question

ray-ray avatar image
ray-ray asked

Battery Protector instead of BMS

Hello everyone,


This is my first of many questions here as i just joined the victron family.


There's no Victron Smart BMS 200A at where I'm. So I'm thinking about using a Victron battery protector for my new 200ah LiFePo4 Victron batteries for my boat.

I already have an Orion to protect my alternator. Also have a Victron battery monitor (shunt) setup as well. The new Victron batteries i have are smart so I'll be able to monitor each cell there too.

So my question is

- If i use a battery protector, instead of a BMS, would my Victron batteries still be covered under Victron's warranty?

- Would it be safe enough for my boat and my equipment?

Thank you









BMSBattery Protect
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3 Answers
hjohnson avatar image
hjohnson answered ·

The BatteryProtect is only designed for current going in one direction, so you wouldn't be able to use a single unit connected to your batteries. You could use one to disconnect your charging sources, and the other to disconnect your loads, but at that point you might as well just acquire a proper BMS.

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wkirby avatar image
wkirby answered ·

You really should be using a BMS. The BMS provides protection on a cell level, if one cell goes outside of limits then the BMS can take action.
The battery protect only acts on the battery as a whole and would not act if a single was about to go wrong. This could be very dangerous.

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ejrossouw avatar image
ejrossouw answered ·

The Victron documentation states "Requires one of these BMS-es". Since overcharge, over discharge and other protection is provided by the BMS and also your installation will therefore not conform to the Victron installation guidelines, it is highly unlikely any warranty claim can be honoured without these safety mechanism in place, which a battery protect does not provide.

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