Victron Solar Mppt 100/30 - Detail monitoring (5 Viewers)

[acenip]

Yea, similar

 

[the1andonly]

Its allready been said get a shunt, my preference is the BMV712 purely because of its ability to switch a relay (some thing you dont need now but will cuss later on if you do) and the most important a Simple display. Iook at it same time (before dinner (lunch if southerner) and if its same each day ie 100% for a week you dont need to worry about it ever except if do something unusual/ different eg charge 300 bicycle batteries in a day or park under a carport. Only if you don't collect enough will you need to know your demands to understand how to modify your use or methods.

 

[acenip]

I got the shunt installed today. I went for a Victron Smart Shunt so the same app will work for it and the controller. I was wondering if anyone here has the same Shunt and uses the auxiliary extra monitor cable for the starter battery. If so how useful is it to have and did you wire it right back to the actual positive battery post or can I pick up a constant live somewhere in the cab.

 

[OldAgeTravellers]

I got the shunt installed today. I went for a Victron Smart Shunt so the same app will work for it and the controller. I was wondering if anyone here has the same Shunt and uses the auxiliary extra monitor cable for the starter battery. If so how useful is it to have and did you wire it right back to the actual positive battery post or can I pick up a constant live somewhere in the cab.

As long as you get a good connection I don’t think it matters. The best thing is to connect it to the nearest place then compare a multi meter reading across the battery with what your Victron Connect app says. If it is wildly different then look for another connection with less voltage drop. It is only to check that you are not running your engine battery down by mistake. As standard most radios are connected to the engine battery, for example, it is always the first thing I change.
Edit: Don’t forget to set it up properly, it can be very misleading if you don’t.

 

[AdrianChen]

We used that method originally, and connected it to the 16mm cable that fed the split charge relay, not much drop on that when everything is at rest. - Now we just use the "input" voltage recorded on the Orion XS. It is handy to have the figure, since on our Carthago the TV sound uses the starter battery so saves any surprises there, also when the van is in storage its easy to check the vehicle battery is being maintained. We do have remote monitoring though, so I can check the system from home.

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[acenip]

We used that method originally, and connected it to the 16mm cable that fed the split charge relay, not much drop on that when everything is at rest. - Now we just use the "input" voltage recorded on the Orion XS. It is handy to have the figure, since on our Carthago the TV sound uses the starter battery so saves any surprises there, also when the van is in storage its easy to check the vehicle battery is being maintained. We do have remote monitoring though, so I can check the system from home.

Appreciate both your replies. I'll be having a go at setting this up tomorrow.
Did you have much difficulty setting up the remote access monitoring?

 

[AdrianChen]

Appreciate both your replies. I'll be having a go at setting this up tomorrow.
Did you have much difficulty setting up the remote access monitoring?

I used a Cerbo GX, but it's cheaper to use a Raspberry Pi for pretty much the same functionality. With the Cerbo it is just a matter of plugging our Solar(2),B2B,Multiplus and Shunt(with temp sensor) into the Cerbo with VE,Direct and or USB cables, and the Multiplus with a VE Bus (RJ45) cable. All our kit is in the same place, so easy to run the cables.

For the communication part we leave our Mifi dongle on (which could be on a timer but ours is on a permanent 12v feed) which the Cerbo connects to over Wifi. Could also use a Victron GSM dongle, but the MiFi was already there.

I had an old GPS puck lying around, so plugged that in to the Cerbo, so it shows the location on VRM you can show rudimentary tracks with that but I don't because I have the update period to VRM set at 15mins (It can be 1 min).

I do have a screen to display the control console when on the van, but mostly use a Samsung tablet, Laptop or Phone.

Once connected It is easy to set up a VRM Portal on the Victron Website.

We also have a Tapo camera on board with a temp sensor, so we can keep an eye on, and listen to the dogs if they are on board alone, and make sure the vans not too warm, but that all uses the Tapo App, I don't think Victron can do cameras yet.

So pretty much plug and play, if ever the vans tank sensors or internal/external temp sensors break I would use Victron compatible stuff to replace them, it's all pretty simple.

 

[acenip]

I used a Cerbo GX, but it's cheaper to use a Raspberry Pi for pretty much the same functionality. With the Cerbo it is just a matter of plugging our Solar(2),B2B,Multiplus and Shunt(with temp sensor) into the Cerbo with VE,Direct and or USB cables, and the Multiplus with a VE Bus (RJ45) cable. All our kit is in the same place, so easy to run the cables.

