How to set your MPPT Solar Charge Controller for LiFePO4 batteries. All settings explained.

[@gumpster6]

Nobody has gone to this level of detail on equipment settings (at least not for free). You are doing a wonderful service to the solar/battery community. Great video Andy!

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Thank so much. I'm so glad people realise how mich work and effort are necessary to make these videos. Thanks a lot!

[@nigelcharles511]

These 'set up' videos are gold. They create useful summaries for those of us who have followed your videos over the last year and provide a useful installation guide for those that are new. Each one is definitely worth a SPAT.

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Thanks Nigel. Also thanks a lot for your ongoing financial support here on the channel. You are amazing!

[@nigelcharles511]

You are welcome. Just ordered my third set of 32 LFP cells. This set will be to supplement my 1000ah lead acid pack. Having thought a lot about the problems of parallelling lead acid and LFP I have decided that they will need to be separate having their own panels, charge controller and inverter only combining after the inverter.

[@83kaszas]

@@nigelcharles511 Good decision

[@ClausMallorca]

That's true

[@zachary261]

Who knew that charging slowly will give you more battery capacity? Once I reduced the charging amperes, I noticed the difference right away. Thanks, man.

[@hunter00047]

KZbin was not the same without you, welcome back. 😄

[@rilosvideos877]

Definitely one of the best and detailled explanation of correct LiFePO-settings for your MPPT charge controller! I love the way you dig to the ground yourself to find the best settings. I think most ppl charge their LPF batteries too high as they just stick to numbers found in the datasheet without fully understanding the procedure. The often found 3,65V max. charge voltage is related to charge current! You need a high charge current of at least 0.05C (14 Amps for a 280Ah battery) and if the current decreases you have to stop charging! But in low PV-conditions ppl still charge to 3.65V even with very low charge current and the batteries suffer! Its important to know that the 100% resting voltage ist around 3.35V as you said. The Northkyn study found 3.37V as 100%SoC resting voltage.

[@photonphil873]

This is EXACTLY! PRECISELY! What I have been looking for!!! Explaining float/bulk/absorb in terms I can really relate with. Thank You!!! I have so many more to watch, good job

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Thanks a lot for your feedback and kind words. Much appreciated.

[@thomyk2]

I am agree :) U helped me a lot

[@francoisguyot9770]

The more I fiddle around with my system, the more I find myself rewinding through your videos. You're indeed one on those rare DIY'er who provides detailed contents and clear explanations. In spite of those occasional swearings, I find your logic quite sensible and I often repeat some of your experiments to tune my parameter settings. You definitely helped demystifying this side of the LiFePO4. BTW, I bought a 50A Epever a while ago which I truly like and still use till nowadays. I use their MT50 monitor to change user's parameters on the spot. I also wished that this monitor or their bluetooth option was integrated. But it's been reliable and cheaper than Victron, who used to sell Epever's controller under their name.

[@andresgodinho]

Andy! Love your videos. I AM a professional installer.. One thing to note about the bulk and float voltages... When you have a perfectly balanced battery pack, you can do as you told in this vídeo... If you have a somewhat balanced pack, and you have a jkbms, you should allow 3.55 volts to the battery during a Nice long absortion to allow the bms to balance the pack and then go to float.

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Thank you. As per my testing the JK-BMS (or other active balancers) can actually do their job at 3.45V already pretty well. Of course the higher you go, the easier it is for the balancer. On the other hand, if you have a bit of imbalance in your pack one of the cells can easily go over 3.65V and the BMS will turn off the battery altogether. So my approach is not going too high with the voltage to allow enough headroom for these higher voltage cells. Especially now with the first full charger after months of hovering at 10-30%SOC during winter.

[@js72634]

Trying out your settings today after about a year of running with absorption at 55.3 Yes exactly what you're saying.! With the lower absorption setting it can handle it for much longer. I tried the posters method a year ago and one or two cells were constantly running

[@canuckdog]

Beginner here..just found your channel. I like your honesty and sense of humour, you explain things very well. Thank you for taking the time to help people out.

