Experience of a Victron 30 b2b with solar to cab battery

[Cush]

Afternoon All,
Can anyone with this setup tell me if…
1, a 1 amp trickle charge to the cab battery results in the voltage sensing ability of the b2b keeping it permanently on, and empty the cab battery?
I appreciate that it can be alternator switched but this is more complication that I can deal with at the minute

2, are the more recent versions still prone to high temperatures while active despite being installed as per manufacturer’s instructions?

More generally, if it has to be installed closer to one battery or the other, should it be closest to the leisure battery?

Thanks for taking time to share your experiences / knowledge,
Cush

 

[Derbyshire wanderer]

I ended up setting mine as ignition sensed as the battery master did occasionally let the B2b operate when unattended due to the voltage. Having a smart alternator, I could not set any suitable voltage parameters to work properly either.

 

[ChrisL]

I have my B2B set to a start voltage of 13.6 volts, the CBE battery master keeps the starter battery at 13.4 volts so I've experienced no issues. You haven't said which solar controller you have, can you set the voltage to the starter battery to less then the start voltage of the B2B?

 

[Cush]

You haven't said which solar controller you have, can you set the voltage to the starter battery to less then the start voltage of the B2B

Hi ChrisL It is an EPever duoacer. I’ll have a read through the manual. There must be a cut off voltage setting, it’s fully adjustable, that I can set it too. Was also considering a batterymaster as the van is stored indoors when not in use, so no trickle to the cab from solar.

 

[ChrisL]

Hi ChrisL It is an EPever duoacer. I’ll have a read through the manual. There must be a cut off voltage setting, it’s fully adjustable, that I can set it too. Was also considering a batterymaster as the van is stored indoors when not in use, so no trickle to the cab from solar.

I'll see if I can find a manual for that and see if there's anything that can be changed. With regard to setting up the B2B start voltage, with a fully charged starter battery check what voltage your alternator is putting into the starter battery, and set your start voltage to that, otherwise it won't start the B2B, and your leisure batteries won't get charged, in my case the B2B default was 13.8 volts but with a full starter battery the alternator was only supplying 13.6 volts so was not turning it on, once set to 13.6 all was good.

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[ChrisL]

Okay, I found the manual and the relevant bit is below. BATT2 is the starter battery.

Start charging conditions.
Condition1: BATT2 starts charging when BATT1 reaches the float charging stage, and the BATT2 voltage is lower than the "Charging Return Voltage.
Condition 2: BATT2 starts charging when the battery's total charging current is higher than 3A and the BATT2 voltage is lower than the "Charging Return Voltage.

Stop Charging Conditions.
Condition 1: BATT2 stops charging when the PV voltage is no higher than 2V of the BATT1.
Condition 2:BATT2 stops charging when BATT1 is not in the float charging stage and the total charging current for the battery is less than 2.5A.
Condition 3: BATT2 stops charging when BATT2 reaches the "Full Voltage."

So I would set the battery "Full Voltage" for BATT2 to be slightly lower than the start voltage of B2B after having set the B2B start voltage to the voltage the alternator provides with a full starter battery.

I hope that makes sense.

 

[Cush]

Thanks ChrisL I’ll get my head round that