Firefly house bank and Victron E

So after refit, learning new systems, electronics and electrical. I have a Victron Energy multi control panel and the volts in was set at (what? I don't know) and I successfully changed it by brushing by the panel moving large V birth cushions into my boat. I have set the volts to 12, I know the bulk charge is 13.2 for fireflies, should this be the setting on the Victron. I have a Victron Smart Charger.

i think 13.4 is the float charge for Fireflys and bulk charge should be 14.4v.

Tom

According to Jeff Cote of PYS:

"Charge the Oasis to 14.4V with temperature compensation (bulk phase) and continue charging until the charging current drops to 1.5A (absorption phase, time will vary). You DO NOT need to fully charge the Oasis each cycle in order to maintain the capacity and only need to perform a complete charge cycle when you want to maximize the capacity for the following discharge cycle. Set the float voltage to 13.2V or less. The Oasis does not require a float charge, but if float charging, due to the Oasis’s longer projected lifespan, it is important to keep the float voltage at or below 13.2V to ensure the battery lasts for as many cycles as possible. Reset to bulk phase: for programmable charging sources, adjust the “reset to bulk phase” to occur if the battery voltage drops below 12.0V for >1 minute."


That was copied from his webpage.

From the Firefly owners manual:

Float-Charging: For charging sources that may be charging the battery for an extended period of time (solar, or an alternator if motoring for a while); set the float voltage to 13.4V or 13.5V for the G31 and 4.5V for the 4V 950Ah model. Firefly batteries do not require a float charge on a regular basis. However, if you are float charging, due to their longer projected lifespan, it is important to keep the float voltage at 13.4V or 13.5V (4.5V for each 4V/450AH) to ensure the battery lasts for as many cycles as possible.

rsn48 said:

So after refit, learning new systems, electronics and electrical. I have a Victron Energy multi control panel and the volts in was set at (what? I don't know) and I successfully changed it by brushing by the panel moving large V birth cushions into my boat. I have set the volts to 12, I know the bulk charge is 13.2 for fireflies, should this be the setting on the Victron. I have a Victron Smart Charger.

Click to expand...

I think we are all off in the weeds here.


RSN48, can you post a picture of the Multi Control panel? All the one's I've seen let you control (actually limit) the input current draw while charging, not voltage. You are getting advice on charger voltage settings, but I don't think that's what you bumped.

twistedtree said:

I think we are all off in the weeds here.


RSN48, can you post a picture of the Multi Control panel? All the one's I've seen let you control (actually limit) the input current draw while charging, not voltage. You are getting advice on charger voltage settings, but I don't think that's what you bumped.

Click to expand...

This. That knob controls the maximum current input and should be labeled current limit. It’s inconceivable that brushing past a panel would configure a voltage setting many menu levels down while also requiring confirmations along the way.

Set it for the max safe current. I never run more than 20 amps on a 30 amp cable when I am not present. If I’m there, I’ll go the full 30 amps.

I am on my boat for a few days using a tablet, and I am copy and paste challenged on tablets, great on my home computer, easy to do. If you Google Victron Energy Multi Controller 200/200A GXyou will pull up a pic and explanation of it. Its what I use to turn on my charger and inverter. In the pic, you will see the number 16 with a barely discernable knob beneath it. I have no idea what the 16 stands for, new system to me, manual at home.

Okay, I just watched a short video by my electronics/electrical hero Jeff Cote. If I understand correctly, the input is kind of a circuit breaker. So for instance, my crappy marina only gives me 15 amps of power. I have to be a bit of an electrical Houdini to be able to use my toaster, micrwave, and electrical heaters without tripping the marina's electrical circuit for my boat (I've done this about 7 times). My most recent "fix" is to set the multi controller on inverter which it allows to take needed amps over my limit to use the microwave while my lower powered electrical heater is on, or which originally happened, my hot water tank when set on AC would put me over the limit when using other things - like the microwave. I'm in love with the whole smart charger/inverter thing.

So I set that LED window displaying a number to 15 as that is my current amp draw from the cheapskate marina.

That "knob' allows you to set the amperage that the unit will use from your shore power. So, when only 15 amps is available, you would want to set that below 15 amps.
Keep in mind that you probably have other A/C loads besides the battery charger. However, once your charger has the batteries out of the high amperage draw stage, your power draw for the charger will be lower anyway. So, during the first part of recharging, keep other loads to a bare minimum.