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vdepoortere avatar image
vdepoortere asked

IP43 charger manual says it's compatible with the Smart Battery Sense, but the Smart Battery Sense manual says it's not

I recently bought the IP43 Phoenix Charger (because my old Phoenix charger died suddenly). The charger is located near the batteries, but in a different room, so temperature can vary. According to the IP43 manual (p 5, section 4.1) temperature and voltage compensation is optionally available with the Smart Battery Sense. It's also listed as a related product on the website. So I bought the Battery Sense, installed it, created a network. But... no possibility to add my Phoenix Charger. When I did some further reading, I discovered a page about the VE.Smart Networking claiming the IP43 is NOT compatible with this technology (https://www.victronenergy.com/live/victronconnect:ve-smart-networking ).

What is this about? How can I make my IP43 compensate for temp. differences using the Smart Battery sense? Several similar questions were already posted but no answers... Can anyone please help? Thanks!!

Br,

Vincent.

charger
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4 Answers
Justin Cook avatar image
Justin Cook answered ·

Hi @vdepoortere, unfortunately this is an instance of the IP43 charger's manual getting ahead of initial device capabilities. Although VE.Smart Networking functionality is certainly on the wishlist as a future FW update, it is not one that we are likely to see implemented anytime in the immediately foreseeable future.

In the meantime, this oversight in the IP43 manual has been noted and corrected; thank you for bringing it to the attention of the Community.

For your particular use-case, unfortunately there is no current way to transmit external voltage and temperature data to the IP43. It is regrettable, but the options here seem to be: 1. hang on to your IP43 and just keep an eye on its charging until -at an unknown date in the future- a FW update to add VE.Smart Networking functionality is released, or 2. talk to the dealer from whom you purchased this device and see if there is a different charger that would be more particularly suitable to your needs at this moment.

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vdepoortere avatar image vdepoortere commented ·

Hi Jsutin, thanks for the reply. I'll try to install the charger next to the batteries and see if that works. Let's hope Victron pushes out a firmware upgrade soon...

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frankcilo answered ·

same thing for me, i bought an ip43 just to have a charger with temperature sensor, bed that was compatible with battery sense, so i bought both, and i find that they are not compatible. A lightness on the part of victron that I don't accept, I really hope they are working to solve the problem

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graeme-m avatar image
graeme-m answered ·

I’m in the same boat here. Bought the battery sense to correct for voltage drop at high current to lithium battery. Please help us out with a firmware update Victron.

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Mark avatar image Mark ♦♦ commented ·

Hold tight, its currently being tested and due for release quite soon.

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graeme-m avatar image graeme-m Mark ♦♦ commented ·

Thanks Mark

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frangar avatar image
frangar answered ·

I can confirm that the BatterySense can talk to the Charger with the latest firmware update...but I have found the set voltage on the charger needs to be 0.10-0.15 lower than the desired battery voltage for some reason.

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