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Thomas avatar image
Thomas asked

Victron Smart Bms 12/200 for sailboat

Hello!

We have a sailboat that we are thinking of upgrading with a lithium battery.

Now we have a 80 W solar panel connected to a Victron Smartsolar MPPT 75/15 that charges the lead acid house battery. The engine has a 125 A temperature controlled alternator that is connected to the starter battery.

So I want to remove the old house battery and put in a Victron Smart 200 Ah battery as this will fit physically in the boat without modifications.

My question is can I just put in a Victron Smart Bms 12/200 between the alternator, starter battery and house battery? Do I need anything else?

And should the load be connected to the Smartsolar or to the Bms?


Thankfull for any help!

BMS
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1 Answer
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pwfarnell answered ·

You should be OK with the Smart 12/200 BMS, but there is one key question. What voltage does your alternator currently charge at, it needs to get to at least 14.4V, preferably 14.5V to charge the lithium to 14.2V because of voltage drop over the BMS. If your alternator voltage is low, the Smart 12/200 BMS does not have a voltage boost and will not work. In that case you will need an Orion DC to DC charger and a different BMS.

Regarding set up with the SmartSolar and other loads have a good read of the manual before buying anything.

https://www.victronenergy.com/media/pg/Smart_BMS_12-200/en/installation-and-configuration.html

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