Newbie... Victron Set up Help Please.

[Mr Ralph]

Hello all,

Been browsing for a while and thought it about time to say hello.

We are a family based in Yorkshire Central uk. We like to get out cruising at least twice a month.

The difference here is our cruising is usually down a motorway to somewhere and not on water.

You may be puzzled......We actually have a motorhome and not a boat.

You may also wonder why i joined a sailing forum when i have a motorhome....

Well, the reason is i have installed a Victron Multiplus Compact 12-1600-70 in the van. The unit is in and up and running great but needs tweaking to suit my battery bank ect.

My van set-up is very similar to a boats, we have the wonderful webasto heating, 85w solar on the roof through a Steca controller. This keeps both my T105 Trojans in good condition while she is in storage. Then the Multi plus and remote control panel. One other bit of kit i wouldn't live without is the Nasa B-M1 battery monitor.

So as you can see apart from the fact she dosent float we both have similar setups


After searching the Internet for help setting up my Multiplus using Veconfig and the MK2 usb interface it seems the boating world use them alot more than the motorhomers.

So really i am looking for some help and guidance to set up this fine bit of kit.
The areas i am struggling with are the battery type and charging settings.
The battery bank consists of 2 6v Trojan T-105. We wont be on hookup much but do hope to use out Honda EU-10i for charging and power assist.

I really would appreciate any help and advice with the settings.
I also see in ve config you can open and set-up a fake target and then save to file. This may be an option for someone experienced .

Many Thanks.....Ralph

[Zanshin]

Hello Ralph,

I'm on my second Victron multi inverter/charger and I'm pretty happy with their product.

Your batteries (http://www.trojanbatteryre.com/PDF/d...ata_Sheets.pdf) are flood lead-acid batteries. You have the hooked up in series to make a 12V system, from the specs:
Absorption Charge: 2.35-2.45 per cell, assume then 6 x 2.35 = 14.1V or 6 x 2.45 = 14.7
Float Charge: 2.20 per cell, 6 x 2.20 = 13.2V

Which options does your VeConfigure give you for the battery type? The same as the 4 basic DIP-Switch settings on the device?

The maximum amperage that the 2 T105 Trojans can be charged with is roughly calculated from the C/20 values - in this case 225@12V and the manual say 10-13% of that, so 22Amps. (page 12 of http://www.trojanbattery.com/Tech-Su...nglish_003.pdf)

Do you have the battery temperature sensor for the system? If not, I'd be more conservative in amperage.

[Mr Ralph]

Hi Zanshin,

Thanks for coming back to me on this.

Yes i have the temperature sensor on the system.
As far as battery type options go in Ve configure the only options i can see usable are...

1. Flooded deep discharge flat plate lead antimony
2. Flooded tubular plate
3. Rolls battery

Most of the others are for Gell or Agm.

http://www.victronenergy.com/upload/...1%20-%20EN.pdf

As far as the Charge current goes i was hoping for a higher charge rate.
Do you think we i can go to say 30amps. The old charge system i had on before the Victron was around 30amps and i used this for a couple of years.

Thanks again.....Ralph

[Mr Ralph]

Hi Everyone,

Just thought i would bump up this thread.

I am still struggling with the battery selection in Ve Config

Even tried the uk Victron sales guy who advised me to contact my battery supplier .
Does anyone have an e mail address for Victron support please ???

Below is a list of the battery types to select in Ve configure.
And again my batteries are Trojan T-105 Flooded/wet lead-acid battery's.

1. Gel Mk Battery.
2. Gel Exide A400.
3. Gel/AGM, Victron Energy, Gel Exide A200.
4. Flooded deep discharge flat plate lead antimony.
5. Agm Victron deep discharge (fastest recharge), Tubular plate batteries (semi float use), AGM spiral cell
6. Flooded tubular plate
7. Rolls battery.

Thanks..... Ralph

[CharlieJ]

Ralph-
You can build a custom charging profile with VE Configure I don't have my Windows laptop available but I rarely use the default set ups.

[Mr Ralph]

Thanks Charlie,

This would make sense as i dont think any of the pre-set options suit my batteries.

