How to Program a Solar Charge Controller in a DIY Camper Electrical System
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 มี.ค. 2021
- This video will teach you how to program a Victron SmartSolar Charge Controller to work with a Battle Born Lithium Battery Bank. If you aren't using Battle Born Batteries in your setup, that's fine too... I have provided some tips for getting the recommended battery charging specs from the manufacturer of the batteries that you have chosen to use and I have an email template ready to go for you on the blog post here: www.explorist.life/how-to-pro...
➤Need additional & personalized help? Consider joining my private group: www.community.explorist.life
Here are some additional resources that you may find helpful with planning and installing your DIY Camper:
➤DIY Camper Solar Wiring Diagrams: www.explorist.life/solarwirin...
➤How to Perform a Power Audit: • How Much Solar Power D...
➤Basic Parts & Components of an Electrical System: • Basic Solar Parts Need...
➤How to Cut Wire: www.explorist.life/how-to-cut...
➤How to Strip Wire: • How to Strip Wire from...
➤How to Crimp Wire: • How To Crimp Wire Lugs...
➤How to Make MC4 Connectors: • How To Make MC4 Connec...
➤How to Wire Solar Panels in Series-Parallel: • How to Wire Solar Pane...
➤How to Crimp Wire Ferrules: • How to Crimp Ferrules ...
➤How to Wire an AC/DC Breaker/Fuse Box: www.explorist.life/how-to-wir... - ยานยนต์และพาหนะ
Thank you ! For your very educational videos. Solar can be very expensive buying the wrong components. Being able to build our system in the correct order without wasting $$ has been great. Great job
Very concise and efficient tutorial. Electrical can be very daunting so thanks for these videos. I will be installing my solar charger in a month and this definitely raises my confidence.
Thanks Nate! Good job- easy to follow. The day I needed to configure my controller, I had good help from a phone call with BattleBorn as they actually walked me thru the set up while I sat in the back of my van and familiarized myself with the app. But I prefer watching your video and double checking everything. Cheers!
If only victron’ s videos/manuals were this good
The are if you had the brains to understand them
@@MrPlasma01 ‘They’, champ.
Thanks so much for this timely video. Installing two Victron 150/100 charge controllers in in my 1998 Motorhome which should be arriving soon from BBB.
Thanks so much for linking that email for us to use, I got all the information from my battery manufacturer that I needed to set the battery up properly, they appreciated the list very much, made it easy to answer all the list items
Your tutorials are excellent and easy to follow. Please broaden your keywords to include cruising sailboats/sailing, using Victron products and solar panels.
You're a super solar badass. Nice to know the best way to get the most out of my system. You rock!
Another fantastic video Nate. You are SO thorough! Best video series on solar on YT by far. Well done!!
awesome video EXPLORIST life - DIY Campers. I broke that thumbs up on your video. Keep up the excellent work.
Thank you Nate, great having modern technology but getting the right information can wear ya down. Electricity and electronics is more about remembering than understanding for me, that’s why god made ‘save and replay’… more I watch the more it sinks in..
Top video Nate
Fantastic video! Thank you for your efforts and quality.
love it. now, programing the shunt next:)
Nate, I really appreciate you sharing your knowledge. Fantastic series on solar!
FYI viewers, watching commercials helps the channel. Please don’t skip them.
Awesome! Glad it helped. Thanks for watching!
I am Sri Lankan and I watched your videos.
Another great video Nate. Just what I needed, again. Thanks.
Glad it was helpful. Cheers!
Super helpful tutorial. Thanks!
Congrats on reaching 100K subscribers!
Awesome video ! Thank you for your efforts and quality .
Glad it was helpful. Cheers!
Tx Man. Very helpful. Will proceed with caution... gotta go and read my battery charge parameters.
Glad it was helpful. Cheers!
Ideal instructional video. Just what I needed. I'm hoping to program the optimal values for nine 12v, 100ah AGM batteries in parallel, with a Victron 250/100cc. Thank you.
