Search the Community

You don't really need a display on inverter/charger systems. After replacing our Xantrex with the Victron Multiplus, we covered up the hole where the Xantrex switch was with artwork! It's all about readings on the apps! 😎 The App is showing the Victron in Power-Assist mode. I've set incoming amperage for a 15A (household circuit). So to run the A/C, the Victron is inverting the net required power supplied by the LiFePO4 batteries. Xa

It’s unfortunate that your Xantrex died, and it sounds like the installer charged you full price for the unit, which is normal practice. But you saved a lot more on the installation cost by replacing it with another Xantrex because they didn't have to fit a different sized display or make wiring changes. Victron's are nice, especially if you have other Victron components all linked together. But I also like the Xantrex units, they are generally reliable and they have good lithium charging profiles, and they are very simple to set-up and use. FYI, be sure to check and re-torque your wire connections after using it. In last weeks YouTube episode of “Happily Ever Hanks,” their recently installed Victron Multiplus literally burned up! They don’t know why at this point, but in my opinion it was probably a loose connection. Cheers! Geoff

Learning about this kind-a stuff is why we have this Forum! These links are from the Xantrex and Victron "Stores" on Amazon. The Xantrex is $635 less and I cannot believe the price on the Victron, $100 less than I paid July 2024! Get your money back? https://www.amazon.com/Xantrex-818-3010-Freedom-Inverter-Charger/dp/B08C1VRWZL https://www.amazon.com/Victron-Energy-MultiPlus-II-Inverter-120A-50A/dp/B0BZV91KW4/?th=1

I understand why you might want to reinstall the same unit as you removed - but I feel really bad for you that some dealer took advantage of you. These units are available online for much less and as @jd1923 said - the more capable and robust Victron Multiplus II is even less. Given Xantrex's response to you - I'm a bit surprised you didn't consider other options. Not that it matters, but my opinions is that Oliver would be doing their future customers a big favor by ditching these other brands and going to an all-Victron electrical system.

Please do not do this! The better Victron Multiplus II is exactly half this cost, with better functionality and reliability! There are several threads here re failures of this brand inverter-charger.

Me too. Love the threaded inserts that @katanapilot suggested for use in wood and perhaps PVC and other synthetic boards, minimum 1/2" thick and the board has to be of a woody-like substance that will take the threads of the inserts without cracking. Like the rivets that @Geronimo John suggested, for as he wrote, for thinner materials (where a threaded insert would not work). I used a different kind of rivet than the one pictured above (see link below). When it comes to something as heavy as the Victron Multiplus II (64 lbs), it should not be mounted to a board with any kind of fastener, when the board is merely glued to a vertical surface. This is why I built a platform, for it to sit on, and then strapped the MP2 connected at the top with rivet nuts to the inner structural fiberglass that supports the bed platforms. I also did not purchase any long rivet tool. I used a longer bolt and extra nut to compress the rivet in place (see pics). These are the 1/4"-20 "Plus Nuts" I used and I also bought an M5 set for lighter needs. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D4KBZG94?ref=fed_asin_title&th=1

I've used both of these type of nuts. Airplane mechanics call rivnuts "the spawn of the devil" because they inevitably come loose and start to spin. They are difficult to then either remove or squeeze again to try to tighten them up. That being said, I've had a couple of airplanes where these are used (and yes, some have come loose). The benefit of the threaded type inserts is they can be installed in much more cramped spaces - like the bays of the Oliver. The rivnuts (especially the large ones needed to mount the Victron Multiplus II) require a tool that is too large to fit into the bays.

