Good video! I was actually half way through suggesting to get one of their smaller separate chargers for when you are mooch docking. Thankfully our Quattro's can go down to 13.5 amps so that totally works for us, I just set my input limiter and automagically turns a mooch docking situation into full-blown 50amp split phase service basically. Only took me over a year to figure it all out! Victron has some serious work they need to do with prioritizing Solar over Grid, it should just be right in the Cerbo GX an option to use the Shunt for battery SoC, along with the current limiter right there. I.E. Set 80% battery for the daytime, 50% battery for quiet hours beep-bop-boop DONE. Power assist is one of the main attractions to Victron and it would work perfectly like this. During the day, too much solar, battery is at 100% and they are in inverter mode, unless hit overload or overheat then start pulling some power from shore. I don't understand why it's that hard for Victron to figure that out, but it is WAY too complicated to get this stuff just right. There is multiple workarounds, the easy one for you IMO is using 2 wires from the Cerbo GX running to the inverter/charger and then "generator autostart' options to easily turn on and off the relay, which turn shore power in the Multiplus/Quattro based on multiple conditions, but that doesn't work for someone like me with an autostart genny setup.
My suggestion for 15A circuit is turn off 1 of the inverters and use Victron Connect APP + USB-C to VE BUS and configure for a single inverter. Limit the single inverter for 10A or less. When you need dual again, power on the second inverter and use the Victron Connect app + USB-C to VE BUS and configure for dual. I do the 15A for home hookup all the time with my dual Multiplus II 2x120, it only takes me a few mins for each way. Luckily we have a brand new Brinkley RV. Even though the RV has 3 ACs, they are very energy efficient so I can run 2 ACs off 1 Victron Inverter. 3 ACs off 2 Victron inverters. No soft-starts needed. So if we need 3 ACs we either go battery only and 2 inverters and no AC input or need a 30A input as you mentioned with a single inverter with 3ACs. Either way, we a little practice you can reprogram in minutes..
you need to set the inverters to ess mode victron dose not recommend this in rvs make sure you do not select sell back. the inverter will constantly pull 50w from grid but consume solar power first before grid. you then set a minimum battery soc whil plugged in but oince you hit that threshold it will not current limit from shore power. hope that helps.
@@my1little2pony I was clarifying for all the people who left comments that were saying it did things it doesn’t, pretty sure I specifically said that at least twice in the video too. Same with the input limits. That’s what the whole video was about, responding to those that were confused on both. Also pointing out the uselessness of it too, they should have made it more like ESS setup to be actually useful.
@@saltytripsI agree. I have many customers who plug thier rv's in and would like them to consumer solar energy before grid to sort of more justify the cost. But you have to be a bit more teck savy to use ess and be able to give your batters a full charge before departing.
Have you looked into setting up the system in ESS mode? seems that would be what you are wanting to do as far as using solar and battery first and grid to fill in the difference. From what i understand of sustain mode is its temporary that lasts 1 week and resets, its mainly for when you have your boat/rv stored for a period of time.
My impression of sustain mode was that limiting charging from shore power takes more advantage of solar charging. I do see an increase in solar contribution in sustain mode on my system. Right now my solar claims to be generating 96 watts while the smart shunt says the battery is getting 56 watts. The graphic shows a flow from the charger/battery circuit to the multi but the multi claims 800 watts from shore and 801 watts load so charger/battery contribution to load leaves some question. The 40 watts from the battery/charger circuit are likely consumed by 12VDC loads tied to that circuit. I saw the option to indicate a DC System but I'm not sure what device would be used to measure that load.
I ran into the same issue with the input limit and have 3ks as well. I added two Victron Energy Blue Smart IP22 24-Volt 16 amp and can confirm this works very well having been through a couple extended power outages now. Each pulls 460 watts off the generator and puts a little less into the system. Very surprised on what you found on sustain mode. In hindsight, it makes some sense functionally, but I think I'm with you. Can't see it as being of much use under normal circumstances. Maybe if you had a 12v AC or fridge pulling off the batteries this could reduce the shore power load/cost.
I’ll probably do the same and run two chargers in parallel. I’m still debating on one or two. May just get a generator that pushes 20amps. Still up in the air.
@@saltytrips I have a big generator as well. Much louder and goes through a lot more fuel. One was enough to extend the time some before I needed to bring out the big generator. Two allowed me to put some back in the batteries depending on what we were running. I'm always hooked to 50a shore power and have no solar. For me it's a little different as I'm only trying to cover power outages. In a mooch dock situation you could run a separate extension cord for the chargers if you have two outlets available on different circuits. Could help with recovering power used by power assist.
