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edgargw22 avatar image
edgargw22 asked

Can I see a report for alternator energy?

Can I run a report on alternator energy? Is there something via the Victron portal?

There are reports on grid (shore power) and/or generator usage, but I want more information about the alternator. The BMV-712 has wire leds specifically for the alternator.

Here's my equipment: two Victron 12,8 LFP batteries w/Bluetooth (each 300 Ah), Victron MultiPlus 12/3000/120-50 120V VE.Bus Inverter/Charger, Victron Battery Monitor BMV-712, Victron Color Monitor w/Bluetooth dongle and Victron Smart Solar Charge Controller MPPT 150/85-Tr.

TIA...

battery chargingBMV Battery Monitor
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Jon S avatar image Jon S commented ·

Following


I have a similar setup without the BMV but with a lynx ion 1000 shunt. I have dual Balmar 220 amp alternators. Is there a way to show alternator input on the CCGX?


Thanks


Jon

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Justin Cook avatar image
Justin Cook answered ·

@Edgargw22, how are you charging your system from the alternator? I don't see any battery-to-battery or alternator-to-battery equipment listed.

With the equipment you have listed, there is no way to report alternator current separately from other charge sources. It's worth noting that the BMV does not have "wire leads specifically for the alternator" as you say; there is one port on the shunt PCB that can be used to monitor start battery voltage only (if that port isn't being used by a temperature sensor or for midpoint voltage monitoring), but it does not connect to the alternator in any way, nor can it be used to measure current. If you have a B2B or A2B charger between your start battery/alternator respectively and your house bank, and the negative of the charger is properly connected to the "loads and chargers" side of the BMV shunt, the BMV will of course monitor the incoming current from that device as well as all your other charge sources, but the BMV cannot differentiate between charge sources - ie, it cannot tell you that "x" current is coming from your alternator while "y" current is coming from your solar controller. The BMV will show total input current, that is all.

If you were super keen on monitoring current from the start battery or alternator separately from your other charge sources (again, this would require an appropriate charger that is not listed in your equipment), you could add an additional BMV to your system and put the shunt on the NEG line from that source only, but you would not be able to see a readout of the second BMV directly on the main screen of the CCGX - you would have to go into the devices list, select the second BMV, and read its reported data from there. It would also be critical to still connect that charge source NEG to the "loads and chargers" side of your primary BMV shunt, as only your primary BMV would be reporting an accurate SOC of your house bank.

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edgargw22 avatar image edgargw22 commented ·

Excellent information... Yes, I do have other sources for charging the system. I have both Onan 8k generator while we're dry camping and shore power when we're staying at an RV campground. Typically battery syncronization occurs while shore power is available.

As you can guess, I'm trouble shooting the engine altenator because we have some long travel days and that the batteries should be getting a much better charge then what's actually happening - however I need data to figure that out.

Below is a picture of my BMV-712 - please note ALT wire leads that are tied in with the merge solenoid. It seems to me that if the BMV-712 has wire leads for the altenator that we should have some corresponding data - but I don't see it either.

Thanks again - I appreciate your feedback. Any thoughts on what these leads are monitoring?

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Justin Cook avatar image Justin Cook ♦♦ edgargw22 commented ·

@Edgargw22, did you inadvertently attach the incorrect photo? That is not a BMV-712... in fact, that's not a piece of Victron equipment at all. That's an AM Solar external BMS, and has nothing to do with your BMV battery monitor; if it's doing what I think it's doing, you're using it as the BMS for your Victron LFP batteries, which you technically should not be doing since it's not Victron-supported - the Victron LFP batteries should be connected to a Victron BMS.

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antiguasky answered ·

I'm currently using a Batrium BMS to manage a 12.1 kWh 56V NMC pack that's charged by a 160A 58V alternator. The Batrium relay out trigger's the relay on a 48V Battery Protect to control the regulator's on/off state.

Now for a little Blue Sky thinking......

It would be nice to have a designed alternator solution to show it as a distinct DC source with the Victron environment. Within the current product range I've given some thought to possibly using one of the 250/? MPPT Solar Controllers between the alternator and the battery to track its performance on a Venus OS device. The relay out on the devices also looks like it could be a useful "second safety" to make sure the regulator disables the alternator before the controller disables charging.

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