Not to sure if i am capable of building my own.
I would be interested to know if anybody else has done this.

I will have a play about with Ve config as i do know the required charging voltages.

Thanks again.....Ralph

[Stray-Cat]

Originally Posted by Mr Ralph

I am still struggling with the battery selection in Ve Config



Below is a list of the battery types to select in Ve configure.
And again my batteries are Trojan T-105 Flooded/wet lead-acid battery's.

1. Gel Mk Battery.
2. Gel Exide A400.
3. Gel/AGM, Victron Energy, Gel Exide A200.
4. Flooded deep discharge flat plate lead antimony.
5. Agm Victron deep discharge (fastest recharge), Tubular plate batteries (semi float use), AGM spiral cell
6. Flooded tubular plate
7. Rolls battery.

Thanks..... Ralph

Your battery's are number 4 Flooded deep discharge flat plate lead antimony

[CharlieJ]

Your batteries are, in fact, close to the #4 preset. However, every single battery manufacturer has a slightly different charging profile and that is why I always build a custom profile for my clients.

BTW, you can play with VE Config without being attached to your inverter/charger. Simply load the dummy data file and have a go!

[Mr Ralph]

Thanks guys for your input.

I will have a play around with Ve and if i cant set up my own will use option 4

Cheers......Ralph

[btrayfors]

I have had a Victron MultiPlus 2500 for six years and I have six T-105 batteries in my house bank.

I've installed several Victron's in customer's boats, and programmed them using the VE configure software.

I suggest you set your Victron as follows:

1. Absorption voltage: 14.8
2. Float voltage: 13.8
3. Repeat absorption cycle: every other day for 30 minutes

The Victron, despite it's reputation for taking wide power sources, can be really finiky if you don't have clean sine-wave AC power. You might review and change the settings so that it will accept a wider range of current abberations.

The batteries will take whatever amperage they will take...the size of the charger is immaterial. You could hook a 200A charger up, and they'd still only take what they're going to take at a given state-of-charge.

Your limitation is not going to be the Victron, but the EU100i. That's only a 1,000 watt inverter/generator. Probably, you'll have to set the Victron remote so that it draws no more than enough needed to put about 35-40 amps into the batteries. You'll have to play with the settings. In any case, they won't take that much except for a very short time if they happen to be deeply discharged, after which they'll quickly drop back to a lower acceptance level.

Bill

[btrayfors]

One further thought:

In addition to the bulk, absorption, float, and equalizing levels, the MultiPlus has a storage level. This will automatically kick in if your batteries have been at the float level (13.8VDC in this case) for awhile without significant activity. It will then automatically drop to 13.2VDC....a level which in the new Victrons is not adjustable.

Bill

[Mr Ralph]

Originally Posted by btrayfors

I have had a Victron MultiPlus 2500 for six years and I have six T-105 batteries in my house bank.

I've installed several Victron's in customer's boats, and programmed them using the VE configure software.

I suggest you set your Victron as follows:

1. Absorption voltage: 14.8
2. Float voltage: 13.8
3. Repeat absorption cycle: every other day for 30 minutes

The Victron, despite it's reputation for taking wide power sources, can be really finiky if you don't have clean sine-wave AC power. You might review and change the settings so that it will accept a wider range of current abberations.

The batteries will take whatever amperage they will take...the size of the charger is immaterial. You could hook a 200A charger up, and they'd still only take what they're going to take at a given state-of-charge.

Your limitation is not going to be the Victron, but the EU100i. That's only a 1,000 watt inverter/generator. Probably, you'll have to set the Victron remote so that it draws no more than enough needed to put about 35-40 amps into the batteries. You'll have to play with the settings. In any case, they won't take that much except for a very short time if they happen to be deeply discharged, after which they'll quickly drop back to a lower acceptance level.

Bill

Thanks Bill,

Your right on the 1000w Honda Generator being my limitation.

It actually delivers 900w and 4 amps.

I will fine tune the Victron eventually.

Being a Motorhome we move around alot so this puts in anything up to 40a from the alternator.

Thanks again.....Ralph