@@usmcrtr one 15 amp outlet should power both Smart Blue chargers, thats only about 900 watts. I started out pretty much just trying to cover outages too, just kept expanding 🤣
@@saltytrips I was thinking your RV shore power being plugged in with an adapter and a separate extension cord for the chargers going to a different outlet or small generator. This would let you pull the normal 15A plus have 900ish watts of additional charging.
Can (or could) you switch one of the multis to "inverter only" mode and then set the other to a 9.5 amp input? I see this "inverter only" setting in the app....but I only have a single multi.
Could you just rewire your inverters so you can just use one inverter while on a 15 amp shore power or use some kind of transfer switch? Sounds pretty complicated but you have a good understanding on how things work.
That would completely defeat the purpose of this setup. Not all that worried about it. Just clearing the air from all the previous comments and suggestions I received.
I have the Victron MPPT 100 30 with 2 solar panels, factory installed on my Cougar, with 2 LA (880 AH each) batteries. The system sucks with LA batteries and I want to go with 1 big 200 AH LI battery. Seems like I would get better performance and less weight?
@@davesauerzopf6980 One 100A LI would have about the same capacity, without damaging the batteries, that the two 88s combined have. The 200A LI will be a big step forward. The two Interstate SRM-27 88A I took out are 50lbs each. One of the 200A LI I uses weighs 48lbs. So, I effectively double my capacity and cut the weight in half.
@@usmcrtr Thank You. Do you still need the battery box or just remove it and strap the battery down? What brand battery did you go with as well? There are soooo many and the prices are crazy?
@@davesauerzopf6980 I'm using the same brand as Salty Trips (Li Time). I assume you mean the black plastic battery boxes they put the LA batteries in. LA batteries have to be vented to the outside, so these boxes help with that requirement. Removing this is a personal decision, but first and foremost a 200A LI is not going to fit. Second LI does not off gas like LA batteries. LI batteries are expensive, but they last a lot longer, require nearly no maintenance, lighter, and have a higher available capacity. You pay upfront and save over the long term. The one con to be aware of is they cannot be charged when the battery is at 32 or below. This will destroy them. You have the option of buying ones with low temperature protection that will prevent the battery from charging in freezing conditions or you ensure that never happens. Your breaker panel probably incorporates a converter to charge the batteries. You will want to check if has a setting for LI. I would dig through this channel as there is a wealth of information even if you are just swapping batteries. I wish it had existed when I did my install.
Simple answer No, in parallel setup you turn off one then neither works. but that would defeat the purpose of having two inverters incase of shore power loss anyway. Like i said I after going over many unconventional suggestions online I spoke with Victron representatives, they have no work around other than what I discussed.
I’m researching and designing our solar system for our new Rv next year. I’m looking at a 48v system from Victron comparing it to the EG4 3000 watt inverter. There are some cons to both units. I’m going to have a 30amp TT. Have you thought about going to 48v system. 3 EG4 LL 100ah (5.12KWh each) is $4200. That equals 1200ah in 12v system. Batteries are rack sized self contained on/off button, built in circuit breaker, built in fire safety feature and all the other LiFePo battery features. Cons are they are 100 lbs each. Pros on this system is ease of installation and cost. Smaller wire size (cost). Disclaimer you cannot touch positive and negative ground terminals it can lead to death. This is why I suggest a battery that has a on and off switch and built in circuit breaker. Always test battery with volt meter before handling. Also battery location is key. Ours will be under our bed storage, since we never utilized this space in our present Rv. I’m mowing researching light weight solar panels so I can offset the battery weight. Any suggestions? Thanks
@@Capt-John-T-Moore three 24v 200ah LiTime are $3900 (sometimes less on sale) and 20lbs less and almost half the size of the EG4. Size, weight and price savings made it a no brainer amzn.to/3yoptgH Definitely happy with our 24v system.
![DON'T WASTE YOUR SOLAR - Enable AC-OUT-2 based on BATTERY SOC [UPDATED 2024]](/img/n.gif)
Good video! I was actually half way through suggesting to get one of their smaller separate chargers for when you are mooch docking. Thankfully our Quattro's can go down to 13.5 amps so that totally works for us, I just set my input limiter and automagically turns a mooch docking situation into full-blown 50amp split phase service basically. Only took me over a year to figure it all out!
