Victron is Over-priced Eurotrash. Why would anybody buy Victron over an AiO?

[fafrd]

I keep hearing about all of this tech development. The tier one bubbas seem to be able to develop products and keep them around for twenty or more years. Not that I am against spares.

Victron has apparently introduced an EV charger integrated within their overall ecosystem in Europe (230VAC single-phase).

They tell me they have no plans to introduce an EVSS for the US market).

The integration of home battery + hybrid inverter + solar with EV + EVSS + bidirectional charging (connection to hybrid inverter) is going to become mainstream over the next decade and Victron is likely to sit that evolution out in the US or to lag far behind the competition…

 

[HighTechLab]

Unless it results in a compelling advantage for us, the customers, then the flavour of sauce used, secret or otherwise, means nothing.

If anything, keeping sauce secret can be a turn off.

Yes it sure does give an advantage to you. It's what empowers us to take care of our customers as well as we do.

How to run a company into the ground 101: don't take care of the guys on the frontline going to batt for you.

 

[boondox]

Try to build a 24kw victron system that will pay for itself in your lifetime.

Easy. The power company wanted over 50k years ago to come out to my place.

While I don't run Victron, I run quality gear and my power stays up and my chest freezer cold. Buddy of mine is in the process of getting rid of his MPP inverters and redoing his system after a couple of months of headaches.

Quality is worth it, especially for the off grid.

 

[pollenface]

I'm a convert

 

[Sabre36]

As the owner of a marine electrical business I go as far back as you can go with Victron and began with them in the BMV -501 in the days (I believe this was their first product) well before they pulled the plug on TBS (Their original battery monIgor manufacturer (same one Xantrex used for the XBM, Link-Lite & Link Pro.

Once Victron started designing and manufacturing their own prodcuts they just kept coming. Victron definitely listens to their dealers we dealersand installers. One of the reasons I went to Victron was because Xantrex reliability & customer service got as bad as Renogy is today (Maybe worse) Victron was amazing compared to Xantrex. we installed hundreds of thousands of dollars of Victron equipment and the problems we had were minuscule compared to even well respected brands like Mastervolt. All in all one of the most consistently reliable product lines in the marine industry with amazing dealer training and support..

 

[Sabre36]

Yes it sure does give an advantage to you. It's what empowers us to take care of our customers as well as we do.

How to run a company into the ground 101: don't take care of the guys on the frontline going to batt for you.

Xantrex in the 90’s & early 2000’s. We took on Victron & Magnum out of spite from how shitty Xantrex treated it’s dealers & customers.

 

[Deveak]

I keep hearing about all of this tech development. The tier one bubbas seem to be able to develop products and keep them around for twenty or more years. Not that I am against spares.

My magnum 4024 is about 14 years old, no issues. Downside is I can’t replace it. Magnum moved to Mexico, the QC and customer service will be in the pits for a few years.

 

[GooseF16]

that explains why the rV industry uses them.. cheapened and plentiful.. im slowly converting my EKKO over to victron.. every piece I put in it to replace a non victron unit is a upgrade and it works.. all that other stuff is patchwork and a mess.. I have had blown and melted fuses, and over charging, drop outs, and faulty wiring.. ugh.. but when its done, it will be right.. and it will be victron equipment.. I tried a Renogy product and although it works, it again is full of workarounds.. done...

 

[JJJJ]

Mine is a blended system. Victron Multiplus is the core and the bus bars and distributor. It is combined with various Midnite components and attached to diy batteries.

Payback was not my goal. Long term reliability is what attracted me to these products. There are other excellent products out there as well. Unfortunately time and $$$ limit my ability to explore other options.

 

[webbbn]

If there was a forum Blue Nose award, it might just push me over the line. Just say'n!

 

[Sabre36]

My magnum 4024 is about 14 years old, no issues. Downside is I can’t replace it. Magnum moved to Mexico, the QC and customer service will be in the pits for a few years.

Once they were purchased by Sensata everything went in the shitter. They used to be great and very reliable.