[@ceeweedsl]

Very helpful overview. The explanation on how to use Tail Current in the advanced section really helps me. You know, I had stumbled on "Emily and Clark's Adventure" and that guy had my head turned around for a day or two. Basically, he proposes that "Everybody is mistreating their battery, and in vehicles/boats your alternator is in danger" and thus a new device is needed which is the $400 ammeter triggered switch that he sells. Then I find that the various problems that he claims we need his device for depend on 1) not having an isolated starter battery (he poo-poos battery isolating switches / relays ("they catch on fire"!) 2) Can't use DC to DC chargers (I forget his dismissal here) and totally ignores the existence of Victron BMV triggering of relays and most of all, the simple power of using the Victron MPPT series to manage intelligent charging. Watching a few of your videos restored my faith in my understanding of charging LFE and the solutions built into Victron products that I already have. I want to warn people about that guy (Emily and Clark's Adventue) charging ideas. He's smart and not wrong but mostly inventing problems he can now solve for us. I suspect he believes it. It would be helpful to the innocent if you or Will could do a video addressing his concerns/claims. Low current overcharging is taken care of in solar situation with float voltage setting and a quality charger. Tail current parameter seals the deal. Alternator destruction handled with DC to DC. I don't see how a marine electrician can totally ignore Victron products. They address these issues as do other products, I imagine.

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Thank you for your comment. I know Clark, he got in contact with me a long time ago and wanted me to promote his 'hybrid charger' on my channel 😉 I never understood why it is necessary and why lead acid and lithium is the best of both worlds. Lithium is in every aspect better than lead acid. The only reason to keep lead acid is because you already have it and it is still working. None of the arguments he brings is actually true and I watched his video more for entertaining purposes. I guess the other cruisers just believe him and buy the chargers from him...

[@ceeweedsl]

@@OffGridGarageAustralia Yes, and you see electrical engineers, even marine electricians jumping on the bandwagon there. I think it's an appealing storyline, especially these days. " The one thing all the countless LFP users are missing!" "What they don't tell you!" "How to really do it right!" The "in-the-know" group. I noted that all questions or doubts are referred to a single posted essay from a user/buyer that simply parrots what he says. That paper falls back on another document that is dense and does not give their featured concerns so much weight as an issue. What do you think of Nordkyn Designs' paper? I imagine you have read it since you referred to memory effect. Another potential concern that is likely a non-issue for most of us. It's a good idea to read the comment section at the end of his paper.

[@garymiller7870]

​@@OffGridGarageAustraliaOn my boat I need the CCA of the lead acid to start my diesel engine and LFP for the house. So I use Orion chargers to charge the house from the engine. Works great and intrinsically protects the LFP. I've wired the Orions to be reversible so in an emergency I can change the engine battery from the LFP.

[@s.mendez7160]

@@OffGridGarageAustralia His idea was that no charger he had come across, had a way to measure tail current, and thus no accurate way to detect the end of the charge cycle. So, his device includes a current monitor for the LFP side of his LFP/FLA combiner device. Somewhere there is a spec for minimum tail current rate in terms of a fraction of C.

[@paddlehead1]

Andy, thanks for answering all the unanswered questions! My system is small, 8 cells 12v, in my trailer, with Victron solar controller. Your videos, usually watched several times, start to give me a passing understanding of how the system works and how to optimize it! As someone said below, they are gold! Thanks, Don

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Thanks a lot for your kind feedback, Don. I will make more of these for you and everyone else!

[@iancassie9840]

just starting down the stressful road of solar thanks for your destress pill

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

It is overwhelming at the beginning, so keep asking any questions you may have...

[@davebokes]

'And in every single forum there's a different answer to the same question'. Exactly this! Thank you for the clear explanation!

[@543BeeBop]

Thanks Andy! I knew I first powered up a 48V Victron Quattro, updated the firmware, and went into the settings. I was overwhelmed with how to set it up for my Ampere Time LiFe phosphates. I knew I had seen a detailed video on this, but could not recall which video. It didn't hurt to watch a few, both by you and Will. Thankfully I found this gem of information, and will have a good understanding of how to use my battery specs to set this up. I respect your humble approach to learning; an open mind is everything.