Hi I have a similar set up just less batteries did u ever figured the settings ? Myself I'm having doubts if I have the right absorption time
Nate: very well done, thank you. Subscribed. A question: if I have an AGM that only has bulk and float figures published, what do you do with the absorption screen in the MPPT controller setup? Cheers, KL
Question please.... Do I run the +/- wires from the charge controller directly to the fuse panel or di I run the +/- wires from charge controller to the batteries then back to fuse panel?. Fuse panel is 3 feet away from batteries and CC.
Thanks!
needed this right now, just got a 2nd BB battery to add to my 1st, for a total of 200aH, need to hook it in
Thanks for the knowledge, my guy.
hi i have a question about the streetlight function. i have a battery in the back of my van , and i also wanna charge my anker powerhouse 757 with solar but it has as problem with day and night so i wanna try to connect my anker powerhouse to the victron mppt 75/10 so i can charge my anker powerhouse ! i can charge with max " 300 watt solar 11/30V 10amp " , the question is how much watts will the LOAD connection output ? with 10amp ( i m a beginner with solar setup ) i just needed something to fix my problem , thank you for your time , mark
I new if I looked long enough I would find someone who could explain in detail how to setup the controller. Thank You
Hey Dennis F Kendall, No problem! Glad it helped! :)
Hi Nate, I'm loving your Basics series and feel like I've paid to take an online course, given the quality and knowledge you've put into it - so thanks very much! I just had a question around mixing components to create my system.
I am looking to use a Renogy 60A Rover Li MPPT charge controller, along with their 100Ah LiFePo Bluetooth battery (willl add a second in the future), and I wondered, is it possible to still use the VE Lynx Distributor between these components? I understand they won't communicate with each other, but will I still be able to get readings from the Lynx separate to the other Renogy components?
Thanks in advance!
Best of luck on 100,000 Subscribers! 👍👍😊
Oh! Sure enough. :) Coming up quickly. 😊😊😊 Thanks for being subscribed over the years. 😊
@@EXPLORISTlife 👍😎
Thanks for all your videos, they are great. I have two different victron charge controllers a 150/70 and 100/30 when I put them on a network the total watt output shows lower that on each of the controller. Do the controllers need to be the same ? Thanks Bill
So, on those other things you could control settings...could you have the solar controller run something like a DIY Battery Heater from the Load instead of using a separate Temperature Control Module?
Thank you, an excellent and informative video.
Martin
Hey Martin, Thanks so much! Cheers!
Excellent information! I’ve tried to find this info any place and it’s tough. Even though battle born filled it out for me, there’s a lot I didn’t understand, not to mention that even the two charge controllers they sent out to me differed on some of the information? Especially on absorption time, one said 2 hours and one said 3. I didn’t even understand about the battery capacity size either.
I have eight Battle Born Batteries in series parallel at 24 V, so I’m imagining that would be two hours of absorption? And capacity would be 400?
What about configuring the BMS712 ? i.e. Setting the 100% value - etc - so the "Fuel Gauge" is accurate?
Agree. This would be great.
Excellent information nate. I installed my Battleborn 100ah lithium in my camper system 2 1/2 years ago with my Morningstar PS-30 PWM non'-metered version charge controller. At the time I spoke to Battleborn they gave me charge parameters of 14.4 Absorption for 60 minutes and 13.6 for Float. Do you see and issues with that profile? It is a pain to reprogram the non-metered PS-30, but I will if my parameters affect my performance or battery life significantly. Thanks!
Hi Nate, love your stuff. My wife and I live off grid in our Toyota Coaster in NZ. I recently replaced the initial solar stuff I bought, when I realised how bad it was compared to VE kit! So now have MPPT 100/50, Smartshunt, Battery Sense & IP65 Charger. The MPPT wH generated/day is great. I'm wishing though, that I could generate/calculate/plot our wH consumed per day. Understanding that some wH are supplied direct from solar, and not batteries, this is not straight forward. Even tracking daily wh consumed from the batteries would be interesting enough. Especially on weeks like we have now, where the cloud inversion blocks 90% solar for weeks at a time! Any thoughts on this? Ta much
Awesome guide. Can you do a video on how to program the Victron DC-to-DC Charger? Specifically, what is the difference between 'Charger' and 'Power Supply' options.
