Lithium? The big con?

It's what every boy needs, it's a microcomputer that you can load a program on to replicate a Victron Cerbo GX.
£40 - £50 for a Pi, £300 for a GX.
That's a big exaggeration of the price of a Cerbo GX Lenny HB - still available for nearly half that with a Google and just plug in and go to the Victron VRM website to view your system health from anywhere via the internet if you have an onboard wifi router. For those not into techy solutions the Victron Cerbo GX is well worth the extra cost in time saved.
 
Well,
My “inferior little Pi computer projects that don’t work properly” as eddie calls them has been running non stop for 8 months so three months more and the warranty on a Victron GX would expire. It runs well and interfaces with the Victron gear and website without a hitch. I am not sure what more an official GX would do. It just works. I am running it on a Pi-2 which cost me about £20 maybe less over ten years ago. Its previous life was running as a media centre as wfdTamar outlined above. Another “electric Lego” project on another Pi computer was HomeAssistant which monitored the 300 odd devices in my house for 3 years before I upgraded to a micro-PC. This enables me to monitor my house while I sit in southern Spain in the sun. Only this morning I switched on the heating from Spain for an hour to boost the temperature a little as the forecast is negative temperatures today. Although the system would have done it automatically if the temperature had dropped another degree.
I cannot understand why some people mock the things others choose to do. Whether it’s watching birds, checking bank accounts, sitting in the sun drinking beer or challenging and expanding their mind by building useful electronic projects.
I would like to give a shout-out to Victron for generously opening up their system to allow hobbyists to interface with it.
 
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go to the Victron VRM website to view your system health from anywhere via the internet if you have an onboard wifi router.

Just like my Raspberry Pi then, as well as monitoring my LPG and water levels, plus the temperature of various things like the hab battery and water, plus a map of where the van is at any given time and the weather as well. (y)

1735984575117.webp
 
Well,
My “inferior little Pi computer projects that don’t work properly” as eddie calls them has been running non stop for 8 months so three months more and the warranty on a Victron GX would expire. It runs well and interfaces with the Victron gear and website without a hitch. I am not sure what more an official GX would do. It just works. I am running it on a Pi-2 which cost me an out £20 maybe less over ten years ago. Its previous life was running as a media centre as wfdTamar outlined above. Another “electric Lego” project on another Pi computer was HomeAssistant which monitored the 300 odd devices in my house for 3 years before I upgraded to a micro-PC. This enables me to monitor my house while I sit in southern Spain in the sun. Only this morning I switched on the heating from Spain for an hour to boost the temperature a little as the forecast is negative temperatures today. Although the system would have done it automatically if the temperature had dropped another degree.
I cannot understand why some people mock the things others choose to do. Whether it’s watching birds, checking bank accounts, sitting in the sun drinking beer or challenging and expanding their mind by building useful electronic projects.
I would like to give a shout-out to Victron for generously opening up their system to allow hobbyists to interface with it.
Yes its good that Victron are a more open platform - it's one of the main reasons I chose Victron over Mastervolt (Sorry Raul I do like MV hardware!). As so many people do pop Venus OS on Pi's I think it will remain well supported by those enthusiasts, at least until something better comes along.

I don't see it as inferior, just less convenient, and perhaps a little less neat if I do it and possibly some care needed to get the right screen?

I use a Cerbo and as you would expect it has been faultless even when it is now out of warranty, but the van is only a simple installation with no node red stuff yet, so not pushing the Cerbo's processor hard. I don't yet use it for the 3 tanks or the two LPG tanks, and only have one temp sensor, so not the fridge/freezer etc, no VE.Can devices either, but might use those when/if I upgrade the batteries. as the tank sensors bust in my van I will change to Victron compatible types as well, all very easy/convenient because the ports are there on the box.

But I am going to buy a Pi, just for the fun and satisfaction of setting it up. I did that with Linux on a pc, but still use windows on the main one.

I get that not everyone is as enthusiastic about DIY projects as those that enjoy them, whatever their reasons may be......

