Victron monitor defaults and programming

[themexicandoctor]

Booster,

I just got off the phone with ISSAC TURCIOS of support@vorpenergy.com who my installer bought the second Victron MTTP from.

I will send some photos, he walked me through everything & yes, we went into all the settings including Expert mode on both the Victron SMART BMV712 & the Victrom MTTP CONTROLLER & made a lot of changes.

He felt that previously I was getting shallow, fast charges up until today (probably feasible because I didn't have a DC Fridge as the main driver until two days ago).

He had me change the Charged Voltage to 13.4 from 13.2 on the Smart Meter.

Had me set the MTTP for Automatic Equalisation every 7 days (previously nothing was set).

Changed the Adaptive Automatic Equalisation to on.

The Tail Current to 1.0.

In expert, the re-bulk offset to 0.40v.

The Absorption to 6 hours*.

*of course the unit algorithms are made to do this automatically internally I believe

[themexicandoctor]

Here are photos of those changes.

First the BMV712.

Then the MTTP user defined settings.

I think the Equalisation Stop Mode is correct setting at FIXED?

Then the MTTP Expert settings.

I also put a photo of my yield today & that it hasn't reached Float yet (before with the fast shallow charges it was in Float more than 50% of the day).

And the other photo of MTTP actually in Equalisation mode since I made the Automatic every 7 days change.

Surprisingly when I went & started the car at 3.15pm, usually the Solar goes to 0.0 but it stayed at 116watts & I

hope that this is just the phenomena of the Equalisation Setting being changed around 2.10pm & it hasn't had enough time to go through the 4 hour or whatever cycle.

I.HOPE.

What do you Booster & the other experts think?

Is this what you meant about finetuning in the Expert mode versus the simple defaults?

And are my AGM Batteries okay at the jump from.13.2 - 13.4 (he did say I could go as high as 13.6)

[booster]

Originally Posted by themexicandoctor

Here are photos of those changes.

First the BMV712.

Then the MTTP user defined settings.

I think the Equalisation Stop Mode is correct setting at FIXED?

Then the MTTP Expert settings.

I also put a photo of my yield today & that it hasn't reached Float yet (before with the fast shallow charges it was in Float more than 50% of the day).

And the other photo of MTTP actually in Equalisation mode since I made the Automatic every 7 days change.

Surprisingly when I went & started the car at 3.15pm, usually the Solar goes to 0.0 but it stayed at 116watts & I

hope that this is just the phenomena of the Equalisation Setting being changed around 2.10pm & it hasn't had enough time to go through the 4 hour or whatever cycle.

I.HOPE.

What do you Booster & the other experts think?

Is this what you meant about finetuning in the Expert mode versus the simple defaults?

And are my AGM Batteries okay at the jump from.13.2 - 13.4 (he did say I could go as high as 13.6)

Again, no experience with the Victron, but some observations. For the charged voltage, I still don't understand why it is so low. Most monitors would have you set it just below the absorption voltage, so it would at about 14.1 volts.



Yes this kind of adjustment are the type that we would be referring to.


The solar not going to zero is concerning,but the monitor should have nothing to do with the solar unless they are connected like we talked about a while ago. If they aren't connected, it should have gone to zero unless it was in absorption and van alternator runs lower than that. If we knew the voltage at the time, we would be able to tell better, I think.


Just out of curiosity and to relate it to the charged voltage setting. What float voltage do you have set in the shore charger? Same for absorption voltage? Same for the settings in the solar controller?

[themexicandoctor]

I am alarmed at this image of my SMART METER reading a voltage of 15.02 volts.

Or should I not be since I asked the MTTP component of the system to Automatically Equalise every 7 days & thst is what it is doing?

[themexicandoctor]

Yes, same settings.

I think because an hour or so ago I set the system to Automatically Equalise every 7 days, its going through its first equalization period as we speak.

[themexicandoctor]

I just turned the key on & then turned off.

This is with the key on;

And I have a separate voltmeter that reads what is going toto the car battery.

[themexicandoctor]

I just turned the key on & then turned off.

This is with the key on;

15.30 at the Meter
19.03 at the MTTP
13.9 to the chassis battery

And I have a separate voltmeter that reads what is going toto the car battery.

[themexicandoctor]

With the key turned off;

At the Smart Meter 15.31
At the MTTP 19.17

[booster]

Originally Posted by themexicandoctor

I just turned the key on & then turned off.

This is with the key on;

15.30 at the Meter
19.03 at the MTTP
13.9 to the chassis battery

And I have a separate voltmeter that reads what is going toto the car battery.

