chickencoops
New Member
My good sir, why do you hate Victron?
My parents are moving into a parked 50 amp RV inside 11 acres to be near my aging grandparents. Please help design their off grid solar system?
- Thread starter chickencoops
- Start date
Rednecktek
Solar Wizard
I consider them the Apple of solar. You pay through the nose to get into their ecosystem and you're nickle & dimed for every little thing. From a value perspective FOR ME they just seem like over priced name brand wallet flex equipment.
Sure, they FINALLY dropped the prices of their SCC's to high end instead of OMGWTF, but the inverters, fuse blocks (which last I checked only use MEGA fuses which aren't supposed to be rated for LFP), screw covers, shunts, etc is still WWAAAYYY more than anyone else for the same functionality.
Just a bad value for the dollar in my eyes. Just like Apple computers.
chickencoops
New Member
Ahhh fair enough! That makes sense. Someone here recommended to go with UL listed inverter like Sol-ark 15k and EG4 powerpro but we will do the power audit and have a requirement list before looking at components.
Daddy Tanuki
Solar Wizard
remember other makes exist like the magnum, outbacks and shcneider's (xantrex/trace) solark is a recent impot from china, while it is OK they are charging 1st tier prices for a rebadged china unit that you can buy off of alibabba for a 1/4 of the price. the only real difference is in the software they load the units with. research the name you will see a bunch of threads in the last 12 months complaining about when solark got the US as a sales patch and blocked the OE maker (Deye) from selling in the US.
while it was Deye selling in the US they were worth what you paid for them. now rebadged as Solark I do not think they are worth what they charge for them. YMMV.
MisterSandals
Participation Medalist
The software is extremely important!
Schneider, perhaps with the finest hardware, has the poorest software (and support), is a weak product overall.
Daddy Tanuki
Solar Wizard
agreed that schneiders software sucks compared to some of the others.
Magnum has very little software to deal with simple plug stuff in and it works, what it does not offer is a GUI that us DIY Nerds can play with for endless hours looking at the fancy lights.
You cannot plug into it with a computer and monitor everything from your cell phone and that is its biggest point for selling to the market at this point in time. What it does have though is that it is a 20+ year old design with the bugs eliminated at this point.
only real issue is that as a first tier item they are not cheap, but with the current price of the Solarks you are not saving any real amounts of cash. and with the magnum, being that it is Not an AIO if one peice goes out you can swap that one piece and be up and running quickly where as with an AIO you have to have a complete spare AIO which is way more expensive that simply stocking a spare charge controller or a couple of the boards for the inverter.
just my thoughts.
Partimewages
Solar Addict
There was a bunch of negative comments on the RV forums in the last couple years about magnum. No service no parts. Supposedly they moved to Mexico.
Anyone know anything about that? I have no direct knowledge.
Anyone know anything about that? I have no direct knowledge.
Daddy Tanuki
Solar Wizard
yes they did during the middle of covid, they are once again available. bad timing on Sensata's part. Sensata bought out Magnum about 8 years ago and in an effort to squeeze as much profit as possible they decided to move the production line down to mexico. not that big of a deal in my eyes as the parts are all global sourced and it was just assembled in the US. hell probably less dope smokers on that side f the border as they can't afford it... better QC as a result probably.
because it happened during covid it turned into a cluster fuck of epic proportions. that and since the parts are from the global supply chain they had issues with that as well... trust me I have alot of magnum gear and i was one of the folks howling about it.
Partimewages
Solar Addict
Thanks for clarification. Magnum always had a great reputation. I was afraid it wasn't the case now. Everyone makes mistakes.
Daddy Tanuki
Solar Wizard
the biggest issue I see with magnum now, is that they lost most of their tech staff. the people who actually understood how all the system work together. so getting tech help is slower and takes more tries to get the help you need. though admittedly most of the stuff is covered in the manual (very extensive manual i might add.) just me not being a trained electrician some of it I was not to sure about.
Kiwi2000
Solar Enthusiast
Just about anything can be achieved if you throw enough money at it.
This is what I would consider the ultimate system in a RV...
I would highly recommend to go with Victron components (except for maybe the batteries).
Being that it is modular and can add more at a later date if they find they need it and it will still integrate seamlessly.
And Victron's user interface/software side of things makes for a much nicer user experience.
This is what I would consider the ultimate system in a RV...
I would highly recommend to go with Victron components (except for maybe the batteries).
Being that it is modular and can add more at a later date if they find they need it and it will still integrate seamlessly.
And Victron's user interface/software side of things makes for a much nicer user experience.
Just sharing my absorption fridge experiences. I have had 2. A 3-way (12V, 120, gas), which stunk, wouldn't work hardly at all, and my current, a 120V and Propane Dometic DM2672. It's a completely different experience. It's a great fridge. Uses almost nil electric on gas. Works as good or better than any 12V fridge I've ever used. I'd put it up against any residential fridge of a similar size (6 cu ft). It sips propane, and It allows me to dry camp for two weeks at least, without refilling propane. Yes, the OP has a different use case, but absorption fridges are not all alike. Just sayin'
Bravo, Rednecktek! While the victron products I own are of good quality, I despise being locked into any one "ecosystem", hardware or software. Any technology. Sometime this forum seems like an endless comercial for victron. It sometimes seems a little over the top. Just my humble opinion.
Kiwi2000
Solar Enthusiast
Brucey
Solar Wizard
In Wills defense he does review a LiTime + giandel combo for the cheaper value option after the epoch+multiplus he recommends as the premium/performance version.
It actually was Will's latest video that inspired my post. Hey, I know it's his business, and I like and support non-china stuff, but things are a little over the top around here, sometimes. It's becoming annoying.
sunshine_eggo
Happy Breffast!
"locked into" - This is a cage I love being in. Nothing else on the planet provides the same level of monitoring or control of a system.
Kiwi2000
Solar Enthusiast
But it doesn't require being 'locked into the Victron ecosystem'.
You could just have one Victron component amongst your system and it will still function as advertised. You could just have a Victron SCC all by itself. Or you could just have a Victron shunt only. Or you could just have a Victron inverter as the only Victron component in your system. It's simply not true that you would be required to have everything Victron.
It's just that a lot of people gravitate that way once they start using a Victron component. That's why I recommend people to start out with Victron gear in the first place.
You could just have one Victron component amongst your system and it will still function as advertised. You could just have a Victron SCC all by itself. Or you could just have a Victron shunt only. Or you could just have a Victron inverter as the only Victron component in your system. It's simply not true that you would be required to have everything Victron.
It's just that a lot of people gravitate that way once they start using a Victron component. That's why I recommend people to start out with Victron gear in the first place.
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Partimewages
Solar Addict
Locked in isn't even a description of Victron.
You have no idea how many things they talk to. Solar is only your world. I would Take a look at the documentation. It will be enlightening!
You have no idea how many things they talk to. Solar is only your world. I would Take a look at the documentation. It will be enlightening!
sunshine_eggo
Happy Breffast!
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