[@AncientHermit]

I got my first solar panel yesterday, and a Victron 75|10 the day before.😀 I can only say thanks, I'd still be lost without some/most of this info. Also had my first true "Lazarus" situation with my battery. That had me a bit pensive, as it happened while I was wiring the panel for the first time.🙄 The charger brought it back from "playing dead" no problem. Anyway, I am presently waiting for sun up and interested to see what this lot does next. I bet most of you start the day that way now I am thinking about it. 🤔I had to order an extra panel as I undersized this whole set up so I had a cheap way to dip a toe in and get my feet wet with solar/LiFePO4, going small also gives me room to grow, and growing is where the learning is as I see things.🤨 I could be wrong, but that's how I see it. 🤞Thanks again Andy, be well.😉

[@martinmiller7623]

I want to thank you for using simple and focused language. And entertaining.🎉😂❤

[@s.mendez7160]

Hi Andy, loving these videos. Haven't read all the comments yet, but thought worth mentioning for newbies working with Lithium. PWM Charge Controllers are not compatible with LifePo4 batteries. The voltage spikes from the PWM will exceed the cell voltage ratings. Thus, damaging them.

[@fancentral4662]

I hadn’t heard this before, that said, MPPT have been recommended over PWM for some time. I found a couple of forum links walking through the topic. (Example posted below)

[@petrkosar5429]

Andy you have asked: I'm cycling my 12V 160Ah battery two times a day. I'm not using any charge controller, just a BMS, 1.5kW inverter (3kW peak) and a charger (max 50A). According to JBD bms the battery is doing about 20 cycles a month, because I´m not using all the capacity twice a day, obviously. I'm living in an apartment building, I cannot use any solar panels. But I have for 8 hours a day an "off-peak" much cheaper tariff. It lasts usually 5 hours during the night and 3 hours in the afternoon, but it varies. It is supposed for electric water heaters etc. The system was designed to pay for itself in 7 years (pre war prices). Nowadays the breaking point will be between 4 and 5 years. So during the peak time I'm running fridge, internet ap, nas, tv, pc, all chargers and all the lights from this battery.

[@inmyimage1081]

I had thought of exactly this use case too 👍

[@dralusion]

will this inverter get damaged if the jk bms shuts down because of OVP or UVP when connected to an energized PV? how about when the battery breaker is tripped? Do i need to run relays to cut off pv to avoid scc damage?

[@sswwooppee]

Thank you for making this video. I just bought the same Victron controller and was trying to figure out how to configure it. This was very helpful.

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

You're very welcome!

[@FutureSystem738]

Nice one Andy. 👍 We’re away from home in the caravan for the next few weeks, and of course living off grid. Four days away so far, and zero LPG or diesel for the heater used- reverse cycle aircon, electric cooking and everything else, awesome. Cheers

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

That is great, the future is electric. Just need to convert your towing vehicle now, Dave. 😉

[@francomajer9945]

GREAT Andy !!!! You read in my mind ! I was writing you to ask exactely this questions.... for chargers (often more than 1 in a single system.... in a RV: from solar - from Main - from engin.... I will set all at the same parametri, isn't it?) ....and how to let Charger and BMS work together in a better way... GREAT Of course you already give us all this info, but in several video.... I was seeing again it..but it was a long time Thanks a lot again Waiting for the same for JK BMS Have a GREAT Sunday Franco

[@IXISSV]

Welcome back from sunny warm UK 😝🤭🤭 Our summer, your winter time. Thanks for all that info 👍 I dont have any victron products, but some of those settings will help with my all-in-one hybrid system I have (just bought my 2nd battery, so now have 200ah 🥳🎉) Hope you feel even better soon 👏🤞🍻

[@arturkarwowski1163]

The Best off grid professor on youtube! thank you Andy

[@Anointingify]

Thank you so much for this video. I have been looking for explanation on mppt parameters settings and you have done justice to the topic. Thank you once again. Looking forward to the video on relationship between LIPO battery BMS and the MPPT controller settings.

[@aatirehrarsiddiqui8894]

Man I am glad I found this channel. This is gold.

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Thank you and welcome!

[@svenniefpv]

Welcome Back Andy. I’m big fan of your Journey with solar energy and since this year i use solarenergy in my caravan with my heavy gel battery, till a few weeks ago i found a 2.5kw serverrack with all in very good state 50Ah prismatic cells aside the trash container of the company i work . At home i placed all the cells in parrallel and top charged and ballanced them and rebuild a 150Ah 12V battery for my caravan. They still have almost 100% capasity and they look like new. So i’m very happy with this gift of the gods. I orderd copper bigger busbars and a smart bms...I use also the victron smartsolars in my caravan and off grid garage. But i was wondering what exactly i can do with the these extra funtions. Nice you talk about this subject. Because reading about is one thing... but seeing this on your channel is so more intressting.