 

[wattmatters]

Yes it sure does give an advantage to you. It's what empowers us to take care of our customers as well as we do.

Then say that. There need not be any secret sauce about the importance of dealership support.

 

[HighTechLab]

Then say that. There need not be any secret sauce about the importance of dealership support.

well sometimes I'm not good with words. Human too...

I'll go edit it.

 

[ampsarus]

well sometimes I'm not good with words. Human too...

I'll go edit it.

Gosh some people are so sensitive and take colloquialism as literal. Special Ingredient then.

 

[wattmatters]

Gosh some people are so sensitive and take colloquialism as literal

There is no sensitivity.

The original post suggested Victron had something secret that we consumer plebs did not know about and so we just had to accept on blind faith it was something of value and well worth the fairly hefty price tag, even though there was nothing to suggest what that was.

I did not accept that premise. It has since been clarified.

 

[Marinepower]

I have a mixed view on Victron.

I have a great inverter from them and Solar Charge controler ( although the inverted had 2x the advertised no-load draw). I have also had defective equipment from them (Orion dc-dc charger) and difficulty getting warranty support ( i gave up, perhaps my fault, poor on-line dealer ).

The terminals on much of the equipment are minimal and they often offer no wire strain relief solutions. Also a lack of an offering of protective covers on some of their equipment leaves exposed terminals.

I have 200 amp Argofet from them with an M8 bolt where the lug seems to sit on a stainless steel nut, seated in rubber expoy (no copper seating surface - stainless steel a terrible conductor - see pic below). 200 amps should be a 2/0 cable and associated big lug. No torque spec provided in the manual for the nut (which I managed to damage).

I also have a 220 amp battery protect and they provide no specs on the voltage drop through the fets at the rated load capacity.

In contract, a company like BlueSeas tends to address all the above matters ( but you pay for it).

I think Victron are great and are offering inovative, quality products. I wish they would address a few details however, especially for mobile applications.

 

[toms]

This is a good point, and especially true when in the midst of a rapidly-evolving technological innovation phase.

I hear this often, but i setup my LiFePO4 with REC-BMS, SMA AC coupled system over a decade ago now, and haven’t seen anything that would make me build any differently if I was doing it today.

I guess other manufacturers have caught up a bit - I wouldn’t call that innovative though.

The technology is out there, sure - but I’d put money on a LiFePO4 / AC coupled system still being the go-to install for another decade.

A DIY forum like this is interesting, but most of what is shown here are fringe systems - for every DIY there are thousands of SMA / commercial rack mount systems installed - that momentum is hard to shift.

I agree the flexibility and relative reliability of Victron has made it ubiquitous in niche setups.

 

[SilverbackMP]

I hear this often, but i setup my LiFePO4 with REC-BMS, SMA AC coupled system over a decade ago now, and haven’t seen anything that would make me build any differently if I was doing it today.

I guess other manufacturers have caught up a bit - I wouldn’t call that innovative though.

The technology is out there, sure - but I’d put money on a LiFePO4 / AC coupled system still being the go-to install for another decade.

A DIY forum like this is interesting, but most of what is shown here are fringe systems - for every DIY there are thousands of SMA / commercial rack mount systems installed - that momentum is hard to shift.

I agree the flexibility and relative reliability of Victron has made it ubiquitous in niche setups.

I don’t get these guys wanting to dick with their systems, especially if they offgrid, like they are swapping video cards in a PC. Hanging 80-100lb inverters isn’t all that fun. I just want shit to work with minimal issues and would prefer not to babysit it. And not lack for power when I need it.

Trusting my life to the lowest cost offering and/or installation technique just doesn’t seem all that prudent. Especially for those folks that install this stuff inside of their homes.

 

[wild01]

If you're going to pay victron money, just get an sma sunny island 6048. 10x the inverter about the same price.

 

[timselectric]

This is why research is the most important part of your system.
I had no desire to be continually changing my system components. Expanding, yes. But not replacing.