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Setup is : quattro 48/8kva/110,Smartsolar 450/100, 4.6kva panels and 2x5kw batteries.
I am trying to connect a small petrol generator.
I am looking at the input current limit as described in the user manual it says to set appropriately for the generator.
In my case 2kw genny runs at 1800 constant so about 7a.
Problem is I can only go as low as 10.5a ?
If i try to set lower it doesnt accept it.
Is that as low as it can go?
Yes, you can also set a charge current limit.
Thanks for the reply,could you please provide some more context. Are you saying yes thats the lower limit?
Because the advice in the manual says it can go lower..
Also what do you mean theres another setting?
The 10.5 amps is probably the minimum when Power Assist is enabled. You can set the input current limit lower if you turn off Power Assist but then you loose the ability to add the inverter's power to the available power from the input.
Power Assist does not function in Charger Only mode and therefore there is no way for the Quattro to honor the AC input current limit and your AC loads could overload your generator. The same would be true in ON mode if you turn off Power Assist.
There is no way to turn off pass-thru unless you put the inverter in Inverter Only mode then you can't charge the battery.
The minimum placed on the AC input current limit whey Power Assist is active is somewhat of a mystery but I'm sure Victron has good reason for it. I do recall the minimums were relaxed a bit a few years ago.
DVCC does set the total charge current from all sources so yes, you'd be shutting down your solar chargers.
You might need to run the generator into a separate AC-DC charger and connect that to the battery. The Victron Skylla TG 48/25 would be a good fit but it's pricy at about US $900. I see less expensive units available or you could parallel several smaller chargers.
Or upgrade your generator.
The charge current limit is in DVCC, this is a function of the GX devices. From your list above, I see you don't have one. Sorry, missed that before.
I also have a 2000 watt Generator which provides a constant 1800 watts , the dealer told me that it wouldn't be big enough to run the Inverter/Charger , when i mentioned that you can limit the input they told me that it says that but it doesn't work so on the strength of that i bought a smaller unit . I later read on a forum that the limiter only works on the Charger but if you have other loads then it can exceed the generators output so the dealer was only half right . The solution then in order to use a smaller generator than recommended seems to be not to allow passthrough , have now bought a 1600 watt so will soon know for sure . I have found on the smaller Inverter/Charger that the charger would not always kick in , selecting Charger only solves the problem .
So your saying select charger only and disable passthrough might work?
Man seems like this is all some big mystery why would it be so hard to do this? Wouldv thought it would be done a million times
If you mean DVCC then i only use it for Voltage and temperature , i don't use it to limit my changing current . The current limit i set on my Multiplus is 7 amps although the Charger will charge up to 40 amps .
@Smith A lower battery charge current will lower the gen load.
But AC loads will trip your genny out.
Having read the manual again i see no difference between having the Inverter/Charger switched to Normal operation or Charge only , either way the Generator charges the batteries while also passed through to the loads , the only difference is that Power Assist wont work in the Charge Only mode . Needs an option to Charge batteries but not the loads so that the loads wont prevent the generator from being used for charging , my manual switch on the AC output makes that possible .