[@bill7078]

just tuned into your site here , must back track and start from the begining , well done very interesting

[@garypatton9650]

One of the best videos ever for solar battery guys

[@Dirt-Diggler]

Thank you Andy 👍 You made that easy to follow and understand, i wish you'd been my teacher at school!! I'd of got way better grades 😏👍

[@sigmabilly]

I'd have gotten way better grades...

[@MatWalter-q3h]

Ya I am not a dumb as I thought I was if I can understand what he is saying.

[@baneverything5580]

Thank you sir. I just moved up from small solar power stations to a 300 ah LiFePo4. The battery arrived safely and I`m waiting on a 60 amp MPPT charge controller and 2000 watt inverter. I plan to use it for emergency air conditioning after hurricanes and supplemental heat and cooking in my camper.

[@sirmonsterle]

Welcome back. I think the rebulk may be good if you plugin your EV when there is still sun power available from the PV modules. Then along with the big load the charge controllers will start to support the battery to load the car battery with power from the sun 🌞. When you set it to 1V, the support from the MPPTs will start later, when the batteries are emptied a lot. Maybe my thinking is wrong, but that is the case I can imagine it would make sense. To use as much power directly from the sun and use less power from the batteries.

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

The SCC will start delivering power immediately if the battery voltage drops. They deliver as much energy as necessary to keep the battery on float voltage. This is independent if the SCC is in float or absorption, it always tries to maintain the actual set voltage.

[@markparish9072]

Good to see you back. Stay warm , stay charged.

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Thanks Mark!

[@ДмитрийМарьянович]

Hello, Andy. I'm from Ukraine. Russia started war against us, so we are fighting for our life, our family, our state. Russia attacks power plants and destroy electric equipment. So I started studying with solar energy. I bought used 250W solar panel and 20A controller to have some energy wen the grid fills down. I going to buy a new lifepo4 sells to make 24V battery for UPS I have. A lot of thanks for your videos. I'm as an engineer very happy with them. Thank You for your time and help!

[@ДмитрийМарьянович]

Привіт. Вдалось побудувати ДБЖ на Lifepo4? З інвертор ом і зарядним пристроєм? Який сонячний контролер? Зарядне? Ємність батареї?

[@want2dropout]

Hi Andy, serendipity is a wonderful thing. Discovered your channel by accident and I'm so glad I did. Just made the change to lifepo4 on our off grid set up on Rhodes, Greece. This video and a few others I've cherry picked to watch have been tremendously helpful. You have such an engaging and refreshing way of communicating that makes your content easy on the eye and ear. What a relief from the usual brash, loud and glitzy style of most other creators. Keep up the great work while I endeavour to play catch-up with your fantastic library of videos. All the best from sunny Greece, Steve.

[@carlwallace7095]

Hi Andy, Am Carl from England been watching your videos for a couple of years now there great. I have my own off grid system now thanks to you thank you so much Andy

[@brucekrisko4364]

Thank you for doing this video! And thank you for your comment about lowering my float voltage. My system is in a school bus conversion camper. When in use it wants to charge faster every day to have enough power to make it through the night while camping. We have a split a/c system that runs all night using about 800 watts per hour, that brings the battery down pretty low.

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Thanks for sharing, Bruce. That makes sense.

[@TrevorFraserAU]

Welcome back, glad to see you are looking well.

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Still not feeling great and the misses does not allow me on the roof despite having all parts here now for the solar upgrade. Man, I'm so keen to install these other panels!

[@TrevorFraserAU]

@@OffGridGarageAustralia if I was in Queensland I would definitely come over and help....

[@mikemcguire5859]

Thanks for the info, and the why behind your settings choices. The why is usually as if not more important to understand than the eq. settings.

[@dagbjrnarmjelde1028]

Greetings and many thanks from a camper up north, by pure luck found your "settings" video. Now subscribing 👌 Very educational***** Danke sehr

[@BostonAndMaineLive]

I'm very happy I found your channel with an explanation of the Victron LifePo4 settings!

