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I tried saving money and installed my system w renogy MPPT charger, and renogy M1 which has wifi capability, so I could monitor my system remotely. Just unbelievable trash. The M1 system was buggy and would not connect to the wifi that my phone and laptop had no problem with, I spent hours on...

Hey guys, so... .. I'm going to link a video review of my experience with the Renogy One M1. This was a brand new product when I recorded this, was out for maybe a month, so I have no idea if they've fixed things now, but.... holy **** I have never been so unimpressed/annoyed/disappointed in...

I was told Texas has a shit power grid that goes out all the time. But yeah, if you already have hookups on your property for grid power, it's a lot harder to justify. My local utility company wanted almost $500 to show up and tell me it will be $8-10k to get the power onto my land, then...

Hey guys, this forum has been SO HELPFUL in getting my solar system up and running, which was ultimately designing to power my security system to keep an eye on my land and bus when I'm out of state. I put together a video with everything I've done to keep tabs on things, what system I used...

Sharing a video I just dropped today; this was the first week of adventure living in my shortie school bus, in the rocky mountains during winter. The diesel heater tried to kill us, my batteries failed, and my solar system quit charging during 5 days of snow without any sunlight. Good times, but...

I don't have a power source, I am 100% off grid. These batteries are my power source. From what I understand, the power going into the batteries is SUPPOSED to warm them up before charging, but maybe that only works if it's a 'dumb' charger? I sent AmpereTime this video too so I'll be...

Victron 150/45 on order. Thank you guys, I really appreciate it.

Hey dudes! My name is Rob, and I used to document all my builds/adventures in forums, but after the great photobucket disaster, and having years if not decades of progress and learning wiped out, I decided to start documenting all my builds on youtube. I never run 'non skippable' ads, and I...

Okay, just... just watch the video, I show what I'm looking at here, it's a super basic system and I don't know if the Victron charger is fighting the BMS or the self heating system or wtf is going on I just want this to work and I've spent so much fucking money and it still doesn't work.

I bought one. It was a massive piece of shit and didn't work. Renogy advertises it as having RS485, but that was a joke, tech support wanted me to spend another $60 on a bluetooth adaptor and then bluetooth into the M1. Then it wouldn't connect to wifi, even though my laptop and phone both...

I mean yeah, but w big ass cables I just didn't think the resistance of the 6" ones would matter. Regardless I hooked it up the second way for now.

Lets do it. 12v system, parallel. I believe the spike is the SCC attempting to charge the battery but the BMS providing an abrupt halt, and the SCC realizing it stopped and cutting power. Series, so 690 watts at 89.8V, and yeah, I have observed 104-105volts in the early morning if sunny...

Oh btw it was sunny the entire time. So. yeah.

Yeah man the heaters are a total wildcard. Kind of regret getting them to be honest. I have no idea what they are doing inside with the BMS and temps and heaters. But for now, she's working.

What about a DC to DC charger? Would that be more efficient?

Yes, I am running 4 cameras w motion spotlights, NVR, and 4g router. It goes from 100% to around 92% every night. Ambient temps are about 15-20 at night, and 30-50 deg during the day. I think the big thing is I finished insulating the shed/building, AND added foam to the batteries? Also, I...

I would blast heat at them 5-10 minutes. Yes, you guys said warm them up, but the building didn't have insulation and I don't really have room in the bus, which I also turn the heat off at night, and it gets down to about 25-30 degrees in the morning before I turn the diesel heater on. I am...

That is my biggest concern with any of those chinese companies. Sure, they might work now, but all their apps are utter shit, and they might stop working at any time with a small update, heck I don't even know if those companies will be around a few years from now.

No lithium here. Please forget I said anything about upgrading an entirely different vehicle/system to lithium.

Hey dudes, just sharing a quick video where I threw an extra panel I had on the ski skoolie, and doubled the battery power. I am now running mixed panels, AND a mixed battery bank (the company that made my current lithiums does not exist anymore so I can't run matched). I also give a...