Your videos are so effing helpful!!!
Glad you like them!
Hey nate
These videos are very helpful, but can you explain what the VE direct port pin on the victron mppt should be on what pins 🤔
Hi, I just bought the 3000 watt inverter and ordered a noco 15amp shore power plug for the side of the van. On the other side of the outlet is a female 110 plug. How would I hook that up to the inverter so I can keep my batteries topped off at home? Thanks
Thank you for the videos. It shows in my booklet that I need to pull the little black jumper thats in position 2,3. Do I need to still do this whilst making changes like you just did in advanced mode? And I've been really busy and apologize if you covered this in another video
great video thanks
Do you know of any problems when slightly over-specing the charge controllers. My case is 4x370 panels or 1480 watts on 12v system with Victron 150/100. And will be mounted flat on top of Motorhome.
question if you have an Orion charger and its a 30amp, but you have 6 BB lifepro4 batteries, will the truck change that bank of batteries with 30amp? Also I didn't see a video on your channel that address programing a solar charger like in this video and as it relates to a 3000watt multiples charger and inverter.
Hi Nate, great video. How much "secret sauce" goes into these charging algorithms? My caravan has a BMPro J35B BMS, which according to the manufacturer is not suitable for Lithium. However looking at the manual, the bulk absorption phase voltage is 14.4v, float is 13.6v which is engaged when there is less than 2A of current. I have looked up the manuals from this manufacturers Lithium compatible BMS's and the only difference I can see is my unit runs at .2v lower during bulk absorption and does not have a boost phase where these other units output 30A (mine is limited to 15A). All other voltages and amperage are the same, even the charging profile graphs look the same with exception of the boost mode.
Unfortunately these units do not have user configurable parameters, so my only option to proceed with lithium with the BMS manufacturers blessing while also maintaining integration with my caravans management app seems to be to purchase a new BMS at between $850~$1100. I would be more accepting of this I guess if I knew under the hood these charging algorithm profiles were doing much more than what they seem to be doing from the manufacturer documentation.
P.S - I'm fine with the lowish 15A output of this BMS as I have another 40A MPPT controller which I am going to use with 2 x 300W solar blanket (this controller is lithium compatible and has user definable parameters).
So glad I found this channel! Thank you for your time. I have a question that I cannot seem to find an answer to. I have a 275W solar panel, 2 6V batts, and the victron mppt 100/20. Everything runs great in the trailer except the furnace? I can hear it clicking as if trying to get the motor going, and all other power get's shunted (lights turn off etc) . The furnace runs fine on 110 so it's not that. It's as if the controller isnt letting enough power in to crank on the furnace. Is there a setting I am missing? I would think the 100/20 was strong enough. Sorry for the long explanation but Google just isn't understanding my queries
You seem to prefer 12v systems overall. Is it parts availability or higher costs associated with 24v? Feel free to send me a link to an article or video. Thanks
Clicked on your " private group " link and got google warning page - Your connection is not private ???
One of the best videos on this subject to far --- thanks
Using the wrong certificate by the look of it.
Great video content Nate. I think we may have caused an issue when I purchased a new cell phone and had to upload the app. Our doesn’t seem to be working like it used to and can’t figure out why. We have reviewed several of your videos and are working through the manual, but could really use some help. Any suggestions?
Thanks for the info however I'm still alittle confused ...
My 100/20 is on a 24v system 200amh .
Absorption set at 29.20
Absorbtion time 60mins
Float set at 27.20
When the batteries reach 2920 with 4 amps charging from solar the controller goes to absorption for about 30mins then goes to float .
The controller then holds at float but the reading of the battery is 26.50 and it stays there continuously..
I have no loads in use as the batteries I'm charging are for propulsion only and the batteries are 4 x led acid cranking batteries 100amh.
