dieselfumes
I love the looks of the toroidal transformer in the victron.
Questions regarding victron 12/2000 (2kVA) inverter/charger.
1. Is your 15A shore power circuit enough to supply victron charger in high-rate absorption mode? Their literature indicates upward of 20A demand. Or, is this the larger 3kVA unit?
2. Have you tried powering the victron inverter/charger with a Honda eu2000i generator? I would think it would be great for powering the battery charger, while boon docking or without solar. As much as I would like to install a couple 280W PV panels, we always garage van at home and at the cabin and nearly always seek a shady parking spots in warmer months.
3. You mention a microwave and an induction hot plate. Is the victron 12/2000 big enough to power a Kuerig coffee makers (1350 watts) and Vitamix blender (1250 watts), separately?
I haven't measured the in-rush current from these two appliances but I imagine thick/icy/chunky smoothies will make the vitamix pull some current.
4. Do you have any regrets about not purchasing the larger 12/3000 (3kVA) inverter?
5. Are you able to adjust (prolong) the absorption (high-rate) charge period? Or, is it fixed so that is changes to float period after a certain time, regardless of battery technology?
6. How noisy is the Victron? Is the charger nosier than the inverter? Or, the other way around?
7. Did you order your victron from a distributor or on-line?
8. Did you specify the unit with 120VAC 60Hz input, when placing your order? Or, is it user-configurable from 230VAC 50Hz?
Hey Dynaco,
I'm running LiIon batteries, so they take what they're given. They don't need specific high-absorbtion charge rates. My batteries charge, that's really all I can tell you. I did run 12 gauge cable, so in theory I can change out to a 30A system if I want without issues. However, we have no intentions of using RV parks, so it's unlikely we'd ever find a place with a 30A outlet just waiting for us. At home I wired a dedicated 20A circuit, but the batteries were doing fine on a regular 15 one. The charger/inverter can be set to draw no more than a certain amperage. It's a great way to prevent the circuit breaker from tripping when you are plugged in to an outlet at a friend's house.
I have no interest in carrying a gas powered generator. I'm sure it's possible to use it as a charging source, but I haven't tried it. I would be tempted to invest the cost of the generator in extra battery capacity or in a move from lead acid to lithium batteries.
Ditto no interest in the Keurig. Those pods just don't do it for me. We use an Aeropress and love it. In fact, giving up on the Keurig may be another way to avoid the whole generator issue!
The Vitamix should work - I see no reason why not. I'll take ours out the van some time full of ice and give it a whirl.
I think I would thoroughly regret purchasing the 3k version. The only plus point is the two inputs/outputs. That would really only have saved me a $30 120v relay and would have let the color controller tell me a little more about the power sources for the inverter. It might also have let me control if/when I power certain items - for instance only powering a hot water heater when I was on shore power. But the extra power would have been nothing more than an invitation to run our batteries down faster, and the relays on the inverter will let me program most of the logic I want with very little hassle.
The Victrons all seem to have really low overhead draw on the battery, especially if you enable their low power mode. Still, the 3k pulls more power even when it's idle than does the 2k. We aren't trying to recreate a house in our van. We're happy to put up with the minor inconvenience of not running three appliances at once.
If you did decide to go with the 3k version, be sure that your batteries are up to the task of supplying it. You might find that you're on the edge of the discharge rate for some lead acid batteries. At that rate, they will not give anything near their rated capacity.
You can find the inverter manuals on the Victron site, and also information about configuring the inverter. Yes, the time in absorbtion is configurable. I think it defaults to 2 hours but can be raised to 8. At least, that's my memory of the settings for the battery type I chose. That thing is highly configurable. Times, voltages, etc. It does, however, take either a separate USB interface or the Color Control in order to program it. Basically, you're running a program on a Windows PC and then sending the results of the configuration to the device.
Noise levels vary depending on load. Charging has a barely audible 60hz hum associated with it, and the fans run. They are not obnoxious. Inverting can be silent for small loads, through to full-on fan whirring. You can still talk easily over the noise. When you run the microwave, for instance, the microwave fan is way noisier than the inverter. A lot is going to depend on where you site things too. Our unit is at the rear of the van but until recently that's been pretty much entirely exposed to the interior. I've not run it much since we put the bed in. I think that is going to make things quieter still.
I ordered online. I think PKYS or Inverter Supply, but I don't remember for sure. I liked dealing with PKYS. Inverter Supply have a weird e-commerce engine, and less shipping communication, but stuff still arrived from them.
Specify your voltage at the time of ordering. It's not (as far as I know) a user-configurable thing.
I'll reiterate that I've been really happy with the Victron equipment. I have a feeling that your application would be different than mine. You seem to be worried about wanting/using more power, and some of the devices you list are not on my "essentials" list. In fact, I kind of just rolled my eyes at the whole "we have to have a Keurig in the Unity" thread that happened recently. I will however try out the Vitamix when I get a chance, just to let you know whether it works or not.