Uhhhh no? lol brb. Thanks! Okay, wow, lots of alarms... but ..... nothing that lasted long enough to explain the absence of power generation. Also, really weird it's low voltage alarms, given that the smart shunt says I have over 90% power most mornings.

Thanks Waffles. Imma just get the one for the smart shunt, less wiring to run all over the place and can keep it in the battery box, basically. Ruuvi is cool but I don't want the battery to die on it when I'm 1700 miles away.

Hey dudes, here is my off-grid, high altitude solar workshop design and install video that would not have been successful without your help. The challenge here was the climate and the weather that comes with building at 8k' in the rocky mountains. We get upwards of 100" of snow per...

Okay, super short version, I have a property about 2000+ miles from my house, and on that property I have a converted school bus, and a shed for snow removal equipment. I am installing 400w of solar panels, and 400Ah of lithium batteries, and TBD charge controller. The batteries will operate...

Thanks! The video quality is great, it's HD. Also, the data is YOURS, not going to Amazon or google, with zero monthly fees. And the system is expandable; I could run 8 cameras if I wanted to, all of various types. They SHOULD be okay in the winter, I had some issues last winter...

That's so dumb. It's 2022. I can see my security system from anywhere in the world, but transmitting a couple 1s and 0s to show some numbers? Impossible. Wtf.

Yup, this was the first time we were out there.... didnt' go very well. This forum, and YOUR HELP SPECIFICALLY, saved my ass. I owe you a beer. Since switching to victron everything has been flawless. F renogy.

I mean, how else would I fully charge these. A traditional charger? I don't have AC. I mean I guess I could run a generator for a few hours but they both read 12.8V or so when disconnected. Is the voltage spike the output of the MPPT? How would a battery BMS cause a voltage spike?

But you just said I need 150 so I don't blow it during winter. So a 150/35 or 150/45? I used to be really abrasive, sometimes I still am; I apologize if I've offended you in the past. Part of being a good human is evolving and always striving to be better to each other. So 150/35/45/60...

Durango, ish. Yes... honestly it's a glaring design flaw in all these diesel heaters. IF the exhaust clogs up.... it's still burning stuff, and it has heat, so hte heat builds up and causes the gaskets to fail INTERNALLY in the unit. Then the exhaust can start coming out the heat output port...

Video #2: The design and install of the solar system. What made this challenging for me was the climate, weather, and elevation are fairly extreme compared to a lot of builds, so trying to design around these problems resulted in a lot of overbuilding of the system, for most of the year...

DAMMIT! I'll update that next time I get out there, which should hopefully be in a few short weeks. Thanks for all the help! Always more to learn.

Renogy fucking sucks

Yeah, blows my mind that the Kidde CO alarm didn't go off at all either. WTF. It wasn't 100% blocked, but... 50%? If it was 100% blocked I think the heater would shut off. When it's crazy restricted I think the heat builds up, and there is pressure in there from the combustion, so maybe...

Measured impedance and its .1ohm. This is just the start. Plan to have an off grid garage/apartment eventually. Really needed remote management and renogy is garbage.

Right, but with MPPT, you can over panel the charger with no detriment if you don't exceed voltage input limit, right? I get that it would only be 15A/220watts output tho. It's a 12v system at the moment, which I plan on keeping since the security system runs off from 12v as well. I don't...

Wait, you mean like put the pos from the charger one one battery, and the neg on the other battery? Why? It's all just big thick cables, and it's all the same circuit. That type of thinking seems like.... idk... not really grasping how electricity works. It shouldn't care if it's getting...

Hey everyone, been a while. Last winter I installed a 700 watt off grid shed, with victron components (F renogy!!!!), thread with details here: https://diysolarforum.com/threads/please-help-me-victron-system-amperetime-batteries-nothing-makes-any-sense.58710/ Now, ever since I got it...

