At the rated output of 3000w the multi would draw 300a from the batteries. You could technically do the for about an hour, but there isn't likely to be anything on the OPs boat that would use 3kw for an hour. We can run a all 4 induction hob plates and a 1kw kettle without overloading a 2kw Multi and it's not on for very long, the kettle boils in a few minutes and the hotplates are well within the 3kw rating.
Lifeline state that Equalisation is fine, Victron seem silent about it. I've interrupted the equalisation. It was interesting that even at 15.5v there was no great current being accepted by the batteries. Tomorrow the batteries are being tested, I'll see what that tells me.
I agree. I would also check what voltage they settle at when disconnected from charging sources and with 0A load. They should settle at 12.7-12.8 but I suspect they may drop on down. Check there is no current leakage.
Yes, thanks, all good advice. It’ll be interesting to see what the battery testing reveals tomorrow. Since interrupting the Equalisation phase the charger has gone to absorption phase and is charging 7A, be interesting to see how long that goes on for.
On my charger (Sterling), on shorepower, it lasts an hour or two. Then it stops feeding any current and the system sits for hours or days with no top up until the volts drop below 12.7-8. I leave it with zero load and zero current. Batteries SLA, 5 years old, 2×180Ah.
I'd see how long that takes, if it goes to the next stage (however it's called by Victron!) then i'd be tempted to start another equalisation and interrupt it after 10mins and see if it still pumps in 7A for a few more hours, sign the batteries are not full at all...
This happened last night:
It needs checking, it was setup by the Victron agent three years ago, I’ll look. Yes the boat spends the majority of its life in a marina berth on shorepower. Our last boat had a Victron Multi and Lifeline batteries - which were still in good shape after 16 years deployed.
Do check that bulk isn't limited to 8 hours, the B2B come with a limit on time for this phase and for larger banks this can cause issues.
how were they tested? with these el. testers that give a voltage and CCA rating? or manually?
not sure how you can restart the charge cycle, hence recommending a quick equalisation interrupted leaving them in bulk.
Yes V and CCA and a declared “battery condition”.
Yes, simple off/on leads to a very short Abs phase then down to Float. I think I’ll try charger off, a ten min 50A load, then charger on.
usually with Victron a simple off and on again works but I've never used a Multiplus
