Victron Color Control GX Monitor

Victron Color Control GX Monitor

The brain box and monitor for our solar and charging system is the Victron Color Control GX. While it looks like it’s just a pretty screen with data about our charging system, it actually helps to coordinate all of the separate pieces in our Victron full stack to work together. The pretty pictures are just a bonus.

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Blue Sea Systems 300 Amp m-Series Battery Switches

Blue Sea Systems 300 Amp m-Series Battery Switches

These are the switches we’ll be using to turn on or off the individual power inputs. When using a lithium ion power bank it’s important to isolate the batteries from any potential vampire loads. Lithium ion batteries are really good at holding a charge for a long time, but it’s important not to let them discharge below 10% State of Charge (SOC) to avoid damaging the battery. There are often small controllers and other small electronics that draw very small amounts of power that aren’t easy to detect. These switches will allow us to isolate our batteries when they are in storage mode.

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Victron BMV-712 Battery Monitor with Battery Temperature Sensor

Victron BMV-712 Battery Monitor with Battery Temperature Sensor

While our lithium ion battery from Lithionics already has a battery monitor, it’s important for our charger (Victron Multiplus) understands the State of Charge (SOC) of our battery. Unfortunately, the Lithionics Battery Management System (BMS) doesn’t interact directly with our Multiplus so we have to add a battery monitor seen here. This will report back to the charging circuit to let it know when and how much power to put back into the battery.

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Blue Sea Systems 300 Amp m-Series Battery Switch

Blue Sea Systems 300 Amp m-Series Battery Switch

We’re using Blue Sea Systems switches for all of our main power grid items. This switch will allow us to switch between our roof solar system and our backup suitcase style solar panels in situations where we are in a lot of shade where the camper is parked.

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