Thanks!

Sweet - let me know how you go!

Oh cool - great to hear!

No problem - thanks for the comment!

Thanks! :)

Yes - the AC Thor works very well - especially for Lead Acid battery types (due to the long tail-off and slow rise in frequency) but with lithium systems the tail-off is pretty much immediate so the full amount of PV is available for the Hot Water element in a short space of time. re: Victron not suggesting this... to be fair to Victron there are likely a lot of situations where this method (hard switching of the element) would be a bit too rough on the batteries eg, when there is a small amount of PV compared with the element size or the battery capacity is very small, in these situations it may be better to slowly bring the load on and try to maintain the battery at 100%. Most of my designs are for medium to large residential and commercial installations where there is a lot of PV and battery storage relative to the load ( I aim for 5 days of autonomy in my system sizing) and so there is often a lot of excess energy available and it doesn't hurt if the battery is at say 96% Vs 100% after the Hot Water element turns off. - Hope this makes sense...!??

Nice to hear - thanks for the comment

No problem - thanks for the comment.

Thank you

correct 😂

yes - by default this is how AC out 2 works - however as soon as you load the relay assistant onto AC out 2 this default is overridden and no longer applies.

That's a great idea but not available in the Assistants - you would need to use a relay on the GX and Node Red to achieve this I expect.

Perhaps you could use an external relay with C-NC driven from the AC out 2 under default settings...?

Not at this stage unfortunately.

If I understand correctly then you have 2 basic options: 1: Run from AC out 2 to a relay at the water heater and program it to turn on when needed. This is probably the best way because the rest of the AC Wiring is intact and legal. Make sure you protect the cable coming from AC 2 out. 2: Run a "pilot" wire from AC 2 Out to the distribution board and supply the breaker directly. NOTE! You will probably need to upgrade your main switch to double pole so it switches the AC 2 Supply as well before it gets to the breaker) - almost guarantee that the electrical codes wherever you are will require this.

This is very interesting - I have also tested this on my system and there is some sort of conflict with the ESS and relay assistants. I wouldn't hold my breath on this being sorted as Victron have a lot of other cool stuff they are working on as priority. For now you may want to use the relay 2 on the CERBO GX and Node Red..? Unfortunately this will require some extra wiring to be done on site...

Yes you do need to program both - but to be honest I have never tried leaving the slave at default... now you've got me going! I have to try that...

Hi Pete, the AC 2 output is simply a relay connected to the main inverter so not ‘split phase’ in regard to phase angle, think of it more like a ripple control relay on a single phase House. In New Zealand and I assume in many other countries you can decide if you want the neutrals connected to the same bus bar (externally joined country code) or separated. The inverter will then test for this and refuse to connect if the configuration changes. For a normal home connected to the grid I always recommend having the neutrals externally joined because then you never lose the MEN aspect of the installation so it’s safer in most fault conditions. When power is connected to the AC in on both 1 and 2 at the same time the inverter will behave differently depending on the assistant setup (a bit much to delve into in a comment sorry). Typically AC1 is priority (Eg grid) and AC 2 in would be for a generator. Note that the Quattro is not compliant for Grid connect in NZ or Aussie but we can add some kit to fulfil the 4777 requirements.

@@benstanton I should have mentioned my unit is a USA 48v/10,000/2x120v Quattro, not the 240v units that I guess you use in NZ. Since our Quattro AC-OUTs only have the single live line, I'm using a 100A AutoTransformer at the end of the AC1 OUT line to give me an L1 L2 N G output that feeds into my 50A 120/240 RV plug. I want to eliminate the AutoTransformer (its cooling is inadequate), and was prepared to replace the 10k Quattro with 2x5k's wired for split-phase; but if activating AC2 OUT and running it to my L2 terminal in my 50A plug works, this will be much cleaner (and cheaper!). I do have the correct assistants available, so once I setup some test wiring I'll let you know what transpires. Cheers Ben.

