Hi,
I've been testing a Smartsolar Victron 250|100 under my worst case high-temp conditions, and I wanted to get more detailed information about the max operating temperature that the Victron can handle.
The manual states that 60C is the max operating temp (I assume ambient) with full rated output at 40C (again ambient?).
My worst case test setup
- 115VDC, 25A solar input (Voc could go as high as 200VDC)
- 90A charging output (limited to 90A from user settings)
- 70C ambient directly surrounding the Victron
- 2 awg stranded cable with ferrules fully inserted into all four terminals
- All four terminals torqued to 5NM
- Test runs indefinitely (until batteries are charged or Victron overheats)
K-type Thermocouple Measurements
- 70C ambient surrounding victron (2in above Victron)
- 80C case temp (middle top surface of Victron)
- 90C terminal temp (thermocouple touching the "battery -" phillips screw during 100A output)
The 90A current limit seems to allow this setup to run indefinitely whereas 100A output only lasted about 1 hour before a terminal overheating error code appeared (occurs at 90-91C terminal temp)
I had a few questions about my setup
- Will 70C ambient degrade the Victron and lead to premature failures since it is technically out of spec?
- Can I rely on the the Victron terminal overheating error code or should I throttle the Victron before the terminals reach 90C?
- How does the Victron measure the terminal temperature? I didn't see any temp sensors close to the terminals when I disassembled a unit.
- What internal temperature (that is reported over serial) corresponds to terminals overheating? I'd like to use the Victron reported internal temperature to know when to start manually throttling the chargers output current.
Thanks in advance, any help is much appreciated.