Victron has some serious work they need to do with prioritizing Solar over Grid, it should just be right in the Cerbo GX an option to use the Shunt for battery SoC, along with the current limiter right there. I.E. Set 80% battery for the daytime, 50% battery for quiet hours beep-bop-boop DONE. Power assist is one of the main attractions to Victron and it would work perfectly like this. During the day, too much solar, battery is at 100% and they are in inverter mode, unless hit overload or overheat then start pulling some power from shore. I don't understand why it's that hard for Victron to figure that out, but it is WAY too complicated to get this stuff just right.
There is multiple workarounds, the easy one for you IMO is using 2 wires from the Cerbo GX running to the inverter/charger and then "generator autostart' options to easily turn on and off the relay, which turn shore power in the Multiplus/Quattro based on multiple conditions, but that doesn't work for someone like me with an autostart genny setup.
My suggestion for 15A circuit is turn off 1 of the inverters and use Victron Connect APP + USB-C to VE BUS and configure for a single inverter. Limit the single inverter for 10A or less. When you need dual again, power on the second inverter and use the Victron Connect app + USB-C to VE BUS and configure for dual. I do the 15A for home hookup all the time with my dual Multiplus II 2x120, it only takes me a few mins for each way.
Luckily we have a brand new Brinkley RV. Even though the RV has 3 ACs, they are very energy efficient so I can run 2 ACs off 1 Victron Inverter. 3 ACs off 2 Victron inverters. No soft-starts needed. So if we need 3 ACs we either go battery only and 2 inverters and no AC input or need a 30A input as you mentioned with a single inverter with 3ACs.
Either way, we a little practice you can reprogram in minutes..
you need to set the inverters to ess mode victron dose not recommend this in rvs make sure you do not select sell back. the inverter will constantly pull 50w from grid but consume solar power first before grid. you then set a minimum battery soc whil plugged in but oince you hit that threshold it will not current limit from shore power. hope that helps.
I’m well aware, I mentioned this at the end of the video.
@@saltytrips my bad you seemed lost this entire video not understanding the solar priority setting for charging batteries.
@@my1little2pony I was clarifying for all the people who left comments that were saying it did things it doesn’t, pretty sure I specifically said that at least twice in the video too. Same with the input limits. That’s what the whole video was about, responding to those that were confused on both. Also pointing out the uselessness of it too, they should have made it more like ESS setup to be actually useful.
@@saltytripsI agree. I have many customers who plug thier rv's in and would like them to consumer solar energy before grid to sort of more justify the cost. But you have to be a bit more teck savy to use ess and be able to give your batters a full charge before departing.
@@my1little2pony i’ve seen several installers program ESS on an RV’s twice and had to reverse the programming because of unintentional side effects.
Have you looked into setting up the system in ESS mode? seems that would be what you are wanting to do as far as using solar and battery first and grid to fill in the difference. From what i understand of sustain mode is its temporary that lasts 1 week and resets, its mainly for when you have your boat/rv stored for a period of time.
My impression of sustain mode was that limiting charging from shore power takes more advantage of solar charging. I do see an increase in solar contribution in sustain mode on my system. Right now my solar claims to be generating 96 watts while the smart shunt says the battery is getting 56 watts. The graphic shows a flow from the charger/battery circuit to the multi but the multi claims 800 watts from shore and 801 watts load so charger/battery contribution to load leaves some question. The 40 watts from the battery/charger circuit are likely consumed by 12VDC loads tied to that circuit. I saw the option to indicate a DC System but I'm not sure what device would be used to measure that load.
I ran into the same issue with the input limit and have 3ks as well. I added two Victron Energy Blue Smart IP22 24-Volt 16 amp and can confirm this works very well having been through a couple extended power outages now. Each pulls 460 watts off the generator and puts a little less into the system. Very surprised on what you found on sustain mode. In hindsight, it makes some sense functionally, but I think I'm with you. Can't see it as being of much use under normal circumstances. Maybe if you had a 12v AC or fridge pulling off the batteries this could reduce the shore power load/cost.
I’ll probably do the same and run two chargers in parallel. I’m still debating on one or two. May just get a generator that pushes 20amps. Still up in the air.
@@saltytrips I have a big generator as well. Much louder and goes through a lot more fuel. One was enough to extend the time some before I needed to bring out the big generator. Two allowed me to put some back in the batteries depending on what we were running. I'm always hooked to 50a shore power and have no solar. For me it's a little different as I'm only trying to cover power outages. In a mooch dock situation you could run a separate extension cord for the chargers if you have two outlets available on different circuits. Could help with recovering power used by power assist.