The fuse rating should be based on the max load amperage plus a safety margin (+25%). Ah of batteries is not a factor except for runtime. The inverter is the largest load in an RV. Xantrex specs 350A as shown above. Victron specs 400A for the Multiplus II 3KVA inverter-charger. Best to go with manufacturer’s specs. The 400A is likely OK for the Xantrex too, or buy a 350A fuse and keep the 400A as a backup. OTT installed a 300A breaker which has little margin if your running at a 3KW inverter at capacity. But you would have to run your A/C and microwave on inverter simultaneously to get to near 300A! 🤣

Replacing xantrax on my Oliver Elite II 2021. Can't beat power assist on Victron components (Uses battery to meet power requirements when specificed amount of current is set) I have had Victron Multiplus in my old camper and I am crying for the first time , I hate drilling into this beautiful Elite but can't get wires from upper cabinet to lower components without drilling. Going to install Victron MPPT - 100 /30 for outside solar panels 400 watts of ground deployed solar panels Victron Orion 12 volt to 12 Volt charger for vehicle charging and for a Pecron 500 amp hour battery I have under the bed. Victron Smartshunt for monitoring batteries Victron Cerbo GX for the brains of the operation all components plug into and are monitored by this device. Victron small touch screen Built wood support for Multiplus much heavier than xantrax probably double. (I did not lift or look at weights but had a friend put in place) (6 back surgeries lifting days are over) Here are some pictures Had one heck of time getting hole centered perfect to drill. Went as far as I could in corner of cabinet . . . . . .Little scary but turned out ok. Going to work on Battery box holes at same time and maybe add ventilation for batteries at same time. Thanks to everyone for posting information on ventilation Take care Montana Oliver

Yes, call them! I purchased a brand new 3KW Victron Multiplus II for $1,100. Don’t spend this money on a 2KW Xantrex! Your model used in working condition on eBay is likely about $300.

In what I've read so far, at least @Overland and @Ty J, and more recently @rideadeuce have upgraded to the Victron 3KVA Multiplus or MPII. Maybe others? If I remember correctly, Overland installed the original Multiplus and others went with MPII. Does the Multiplus II truly have necessary features. I read 1 amp less draw on stand-by, thinner (but not actually smaller), anything else? I see just fitting the Multiplus in my current Xantrex location (rear dinette seat), where the MPII would certainly be too long. I'd like to avoid adding extra 12V cable length installing it under the bed area or front dinette seat, though there is nothing but room up front and I haven't yet moved that bed since I've been working on the other side. Overland worked a novel installation! He also stated (cannot find the quote today), something like you could keep the batteries in the battery bay or install the inverter there (he wrote it better). Wow, thank you, that got me thinking! Overland also commented the Multiplus was not noisy except when supplying a large AC load or upon shore power connection/bulk charging. It is quiet enough under the dinette seat when just using small AC appliances like when watching TV? Is the MPII truly more efficient? Could it be quieter? I just purchased two 300AH Epoch batteries and I cannot believe FedEx tracking says they will be here on Tuesday. It only makes sense to work these installs together.

After replacing the Xantrex ProWatt SW 2000 with the Victron Multiplus, what are the Xantrex and AGMs worth? Thinking of posting the Xantrex and 4 AGMs on Craigs List and FB Marketplace. Also have the old Progressive Dynamics original power board I replaced before I decided to get the MultiPlus. Any suggestions on what I should price it at? Oh, and I have the battery tray I took out to get the 3 Lithiums in the battery box. Also would be Happy to haul them to the Rally if anyone would like to buy them. I’ll be at site F27 and like it for someone who has been there and done it to take a look at my set up and give me suggestions. Thanks. Gary Gary.Teaney@ConsultantsTCB.com 727-224-2754

Not sure about the term "breaker rating" but if you decrease the "charge rate" it may help. When you're connected to shore power overnight you do not need a high charge rate to get back to 100% SOC. @dewdev I believe the max charge on your model is 150A. If it is set at this rate, it will produce a bit of noise and for example it would top off 600 LiFePO4 batteries down to 50% SOC in just 2 hours! You could set the rate down to 50A and instead 50% will take 6 hours. Our Victron Multiplus II is rather quiet, though I sleep directly over our inverter-charger. I have our charger set at 100A so it can regain amp-hours quickly. Because of this, the charger kicks in when we first connect at a campsite in the afternoon. By bedtime SOC is normally at 100% and unit stops charging. There has been 2-3 times when it is still charging that time of night (e.g. when running our oven and other 120VAC during evening hours). When this occurs, lying in bed I open the Victron app, turn it off to go to sleep. I turn it back on first thing, and by the time we break camp we are back to 100%! Make sure all your battery settings are correct for your Xantrex. I don't believe this should occur with LiFePO4 batteries.

