Black Friday Special 25% off the following Smart Mppt
Edit: free delivery included!
75/15 Smart Mppt $141.01
100/20 Smart Mppt $149.25
100/30 Smart Mppt $204.16
100/50 Smart Mppt $300.00
By far cheapest prices for Victron Solar controllers I’ve seen. I bought the 100/30 (roof panels) and a 100/20 (portable panel) for caravan and now going to replace the 20A charger with the 30A as my kickass 300W folding panel has maxed it out a couple of times.
Yup, also bought the 300ah lithium from them last year. The dealer never told us with a 12v compressor fridge the stock batteries and chargers were never going to hold up longer than a couple of days
Victron parlance:
Smart = Bluetooth
Blue ≠ Bluetooth
Apart from that, top shelf gear.
The Blue in their naming range goes back to their brand colour way before Bluetooth was a thing.
The World does not stop without Bluetooth or wifi you know, although still bit confusing for the new customers lol.
My inverter would throw a fault everytime the MPPT switched to absorbtion mode. A PITA when I came home from a week away to a warm fridge.
The Victron app through bluetooth made it a breeze to lower the absorbtion voltage to below the trip threshold. I dont know how I would have done it without bt.
Yeah, I was just making an off the cuff joke there, and as the engineering these days of many electronic
devices require us to download smarthone apps in order to control them via bluetooth or sometimes even
other wireless protocols to save them adding extra buttons/control boards, for our convenience and other
potential reasons, we often have no other choice but to go down that path, me included. I went with a
Redarc dc-dc in vehicle charger and a Renogy 500A shunt battery monitor which has a wired led display to
set all my charging and monitoring paremeters including low/high voltage and low capacity alarms in order
to monitor my non bluetooth lithium battery and solar etc. Although sometimes fun and convenient to
check/set controls on our phones, often you just want to glance at a display for a second and needing to
use smartphone can be a slower less convenient PITA. I was aiming for a set and forget system as I live in
my van ( and like daily cold beer and stuff lol ), with the option to monitor and adjust as I want to when I feel
like. As I have health reasons/sensitive to electro magnetic frequencies especially wifi/mobile
phone/portable wifi/blutooth (especially headsets or headphones), I try to limit my exposure, as when I
oveload my ears pop as if driving up a mountain or diving and hear louder than regular tinnitus type ringing
in my ears. In saying all that I am a regular user of JBL portable blutooth speakers (also need bluetooth and
gps to control features through app), have some newer lithium batteries I monitor through bluetooth, and
am seriously thingking of getting a Victron smart solar controller as I read that not only are they really good,
but they have the most amount of customs setting (via bluetooth haha) you can not only monitor but also
set and control, and that sounds like a bit of fun for a geek like me lol.
P.S. Also have a Brass Monkey dual zone fridge freezer I Have to use an app via bluetooth too, often no way around that.
often you just want to glance at a display for a second and needing to use smartphone can be a slower less convenient PITA.
The Victron app is surprisingly good (unlike most BT apps), it's fast to connect and just works without issues, it only takes like 2 seconds to connect and display all the info…
I have a Victron MPPT & Smart-Shunt for my lithium campervan setup, the app is all I use for monitoring, I toyed with the idea of installing a fixed display but I really don't need one… (everyone's different though)
(Edit: My lithium battery has a name-brand BMS with BT, and that's total garbage, very hit and miss with it connecting and working, they update the app often and it just seems to get worse, lol)
Need to charge a 100ah lithium battery and keep a fridge running. 50l brass monkey which is enough for my use?
How many watts of solar you got?
Actually I don't even have solar yet
🤦
I got a shipping container on the farm and want to put up one panel on the roof. I think there may be either 150 or 250w panels on the farm lying around or I can buy a panel
OK. Just working on a similar set up as what you roughly describe. When looking at solar panels,
it's not just the watts we need to look at, also Max open Voltage (PV) and Max output amp ratings,
as some solar chargers will not only max out with amps, but also volts and therefore also watts.