[@inmyimage1081]

Really wish I had found your channel a year ago. I always prefer information based on real world testing and a good discussion/explanation of what the findings are. So much better that the other big solar channels out there. I’m using a 2p4s battery pack with Lishen 270ah cells with 250a Daly “Smart” BMS’s in an RV with the new Victron Multiplus II 3000/120-50 2x120v. No solar yet, but the settings should translate well for the MultiPlus and Daly BMS’s so I’m looking forward to the BMS video that will complement this one.

[@mfgxl]

Get your solar! you will love, love, love it

[@inmyimage1081]

@@mfgxl I’m chomping at the bit, it’s a financial delay at this point but given that we live in the trailer, it would definitely be nice to have that power to do a little boondocking and also extra backup for the predicted rolling blackouts. Hopefully 500ah will get us through without any significant disruption.

[@alanblyde8502]

I for along time thought against Lithium batteries with all the stories about fires etc, I now have a different view altogether, we’ve been off grid for about 6 so years with a 440ah AGM battery setup and are in the process up doing a major upgrade, il definitely be going with Lithium phosphate, makes sense as you can add batteries to suit your needs unlike gel, flooded & AGM, all I need to do now is go to the beginning of your videos, thanks Andy and all the helpful comments 🤙🇦🇺

[@airgead5391]

With nothing further TO DO I watched this video the third (and last, taking notes) time. Thank you!

[@vr_4691]

Thank you very much for your video. It helped me so much switching from gel to lifepo4 battery. I could not see a better explanation than yours.

[@Ultramesh]

Very useful info. I have made 2 Victron systems for boats, and was always intrigued by these settings. Well explained.

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Thank you.

[@jamespitstock3427]

What an excellent video Andy. I'm so glad you are willing to share your journey and learnings with us. It's fun learning along with you.

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Thanks a lot, James!

[@300dymanite]

Great explanation. I have been scratching my head looking at the settings on my charge controller, this is a really informative demonstration, thanks

[@rogerevans2185]

I know this video is a year old but I just ran came across it. I learned a lot and I appreciate your knowledge. I am not an expert by any means but if I may I noticed that a couple of times you mention that the Lipoe4 does not give or take after it reach full charge. I agree as I fully charged mine with an AC charger and let it set for 6 weeks. With that said I have the Victron Smartshunt, Victron 150/35 and the Victron 12/1200 inverter all of which is bluetooth. So, with the bluetooth turned on and the idle draw from the Victron inverter the Lifepo4 battery is indeed giving up power and will not remain at the same state of charge. Am I not correct in this? If several days of rain with no sun and the bluetooth draining on the battery there will be drained energy. I do appreciate your videos very much. Job well done sir!

[@MatWalter-q3h]

First class and comprehensive. I am putting together one system and updating another. One mile apart but the sun at each location could not be more different. During the winter's two shortest months one location gets 3 hours of sun on the panels if they are lucky. The other 6 hours. Given the arrays are the same size and batteries as well one can see that cranking up the voltage on the system that gets only three hours of sun has advantage. Then once the spring solstice comes one can drop it back down to save the long term capacity of the batteries. In this case I think it is very advantages. The flexibility a person has with these batteries is great if you are wiling to work with them.

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

It should not make a difference if you set a higher Absorption voltage. The battery won't charge faster.

[@MatWalter-q3h]

Ok I am going to have to watch that video again as I clearly miss understood.@@OffGridGarageAustralia

[@MatWalter-q3h]

At min 25:00 I hear you say the opposite of the replay above. I seem to be confused... that seems to be normal. Can you clarify? @@OffGridGarageAustralia

[@remix381]

Andy you have helped me so much over the past few days understanding my solar project. Thank you sir!

[@dalepurdon8948]

Firstly, you're a bloody legend Andy (Im also in sunny Australia). Secondly, I fully agree with setting float V on lithium to LESS than the charge/absorption V. I just keep wondering, why are so many BMS's defaulting to setting the float charge V equivalent to the actual charge voltage. I believe if they are the same then surely the poor battery gets hammered at that voltage constantly, whereas if float is set lower than the charge V then at least battery gets a chance to rest at a far happier voltage. Basically have a more lengthy life span as a result

[@AN-zk8yv]

I watched one of your first videos on your german channel about the pwm Charge Controller and i thought, okay he has No Clou what he is talking about. And now im here watching your video and thinking ohhh that is really interesting and makes sense. So really nice learning curve by just testing Out by yourselve. Great 👍👍

[@hydrohybrid4206]

You have the best explanations of anybody on KZbin about lithium iron phospt even Will Strauss can’t touch you when it comes to your explanation I have 3 300ah CHINS lifepo4 batteries wired in parallel on a 12v system victron 100/50 and 100/30 charger controllers 1500watts of solar. Do you have a 12v video for setting charge controller.

