Hey guys new to the site . Anyways current system is Outback vfx 3500 watt inverter and mx 60 charge controller 48 volt system. 24 6 volt Trojans lead acid. Wanting to go with lifepo4 batteries. Outback tells me my equipment won’t handle lithium. So thought was to go new all in one inverter and 6 of the lifepro4 batteries. Company is telling me they don’t recommend charging through the ac in. My thought is my gen is 12000 watt kohler, my current inverter is 3500 watts and I have no issues doing it this way. New inverter would be eg4 inverter but no change to load . Has anybody done it this way and have no issues?
Off grid inverter and generator
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timselectric
If I can do it, you can do it.
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Charging from AC, is half the reason for an AC in connection.
And yes, you can charge from a generator. As long as the power is clean enough.
It's what all of the cool kids are doing, these days. lol
And yes, you can charge from a generator. As long as the power is clean enough.
It's what all of the cool kids are doing, these days. lol
wattmatters
Solar Wizard
Buy from another company.
Lilikoi_Heavy_Industries
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I've seen professionally installed outback systems with LiFePO4, but I'd assume that they typically needed some tuning when installed. Do you have the mate3 panel with your inverter to set charge voltages, set the low voltage shutoff value, and set the max charging amps (for the AC powered battery charger)?
I believe outback has a way of coordinating the max charging amps so that both the generator and the solar won't charge at the same time and send too many amps to the batteries when max charging amps is hit, but I don't know if your system is setup for it. Can you post pictures of the full system--is it just the inverter or a pre-wired system that includes hub/mate/etc? I'm not an outback installer but I'm going to guess that more information will get you a better answer.
It is a matched system. I have the mate 1. The battery manufacturer called me the other day. We went through the charge parameters and he said that we can get to where he needs to be. He then called outback and they said the mx 60 charge controller and the fx inverter is not compatible with lithium. But they couldn’t give him a reason why
I was charging my LiFePO4 bank from my Honda 6500IS gas generator through my Sol Ark 12K last night, but I'm not cool at all (or so my daughter tells me.)
No problem with lithium and outback, just adjust your charge settings for lithium. Some fine tuning will be required when you see how they charge. For a start try inverter settings, I’m on 24v so double for 48
gen start 25v
bulk 28v
float 26.8
absorb 30 mins
never use the equalise setting.
gen start 25v
bulk 28v
float 26.8
absorb 30 mins
never use the equalise setting.
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Thanks for the reply. I ended up going to a whole new Victron system. Figured if I was spending the 9 grand in batteries I might as well update everything. Then I would know it would work. Figured running a 14 year old inverter and charge controller may be time .
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