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Well,
My “inferior little Pi computer projects that don’t work properly” as eddie calls them has been running non stop for 8 months so three months more and the warranty on a Victron GX would expire. It runs well and interfaces with the Victron gear and website without a hitch. I am not sure what more an official GX would do. It just works. I am running it on a Pi-2 which cost me about £20 maybe less over ten years ago. Its previous life was running as a media centre as wfdTamar outlined above. Another “electric Lego” project on another Pi computer was HomeAssistant which monitored the 300 odd devices in my house for 3 years before I upgraded to a micro-PC. This enables me to monitor my house while I sit in southern Spain in the sun. Only this morning I switched on the heating from Spain for an hour to boost the temperature a little as the forecast is negative temperatures today. Although the system would have done it automatically if the temperature had dropped another degree.
I cannot understand why some people mock the things others choose to do. Whether it’s watching birds, checking bank accounts, sitting in the sun drinking beer or challenging and expanding their mind by building useful electronic projects.
I would like to give a shout-out to Victron for generously opening up their system to allow hobbyists to interface with it.
Hey I wasn’t mocking anyone, in fact quite the opposite, I genuinely have the greatest respect for the older generation embracing the technology that my younger self just can’t understand👍
I’d love to be able to put films in a box and watch them at leisure but it’s something I just don’t know how to do (yes I do consider myself quite thick)👍
So for me it’s the cerbo GX, ready made for idiots like me👍
 
Yours all working now Lenny HB?
Company that does the 4 port UART to USB hubs is out of stock, should have them this month.
Also updating Venus OS to 3.5 completely screwed it?
It gets worse, the boss wanted my office (dining room) cleared for Christmss, I tripped over a lead and my touch screen went crashing to the floor & broke.
 
Company that does the 4 port UART to USB hubs is out of stock, should have them this month.
Also updating Venus OS to 3.5 completely screwed it?
It gets worse, the boss wanted my office (dining room) cleared for Christmss, I tripped over a lead and my touch screen went crashing to the floor & broke.
Oh that's crap. I did see something about 3.5 on a Pi related to hardware acceleration not working - wonder if that was your issue?

Still Christmas is over so you should have your office back now, so you have 11 months to relax!
 
I tripped over a lead and my touch screen went crashing to the floor & broke.
Don’t worry about it Lenny, I am sure you have an old Android phone or two. Factory reset them and install the kiosk mode display software and you can have as many displays as you like anywhere in range of your wifi. Works well. Or just connect to the Pi’s address on the network with whatever device you are on and you have the display. Enable the Beta release and you get the great new display.
 
Oh that's crap. I did see something about 3.5 on a Pi related to hardware acceleration not working - wonder if that was your issue?
Possibly as it is only a Pi3B.

Also couldn't get the pi to boot after loading V 2.95 onto an SD card, I've had this before, then the card wouldn't format to correct size, a couple of new cards coming today.

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Peukert factor a clever calculation to work out the real drain on my battery. Sadly there is more than simple adding and subtracting to counting the Ah going in and out of a battery because the faster the Amps go out the more it drains the battery. 10A going out for 10 hours ought to be the same as 100A going out for 1 hour i.e. 100Ah but it is not. The 100A flow hits the battery harder than the 10A flow and it varies between battery types. Lithium is much better than lead acid when comes to wasted power.
Peukert exponent takes into account the efficiency of the battery. A Lead Acid battery has a Peukert exponent of 1.25, which means a 100ah battery discharged completely will need 125ah putting back in to fully recharge it and the figure will increase with age. A LifPO4 it is around 1.02 so will require 102ah to fully charge it.
 
Peukert exponent takes into account the efficiency of the battery. A Lead Acid battery has a Peukert exponent of 1.25, which means a 100ah battery discharged completely will need 125ah putting back in to fully recharge it and the figure will increase with age. A LifPO4 it is around 1.02 so will require 102ah to fully charge it.
I think there is a bit more to it than that because the calculation also includes the rate of discharge. My days of calculating formulae with exponents are long gone but fortunately Peukert calculators can be found online.
 
I think there is a bit more to it than that because the calculation also includes the rate of discharge. My days of calculating formulae with exponents are long gone but fortunately Peukert calculators can be found online.
Agree but it gives a good idea and you can see the différance between LA and Lithium.