Sounds like you are using old larger house panels, and they have higher voltages than we see usually
for camping/caravan/4wd type stuff. The 100 range in the Victron is good as you can even double up
two larger 150W-250W/35v-48v in parralel as they can handle up to 100V input. The main thing you then need to
work out is if going for one panel, or hooking two, even later on in future (make sure you then use suitable double
thickness cable, otherwise you need to swap out later at extra cost). To run a 50 lt fridge one good 150W panel charging
via a Victron 100/20 smart solar controller into 100Ah lithium battery should usually be enough unshaded on top of
container in most parts of Australia, but adding an exhaust fan to a shipping container is often also a good idea to reduce
build up heat and somtimes even reduce mould via less humidity with air movement. Hell, you may even want to have the
odd party or get together there on weekens in summer, so fridge might end up getting used heavy due to many drinks
cycling through causing fridge to work much more using more power, or hook up an inverter for some power tools in
future. Short answer is I would go for the 100/30, seems to be great value middle ground, or the 100/50 if budget allows,
both will charge your battery well using one or two large house panels (150w-250w/300w-500w)
I just want something basic. I'm going to read your reply in detail tonight as I'm busy at work but I really I'd probably use two or three panels max. Just want to power some led light in the container and run a fridge and charge up the battery. Something simple
What sort of settings/parameters do I need with a MPPT 75/10, 100Ah 12V lithium battery, foldable solar panels and a powered esky?
Set the voltage to 12v and battery type to Smart Lithium (LiFePo4) and away you go. The unit will do the rest.
If you have all the specs for the battery you can override using a custom preset but the defined preset for smart lithium is a pretty safe bet.
You cant really go wrong with Victron default settings, they seem to know what they're doing…
Researching "best settings" is a bit of a rabbit hole, everyone has different ideas…
In an attempt to maximize the life of my battery I dropped my abs voltage to 13.8, and float to 13.4, less stress and as the van sits unused for extended periods the lower float voltage acts like a "storage voltage", it seems good to store them at less than 100%… Chances are it'll make no difference in the long run but it seems it cant hurt, lol…
And for this exact reason I have been tempted to dive into the world of Victron Smart Solar controllers,
as I read you can lower the max float voltage and this is really what I would love to do.
I also pulled the trigger and went for the 100/30 at this all time low price haha.
P.S. When relying on backup power, it's not just about reliability, but as you say the peace of mind/
feel good part is also important as we want to feel we are looking after and getting the most out of our
expensive for $ and enviroment lithium battery(s).
@ozhunter68: It's certainly good gear, a bit expensive but you get what you pay for…
I was first attracted to the Victron solar chargers because you're not limited to just using 12v or 24v solar panels with them, you can use cheap used house grid-connect panels if you like, upto 75v panels with the 75/15, or up to 100v panels with the 100/30 and such, it gives us a few extra options with our builds… (I'm only using 12v panels at the moment because that's what I already had on my van, but my next build is likely to be different)
@FLICKIT: Haha,….funny you say this as currently working on a solar/battery set up to run a 12 V
water pump (and backup led lights and usb charging etc.), have a spare small cheap 20A charger
that supposedly can be used for lithium LiPo batteries, but maxes out at 50V input. Sent my sister off
to grab one cheap house solar panel (38V) and she returned with two,…..mmmmmm.
Will experiment with one panel using my cheap 20 A chatger that came included with a solar panel
I bought ages ago but never used the charger, so not expecting that to last long. Hence I bought the
Victron 100/30 not only to test and experiment, but possibly to use with one or two house panels
( already bought ower cost 25Amp 12AWG wire for one panel only, two would need double
capacity and $) for the reasons you mention above.
Now cheaper here $186.95 if you have ebay Plus from well rated seller
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/285099778134?hash=item4261456056…
Don’t think you even need eBay plus
Even better. Might have rushed that comment hoping people can save $18+- unlike me :-(
It’s always the rule. You only find the super mega bargains AFTER you pull the trigger
Thanks. Picked the 100/50 up for $250 with a eBay voucher PLUSNOV
Wow, that's a beast for that price.
