Victron 100/30, 0w or <10w

[KantPredict]

Bought a used Victron SmartSolar 100/30 to replace my EcoWorthy 60A PWM unit because DC coupling is awful and only getting me 100w out of 170w mpp on my single panel.

It's hooked up to a 200ah 4s LiFePo4 bank with a 100A JBD bluetooth BMS which definitely takes charges and discharges fine.

Hooked it up the other day and it repeatedly goes to 0w for hours at a time, or refuses to give me more than 10 watts.



I've disconnected it several times, factory defaulted the settings and flashed new firmware. No luck.

Any ideas how to get more power out of it?Because this isn't right.

 

[sunshine_eggo]

3 days ago shows a battery voltage of 20.04V. That's typically due to BMS protection cutting the battery out of the circuit and the MPPT spiking the voltage because it can't react quickly enough.

Use a seperate meter and verify:

BMS voltage to meter.
Battery voltage AT the MPPT battery terminals to what VictronConnect reports.

You can display values in the trends tab and get them logged for 46 days, which might help with troubleshooting.

Recommend you conduct any diagnostics you can in here:

Loading…

www.victronenergy.com

 

[KantPredict]

My meter says 12.99v, my BMS says 13.10v
VictronConnect says 13.07v and reading at terminals is again 12.99v on the meter.

That's all correct, the 20v spike might have been during setup.

Any other ideas?

It did complain about a current sensor previously but that error went away on a subsequent restart and I have had some power, just very tiny amounts.

 

[sunshine_eggo]

My meter says 12.99v, my BMS says 13.10v
VictronConnect says 13.07v and reading at terminals is again 12.99v on the meter.

Sounds like BMS and MPPT agree and your meter is the odd man out.

That's all correct, the 20v spike might have been during setup.

Any other ideas?

The Pre-RMA guide.

It did complain about a current sensor previously but that error went away on a subsequent restart and I have had some power, just very tiny amounts.

This may be important.

Recommend you include the monitoring screen as well as all battery config screens with expert switch enabled.

 

[KantPredict]

I'm a dumbass. I bought it used "untested but as new" and it was listed "parts or not working" to cover their ass.

It's got a burn mark on the negative battery terminal and they are refusing a refund because it was adequately described and in the correct category. The burn mark precludes warranty replacement.

Any thoughts before I open it up to maybe salvage some of the money I spent?

 

[sunshine_eggo]

Need support? - Victron Energy

Victron offers active support to distributors through training and materials. Contact a Victron Manager who will provide the necessary training.

www.victronenergy.com

They have a 5 year warranty. Worth pursuing before opening it up.

https://www.victronenergy.com/support-request

 

[KantPredict]

Need support? - Victron Energy

Victron offers active support to distributors through training and materials. Contact a Victron Manager who will provide the necessary training.

www.victronenergy.com

They have a 5 year warranty. Worth pursuing before opening it up.

https://www.victronenergy.com/support-request

I've sent a support request, but per their pre-RMA check, burnt terminals is a void on warranty.

 

[sunshine_eggo]

Can you get a better picture of the burn mark? It looks more like a stain than a burn. Usually burns will discolor/deform the plastic.

If that's the remnants of wire insulation that got pinched, warranty may not be out of the question.

 

[robbob2112]

Looks like this - sure seems like an electrical burn that may have fried the thing. I would take an exacto knife or something with a fine tip and see if it can be scraped off. If it won't scrape off yer probably out of luck.