My question ~ when the controller reaches 2920 volts and there is 4amp being drawn from the panels , does it not then calculate the 4amp charge into the equation ?
Ie the charge from the panel should drop to zero at 29.20v before it goes to absorption otherwise the charge is not actually at 29.20 but 29.20v minus the 4amp charge . As the absorption is timed ( in my case 60mins )and in that time the panels only produce 1amp ( that's 2amh in total ) then would my batteries be undercharged when float is activated ??
Hi just seen your video on solar chargers very interesting.ive got a renogy 170amp lithium battery 200w panel an a victron smart 100/20 . What should the settings be set to for my battery. I’ve chose the lithium setting but should I change the charging valves it’s saying 14.2 v help cheers mike
Hi Nate I have installed a Victron 100/30 runnng 2x 100watt panels. into 3 x 110amp lead acid batteries. Should I be putting a fuse between the panels and the Charge controller and between Charge controller and batteries. If so what fuse/burn size
Hi Nate - thank you for the videos. I would love to learn how to install a voltage switch in order to use excess solar power and redirect it to a heating element to a hot water tank so that I can heat up hot water on sunny days when my batteries are fully charged.
I have recently installed 1600 watts of solar onto my 73' old wooden boat (built in 1922!) after upgrading my electrical system to Victron equipment. On sunny summer days, I have lots of excess power and would love to use it to heat water instead of burning diesel fuel on my furnace. Any thoughts of putting a video on that, or can you direct me to resources you would recommend?
Thanks!
The documentation for my Renogy 100ah LiFePo4 'recommends' float set at 14.4v. Does Nate or anyone else in the comments know why this is? Should the float not be more like 13.6 since LiFePo4 batteries do not require trickle charging? I know Nate says to follow the manufacturer's settings, but this just seems wrong.
Thanks, I cannot find charge parameters for powerxon 250ah agm battery ? I also cannot find setting via victron connect wherr to set minimum voltage ( to save battery life). Using app's latest version as today.
do you need to choose lithium batteries for the Victron MPPT solar charger? I have lion Energy lithium batteries
I’m so confused. These settings are for lithium. What are the charging parameter for a lead acid battery that’s not AGM?
Just put the rotary switch to the setting for your battery and you will be fine.
Can you use a 200w solar panel with the 15 amp Victron unit
how to calculate the maximum charge current rate for exemple if i have the capacity of my battery bank is 400Ah? thank
Hey Nate, what's the theory behind why the absorption rate need to be set for 30m per 100Ah? Google wasn't as concise as you are. Thank you!!
Did you do a Victron product overview on the new MPPT Smart charge controller? I see the 150/70 has several more connector points.
What software do you use to make your wiring diagram schematics?
Just installed my 100/20 Victron. I have 5 leadacid RV/ marine batteries wired in parallel. When im on the battery drop down what should i select 😵💫
So I have 5 12v 100AH Deep Cycle Lead Acid batteries (SuperStart 31DCM), what amp (settings) do I need to charge those batteries? I have the paperwork from the manufacturer of the batteries, however I don’t understand what it’s telling me. Is there a way I can send it to you and you help me get the right setting?
Nate -- Absorption time. You mentioned 30min/100AH. Is 30min/100AH also correct on a 24V bank?
Hi, I am trying to set up a solar system and I want to use a 16v battery ( I build this battery for 18650). The problem is, all of the controllers that I have seen are only meant for 12v or 24V batteries, how do you think is best to charge this battery using solar/
Hi, thanks for all the great info you share in the most simple way.
Please help, I have two 48v/325w panels setup in parallel running through a 100/30 Victron CC connected to 2x AGM 200A batteries connected in series 24v. Why does my solar array show only 192W and 36v and 5.3A?
That's running at 60% capacity. Not terrible, not max.
Check the solar panels.
Then check wiring.
Check temperature.
Check panels for spec.
Panels should be clean and pointing at the sun.
Wiring must be of sufficient size to carry current for the distance. Connectors must be sound.
High heat can cut power down.
Measure the spec open circuit voltage and short current. Be careful. Use the correct rated meter properly.