Yes, it works well for my home system but it does end up clipping the AC in and Battery Charging Power...

I'm not sure I understand your question sorry...

If ou can get an AC 230V Cable from AC 2 out to the Distribution board (through a main switch and MCB) then use AC 2 Out. If you can't then just use a power supply > the CERBO relay > HWC > Relay (same voltage coil as the power supply) > Element... Make sure you program a good hysteresis into the control so that the relay doesn't have to switch too often - if you can't then try to use an SSR (solid state relay) to do the switching - but make sure to use a good heatsink. btw: sorry for the late reply

This is also my plan. Would be nice if somebody could tell us if its logical AND or OR. Thx!

@@dilixvontilly Unfortunately, as I found out, it is always a logic OR. Hence you cannot do that kind of setup with these conditions. A possible workaround I've used is the Generator Start&Stop Mode, which now switches my load. You have to use it in inverse logic (Gen off = Load on, hence use the NC contact to connect your relay) but it works more or less. It is still not possible to set conditions based on negative loads or battery current, so you have to use the Battery Voltage contitionb (which will result in a okay-ish merge between SOC and charge current to trigger the load) instead and fiddle with the timers, which works best for me at least. You can also use the "quiet hours" to your advantage and use the timer to e.g. deactivate the load in nighttime (just turn the Gen On voltage condition above your maximum system voltage) Good luck with your system!

@@kaffeetasse9455 How about using the "AC Load" variable in the MPII to start AC OUT 2 when load is low enough and then using the two relays of the Cerbo GX in row ( logical AND if I am correct ( no electrician )) to control a switch in the cable to the water heater? In this case we could create a logical AND with "AC Load low enough", "SoC high enough" and "water cold enough". Or am I completely wrong?

Hi All - sorry for the late reply - I have one word: NODE RED oh, that's two words...

Yes - related to my Sister Cherie! How do you know her/us? I don’t think it’s so much that Victron are shrouded in secrecy as that their product range is so vast and has so many applications that it can be hard to find what you are specifically poking for. Re: your hydro using the MPPT - you could drive an SSR (solid state relay) with the output and then turn an element on with that. I normally do for an element size around 1/2 the wattage of the production so the batteries don’t micro-cycle and you don’t get relay fatigue (the SSR will help there tho). So this means you will also need a dump load controller as well - you should really have one anyway so that if the hot water element fails or the delay dies or even if the hot water gets to maximum and the thermostat turns off you don’t end up with a runaway hydro turbine or over voltage. At the very least a crowbar across the hydro controller or a second relay driving another element (but that’s basically just a custom built dump load anyway!). Hope this helps a bit.

@@benstanton Thanks Ben, a great help. I've had my hydro running for the last week, and it has been wonderful not to have the roar of the diesel generator going morning and evening. I stripped off a calculated number of copper turns off each coil in my stator to bring the no-load voltage under 120 V, though sadly the output wattage has halved. Thanks to your video I'm using AC2 (with the Victron assistants) to run a hard-wired fan heater set to the 1200 W setting once the SoC reaches 95%, and stopping it at 86% SoC. I hear you about the relay fatigue thing, when the sun shines, the SoC climbs fast, and sometimes the fan heater can't keep up. Can you clarify, (please assume I know nothing about relays) what you were meaning about driving a Solid State relay with the output, (which output?) and turning an element on with it? My BMU inside the BYD B-Box battery case has some relay connections on it, not a word to be found globally about what they are, but one of the guys from Current Generation let me know what they are for. Apparently one pair is a normally closed relay at 100% SoC, and the other pair is normally open at the same state. He suggested I somehow use these to trigger a relay, though I'm drawing a blank on exactly how to do it.