I pulled the plug and got 3 Watt Cycle 280 Ah Lithium Batteries for a total of 840 Ahs. Yes, based on Will Prowse’s review, got the Blue Sea 400 amp fuse. I also bought the Victron Multiplus, yes, not the II, the Cerbo GX, and the Victron 50 Touchscreen. Good news is that Beast fits where the old Xantrex ProWatt SW was. I’ve read, and reread, and reread the great posts other owners have posted on their MultiPlus upgrades. Sad to say, it’s way over my pay grade. Have a mobile RV guy coming out to install. He is saying 3 to 5 hours for install. Seems fair to me, since I don’t have a clue. He says it might also take an hour to configure the Multiplus. I am hoping someone can give me their configuration or tell me who might get me that info to save me that $150 an hour of button pushing. I’ll have him install the Cerbo GX. I may install the Victron 50 Touchscreen later. Would like some advice on best place to run the wire and mount for that. I do NOT have the Zamp Controller panel installed so that hole does not exist in my trailer. My goal is to have all this work done before I’m on the road to the April Ollie Rally at Lake Guntersville. Any comments, suggestions, questions will be much appreciated. Thanks Gary Hull 292 The Range Rover

7 hours later, the Goldstar RV Owner, Matt, took out the Xantrex Inverter, wired in the Victron Multiplus, programmed with the Victron MK3, wired up the Cerbo GX, and 50 Touchscreen, and we turned on the AC with the 840 amps of 3 280Ah Watt Cycle Lithiums. Oh Happy Days. Have gotten some good advice on where to mount the touch screen. May wait to do that at the rally, or when we get to the Mothership on May 5th. Would never have had this happen without a LOT of support from fellow Ollie Owners. Thanks so much. Hope to see you at the Rally. We are Site F27 in the Range Rover, Hull 292 Gary, Anita, and Ranger

I got a lot done this week! 🤣 In introduction, our 2016 Hull #113 has roof-mounted 340W Zamp solar, and had a 2KW Xantrex inverter (only with separate PD4000 converter) and 450AH 6V lead-acid batteries renewed in 2021. Given a recent price reduction and a 10% off sale with free shipping, we were motivated to purchase two Epoch 300AH LiFePO4 batteries for a total of 600AH and it made sense to upgrade to the Victron Multiplus II inverter/charger at the same time. Everything described to follow came to $3200 total investment including all small parts and the costs of many on-hand shop materials. Just two years ago, the cost of the LiFePO4 batteries alone would be nearly double! First, all the old had to be removed. Demolition is always fun first step in a project! I removed the lead-acid batteries (sold them on Craigs in just a few days) and all the cables, the Inverter, the ATS and junction box. It’s crazy how OTT wired shore power to inverter power, using wire nuts in this junction box, real backyard mechanic stuff (correct design would be to use a dual-bus power panel). Everything in these pics has been removed (anybody need a 2kW Xantrex system or spare parts)? The second crazy thing is where they installed the main DC fuse (see pic). No way would I have known it's up there until I removed the cables! To access this fuse, you have to sit low reaching through the rear dinette seat.

We keep our Victron Multiplus II on ALWAYS because we use AC appliances all the time! Also, with the MP2 full OFF does not allow for shore-power pass-through. There are 4 states as seen in the menu which can be changed via the VictronConnect Bluetooth App (see picture). The MP2 is more efficient than the original Multiplus as follows with power saving modes: - Zero load power 13W - In AES mode 9W - In Search mode 3W 13W is about 1A or 24Ah used per day (I don't bother with the power savings Modes). Since our Oliver is always outdoors, it takes about 3 hours of sun or 6 hours of clouds to replenish the 36Ah in 24 hours, the 24Ah for the inverter and another 0.5Ah x 24 for DC usage, Exterior Courtesy Lights ON and DC parasitic draw. I will on occasion turn the inverter off overnight, for example when charging is creating noise under my bed or when boondocking and SOC is low from use (<50%) and we need to be off-grid more overnights. On the rare occasion when the inverter is turned OFF overnight, Chris will try to start the electric kettle for coffee in the morning and when she gets no power she knows. So, I turn it back on using the app while still in bed! Our batteries have to be really low to use LP. The 1100W electric kettle (usually draws 900W) boils water in half the time. When SOC% gets low we have DC-2-DC charging and an extra 400W in suitcase solar. Our Epoch and Victron upgrades are GREAT and we use them to the fullest!

