Search results

If you have the victron compatible version of the REC, just toss the Victron Venos OS onto the Raspberry Pi.

Properly designed, your contactor/batteryprotects should never operate. Through the Cerbo, the BMS voltage and current limits will be forwarded to the inverter/charger, so it will follow those commands. If I was you, I'd look at slightly reorganizing your setup, with the inverter/charger, and...

Just make sure that you do not have your inverter behind a batteryprotect, as the batteryprotect can only handle current flowing in one direction while your inverter/charger can obviously push current in both directions. If you have the control and venusos going, then it’s entirely likely that...

That’s often done. I know that on some larger vessels they have a dedicated battery forward, as it means they don’t need to run heave gauge wiring from the engine compartment (usually) to the forward cabin/vee berth to power the windlass.

The biggest issue with your windlass is what is going to happen when it stalls out due to a fouled anchor or similar. It’s basically going to go to a near short circuit. You’ll likely pop the fuses. Also, the high inrush current can erode the contacts on the control solenoid. I was worried...

You can’t use a battery protect for the multiplus, as the current flows both ways while the BatteryProtects can only handle current in one direction. My charge bus is controlled by a BlueSea 7713. I like it for a couple of reasons: It’s 500a rated, it only consumes about 7ma while holding, I...

In this kind of a system, the settings are sort of all one and the same. Yes, you set a low voltage cutoff on the inverter, but as long as it's getting commanded by the BMS (via the VenusOS running on the Raspberry Pi they mention) the BMS limits will override whatever is configured...

I don't think you need the absorption set for that long, as I recall my settings are only a couple of minutes. As I recall, it will stretch it out if it needs to balance the cells. That said, I also don't know that you'll see much of the shoulder at 3.45 for it to balance reasonably. On my boat...

Some things aren't worth saving a buck on. My main DC Distribution block on my boat is a BlueSea SafetyHub 150. 4 high capacity for my port/starboard distribution panels (and the DC->DC charger for my starter battery) then a series of six ATO fuses for all the bits and bobs in my electrical closet.

The bigger issue is the logistics of carrying gasoline. Gasoline is takes more care and thought to carry on a boat compared to diesel/kerosene as it will evaporate with explosive vapours. Diesel doesn’t. If I was on a larger boat where I actually needed a genset, I’d consider the advantage of...

When we’re not at the dock, it’s an 85A alternator with a Wakespeed Regulator bolted onto our poor little Yanmar 1GM10 (single cylinder 10HP engine), with a wakespeed external reglator. The dirty little secret when it comes to sailing, at least in our part of the world, is that if you have any...

I mean, we could, but I also admit to a bit of vanity and don't really want her to look like a floating power station. The reality is that we're probably motoring 4 to 5 hours a day when we're actively using her, so that's more than enough to keep the batteries topped up. When we're doing a...

On my Ericson 27, there just isn’t much room for solar panels. I’ve got 120W on the dodger, and another 200W portable that I can unfold. The rest of the boat is primarily sailing hardware. Plus, the dirty secret when it comes to sailing on my part of the world is that realistically, you’re...

When faced with this decision, we went the DIY route, also doing a 460Ahr 2p4s (ie two 230Ah batteries in parallel) but we went with a REC ABMS. Why? Because I wanted my BMS to fully integrate into my system. I’m all in on the Victron Ecosystem, and having my battery integrate with my...

Except that it works fantastically in the real world. My boat is proof of it. It’s damned accurate, and basically runs itself. All I do is change the DVCC override when I want to put the boat into “storage mode”

That’s why you use a BMS that has a shunt? My REC ABMS has its own 500A shunt. The reason to have this integration is to let the battery control its own charge/discharge. This largely eliminates the possibility of an errant disconnect due to cell imbalance or over voltage. After spending...

I don't think it's any cheaper than right-sizing individual components... tbh, I really don't see the point of AIOs, just pick the components that make sense for your particular installation and optimize, optimize, optimize.

Happy with my DIY REC battery setup, it speaks well to my Victron & wakespeed setup. But it's certainly not "drop in" (being a contactor based BMS rather than FET)

So I have a little Isotemp hot water tank on my boat. It's heated by 120VAC. It also has a heat exchanger in it for engine coolant, but our engine is raw water cooled, so no coolant loop to tap. Since it's off the main breaker panel, which is downstream of our 2kVA Victron, we can technically...

So ABYC TE.13 is the technical standard that was recently released that covers Lithium power systems on boats. The IEC standard closely mirrors it, with a few differences. One of the things that both standards do is prohibit the paralleling of batteries of different chemistries. They can exist...

The problem with something like that is it means I’m now carrying two types of fuel on my boat. Diesel for my main engine, and a Jerrycan of gasoline for the range extender. The beauty of modern alternator regulators is that they can do everything needed to achieve the same goals while not...

I’ve always had terrible luck with cheap electronics rotting away and failing on my boat. To the point where I don’t bother any more with cheap junk.

It’s always on until something goes wrong :)

I have the smaller touch, and it’s a useful addition. Yes, I’ll often remote in even while down below, but it’s definitely useful to see what the unit is doing even if wifi isn’t up and running.

For better or worse, it seems like a lot of people here are trying to do things “on the cheap.” In those situations, it really is probably the best choice. If you’re just going to kludge together some LFP “Drop-ins” that can’t control their charging process, the safest thing to do is use a DC:DC...

I mean, there are other ways to achieve it to. Some of the cheaper FET based BMSs have communications abilities that can be integrated, and you can run Victron’s VenusOS on a Raspberry Pi if you want. I mostly wanted a system that I could build and forget about, and, well, it’s worked...

Yes. It connects to my BMS via CAN Bus, and will throttle/limit itself based on direction from the BMS. During the bulk stage, my BMS typically sets the limit to 14.5V and 120A. I can never actually hit that with my setup, so my alternator is typically pushing 40A or so (I deliberately derate it...

If you design things right, it’s not a problem. But what you really want to be looking at is an integrated system. On my boat, my BMS (REC Active BMS) sets the voltage and current limits, and the charging sources (My Alternator, Solar, and Inverter/Charger) all work within that limit. When...

No need for that, you just need a decent regulator. On my boat, my alternator, solar, and inverter/charger all directly charge my LiFePO4 house battery. My lead acid starter battery is kept topped up by a DC:DC charger. Works a treat.

I used milspec amphenol connectors for my through-deck connectors. Overkill? yeah, but they're watertight and reliable. I have a 15 pin at the base of my sailboat's mast that lets me disconnect the entire mast (other than VHF antenna) with one connector. Masthead Light, tri-light, deck light...

Nope. My 430Ah LFP house bank is installed in a void under the pilotberth where I normally sleep. Nothing to worry about, other than making sure that you do your install properly and safely.

Interestingly, I just noticed that REC released a new firmware (2.8.1) that comes in to flavours. Both versions will disconnect the charge contactor in case of an over voltage condition, however the behaviour differs when dealing with an under voltage situation. The -1 version will disconnect...

I’m using a victron battery protect for my load side, and a blue-sea latching relay for the charger/inverter/charger side. What I’ve tested is that my system never actually gets to the point where it would trigger the relays. I know the relays work, because I can turn things of with the...

So first and foremost, you should be Engineering your system so those relays never ever operate in normal operations. They’re intended to be self protection for the battery and never actually trigger in reality. HVD and LVD should be seen as an emergency situation. The REC does also have some...

Can you put a schematic together of what you do have right now? That would help us help you much better.