diy solar

diy solar

EG4 18k or two 6000XP can't decide

JoeHam said:
I think you would lose that bet 😎.

IMHO Victron simplicity on the software side is the gold standard that the rest emulate.

I run a hodgepodge of various gear and hate the computer side of it. Victron’s software side is orders of magnitude better than Schneider, EP Ever and about another half dozen brands I’ve used/still use.

They do charge a premium for it but you get what you pay for IMHO.

Good luck with your project. Maybe I will spot it next time I ride the Cog train 😎.
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Yes everyone loves Victron, I understand its a quality product. But Victron doesn't sell a 48V lithium battery, I'd have to string together 4 12V lithium batteries with Victron, so instead we bought the EG4 batteries that weigh 100 lbs, my weight limit. And with EG4 batteries, I've become enamored with the EG4 inverters, so will PROBABLY buy the 6000XP in the springtime.
 
Arlene303 said:
Yes everyone loves Victron, I understand its a quality product. But Victron doesn't sell a 48V lithium battery, I'd have to string together 4 12V lithium batteries with Victron, so instead we bought the EG4 batteries that weigh 100 lbs, my weight limit. And with EG4 batteries, I've become enamored with the EG4 inverters, so will PROBABLY buy the 6000XP in the springtime.
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Victron doesn't require victron batteries.

I have a home-built 14s NMC battery with Batrium BMS fully in control of my Victron system.

The EG4 48V server rack batteries work with Victron as well with Venus OS 3.00 and higher.
 
sunshine_eggo said:
I installed one of those in a 2019 Prius. Plug out power obliterated anything obvious brand/model related, so I wasn't able to determine where they source them. Now that I look at the picture, the color scheme is identical to the 24/3kW PowMr I picked up recently... :ROFLMAO:

View attachment 194892
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Interesting. Do you like it? Can you unplug it and store it in your garage when you want more cargo space in your trunk? Can you disconnect the cable from the traction battery easily from trunk components, and hopefully have a disconnect switch for safety?
 
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sunshine_eggo said:
Victron doesn't require victron batteries.

I have a home-built 14s NMC battery with Batrium BMS fully in control of my Victron system.

The EG4 48V server rack batteries work with Victron as well with Venus OS 3.00 and higher.
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Interesting setup, hope it lasts a good long while for you! Yes, V doesn't require V batteries understand. I called a local, Victron supplier, and they barely wanted to suggest a Victron Quattro II inverter to be semi-comparable to EG4 6000XP. They said the Quattro II is 230V European voltage so probably wouldn't take care of our 400' induction pump 240V, like the 6000XP could, and didn't really want to continue the conversation, and stressed they wouldn't warranty anything. Is there another Victron inverter that would be comparable?
 
Arlene303 said:
Interesting setup, hope it lasts a good long while for you! Yes, V doesn't require V batteries understand. I called a local, Victron supplier, and they barely wanted to suggest a Victron Quattro II inverter to be semi-comparable to EG4 6000XP. They said the Quattro II is 230V European voltage so probably wouldn't take care of our 400' induction pump 240V, like the 6000XP could, and didn't really want to continue the conversation, and stressed they wouldn't warranty anything. Is there another Victron inverter that would be comparable?
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All North American Victron inverters are 120V. You get 120/240V split phase with 2X inverters working in parallel.

IMHO, Quattros should never be used unless there is a clear need for TWO AC inputs (only one active at a time), or there is not a multiplus/multiplus II available in the voltage/power you need. I'm only running Quattros because these units weren't available when I was in the market.

@Adam De Lay is running 2X MP-II 48/5000 in parallel for split phase, and he switched due to problems with the predecessor to the EG4 6000XP.

Victron has been around since the 70s. How long has EG4 been around? :p
 
sunshine_eggo said:
All North American Victron inverters are 120V. You get 120/240V split phase with 2X inverters working in parallel.

IMHO, Quattros should never be used unless there is a clear need for TWO AC inputs (only one active at a time), or there is not a multiplus/multiplus II available in the voltage/power you need. I'm only running Quattros because these units weren't available when I was in the market.

@Adam De Lay is running 2X MP-II 48/5000 in parallel for split phase, and he switched due to problems with the predecessor to the EG4 6000XP.