[@hummmingbear]

Thank you! Appreciated the walk through. Would love for you to do a quick review of your smart shunt settings as well. Thanks as always andy.

[@ascenttev6022]

Welcome back Andy. You look better, stronger, taller and more handsome, lol. KZbin practically missed your channel.

[@sziegu]

Great video! I believe the Absorption duration is there for cases when you have a load connected while the charge controller is charging in absorption phase. In this case the CV tail current detection would be broken since there's no way for the charge controller to know if the current it outputs goes into the battery or load and the battery may end up being overcharged when tail current is used alone.

[@alsemi-back-up579]

Andy Is The NEW Victron Tech Expert!!!!!!!1 Follow His Advice ALL The Time Thumbs Up To The God of Lifepo4 Cells!!!!!

[@skysurferuk]

Fantastic explanations, Andy. Many thanks. Bought you a beer! 👍

[@deefer66]

Love your work, entertaining and informative, glad to hear you feel better

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Thank you so much 😀

[@poochey1]

Amazing video! Really explained each of the settings so I can understand them and apply them in my different situation.

[@robbypro3370]

I used the EPEVER and it fried both of my lead acid interstate batteries. I bought the victron and 2 lifepo4 batteries. So far so good

[@pmacgowan]

Thanks Andy, I am switching to victron and I have just ordered a 75/10 and I wanted to see what you use ...as always you are gold mine of useful info

[@FND1337]

Ich steige gerade von Gel auf LifepO4 um. Hatte Angst etwas falsch zu machen. Aber die Sorge war unbegründet. Wirklich halb so wild ! Schönes Video. Weiter so !

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Thank you, lots of more videos to watch here for you...

[@FND1337]

@@OffGridGarageAustralia Yeah, that is really awesome. Unfortunately I‘m running a ESS System and not an Offgrid One. But there are still so much parallels, so there is a lot to learn. Thank you for all the testing you do, so we can just be lazy and use all your Info without going to those Time consuming Steps. Again, keep the Great Work and Attitude up !

[@dadoguillermo4613]

Hello Andy, dito sa Pilipinas gumagawa kami ng GINGER TEA, para maibsan yung kati ng lalamunan at mabisang gamot yan sa ubo at lagnat. ✌️✌️✌️🙏🙏🙏🙏

[@rorymax8233]

Thank you, so very helpful for a newcomer to LiFePo4 👍

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Great, thanks for the feedback.

[@amagro9495]

Hello Andy, your videos are always a great information compilation for all of us. I watched most of your videos related with all these parameters and I was quite surprised that you leave for 1h the "Absortion Time". Other two parameters that could be also interesting, but more related with inverters (alll-in-one type) are: "Setting voltage point back to utility source" and "Setting voltage point back to battery mode". This last parameter, for example, Will suggests 12.25V for 12V systems (10% SOC), and Voltronic inverter manual suggests for 48V systems, 54.0V (99% SOC), so there is a big divergence between them.

[@mjpbase1]

Well done, sir. Charger settings are something I seriously struggled to understand as a beginner. Though I use Lithium Ion batteries currently (so, my voltages are a bit different), I find that all facts in your video are 100% correct. If only you'd made this video four years ago, my learning curve would have been more gentle. A+

[@claradias477]

sir, I think Lifepo4 batteries are lithium ion

[@mjpbase1]

@@claradias477 A bit pedantic but yes. I suppose I should have said Lithium Ion Cobalt.

[@claradias477]

@@mjpbase1 just tried to help, sir

[@jime9305]

@@claradias477 different chemistry and operating voltage

[@keyem4504]

Good to have you back, Andy.🍺

[@SoundzAlive1]

Hi Andy, what a great episode. Thanks for putting the screens for your settings. Maybe you could include some screens for other options like for boat or RV? André in Sydney

[@QwertyTim87]

My Aceleron LiFePO4 batteries state that they don't require a float charge and the float and absorbtion voltage is the same. This makes sense as you've mentioned this in previous videos. May I ask why your float voltage here is less than your absorption voltage? Really great videos. The way you explain things is so much better than most. Thanks.