Ok I'll go cross cables. Makes no sense to me but sure.

No, it makes sense. I just want to read more about it, the 5-10% voltage thing is mentioned a lot on forums, but I'm not finding any nice articles that go into more detail. Like, a lot of the articles about mixed panels don't even mention this, which I find surprising.

10-4, like I said, I can control the charge voltage. The book said 14.4, but I lowered it to 14.0 this morning, so I'm not sure why they are still upset. I'll updated it to 13.8. Yes, I can see the individual cell voltage on both apps for both brands of battery. Neither app allows any...

BOOYAHHHH!!! Thanks much boys! 13.8V did the trick, the batteries did not trigger the Charge MOS turnining off. I am still not getting an even draw on all 4 batteries, so maybe I need to try rewiring them with a bus bar or something..... but... they're not that far off, and they do all hit...

Batteries. Put the leads right on them with the SCC connected, one at a time. Didn't even have them hooked up in parallel for this test.

Update: They weren't discharged too much, only at like 65% or so. Not sure why the power was out here. Ripping out all the renogy crap and replacing with victron. They're 100% charged now.

Update: Have Smart Solar 150/45 installed, and it's saying the batteries are at 100%. I have the settings set to 12v, and preset to Smart LiPo4, but when I am watching the status, the voltage is jumping from 12-13v up to 17v, then back down to 12-13. I don't understand why it's showing 17v...

No smoke, no rain, it was sunny/partly cloudy. I don't have any heaters.

I dropped the charging voltage to 13.8 on the Renogy BT app, which is also a piece of shit. Here's some screenshots:

I have a small 8x16' shed, I've wired 120v AC outlets around inside the shed. I have a 1200watt victron inverter. The wiring for the outlets all terminates near the inverter, but the inverter has a female AC plug on it. What's the correct way to from an AC plug to multiple romex wires?

Is this for a 2kw? 5kw? What size pump?

My current plan is to get a Renogy 60A Rover, which has an RS485 (Rj45) communcations port, and a Renogy One M1 control panel... that has wifi. So then I can monitor it from anywhere, but I would need to pay $30/year to do so, and it's a "walled garden", but this is a lot cheaper than going to...

I don't really need an inverter....

Sorry, the renogy controller I had installed yesterday said the batteries were at 100%, but it was guessing. That said it'd been running for a few days with no load.

What the fuck is the point fo "self heating" batteries if the solar charge controller cannot heat them? By that definition I should have just gotten normal batteries and used a heating pad with a relay or something to warm them before charging. I could bring them inside but again... what...

I searched but most answers are for huge residential systems. I have a solar 'shed' with 400Ah of lithium batteries, and 700 watts of solar on the roof. I wired the interior of the shed for AC, and my inverter is a Victron Phoenix 1200w with a single AC output receptacle. I'm unclear on how...

So question branching off from this, I have a renogy 12v system with mppt controller in my bus, and I have a seperate 1500w inverter. I turn the inverter off when not in use, because I was told it consumes energy just having it on. For combination/more residential units like GroWatt, that...

It's coming..... this was just the install. And I don't know if the 'self heating' was the problem, or the renogy charger was the problem, or the batteries weren't balanced was the problem? It's hard to say without knowing WTF the batteries are doing with their own logic, but for now...

Got back here yesterday; wouldn't putting the big panel in series with the two smaller panels limit the big panel? Like, if the smaller 100W panels in parallel aren't doing much, but the big panel is, wouldn't it be throttled by the partially shaded 100W panels?

.... ?

Update: Just came back, and even in overcast conditions it's charging at 190watts, no errors, full power, all systems seem normal. WHEW. Man that was annoying. I have some questions but I don't want to muddy the waters so I'm going to start a new thread.

I’ve been messing w the settings but high voltages just seem to make the BMS go crazy. I really don't see how what you asked for matters. My panels are 3x 230 watt commercial panels wired in series. I don’t really see how their specs are relevant. They are making power it’s the battery...