For the communication part we leave our Mifi dongle on (which could be on a timer but ours is on a permanent 12v feed) which the Cerbo connects to over Wifi. Could also use a Victron GSM dongle, but the MiFi was already there.

I had an old GPS puck lying around, so plugged that in to the Cerbo, so it shows the location on VRM you can show rudimentary tracks with that but I don't because I have the update period to VRM set at 15mins (It can be 1 min).

I do have a screen to display the control console when on the van, but mostly use a Samsung tablet, Laptop or Phone.

Once connected It is easy to set up a VRM Portal on the Victron Website.

We also have a Tapo camera on board with a temp sensor, so we can keep an eye on, and listen to the dogs if they are on board alone, and make sure the vans not too warm, but that all uses the Tapo App, I don't think Victron can do cameras yet.

So pretty much plug and play, if ever the vans tank sensors or internal/external temp sensors break I would use Victron compatible stuff to replace them, it's all pretty simple.

What an impressive setup, I don't think I'd get very far trying to implement a similar setup. Love the dogcam added part, we've only started to leave ours in the van recently, but only for a quick Lidl or the likes.
You sound like a guy who could take some version of this to Dragons Den, with a modular design that each user could build to suit their needs.

 

[OldAgeTravellers]

It is really easy to set up a RasPi GX. I use. Pi2 which can be picked up on eBay really cheaply and is easily powerful enough. There is a 4 way unit from https://www.duppa.net/shop/ that can handle the connections to the Victron kit.
Just search VenusOS or RasPi on here will bring up a number of discussions and links.
It’s a great project with a RasPi which is not too difficult. Don’t bother with a display at first as any cheap tablet can be used as a display as long as you have wifi in your van.
Some of the discussions get a bit technical but read past those.

 

[OldAgeTravellers]

Sorry the link to the DuPPa website was wrong it should be: https://www.duppa.net/shop/isolated-4-port-usb-to-ttl-uart-ftdi/?v=7885444af42e

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[Lenny HB]

I got the shunt installed today. I went for a Victron Smart Shunt so the same app will work for it and the controller. I was wondering if anyone here has the same Shunt and uses the auxiliary extra monitor cable for the starter battery. If so how useful is it to have and did you wire it right back to the actual positive battery post or can I pick up a constant live somewhere in the cab.

I didn't bother wiring the Shunt to my starter battery as I can see the starter battery voltage on my Victron B2B.

 

[OldAgeTravellers]

I didn't bother wiring the Shunt to my starter battery as I can see the starter battery voltage on my Victron B2B.

Your XS is very near your shunt, I can’t understand why you wouldn’t do it. It then shows up on the extended Battery/Shunt details on the GX. You don’t even have to supply the wire as it comes with the shunt with a fuse. If you control the XS from D+ it doesn’t show on the GX display when the engine is not running. Can’t see the pint for the sake of a couple of minutes work.

 

[AdrianChen]

Your XS is very near your shunt, I can’t understand why you wouldn’t do it. It then shows up on the extended Battery/Shunt details on the GX. You don’t even have to supply the wire as it comes with the shunt with a fuse. If you control the XS from D+ it doesn’t show on the GX display when the engine is not running. Can’t see the pint for the sake of a couple of minutes work.

True enough! I just use Connect when doing a quick check, and the XS shows on there - saves having to stand up to see the GX screen!

 

[Lenny HB]

If you control the XS from D+ it doesn’t show on the GX display when the engine is not running.

It does on Bluetooth,

 

[autorouter]

Cables probably undersize and you are getting a volt drop to the inverter.

That's one possibility. If the discrepancy is greater when with higher power appliances, and less for lower power appliances, then voltage drop in the cable is the problem.

However if the discrepancy is more or less constant, even for very small loads, then the voltage calibration of the panel might be inaccurate. If so, there may be a procedure hidden in the menus for recalibrating. You'll need a multimeter for this, probably.

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[Ingwe]

I didn't bother wiring the Shunt to my starter battery as I can see the starter battery voltage on my Victron B2B.

I too was looking to connect up cab battery until Lenny HB pointed out that even with the ignition off, the Victron b2b shows the cab battery voltage (using the Victron Connect app).

