Victron IP65 12V/15A Blue Smart Charger. Any Good? First Impressions and Test. RND Diaries

First impressions of another Victron addition to my camper van electronics - the Victron IP65 Blue Smart Charger.
As always, please just pause the video to read any information that might be of interest.
Comments are disabled simply because I don’t have the capacity to respond and engage with everyone who comments, so I hope this avoids creating any false expectations. Everyone or no-one. All or nothing. Blah or no-blah.
Music
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With Thanks

[@JDDD33]

good video ! is there a way you can tell the device what type of battery youre charging ? eg AGM vs lithium vs Wet CEll ? important as they have different chagrin profiles

[@RedNemesisDogPrime]

As I understand it the IP65 only has a specific Li-ion mode option but doesn't differentiate between AGM and lead acid batteries. From the 'instruction manual' Victron state: ''Li-ion battery mode The Blue Smart IP65 Charger uses a specific charging algorithm for Li-ion (LiFePO₄) batteries, with automatic Li-ion under voltage protection reset.''

[@nobiden3134]

Is it supposed to read 0.00 amps on my meter in bulk mode? And fail miserably to bluetooth?

[@RedNemesisDogPrime]

my best guess would be no, probably not...

[@jackarrow-journal5317]

great video! does the charger have a fan? is it noisy at all? does it get hot after an hour of use? How long would it take to charge a 50 AH Lifepo4 battery ? Big thanks!!

[@RedNemesisDogPrime]

No fan. Doesn't get hot at all. No idea how long it would take to charge your Lifepo battery. However I have noticed that each phase of the charging process takes about the same amount of time regardless of the state of charge so to get my 100 Ah lead acid battery optimised takes about 6 hours to complete.

[@MichaelEricMenk]

LiFePo4 charges longer in bulk. Time: 50Ah/15A = 3 hours and 8 minutes. So about 3 hours to 95%. The last 5% is in absorption mode. Absorption mode last for 2 hours (in order to give the BMW time to balance) So 0 to 100% is less than 5 hours..

[@timb.4902]

Would you happen to know if it supports AGM and whether this mode is selectable? I am on the fence here, the charger manual says AGM is supported, but there is nothing about it in the settings (of the app).

[@RedNemesisDogPrime]

I had the same problem and found that Victron do not seem to recognise AGM batteries as being different from lead acid batteries in most of its literature. I can only suggest that you send them an email and ask the question specifically. They have been reasonably good at answering questions when I have asked on other matters.

[@timb.4902]

@@RedNemesisDogPrime Ended up ordering the 15A version last night. I will shoot them a message as you suggested, I start to think that the 14.7V max charge may be their way of supporting AGM with flooded batteries requiring a manual modification to increase max voltage in the VictronConnect app. I will add a note here once I have heard from Victron.

[@mrdobalina3451]

@@timb.4902any update?