[@VinceBadovinatz88]

I was wondering the same. But he has done a lot more testing so probably coming up with a little different data after the tests

[@jime9305]

I was wondering the same as well because he definitely said they should be the same in a previous video

[@VinceBadovinatz88]

@@jime9305 I think I set mine different after seeing his latest video and seeing some other data. But it's been a month or two now I can't remember. What they were saying if you don't mess with it everyday it's very easy to forget what you learned darn it

[@krzysztoforlowski6010]

I am so glad I have found your videos. Superior work. What kind of cells are you using to build your 24V battery bank? Thanks

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Thanks and welcome to the channel. I don't have a 24V battery, it's all 48V in my battery shelf. All cells are LiFePO4 with 280-304Ah in different banks with different BMS.

[@nikolaju6]

andy i love your videos. I've been following you for a year ... and it's helped me to have such a good understanding of this solar world. that I had the confidence to throw myself into my own off grid system which will hopefully be finished this year .. continue your good work 😊 mvh nikolaj

[@Shetooktothewoods]

So, so helpful. Thank you so much for breaking this down.

[@connyhoffmann8114]

Hello . The question is for me, how long you used your Batteries with your special values for your solar chargers. Thanks for your Videos, i have more learn from you, over Lifepo Batteries….

[@a-c-g]

Hello Andy! Your videos are very good and educational on the topic. Thank you! If you wish, you could show us how to set-up the Victron inverters (like Multiplus II) and/or Cerbo GX to work with JK BMS for instance.

[@photonphil873]

I am so with you man!!!! It can be super confusing! Thank You for your time! I am learning alot!

[@lecramred4453]

I love your channel. It is very informative and you are a great teacher. A pleasure to watch. And you are a funny German ;) Liebe Grüsse aus Holland.

[@zonta71]

Cracking humour.. And a belated get well soon. Thanx

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Thank you.

[@Victor-ut4zp]

Andy, thanks! This is what we all were waiting for.....

[@scottburton414]

New subscriber Andy, with plans for a residential solar installation here in Ottawa Canada. Your videos are so informative and, more than that, I like your style! Looking forward to your next one.

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Thanks a lot, Scott and welcome to the channel. You have a lot to catch up. 😉 Any questions, please leave them under the videos and we will all chip in to help you out. Do you plan any batteries as well?

[@zjzozn]

Thank you for this….. You can make lots of vlogs about settings 👍

[@Ericcando81]

Tolles Video, super erklärt. Danke dir dafür. Einstellungen der BMS darf dann natürlich nicht fehlen.

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Danke Dir. Das BMS kommt demnaechst...

[@elmer665544]

I have the Victron 50a solar charger on a 12v 406ah battery bank on an RV. I use 13.8v (3.45v per cell) when the RV is not in use to go easier on the battery bank. I use 14.2v (3.55v per cell) which is the LFPO default when the RV is in use about 4 months a year to get the maximum charge into the battery bank to maximize the charge for use or before it rains or get cloudy. I have an electronic engineering degree so understand the nuances and balance of using the batteries when needed and being gentle on the batteries when not needed.

[@elmer665544]

Forget to add that 30 minutes of absorption time gets the system up to 96-97% daily

[@salimnaufal1779]

Thank you Andy for the amazing explanations!

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

My pleasure!

[@evil17]

Great video as usual, good explanations of all the different parameters, very informative. If one was going to use a tail current, I would tend to keep this at a higher level, so it stops charging quicker, say 5Amps, as for large batteries like yours, this is almost full anyhow, I should say, for a stationary solar setup like yours, boats & RV’s may have different requirements. Thanks for all ur great vids

[@lloydconner3034]

Thanks Andy this is what I have been waiting for thanks again.

[@japdog9]

that was a lot of information ,well done . the Grandad jokes kept me watching .

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

What jokes? 😉

[@livingron9983]

I think you need to consider the real world scenario where a person is powering their life from solar and batteries. At times during a single day the batteries may go thru discharge cycles, such as when water pumps are running or its cloudy. Also, you really want your batteries as charged as possible when the sun goes down. Do you want to switch back to bulk (CC) or stay on float (CV) if you have discharged some capacity? I think this is where "rebulk" setting might be useful. Also, many people are now buying prebuilt packs with inbuilt bms. Many manufacturers support intelligent connection to the battery pack and let the bms dictate the charging. In most cases this is a far better option. Just my thoughts.