Hi Nate great video. Quick question I have a victron 75/15 controller. If my solar panels exceeds the 75 volts eg 4 x 21 volts solar panels will this blow the controller or will the controller only take in the 75 volts and drop the balance ?
Exceeding the max voltage of the charge controller would damage the charge controller.
Hi hello.
Great videos.
Thank you for sharing
May I ask.....
Would this setting be something like same for setting up a dc battery to dc battery Victron charger.
Kindest regards
Yes! Very much so. Looks like there are a few settings that are in the MPPT that aren't in the Orion, but of the settings available, they can be set to the same values.
Can the VE MPPT controllers be different volt and amp ratings or must they be the same units
Thanks for sharing. Like #18!
Hey Dennis Wintjes, Thanks so much! Cheers!
Hey Nate. Great work in keeping this simple for the rest of us! Here’s my question. I have 3x200W panels (10a 20v) and 2x175w (9a 19.5v). In order to maximize the solar panels should I run the 3x200 in series to one mppt and the 2x175 to another mppt? It seems from the math, if I am doing it correctly, that this would best utilize my solar array. Appreciate your feedback.
I just hooked up my 100/15 victron charger to my diy "solar generator" with a 50ah li time battey and a 220w ecoflow solar array. It would charge for about 40-50 sec and stop. I did a bunch of troubleshooting, but then realized at the end, that the battery might already be fully charged. I'm draining the battery tonight and will retest tomorrow
Nate do you have a video on how to program the orion 12 12 30?
I have one 100amp Battle Born lithium battery and my voltage was default at 13.2. Is that normal?
Hi am I getting something wrong? I heard one guy say an AGM 100Ah is max charged at 30amp. Now I'm hearing its OK up to 50amp. What am I missing or was the other info wrong.
Thanks
I've got a victron 100 20a and the victron shunt,just would like to know when I get home from a camping trip and want to top up my batteries and plug in my wall charger,do I still have to connect the negative charger to the end od the shunt or can I just plug directly to battery terminals
You would want that on the 'load' side of the shunt.
Hi could you show me which link is the VE smart networking please, I'm not sure which one it is..
Question related to absorption time, in video is mentioned 30min for 100Amp but what if u got 2x 12V 100AMP in series = 24V 100AMP that means 60 min for absorption time or still 30 min??????
Hi Nate, following your steps here. My "equalization Voltage" reads "disabled" how do I enable it to set it?
I tried setting my controller up exactly as the video describes for my (2) battlborn 100ah lithiums… but the field for equalization voltage is inactive. I can’t set it to 14.4 as this tutorial describes. It’s just grayed out and cannot be selected… every other setting I was able to replicate.
Do you have a video on How to program a Victron Smart Shunt?
Not aure if i can get help on this. But my system is giving me a "low voltage" alarm. I have 300ah lithium battery wirh 400w solar. Its a 12V system but my battery voltage is at 11.05V. If anyone can advice on how i can trouble shoot this id really appreciate it, thank you
Nate, I thought you mentioned about another video in the making covering how to program the Victron Multiplus 12V 120 inverter for us non battle born owners.
My “bulk” light was blinking like yours but it didn’t connect to Bluetooth like my shunt did. Not sure what’s wrong… never mind, I need the smart dongle thing. This unit doesn’t have built in Bluetooth.
Hi Nate, can you explain why only 30min of absorption por 100ah? Is this based on Battery, manufacturer? Thanks and great videos.
Correct. That's a manufacturers recommendation from Battle Born.
I have a Victron 150v 100amp charge controller and 4 solar panels that are 310w each .
I have a 48v bank of 6v golf cart batteries , what should my Victron setting be set to?
You need that info from your battery manufacturer, so I'd recommend reaching out to them.
my iphone cant see the used 100/30 i bought what can it be?
Question, how come the app for the 100/50 shows 13.7 volts but when I put my meter on the batteries it only shows 13.1 volts
Hello Nate, just watched a few of your videos which are easy to follow and very informative.
