VSR's - surely they are pointless?

[prv]

Well, you might think so, but the voltage drop is much less than for conventional diode splitters

Regardless of anything else, something that comes equipped with a dirty great heatsink and dire warnings about overheating and burns, is clearly wasting energy at a prodigious rate. I'd rather that energy went into my batteries.

Pete

 

[JumbleDuck]

Regardless of anything else, something that comes equipped with a dirty great heatsink and dire warnings about overheating and burns, is clearly wasting energy at a prodigious rate. I'd rather that energy went into my batteries.

The one with the dire warnings about overheating and burns isn't the one with the dirty great heatsink. That's maybe why it has dire warnings about overheating and burns!

 

[ditchcrawler]

Regardless of the starter battery being fully charged or not Victron supplier told me that the disparity of battery capacities causes what is known as "chatter"i.e. the constant switching in and out of the VSR.
I would love the system to work but in my case it doesn't.
I have had 1/2/both switches for nearly 20 years on several different boats and as yet have had no problem.The 1/2/both system seems to be much maligned by some people but knowing that is what I have got it comes as second nature to me to switch the system over when I need to.In emergency (which has happened a couple of times) I can still start my engine on the domestic bank.

 

[pvb]

The one with the dire warnings about overheating and burns isn't the one with the dirty great heatsink. That's maybe why it has dire warnings about overheating and burns!

As I've said, I haven't noticed it getting very hot. I suspect the dire warnings are more to do with the "health & safety" culture.

 

[prv]

Regardless of the starter battery being fully charged or not Victron supplier told me that the disparity of battery capacities causes what is known as "chatter"i.e. the constant switching in and out of the VSR.
I would love the system to work but in my case it doesn't.

A Smartgauge / Smartbank system would sort it, it's a bit more intelligent about when it connects and disconnects. But it's not cheap, so I can understand sticking with what you're happy with.

Pete

 

[VicS]

Regardless of anything else, something that comes equipped with a dirty great heatsink and dire warnings about overheating and burns, is clearly wasting energy at a prodigious rate. I'd rather that energy went into my batteries.

Pete

That was me, and I stick to my belief that something described as

3 terminals, central one to the alternator, the other 2 to engine and house battery banks. Its built into a pretty big anodized aluminium heatsink casing....

is more likely to be a good old-fashioned 0.65V-per-junction diode splitter than more modern exotica.

It's all compromises.
Manual switching has no losses as such although you could be wasting potential battery charging capability by not switching as soon as one battery is charged. Major downsides are of course that it it is manual, requiring input from the skipper, and that mistakes are possible.
Problems/ downsides of VSRs are already well aired in this thread otherwise are fully automatic and virtually zero loss.
Conventional diode splitters suffer from significant volts drop, resulting in incomplete charging unless the alternator is battery sensed or "smart regulated". The volts drop, even when compensated for, multiplied by the current represents power loss/ inefficiency which manifests itself as heat requiring "dirty great" heat sinks.

The aims of "modern exotica" are to overcome all of the above to provide a system which is automatic, does not suffer from the drawbacks of VSRs and is more efficient than conventional diode splitters.

At the end of the day its the users choice!

 

[halcyon]

Regardless of the starter battery being fully charged or not Victron supplier told me that the disparity of battery capacities causes what is known as "chatter"i.e. the constant switching in and out of the VSR.
.

Chatter is mainly a small alternator and a large flat battery. When the relay closes the alternator cannot supply enough output to rise a low battery above the drop out point. By limiting discharge level to 50% you not only improve battery use, you also should avoid chatter, assuming good VSR design.

There is no need or gain with smart VSR systems, cut in is usually straight after starting, so no gain, top end is governed by alternator and running time, again nothing to do with VSR. Prime thing is to monitor for max charge voltage and min charge amperage for all banks.

Brian