We have 600 Ah Epoch LiFePO4 and the 3KVA Victron Multiplus II inverter which can run the A/C for a few hours. When we replace the awful 13.5 Dometic Penguin 2 with an inverter A/C we should be near double runtime on the A/C. If you have the Truma, it is a bit more efficient than the Dometic. When we truly need A/C, like we did almost 10 overnights on our last 36-day trip we booked sites with electrical hookup. Was not expecting so much hot weather up north but we certainly had a heat wave in most parts of the country this June. I won't carry a generator and extra fuel. Soon with an A/C upgrade we can run it longer. I would add another 300 Ah Epoch battery before adding a generator. But that's just me. Best wishes to you and your new DC-to-DC installation!

All the comments are right on the money. But for a little more perspective of why you fell short of power, consider this: My guess is that you have about 400 Amp Hours with your 4 AGM batteries, which gives you about 200 AH usable power without going below 50%. You stated that your inverter stays on. A Xantrex Freedom inverter uses 72 AH per 24 hours of standby power (turned on without a load.) The Victron Multiplus is better at 40 AH a day with standard factory settings, and as low as 16 amp hours a day with power saving settings. These are both zero AH when turned off. The batteries are being supplemented with an assumed 320 watt solar system, which is under 30 AH a day in sunny conditions. You mentioned a coffee maker which burns a lot of power, typically about 20 AH to brew coffee, and more if your keeping it warm. That could cancel out the solar contribution. Now add in the AH values for whatever else you're using, and you can figure out how long you can last when boondocking. Hope that helps! Cheers, Geoff

For those that have upgraded to the Victron MP2. I am thinking about swapping out my Xantrex 2000 for a Victron Multiplus II 3000 and installing Lithium batteries. The part that I need help with is the wiring from the PD 4000 distribution panel and bypassing or disconnecting the charger. Still need converter portion for shore 110v? MP2 for Inverter DC to AC, power switch (Shore to DC, DC to Shore) and charging. Does the OEM wiring from the junction box on Xantrex end just go into the AC IN and AC OUT on the Victron Multiplus? Or do you need to run the shore power out of EMS to Multiplus AC IN and then back to distribution panel. Do you simply disconnect charger? If you run new longer feed from the EMS to MP 2 AC IN then can you use the AC OUT back to the PD 4000? OR does the EMS to MP2 go back to shore power in the same AC in on back of PD 4000. Any clarification on these questions or pics would be greatly appreciated. Just trying to figure it all out before hiring someone or diving in myself. I, also, just want to understand how it works. Thanks in advance for any feedback. Mike

I installed the VE.bus (required addition to the Victron Multiplus providing Bluetooth when going without screen displays), connected by Ethernet cable, in the same basement area on top of the wheel well. I put it there since it measures temp and I wanted it near the top of the same area where our inverter/charger is installed. The picture shows the "Detailed" tab of the app. You can see that today mine reads 69F and my Ruuvi sensor in the back trunk area shows 60F, which is about our outside temp today. The screen states Battery Temp because they assume you install it in the battery bay. So, the Victron is adding up to +9F on a cool day (hardly inverting and not charging at all since shore power is disconnected). Also, the cooling fan is off. BTW, these Beech Lane fans need resetting whenever power is disconnected. Above I mentioned the VE.bus is required. This is only true if you are like me and do not want the other Victron toys and displays, just app connection. I also mentioned USB or USB-C which is wrong for this device. The VE.bus is connected by Ethernet only to provide Bluetooth access to the Multiplus. This VE.bus also allows you to turn the Multiplus ON/OFF, charger ON only, or inverter ON only. There is an accessory you truly need for configuring the Multiplus. It's connected to the Mulitplus also by Ethernet port and at the other end of the device there's a short USB or USB-C cable to connect to your laptop. I have this sitting under the rear dinette seat but have not needed it since the original install. Though I believe I will need it again soon to up my batteries charge rate from 50A to 100A. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BNBVKSTH/