Just spent $45 on about 50 cents worth of cables. So stupid. Anyway, I disconnected the panels until I get this figured out. Here's my settings, and here is what I am seeing for voltage. Why is it spiking and going up and down like this???

Update: The m1 is a collosal piece of shit that barely functions, and then quits working, support is useless, wound up returning it. Still waiting for an easy straightforward way to monitor my solar system remotely.

Well, what's weird and that I can't explain is I charged them both, individually, for over a day. Then I let them rest. Then I hooked them up together, and it still acted stupid for the next 2 mornings. Now it seems fine tho!

^ that was my plan, but like... on a finished wall, how would the cable with that commercial plug, go into the junction box? Every junction box I find has openings on the side; but the junction box will be buried in the wall itself. So like.... how do you go from a wire, into a wall to get to...

So my off grid neighbor built a small cabin, and on the roof he mounted 4 200w Eco-Worthy panels in series, specs are: Rated Power: 195W Solar Cell: Monocrystalline Maximum/Peak Voltage(Vmp): 18V Open Circuit Voltage(Voc): 21.6V Short circuit current: 10.83A Maximum current: 11.89A His...

Victron 150/45.

Question about Raspberry Pi and Solar Assistant; is there way to also control a floodlight/siren using the SAME raspberry pi? I'm on the fence about trying this; I'm looking to monitor my system remotely and be able to turn a couple things on to scare off thieves

happy st Pattie’s dudes ☘️? Small update. System wasn’t charging this morning. Tore off insulation and blasted side of batteries w me buddy heater. Bam. Taking charge. Harvested over 1kw of sun today, more than previous 6 days combined, ferda! I also hooked up the CerboGX today since the...

Okay, another update. I hit up all the autoparts stores in the area, and walmart, and I only found one battery charger capable of charging lithium batteries, but it was only 3A. I figured it was better than nothing, so I bought that, turned the inverter on in the bus, plugged in an extension...

Yes I can. It's not hooked up to the rest of the grid. Which is stupid.

Like what? I'll consider anything except renogy.

The only dumb chargers I can find are for lead acid, not lithium, and from what I understand the voltage wouldn't be high enough (12v instead of 14v). Am I incorrect on this? I have a dumb 6A charger somewhere. Would using jumper cables from a car work instead? I know lithium can take a ton...

Anyone? I am headed back out west and want to have a way to monitor my solar system's power and battery levels.

Like what? After dealing with renogy's bullshit and having an inop system for a few months, every single penny I spent on Victron stuff has been worth it. Instead of $500 for a Renogy charger and wifi module ($300 Rover + $200 M1), I spent $650 (350 for the charger and 300 for the cerbo) it's...

I'm really, really, really frustrated. "Self heating" are advertised as ... idk... SELF HEATING. If none of them work, why are they being produced by more and more companies?

My system: 690 Watts of Panels, 150/45 SmartSolar Charger, 1200w Phoenix Inverter, Cerbo GX connected to a 5g router with good reception, and a Smart Shunt attached to 400Ah of self heating LitTime batteries. Last winter, the batteries did not charge reliably until I insulated them and got...

No lithium. I have a skoolie that currently has the two AGM batteries, but it will be upgraded to lithium shortly. Then I will have the two AGMs sitting around doing nothing..... and I have this camper iwth one deep cycle, don't have the specs. Just trying to figure out how to utilize the...

I want to be able to monitor my solar system, battery amount, and be able turn on a siren/floodlight from anywhere in the world. CURRENT SYSTEM 720 Watts of Solar Panels Renogy 60A Rover (150v max input) MPPT Charge Controller 2x200Ah AmpereTime Lithium Ions Kuwai 4g Router (12v powered) SO I...

Nope, I don't know how you'd do that without disassembling them. When disconnected from everything, they read 13volts, which is 40-50% SOC according to the literature.