It looks like the solar is equalizing.??

[themexicandoctor]

Does this make sense to you Booster?

Or should I just walk out of Expert, keep my charged voltage somewhere around.13.4-13.6?

Increasing the Charge Voltage being the best adjustment I can make.

As it is my Smart Meter is still at 15.33 with the motor off & the Solar in Equalisation mode 19.06

Turn off the MTTP Automatic Equalisation & simply Equalise every momth or so with ShorePower?

[themexicandoctor]

Originally Posted by booster

It looks like the solar is equalizing.??

So that change too late in the afternoon, fir the first time is forcing the unit to bring in all those volts?

Running out of light, what will it do, stay in Equalisation all night?

Or should I disable until the early am?

[booster]

Originally Posted by themexicandoctor

Does this make sense to you Booster?

Or should I just walk out of Expert, keep my charged voltage somewhere around.13.4-13.6?

Increasing the Charge Voltage being the best adjustment I can make.

As it is my Smart Meter is still at 15.33 with the motor off & the Solar in Equalisation mode 19.06

Turn off the MTTP Automatic Equalisation & simply Equalise every momth or so with ShorePower?

For now, just leave put the charged at 13.6v, the max he recommended. It really doesn't make much difference on shore charging as it will go right past the 13.6v to 14.4v as it is charging so one and the same. The issues would show up with the solar because it is quite common in clouds and such to have it not have the capacity to get to the 14.4v so could be running lower and give a false charged battery before the battery was really full. Only happens sometimes, but does happen, as I have seen it on our system a number of times. Depending on the voltage the van alternator is running at, it too could trigger a false fully charged condition in the monitor if the voltage is less than 14.2-14.4v, I think.



I would shut off any equalization from the solar as the varying capacity of solar keeps it from working very well. I think your once a month with shore charger would be plenty, and probably more effective.

[themexicandoctor]

Thank you - this company specializes in remote off site solar systems.

Will turn off the Automatic Equalisation now.

[themexicandoctor]

Booster,

Today everything is performing flawlessly.

In fact yesterday (bright sunny day parked), after putting it into Equalization for 2 hours until I turned it off I had a daily yeild in excess of ever have in 18 months of solar.

I, like you, don't trust equalization using the MTTP, unless I was parked, in full sun, early in the am.

Question; when I look at CHARGED VOLTAGE info for my Lifeline 100ah AGM, I keep on seeing the figure 13.2 even though both you & the tech had me adjust it to 13.6 - is there a risk this is the wrong setting & I might cook my batteries even though it's less than the 14.1 you suggested?

Or did I misunderstand you & I should have set my Float to 14.1 or .3 below Absorption at 14.4? (remembering I have AGMs)

[themexicandoctor]

Here is the new figures from yesterday (and I only really started at 2pm or so), & the past 30 day totals.

[booster]

Originally Posted by themexicandoctor

Booster,

Today everything is performing flawlessly.

In fact yesterday (bright sunny day parked), after putting it into Equalization for 2 hours until I turned it off I had a daily yeild in excess of ever have in 18 months of solar.

I, like you, don't trust equalization using the MTTP, unless I was parked, in full sun, early in the am.

Question; when I look at CHARGED VOLTAGE info for my Lifeline 100ah AGM, I keep on seeing the figure 13.2 even though both you & the tech had me adjust it to 13.6 - is there a risk this is the wrong setting & I might cook my batteries even though it's less than the 14.1 you suggested?

Or did I misunderstand you & I should have set my Float to 14.1 or .3 below Absorption at 14.4? (remembering I have AGMs)

13.6v is the float voltage some chargers use, so very little risk at all from that. Where you can get into trouble is with the tail amps setting if it is on a charger. On the monitor the worst that can happen is that it will either never synchronize or synchronize too early.


If you have 1 amp tail current on you solar charger, it might be too low if you batteries are not in great shape as it may never get that low. For many systems, they never have enough time to totally fill the batteries anyway. 1 amp is a bit less than the .5% that lifeline specs for tail current, and it does have a bit of cushion in it, but may not be quite enough for older batteries that have a bunch of cycles. Just check the amps once in a while to see how many there are as you get near fully charged.


Your higher yield is likely from the higher voltage switch point to float. Keep an eye on it for a while, and then you may want to move up to 13.8v and see if you get another bump. IMO, the risks are extremely small of anything bad happening. Most folks are running the voltage threshold at over 14 volts with no issues at all.

[themexicandoctor]

Thank you Booster.

You & others are the Light in the Darkness of RV Ownership ...