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Company that does the 4 port UART to USB hubs is out of stock, should have them this month.
Also updating Venus OS to 3.5 completely screwed it?
It gets worse, the boss wanted my office (dining room) cleared for Christmss, I tripped over a lead and my touch screen went crashing to the floor & broke.
Dare I also say that I bought an Ablemail AMT 12-2 which you recommend and have never succeeded in programming it successfully so have reverted to the tried and tested BatterMaster even though it does not have a dedicated Lithium setting. The programming instructions on the Ablemail are a nightmare or the unit is faulty. Life is too short for anything too techie!
 
I've had a Pi doing the victron monitoring for years now. Never touch it, it just works. Can connect direct from a phone web browser for live data and changing settings or live and history over the net via VRM.

I haven't even upgraded it to the newer versions as I don't need any of the node red etc.
 
Dare I also say that I bought an Ablemail AMT 12-2 which you recommend and have never succeeded in programming it successfully so have reverted to the tried and tested BatterMaster even though it does not have a dedicated Lithium setting. The programming instructions on the Ablemail are a nightmare or the unit is faulty. Life is too short for anything too techie!
I've fitted a couple for friends and have one to fit myself. Instructions are naff and it's a right pain to program takes me about ½ hour fiddling about also you don't want to use their Lithium settings I found No.5 the best option.
 
Dare I also say that I bought an Ablemail AMT 12-2 which you recommend and have never succeeded in programming it successfully so have reverted to the tried and tested BatterMaster even though it does not have a dedicated Lithium setting. The programming instructions on the Ablemail are a nightmare or the unit is faulty. Life is too short for anything too techie!

I've fitted a couple for friends and have one to fit myself. Instructions are naff and it's a right pain to program takes me about ½ hour fiddling about also you don't want to use their Lithium settings I found No.5 the best option.

I use the bluetooth dongle now having initially programmed it with the cables and counting the flashes - I found I don't have the attention span to to wait for the higher numbered ones to come round, and it took a while to fathom the instructions in the first place.

I wish they would incorporate the BT into the unit - makes it so simple to setup and or make and save tweaked profiles.

But the BT module as an extra expense is up there with buying a Cerbo GX vs a Pi - not really necessary.
 
Peukert exponent takes into account the efficiency of the battery. A Lead Acid battery has a Peukert exponent of 1.25, which means a 100ah battery discharged completely will need 125ah putting back in to fully recharge it and the figure will increase with age. A LifPO4 it is around 1.02 so will require 102ah to fully charge it.

Haven’t you just described the Charge efficiency factor rather than the Peukert’s exponent?🤔

Ian

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I think my wife views it as 'boys toys' a little. But she does agree it will make our travelling far more flexible now, especially in Europe and when we go to Scandinavia. We will I am sure recoup some of the cost over time, but probably not all of it. But I view it as paying for flexibility.
Wishful thinking
 
Wishful thinking
Interesting to see how others engage with technology with their motorhomes. Good for you.
Actually we use our motorhome trips to enjoy being isolated, experiencing new places, no need for TV or much else - yes use the internet to find out about places we want to visit, keep in touch with family through WhatsApp. Never ever have an anxiety about not enough electricity. But that’s us, we use hotels and a property abroad - and love our home. But very impressed by all those using this technology. Good for you and just brilliant we are all different.
 
Interesting to see how others engage with technology with their motorhomes. Good for you.
Actually we use our motorhome trips to enjoy being isolated, experiencing new places, no need for TV or much else - yes use the internet to find out about places we want to visit, keep in touch with family through WhatsApp. Never ever have an anxiety about not enough electricity. But that’s us, we use hotels and a property abroad - and love our home. But very impressed by all those using this technology. Good for you and just brilliant we are all different.
Thanks.

Yes we do all of those too for example we are going skiing in a few weeks and have a two month tour of the Far East coming up. No motorhomes involved. We try not to be prescriptive. It’s more that we don’t want to be pigeon holed. Stay where we want (and are allowed) for as long as we want. That might be a site or it might be the middle of nowhere.

It’s not that complex, although my knowledge is quite superficial. We did some research and asked the advice of someone we trust.

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