I have a Victron mutplus 3000 and 3 x 100ah lithium batterys and MPPT victron 100/30 controler.
Probem is that i have is as follows. Recently the Multi plus doesnt charge the batterys via the solar panels. The MPPT when opened in the App shows the Wattage as 0 watts, eventhou my volt meter shows 22.7 volts comming in from the 340 watt panel, and a battery voltage of 12 + volts.eventually the batterys go flat.
Is it normal to have ZERO Watts displayed when I open the App on a nice sunny day?
If your batteries are not full, you should see wattage. I'd start with triple checking all connections. This may be something you would want to reach out to your Victron dealer to help troubleshoot.
@@EXPLORISTlife Thanks Nate, yes I will see the dealer
Cheers
thks
Hey man. I have a epever mppt controller without a screen. I have just bought a 110ah agm battery to replace the old 50ah lead acid one. How do I set up the new battery without a screen? Cheers
I don't have any experience with that particular charge controller, but it should come with a user manual with programming instructions. If not; you'll want to reach out to epever for tech support.
Love your detailed videos! On the downside it's costing me a lot of money. lol I'm assuming you can't use different manufacturers batteries together? I have two lion lithium 100 amp hour batteries and was looking to buy two battleborn lithium batteries. Can I do this? Thank you
I’d suggest contacting BattleBorn. They have great customer service.
I know what you mean. lol I'm just glad I didn't have to buy additional equipment for this particular video and was able to use everything from last week. Haha!
Generally, it is not advised to mix and match batteries. I know that the 2 manufacturers have very similar charging profiles and such, how their BMS's would work together. I would give Battle Born a call and see what they say about it. If they are apprehensive... Lion batteries are just fine as well as far as I know. Lots of people have been pretty happy with theirs in place of Battle Born.
I'm a little confused on the equalization parameters. So you set equalization to 14.4V but Li-Io batteries don't need to be equalized, so the equalization is disabled?
Yeah, so that is for 'If something happens and the charge controller accidentally goes through an equalization phase' (or if the user forgets to turn off equalization) so that the equalization phase still won't actually do anything as the voltage is too low. Just an additional safeguard but you're correct. If all goes correctly... this shouldn't matter.
Cool...
Thanks for this video. I have a quick question regarding the battery preset. Since the battery is controlled through its own BMS which does not care about the Victron setting (from my own understanding), does it make sense to just simply use the rotary switch ? Thanks again for all the videos. What I learned from them helped me to build my system.
No, you still want to program the charger to deliver the proper charge to the batteries, which is most easily done as shown in this video.
@@EXPLORISTlife Thanks again. I am using Rebel battery and had a hard time asking for the charge profile of the battery. Looks like they don't want to release this info for some reason. They said just use the #7.
Great info Nate!! A few years ago I thought Victron explained that having multiple charge controllers, you needed to have a slave and master controllers. That way the controllers would not cycle between bulk/absorb/float as the voltage went up and down as each controller turned on as they saw the voltage go up and down. It's that not the case anymore? Along with that, when you plug into shore power (multiplus) or another way of charging (from truck alternator), do you need to setup master/slaves?
Yeah, maybe that's not the case anymore with the advancements in the VictronConnect app. The Inverter/Chargers still need to be set up like that, but the charge controllers don't (Or maybe it just does it internally through the software). But there is no need to setup master/slave devices for the MPPT / Inverter-Charger / DC DC charger interactions. Those happen automatically as the will sense each others charging and turn on/off accordingly. Synchronized charging between multiple charging sources is on the horizon, though.
Awesome Nate!! Thanks much
I have victron mppt 75/15 for my 80 series Land Cruiser marine group 27 deep cycle house battery.
I wonder why victron doesn't have a common flooded lead acid charging profile in the pre set options.
If using 14.6v in the mppt absorbtion would you lower this by 0.2v in the smart shunt to 14.4v
Yep!
I have a 100ah 48v battery, how much time what I need for absorbtion? And should I use fix or adaptive.
As mentioned in the video... you need to reach out to the manufacturer of your battery for that information.