Victron has been around since the 70s. How long has EG4 been around? :p
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To be perfectly transparent, I was sent the Victron system for testing and reviewing but I would never switch back to the 6500EX inverters. What’s next on the horizon, not sure but it would have to be a pretty amazing system for me to change my main system away from Victron inverters.
 
sunshine_eggo said:
All North American Victron inverters are 120V. You get 120/240V split phase with 2X inverters working in parallel.

IMHO, Quattros should never be used unless there is a clear need for TWO AC inputs (only one active at a time), or there is not a multiplus/multiplus II available in the voltage/power you need. I'm only running Quattros because these units weren't available when I was in the market.

@Adam De Lay is running 2X MP-II 48/5000 in parallel for split phase, and he switched due to problems with the predecessor to the EG4 6000XP.

Victron has been around since the 70s. How long has EG4 been around? :p
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Yes Victron rocks, yes yes, a couple MP-II 48/5000 looks conceivable... watching a few youtubes on it... oy tired, thanks for tips, g'night
 
Adam De Lay said:
To be perfectly transparent, I was sent the Victron system for testing and reviewing but I would never switch back to the 6500EX inverters. What’s next on the horizon, not sure but it would have to be a pretty amazing system for me to change my main system away from Victron inverters.
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Great, where will you post your reviews of the Victron you are testing? Seems like EG4 has fixed a lot of what is wrong with the 6500EX by releasing the 6000XP. Although with the 6000XP, seems folks wish they had an additional phone app screen to see both 120v sides at the same time, and total, or additional screen they can program parameters they want to see all at a glance, Wish there was a way to change the 5 minute auto restart to a shorter wait time.
 
Arlene303 said:
Great, where will you post your reviews of the Victron you are testing? Seems like EG4 has fixed a lot of what is wrong with the 6500EX by releasing the 6000XP. Although with the 6000XP, seems folks wish they had an additional phone app screen to see both 120v sides at the same time, and total, or additional screen they can program parameters they want to see all at a glance, Wish there was a way to change the 5 minute auto restart to a shorter wait time.
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What is the 5 minute auto restart time you are referring to?
 
Arlene303 said:
Great, where will you post your reviews of the Victron you are testing? Seems like EG4 has fixed a lot of what is wrong with the 6500EX by releasing the 6000XP. Although with the 6000XP, seems folks wish they had an additional phone app screen to see both 120v sides at the same time, and total, or additional screen they can program parameters they want to see all at a glance, Wish there was a way to change the 5 minute auto restart to a shorter wait time.
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On my Youtube channel. Just search for my name.

AZ Solar Junkie said:
What is the 5 minute auto restart time you are referring to?
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The "auto-restart" after an overload
 
At least it's a decipherable time. My Growatts seem to make up that time interval randomly so i never know when or IF they are going to auto-restart or whether i should manually turn them off and back on again. Thankfully it becomes less and less of an issue as i improve things and get better at not over-drawing the system.

As far as the inverter choice I would go for whichever has or has better built-in 'load shedding' aka turning off a 2nd ac output based on battery SOC or other conditions. That's the biggest feature i would pay money to not have to come up with myself, if i were comparing two otherwise similar setups.

There's also something to be said for redundancy or contingencies as far as having two inverters vs one.. if one inverter out of a pair fails you still have SOME power available, vs if you have only a single large inverter and it fails you have no power. But you might have other options available already anyway in the generator or a vehicle-based system, etc. For example, i have a 5kw 120v inverter and a 4kw gas generator as 'easy' backup options, and some other smaller more tedious options so for me it would not be unthinkable to swap my 2 paralleled inverters for one larger one as i would still have 'contingencies'. But it's something to think about in the 2 small vs 1 big inverter discussion.
 
I have the 18k and using for offgrid and I am very pleased with it. Very solid piece of equipment. At the time the 6000xp's were not out. No question in my mind, if I had it to do over again and the 6000xps were available, I would have gone that way. It provide redundancy of 240v service should one go out, and you have added solar capacity with 2 separate MPPTs per unit. You can buy 3 at the same price and have one in waiting if needed.
 
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xtrorion said:
I have the 18k and using for offgrid and I am very pleased with it. Very solid piece of equipment. At the time the 6000xp's were not out. No question in my mind, if I had it to do over again and the 6000xps were available, I would have gone that way. It provide redundancy of 240v service should one go out, and you have added solar capacity with 2 separate MPPTs per unit. You can buy 3 at the same price and have one in waiting if needed.
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good feedback, thanks!
 