 

[Lenny HB]

Your XS is very near your shunt,

No it's not, it's miles away, shunt is next to the batteries in the centre of the van, B2B is in the garage with all the other electrics.

 

[AdrianChen]

That's one possibility. If the discrepancy is greater when with higher power appliances, and less for lower power appliances, then voltage drop in the cable is the problem.

However if the discrepancy is more or less constant, even for very small loads, then the voltage calibration of the panel might be inaccurate. If so, there may be a procedure hidden in the menus for recalibrating. You'll need a multimeter for this, probably.

Both our CBE panels were out for Voltage and amps. Doesn't take long to adjust, especialy if you're happy with the accuracy of the Victron kit.....

 

[acenip]

As long as you get a good connection I don’t think it matters. The best thing is to connect it to the nearest place then compare a multi meter reading across the battery with what your Victron Connect app says. If it is wildly different then look for another connection with less voltage drop. It is only to check that you are not running your engine battery down by mistake. As standard most radios are connected to the engine battery, for example, it is always the first thing I change.
Edit: Don’t forget to set it up properly, it can be very misleading if you don’t.

Update. I found a permanent live feed under the dashboard, possibly the cigarette plug power. Once it was connected I did a multimeter reading at the battery terminals under the bonnet and there was only 0.1v difference. So that's good enough. A handy wee stat to keep an eye on
Thanks to all.

 

[OldAgeTravellers]

No it's not, it's miles away, shunt is next to the batteries in the centre of the van, B2B is in the garage with all the other electrics.

Sorry, in the picture with the Mrs. going under the floor, I thought the batteries were just there.
My shunt is the older one that can't use Bluetooth when connected to the GX. But I still prefer it to show on the GX rather than using Connect. Especially as I am working on pulling it all into HomeAssistant for a better Dashboard.

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[Spade]

acenip
I've been following this with interest.
Can I ask how much solar you have please?

 

[acenip]

I'm now at the stage where I'm trying to understand the balance of using and recharging my battery. Shunt fitted and everything seems to be working as it should.

Can anyone explain what's happening from these two screenshots?
why has the solar gone to Absorption when the battery is onlyat 64%.
Is the consumed AH (-72.6) an overall usage?

 

[acenip]

acenip
I've been following this with interest.
Can I ask how much solar you have please?

400watts. 100x2 + a 200

 

[ChrisL]

why has the solar gone to Absorption when the battery is onlyat 64%.
Is the consumed AH (-72.6) an overall usage?

If you can show us a screen shot of your battery settings from the solar controller with expert mode turned on it would help, and the same for the shunt.
The consumed Ah is the amount of ahs discharged since the last charge, you will notice it reducing as the battery becomes recharged.

 

[AdrianChen]

Your batteries are 72.6 AH depleted IE the net of the ins and outs since last sync, so yes overall usage, which means there is 64% available of their capacity based on the figures you entered in the settings.

You are charging at 8.49amps, whilst the solar was producing 11.5amps (so 3amps being used by stuff in the van)

The Solar output voltage is at 14.1v but the shunt is measuring 13.12v at the battery, so some voltage drop or something going on there.

Have you set up a smart network between the shunt and solar controller? that would help compensate for the voltage difference, which seems quite high so perhaps I'm missing something if cables are correctly sized, and connections are all good.....

Someone will be along soon with a better idea.....

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[Lenny HB]

Either your shunt settings are wrong or it has not synced at 100% state of charge can you put a photo up of your shunt settings.

 

[acenip]

Either your shunt settings are wrong or it has not synced at 100% state of charge can you put a photo up of your shunt settings.

I assume you mean the battery tab settings.

 

[ChrisL]

I assume you mean the battery tab settings.



View attachment 950157

Here are mine which are working well with my fogstar drift 230ah battery.

 

[acenip]

If you can show us a screen shot of your battery settings from the solar controller with expert mode turned on it would help, and the same for the shunt.
The consumed Ah is the amount of ahs discharged since the last charge, you will notice it reducing as the battery becomes recharged.

Straight forward for the battery, I'm not sure if the shunt has expert mode.

 

[acenip]

Straight forward for the battery, I'm not sure if the shunt has expert mode.



View attachment 950187

View attachment 950188

View attachment 950189

Sorry wrong shunt pic, this is the one I intended to send.

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