You're welcome Gary. Keep in mind there is the original Victron Multiplus (MP) and more recently the Multiplus II (MP2). Mike who started this thread and I both went with the MP2. One member who was first went with the older model MP since the MP2 had not yet been on the market. They are both very good, but the MP2 is more efficient and uses less power on standby. I supplied a link before for the MP2 and I believe you went that way. Earlier I explained that you did not need the UL tested model required for residential. The MP is shorter but comes off the wall 9-10" The MP2 is 20" long and about 6" deep making it a good fit for under the bed sideways. Mike and I installed under the streetside bed. Another member installed, I think the MP (vs. MP2) under the front dinette seat. In our hull the front dinette is for Chris where she keeps dogfood and coffee, TP and other stuff. Mike used adhesive to glue a mounting board as you can see in the first 1-2 pages of this thread. I built a foundation as you can see in the link below. Mike and I believe everybody else added the Cerbo and touch screen. I went without it and ordered this simple Bluetooth device. The screens are cool, but I went without the extra costs and drilling more holes in the hull. You can connect to a screen AND/OR use this to connect by Bluetooth. Either will allow you to turn on/off the MP2. Once installed and confugured there is no need to touch the hardware again unless make future mods. https://www.amazon.com/Victron-VE-Bus-Dongle-Multiplus-Inverter/dp/B07FCV43LQ/

Our Honda eu2200 will not run our Truma air at sea level. The overload on the generator trips when the compressor kicks on. As I understand the xantrex 3000 freedom pro, it will prioritize sending ac power to the ac and send less to the charger for instance if the ac input is not great enough to support both (load share). But the Xantrex will not supplement ac loads with battery power as a Victron Multiplus will. I would love to be wrong about this but I think the only way my generator will run our ac is if a soft start is installed.

WOW. My thoughts on your Options. 1. No way do I have enough coins in the couch to pay $10,000 for the Mothership to do this. Option 2. At 73 I would not be where I am today, if not for “A Little Help From My Friends.” $2 to $3,000 is worth it to have upgrade to have possibility to Boondocks for a few days. Option 3. I am willing to buy the Victron 3KVA. I see there 3 different ones on Amazon; 1. Victron Energy MultiPlus-II Pure Sine Wave Inverter Charger, UL-Certified, 48/3000/35-50 120V For $1168.75. 2. Victron Energy MultiPlus-II 2X Pure Sine Wave Inverter Charger for 120 amp Battery, 120V, 3000VA 12-Volt For $1,088.00 3. Victron Energy MultiPlus-II Pure Sine Wave Inverter Charger for 120 amp Battery, 120V, 3000VA 12-Volt For $997.05. For the small difference happy to spend on #1 if it makes a difference. JD says based on what I have now, I should be able to add the Lithium batteries and install the rest when I get to the April Rally, with the help from my Ollie Friends. What else will I need to add before I head up to the Ollie. Thanks for taking the time to read what I hope makes sense and taking the time to respond. Gary Hull 292 2017 Build, bought new in 2018 and new to us in Dec 2025 IMG_2837.mov

Ha! I've got a Victron Multiplus II in a DIY "Electric Solar Generator" or whatever you call those portable Bluetti, Jakery, Goal Zero boxes. Thanks for the reply. I would definitely reach out here for a head check, but I'm really curious about the "emergency" option of being able to talk to Oliver support and possibly order parts from them if needed. If I remember correctly, I've seen a few threads where folks mentioned running plans past the support team, I'd feel more comfortable if I had that in my back pocket as an option. Is that a thing they do?