Vigo said:
At least it's a decipherable time. My Growatts seem to make up that time interval randomly so i never know when or IF they are going to auto-restart or whether i should manually turn them off and back on again. Thankfully it becomes less and less of an issue as i improve things and get better at not over-drawing the system.

As far as the inverter choice I would go for whichever has or has better built-in 'load shedding' aka turning off a 2nd ac output based on battery SOC or other conditions. That's the biggest feature i would pay money to not have to come up with myself, if i were comparing two otherwise similar setups.

There's also something to be said for redundancy or contingencies as far as having two inverters vs one.. if one inverter out of a pair fails you still have SOME power available, vs if you have only a single large inverter and it fails you have no power. But you might have other options available already anyway in the generator or a vehicle-based system, etc. For example, i have a 5kw 120v inverter and a 4kw gas generator as 'easy' backup options, and some other smaller more tedious options so for me it would not be unthinkable to swap my 2 paralleled inverters for one larger one as i would still have 'contingencies'. But it's something to think about in the 2 small vs 1 big inverter discussion.
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Good point, as long as you know, you can start timer on phone upstairs, and then if inverter doesn't come on in 4min30sec, then start heading downstairs to the mechanical room. Yes, we have shunt reading upstairs on the wall so can see voltage drop when we turn on microwave or pump, so we are hyper aware of our loads, and have always shut our system down before it reaches 42V, (like at 43.5V), so our inverter hasn't shut itself off in a while.

My husband fixed our 120V/240V AC gas generator problem from last week - somehow the inverter was set to 'automatic' generator when it should have been set to 'manual' generator. Yes we drag our 5kW gas generator out in the snow to use it (thinking of getting Kohler or Generac to replace it), although this time in the wet denser snowstorm he left it running in the garage with the garage door open. In 13 years we've never had this problem, we think it's strange that after 13 years he would bump a setting the wrong way to select 'automatic'... so easy to do on older systems, and we are looking forward to the easy app software in the new inverter that can quickly tell if we set something wrong with a wrong finger swipe.

Yes good point, redundant inverter is necessary, we've both agreed on this before, I only went down the debate rabbit hole of 1 vs 2 because 6000W seemed so big initially because we originally wanted 5k inverter, hate to go overkill, but the realism of market availability reigns, and hey we can more comfortably charge PHEV cars this way.
 
Arlene303 said:
generator although this time in the wet denser snowstorm he left it running in the garage with the garage door open.
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A bit off topic for the thread, but please don't do that. Definitely not safe. Just a tiny shift in the wind, or not enough wind, or any number of other unpredictable factors, and some person like me is getting paged to go to your house, hopefully to help get you outside, revived, and checked out, but potentially to carry you and your family out of the house for the last time. Never, ever, ever, run a generator inside your home, even in the garage with the doors wide open. Sure, sometimes - maybe for years - it's fine. Until one day it's not, and then it's too often tragic. Go a few extra feet, outside, into a well-ventilated area. Buy a GFCI device for the cord if the generator doesn't have that built in. Test those, too, every time you start the generator. Takes seconds. Saves lives.

We like having you here on the forum. Let's keep your around for that, and a thousand other reasons. Preaching over, but I really don't want to get that call one day.
 
Madcodger said:
A bit off topic for the thread, but please don't do that. Definitely not safe. Just a tiny shift in the wind, or not enough wind, or any number of other unpredictable factors, and some person like me is getting paged to go to your house, hopefully to help get you outside, revived, and checked out, but potentially to carry you and your family out of the house for the last time. Never, ever, ever, run a generator inside your home, even in the garage with the doors wide open. Sure, sometimes - maybe for years - it's fine. Until one day it's not, and then it's too often tragic. Go a few extra feet, outside, into a well-ventilated area. Buy a GFCI device for the cord if the generator doesn't have that built in. Test those, too, every time you start the generator. Takes seconds. Saves lives.

We like having you here on the forum. Let's keep your around for that, and a thousand other reasons. Preaching over, but I really don't want to get that call one day.
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Yes, any negative pressure in the house can easily suck in carbon monoxide from the garage, even with the garage door open.
 
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