@@usmcrtr one 15 amp outlet should power both Smart Blue chargers, thats only about 900 watts. I started out pretty much just trying to cover outages too, just kept expanding 🤣
@@saltytrips I was thinking your RV shore power being plugged in with an adapter and a separate extension cord for the chargers going to a different outlet or small generator. This would let you pull the normal 15A plus have 900ish watts of additional charging.
@@usmcrtr i would never have both plugged in at the same time, I would either do one or the other.
Can (or could) you switch one of the multis to "inverter only" mode and then set the other to a 9.5 amp input? I see this "inverter only" setting in the app....but I only have a single multi.
@@doughinkle2947 no, in parallel the second inverter mirrors everything the the master inverter does.
Could you just rewire your inverters so you can just use one inverter while on a 15 amp shore power or use some kind of transfer switch? Sounds pretty complicated but you have a good understanding on how things work.
That would completely defeat the purpose of this setup. Not all that worried about it. Just clearing the air from all the previous comments and suggestions I received.
I have the Victron MPPT 100 30 with 2 solar panels, factory installed on my Cougar, with 2 LA (880 AH each) batteries. The system sucks with LA batteries and I want to go with 1 big 200 AH LI battery. Seems like I would get better performance and less weight?
I highly doubt your lead acid batteries are 880 ah each, that would a 300lb battery each. Lithium is definitely the way to go.
@@saltytrips You are correct. 2 88's and going to 1 200 LI. Thanks for correcting me. Brain and fingers are short circuiting today.
@@davesauerzopf6980 One 100A LI would have about the same capacity, without damaging the batteries, that the two 88s combined have. The 200A LI will be a big step forward. The two Interstate SRM-27 88A I took out are 50lbs each. One of the 200A LI I uses weighs 48lbs. So, I effectively double my capacity and cut the weight in half.
@@usmcrtr Thank You. Do you still need the battery box or just remove it and strap the battery down? What brand battery did you go with as well? There are soooo many and the prices are crazy?
@@davesauerzopf6980 I'm using the same brand as Salty Trips (Li Time). I assume you mean the black plastic battery boxes they put the LA batteries in. LA batteries have to be vented to the outside, so these boxes help with that requirement. Removing this is a personal decision, but first and foremost a 200A LI is not going to fit. Second LI does not off gas like LA batteries. LI batteries are expensive, but they last a lot longer, require nearly no maintenance, lighter, and have a higher available capacity. You pay upfront and save over the long term. The one con to be aware of is they cannot be charged when the battery is at 32 or below. This will destroy them. You have the option of buying ones with low temperature protection that will prevent the battery from charging in freezing conditions or you ensure that never happens. Your breaker panel probably incorporates a converter to charge the batteries. You will want to check if has a setting for LI. I would dig through this channel as there is a wealth of information even if you are just swapping batteries. I wish it had existed when I did my install.
Did you speak with Victron directly or did you you speak with a Victron dealer/distributor?
I am not familiar with victron. Couldn’t you just turn one inverter off?
Simple answer No, in parallel setup you turn off one then neither works. but that would defeat the purpose of having two inverters incase of shore power loss anyway. Like i said I after going over many unconventional suggestions online I spoke with Victron representatives, they have no work around other than what I discussed.
I’m researching and designing our solar system for our new Rv next year. I’m looking at a 48v system from Victron comparing it to the EG4 3000 watt inverter. There are some cons to both units. I’m going to have a 30amp TT. Have you thought about going to 48v system. 3 EG4 LL 100ah (5.12KWh each) is $4200. That equals 1200ah in 12v system. Batteries are rack sized self contained on/off button, built in circuit breaker, built in fire safety feature and all the other LiFePo battery features. Cons are they are 100 lbs each. Pros on this system is ease of installation and cost. Smaller wire size (cost). Disclaimer you cannot touch positive and negative ground terminals it can lead to death. This is why I suggest a battery that has a on and off switch and built in circuit breaker. Always test battery with volt meter before handling. Also battery location is key. Ours will be under our bed storage, since we never utilized this space in our present Rv. I’m mowing researching light weight solar panels so I can offset the battery weight. Any suggestions? Thanks
@@Capt-John-T-Moore three 24v 200ah LiTime are $3900 (sometimes less on sale) and 20lbs less and almost half the size of the EG4. Size, weight and price savings made it a no brainer amzn.to/3yoptgH
Definitely happy with our 24v system.