Quick solar charging if you have the amount of panels.
My caravan has two 150w panels (and two 100amp batteries) but went bigger, so I can add another panel in the future. Replacing a cheap 30A pwm unit that came with the van. Hopefully going bigger isn't detrimental to the system.
Looks like the ebay listing for the 100/50 at the $250 price has been OzBargained now, all gone.
These are the lowest prices ever I think for most of the range, I grabbed a 100/20 for $125 lol.also for future
solar setups such as a custom made Power Station after I had to return my faulty Voltx from
last weeks good deal
you can't overdo the amount of panels and solar charger as long as everything is compatible and matched, including cables.
Just gotta chime in here and "warn" against the smaller victron charge controllers.
Google "victron mppt sand".
Basically the smaller ones don't have a real heat sink and use silica sand as thermal filler.
I got mine replaced under warranty and went with a 100/20 which has a heat sink.
Otherwise, very happy with their mppt charge controller performance. Ran it around the outback charging 300ah of AGM batteries from 2 mismatched panels in parallel. All good.
What if anything actually went wrong with your 75/10 or 75/15 then ?
Or did you just get it replaced after finding out about the possible 1-1000 defects of the solvent
not keeping good seal on backing plate? Good to hear your 100/20 is doing well, sounds like that is what
you really needed (if not even the 100/30 lol) with your usage. Just got my 100/30 delivered from this deal,
(before I saw the better even $186.95 ebay price and have a compact small and light 75/10 comming for a
custom Power Station to replace my faulty recent Voltx 1500 I had to return.
Edit: Just checked and looks like both the 75/10 and 75/15 don't have heat sinks, but the 100/15 up does.
I went to use it one day and noticed the sand was leaking out the back. After reading the many reports and drawing the conclusion that this is a fault which could increase the risk of overheating, I returned it.
Yes, I did need a bigger controller eventually but I got the 75/15 initially to use on a 160w folding panel and for that, the output was fine.
I got a credit with the original seller (energy connections) and paid the extra for the 100/20. A 100/30 would have been better but at that point I still only had the 160w folding panel and didn't think I'd be adding any more panels. In hindsight, should have got the 100/30.
Anyway, none of that is really important. My original post is purely to highlight that while everyone is very quick to dick ride victron, they do have some shit stuff. Their dcdc chargers suck as well but that's another story.
Do your research and check the victron subreddit and community forum before buying anything, would be my suggestion.
Thanks for your thoughtful detailed response. As I did research for my first van conversion with solar and lithium battery, after some research I went straight to a Research dc-dc charger which has been great with zero problems going on 2 years like your set-up getting worked hard. Solar and do it yourself off grid power seems to be a real learning curve for most people and you can't think of everything untill you use, then often find out you want to upgrade either battery or solar or both. Then need different/and/or bigger charger(s). Often bigger is better, but sometimes there are size and weight, as well as extra power draw considerations to limit. Should I return the small 75/10 which is still on the way for the 100/15 then which has a heatsink and only $30 odd more through eBay ?
@ozhunter68: Knowing what I know now, regarding the silica sand issue, I would go for one that uses a proper heat sink. You may never have the problem, but many have. So, it's up to you but my personal advise would be avoid the smaller units that use silica sand.
@9839002: Yeah, good advice. Sounds like it's more of a problem than one in a thousand as discussed in
comments and write up. Am ebay Plus customer, so can return for free and order the smallest
one with a heatsink which is the 100/15 and measured to still fit in my battery box,
inverter will have to be external now but will help both for radiant cooling this way.
"Cheapest price by far for Victron I've seen"??? looked too too good to be true ( especially if price is for delived as no mention ),
and low and behold, it is cheap, about $28 cheaper than the lowest ebay price after using current ebay Plus discount codes,
and delivered free for me to regional Queensland.