[@dahuaba9558]

Hi Andy, Very good video. I dont agree with your point regarding Equalization though. For beginners your advice to turn it off no matter what is perfectly fine for beginners. I personally use it in an intervall of 1 to 2 weeks to charge to 3.6V and balance out the cells. It works perfectly fine. I never had an imbalance of more than 50mV.

[@jime9305]

Isn't the BMS supposed to take care of that during absorption/bulk mode?

[@dahuaba9558]

@@jime9305 Yes. But I had the experience that when I charge to 3.4V (my absorbtion voltage with 1h duration) after 5-6 of weeks of usage my diviation goes up significantly when I then charge to a higher voltage. So in my situation constantly charging to only 3.4V isn't enough to keep my pack balanced. But since I want to keep my 3.4V and keep my pack balanced at the same time, repurposing the equalizing feature is a pretty good fit for me. If I got anything wrong, please correct me.

[@stuartrobertson3708]

Great explanation of the charge controller settings. Looking forward to your thoughts on the relationship with BMS's.

[@CollinBaillie]

A BMS' purpose is to protect the battery. Over voltage, under voltage, over charge current, over discharge current, temperature protection and short-circuit protection. It makes sure individual cells in a series string never over charge or over discharge. If it balances cells, that also keeps all cells at a similar charge level which gives the best performance, allows a full charge to be really a full charge etc. If your charger is setup correctly, the BMS will never interfere with the SCC. It's possible there are SCCs (or hybrid charger/inverters) which can communicate with the BMS and make minor alterations to how it is supplying charge, but generally the charger only provides what the battery consumes so it will never send too much current. Perhaps they could offer some sort of offer of "I can supply x colts at up to y amps", kind of like the EVSE does for electric car charging so the battery doesn't kill the SCC/Inverter.

[@keesvanmontfoort1065]

Thanks you so so mych i'm sooooo glad to have you on youtube and your clear explanation thanks greets from kees Holland

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

You're very welcome!

[@ve6dn39]

This is exactly what I was looking for. Thanks for sharing.

[@penuelseun]

Welcome back Andy, educative video as always. Would be happy if you can do a video on li-ion charging as some of us still use them. No money yet for upgrade to lifepo4

[@mikeunum]

All is ready, coffee and cake (Kaffee und Kuchen) . Now lets see... BTW: Victron is not far from that place where i life in the Netherlands. At the end: yeah that's Victron. ;-)

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

That's the spirit! Kaffee und Kuchen and a new video here on the channel. What else can you wish for 😃

[@mullerdp3570]

THANKS! For the clear explanations. Greetings from the Netherlands

[@uhaggar]

thanks Andy, only just found your channel. I have just got the Victron 100/50 Smart charger so this is very useful. My other chargers are Enerdrive, all in my caravan. The Enerdrive DC2DC 40 also has a setting for the tail current, you can select values from 1 to 10 amps, currently set to 6 amps which was advised by Enerdrive. Once I understand all of this better I'll try to select settings for all my chargers(the other is the 40 amp eCharger) so they work together as best as possible, guessing I should have the absorption and float vales similar or the same.

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Thanks Glenn and welcome to the channel. Lots to catch up on😊

[@Oli83two]

Wieder ein super Video! Ich freue mich schon auf das Video mit dem BMS. Ich bin gespannt, ob meine EVE Zellen auch so schön laufen und vorallem wie das seplosBMS mit dem growatt SPF zusammen arbeitet. Deine Videos helfen mir wirklich sehr! Grüße aus dem sommerlichen Deutschland! 🙋‍♂️

[@OffGridGarageAustralia]

Danke Dir Oli. Bin gespannt was fuer Vorteile es bringt, wenn das Seplos mit dem Growatt kommuniziert?

[@daninbenson]

Thanks for another great video! You are as entertaining as you Are intelligent! Very informative and very useful. It's greatly appreciated!

[@woodskid4ever]

Great video! Thank you Andy. Im about to work through settings with my Renogy Commander 40. I hope it offers user defined options