I have a smart shunt, I'll add it quick but I don't have any VE direct cables because I stupidly thought the cerbo could come iwth them.

The renogy pretty much always said the batteries were at 100%, but it's full of it. The batteries NEVER seemed to hold power like they're advertised to, the 200ah lead acid in my bus seems to be more powerful than the 400Ah lithiums, which didn't make sense. On top of that, renogy lied in...

Goal: Small off grid system for shed, WITH REMOTE MONITORING CAPABILITES (have cell service) System: PV 690 watts (3 230 watt panels) hooked up in series for a max of 89.8 volts, 7.78 Amps. Victron Blue Solar 100v/15A Charge Controller 2 200Ah Ampere Time Lithium Ion Batteries 500A Smart...

Alright, here's the sitch: I have a camper with a bigass deep cycle 12v battery, lead acid. My skoolie (entirely different system) has two AGM batteries like this, but I'm replacing those with lithium, which means I will have two of these laying around, to be USED ON THE CAMPER...

They are both at 13volts now. Last night they were at 13.13V. They've been disconnected. YEs, I am planning on trying to charge them individually to get them both to 100% SOC before putting them back together. Yes, I am monitoring victron w the app. Please watch the video, pretty please...

But I don't need an inverter, and that requires an inverter. I'm fine with just an MPPT controller

Shed System: 2x200AH AmpereTime Lithiums, 3x 240W 24v solar panels, & a renogy rover 60A MPPT charger, small 400w inverter. I am currently living in a shorty school bus with a smaller solar system (2x100w panels, 20a MPPT charger, 2x100Ah AGMs). The weather has been bad, snowing for 3...

So wait..... you're running the phoenix to convert DC to AC back to DC? Why not just hook up the router/antenna/cameras directly to the batteries? I am building a similar system, it's actually already built, but I used renogy products and it just is not working. About to pull the trigger...

Edited original post, the issue was my victron system had a low temp charging protection ENABLED by default. Once I turned it off I no longer need to externally heat the batteries.

That's an interesting idea. It is wasteful, but it would make a robust system. I'm just not sure how much capacity it would add after running DC to AC back to DC. Right now I have access to a 230 watt solar panel, and a 100 watt panel. I'm not sure how i'm utilizing those yet; I am...

How? And which? Lower charge voltage or run them dead?

I think they're run by marketing now.

Okay, update, I disconnected the batteries from everything and checked with a meter, they are showing 11.4V.... where do I go from here? 11.4V should be high enough to charge, but the Renogy Rover was showing 0% SOC. ??? Very confused this system has been working fine for months.

So I have a bus with 2 100w Renogy panels on the roof. It's not cutting it anymore. I have an extra 230w santan panel laying around doing nothing... so mocked this up, does this look correct to everyone? Also yes F Renogy, but this system already exists, so I'm using it.

Also... it's showing my inverter is "unknown" and "not connected". All other components are live, but my inverter was last 'seen' 5 hours ago. Huh. I wonder if my inverter is flaky....

Here you can see what happens half an hour later. It goes from (barely) charging to somehow tripping the BMS (left side) I disconnected the battery for 10 seconds then reconnected (right side)

Okaaayyyy update time boys. Try as I might, I could not get both batteries to the same level of charge. One battery got up to 14.4V, and after being disconnected for a day, it still reads 14v. The other battery would eventually go up to 14.4, but it was LYING. Using the victron app I could...

The $30 fee is worth it if i I can remotely turn on lights and stuff.... it's new, if I hate it I'll change to victron.

Yes, but it wasn't cold those days. I checked weather history, 70s/80s/90s the entire time. I don't have a temp sensor tho.

I don't have a situation yet. Just trying to figure out what makes sense to keep everything topped off when I'm not there for months at a time, and keeps the batteries topped off when I am there using it.

How do you do capacity testing without flattening them? Have a link? I'll google it now.