@@reelMn with an SSR you will need a small clean contact relay such as the one you have on the BYD or maybe one of the other raelays on the Victron inverter. Then you’ll need a power supply through that relay and to the SSR. The problem with 100% SOC is that it’s not often the battery stays at 100% they seem to fluctuate between 99% and 100% (possibly due to differences in cell voltage or maybe even simple rounding down so it’s not actually dropping from 100% to 99% but from 100 to 99.9 … just reading 99%) you will have to test then the BYD relay actually turns off again is it 99.9% or 98%??? Also not being programmable is pretty limiting huh?

@@benstanton Yes, it’s rare to see SoC get to 100% in the summer, usually 99%. The guy was telling me to set a dump load for safety purposes there, to prevent overcharging. Regarding water heating, There are some relays on the multiplus for starting/stopping generator, etc. I guess they are also programmable using assistants. Are you familiar with what the Easy Solar 48v system relays are, and which is best to use?

Hi Ted, this cannot be done yet.

Interesting, make sure “battery monitor” is enabled on the inverter if you’re not using a managed lithium battery. Also in the GX make sure you have the correct battery monitor selected.

Hi Phil, sorry for the late reply, I think if you want to combine two rules like this you should use NODE RED. I have a basic video on this but I think if you're not very techy then you should document your requirements in plain English and maybe pay someone to set up a NODE RED flow for you - you might get something sorted for a few silver coins or a box of "chocolates"... I know a couple of programmers but they are not really cheap compared to a quick Google search!

Yeah - I have not tried otherwise yet...

Hi Alan, unfortunately the Victron apps only run on windows (as far as I know!) - you’ll have to borrow a friends laptop or buy a cheap one, it doesn’t need to be that powerful, a second hand machine will do fine.

@@benstanton Thanks Ben I thought this would be the case👍 Another question/s if I may? My 2Kw immersion element is controlled by a program controller protected by a fused switch spur Q1. Is 2Kw too much for a 3Kw inverter (generally about 50w runs in the background -fridge etc. Should I change to a 1Kw element? Q2. If I do get the solar dump working do I need to just have the controller programmed ON all the time it’s sunny?

@@aljotock it may be a bit high for the inverter if other loads are needed (water pump etc?) but generally I use the PV size as a guide to the element size. Go for half the PV size - maximum. You want there to be plenty of extra PV available to complete the battery charging.

Perhaps download the VE.Config file and double check that all the settings have ‘taken’ - especially the assistants. Sometimes these don’t load when uploading. I’m not sure why but I have noticed this happen in maybe 1/50 uploads. If that is not the problem then you may be onto something with the firmware. It’s a bit of a trick to load a deprecated version, you’d need a mk3 USB and use the VE.flash software. This is an advanced, old way of changing the firmware so a little difficult first time. I would advise looking on Victron community to see if any others have had your same problem. All this and I haven’t said the most obvious: perhaps you e simply programmed the ON and OFF assistants back to front or some other simple error..? Good luck!

@@benstanton Thank, for asfer. Problem is fixed, all start works after hard restart. I did it twice :+)

@@martinmelis1473 I have this problem. How did you do a hard restart?

- sorry for the late reply - hope you got your system sorted.

Have you tried it on an ESS system? I haven’t but now that you have mentioned it I think I’ll give it a crack… watch this space … 😳

Ok - good news! It does work in ESS mode

@@benstanton I'm trying it on my ESS system right now. When I remove the ESS assistant, it works fine. According to the forum, ESS changes some of the triggers inside the system which messing things up for what I'm wanting it for :/

@@benstanton What did you do, cause I've got the 2 relay assistant's like in the video, and ESS. and switching between inverting and charging with ESS doesn't switch ACOut2 on and off. For that I need to switch between Invert only and Charge only, which I can't do cause ESS forces invert only to On.

@@sarahjrandomnumbers hmmm strange it doesn’t work. Perhaps check: the ess assistant is the top of the assistants list, the relay assistants are operating on SOC (that shouldn’t matter), you mentioned using charge status… that’s one thing I haven’t tried… testing now. Your other option would be to try and do it in node red..