead of the router I am going to put a LTE/GPS hat on the Raspberry Pi from SixFab. This will save me powering up the Router at all (plus it has GPS).
b. I will one of these for the DC-DC conversion : CTP DC-DC

The residual questions are :

1. Has anyone tried to marinise a Rpi case using silicone?
1a. The other option is Sixfab waterproof case - anyone tried one?
2. Does the standard Rpi case take Rpi's that have hats on?
3. I haven't been able to get Temperature on my VRM portal. I have two Smart Battery Sense (Bluetooth) units that show temp on the Smart Solar but it doesn't come through to VRM portal.

Anyone else running VenusOS on Rpi?
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Old 19-10-2019, 22:26   #2
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Re: Victron VRM = Rasp Pi

PS: How much hard does going down to 98% SoC every night do to the life of my batteries?
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Old 21-10-2019, 23:56   #3
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Re: Victron VRM = Rasp Pi

Interesting, the Rpi4 draws 0.25A@12v - the Rpi3 draws a meager 0.11A@12v - very acceptable as an always on load with solar top up during day.
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Old 22-10-2019, 00:56   #4
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Re: Victron VRM = Rasp Pi

Have you tried the open plotter image? There are signalk apps for quite a lot of victron kit. The dashboard options might look different but it does mean you can easily record all boat data to a data base for creating nice graphs. Anyway, might be worth a play, it's free.
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Old 22-10-2019, 01:01   #5
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Re: Victron VRM = Rasp Pi

Yeah haven't quite got as far as signal K yet. Its on my to do list.

I need to totally waterproof this Pi
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Old 22-10-2019, 01:04   #6
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Re: Victron VRM = Rasp Pi

Quote:
Originally Posted by BigAl.NZ View Post
Yeah haven't quite got as far as signal K yet. Its on my to do list.

I need to totally waterproof this Pi
Signalk is just wonderful
There's an app to get at chip temperature, my pi3 doing lots seems to go between 60/70 C
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Old 22-10-2019, 09:18   #7
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Re: Victron VRM = Rasp Pi

Quote:
Originally Posted by BigAl.NZ View Post
PS: How much hard does going down to 98% SoC every night do to the life of my batteries?
Sorry, could you try rephrasing that?

My attempt

Is it hard on my GEL batteries drawing them down to 98%SoC (by 2% DoD) every night?

If that's the Q, then answer is no, they will last much longer than if cycled deeper.

Might be a good idea to get a full cycle (40-50% DoD) every once in a while.

Most important is to ensure getting back to 100% Full as often / long as possible. But without risking overcharging, especially on current rate and voltage specs, but also not holding too long past endAmps.
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Old 22-10-2019, 10:09   #8
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Re: Victron VRM = Rasp Pi

Quote:
Originally Posted by BigAl.NZ View Post
I need to totally waterproof this Pi
I am confused... isn't this mounted below deck?

If you have so much water below deck that you need to "waterproof" your computer, maybe you should should the effort on waterproofing your boat?

Rule #1: Keep the water OUT of the boat.
Rule #2: Keep the people IN the boat.
Rule #3: Don't hit anything.
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