Victron MP2 with (2) Epoch 460ah batteries. DAY #1 Removal, rewiring, mounts, routing wires

[rideadeuce]

Removed: Old Xantrex inverter, transfer switch including ac legs IN/OUT, charger from PD4000, Trojan batteries, Battery tray

 

Mods:  Wired Outlet and microwave circuit directly to breaker, mounted pos and neg bus bars using Star board (heavy), Pulled all wires from battery compartment except 4/0 pos and neg, ran wires for Epoch battery remote battery on/off switch and external battery level indicator, COM port from battery to MP2, Re-used all electrical wire (Used some new lugs and heat shrink), removed 10/3 main shore AC from EMS to PD4000Installed: POS and Neg bus bar, (2) Epoch 460 ah batteries, battery wire zip tie holders

  

Waiting on MP2 stand to give lateral support since it will be mounted horizontally. May still bond starboard to fiberglass wall to fixate MP2 but it weighs 49lbs so I want the extra support from stand. We shall see if it fits with some modified aluminum support for feet. 

[rich.dev]

A pity you couldn’t keep the battery slide with the new batteries! 

[rideadeuce]

29 minutes ago, rich.dev said:

A pity you couldn’t keep the battery slide with the new batteries! 

Packed to the gills. I felt like a German mechanic changing a water pump connecting batteries but I am happy with the result. No maintenance and they have remote monitoring and shut offs so they shouldn’t need to come out. 

Edited April 13 by rideadeuce

[rich.dev]

10 minutes ago, rideadeuce said:

No maintenance and they have remote monitoring and shut offs so they shouldn’t need to come out. 

Very good choice with Epoch batteries, I mean, if Will Prowse gives it a thumbs up it must be good!😊 

HERE’S the Review by Will Prowse 

[mossemi]

Very nice work Mike and I am talking about the write up and installation.  Keep us posted with your progress.  Is the stand for the MP2 a Victron product?  I haven’t seen it before.

Mossey

 

[rideadeuce]

DAY #2

Yes, it is. Costly and ended up not fitting very well for this application without a lot of customization. So it gave me the idea of making my own mount with the heavy duty star board I did not want to use. Turns it out came in very handy!

 

Edited April 13 by rideadeuce

[rich.dev]

Looking good Mike! What heavy duty star board and epoxy did you use here?

[rideadeuce]

HDPE Marine Board from Buyplastic.com. 12x27x1. It is heavy and expensive but turned out to be very well suited for this install. $57.00

PC-11 Epoxy adhesive paste. 1 lb in 2 cans. from Amazon.com

[mossemi]

17 hours ago, rideadeuce said:

HDPE Marine Board from Buyplastic.com. 12x27x1. It is heavy and expensive but turned out to be very well suited for this install. $57.00

PC-11 Epoxy adhesive paste. 1 lb in 2 cans. from Amazon.com

I was curious about your use of HDPE and PC-11 Epoxy as I haven’t ever tried using the 2 products together.  I haven’t used any of PC-Products line of adhesives, so I went their website and looked into their does and don't.  I found the information below, so I will be looking forward to your results.

Mossey

[rideadeuce]

4 hours ago, mossemi said:

I was curious about your use of HDPE and PC-11 Epoxy as I haven’t ever tried using the 2 products together.  I haven’t used any of PC-Products line of adhesives, so I went their website and looked into their does and don't.  I found the information below, so I will be looking forward to your results.

Mossey

Mossimo, that is interesting. Figures I would pick the one epoxy that does not stick to some plastics. The good new is that is rock solid as of now and most of the weight is being held up by the aluminum supports. I did buy the Marine EP-11 which is stronger than the original formula. I don't know if that makes any difference. Thanks for pointing that out that information though. 

Best, M

[rideadeuce]

Day #3

Wired in the MP2, Pos and neg bus bars, smart shunt.

Turned on inverter... Microwave works nothing els. AC plugged in... nothing. Oh well, had fun installing the hardware and attempting electrical. 

So everything is mounted except Ekrano display. May give the project a break for a few days and then wire the inverter back to OEM configuration and then hire an RV electrician or talk to OTT to make the changes necessary to use inverter for AC.

Best, M

 

[mossemi]

We are all hopeful it works for you!  And if you do need to add some additional support to keep it vertical, a couple of machine screws through the wall up high on your HDPE board wouldn’t be noticeable under the lip up the bed support.

Mossey

[mossemi]

18 minutes ago, rideadeuce said:

So everything is mounted except Ekrano display.

If you have decided where you were going to mount display, I was able to mount a a 7" Raspberry Pi touch display with the Pi mounted to it in the old Zamp CC hole.  I replaced that with a GX Touch 70 display in the same location.

Have you reached out to Galway Girl to discuss your wiring troubles?

Mossey

 

Edited April 14 by mossemi

[rideadeuce]

4 hours ago, mossemi said:

If you have decided where you were going to mount display, I was able to mount a a 7" Raspberry Pi touch display with the Pi mounted to it in the old Zamp CC hole.  I replaced that with a GX Touch 70 display in the same location.

 

I am going to be replacing my old Victron color display (push button) which took the place of the old Zamp solar charger. So yes, doing the same. 

 

For anyone reading the install, this is what I was trying to do without success so far,

"The best place to insert a multiplus is inbetween the ATS (assuming you have a generator) or shore power input (if you don't) and the breaker panel itself. That way the shore or generator power will charge the batteries, and the inverter itself keeps the power on even without shore or generator. It also enables the power assist mode to function correctly, where you can dial down the current limit to match the available power, and then no longer need a power shedding device to avoid overload.

Any outlets that have GFCI then continue to have GFCI as they should. Those that don't are probably better not to have GFCI, as heavy loads (air conditioner, electric heat) would end up often tripping the GFCI inconveniently and unnecessarily.

The one drawback though is that you *must* then have the multiplus in on or charge only mode to have shore power pass through. If you turn it to OFF, there will be no power at any outlet, regardless of the presence of shore or generator power available.

Also, no backfeeding. You don't want to deal with islanding, and you don't have to since the multiplus will do the right thing if wired correctly. Shore/gen (or ATS) is connected to AC IN1, and AC OUT1 goes to breaker panel. That's it. You *can* use AC OUT2 to switch additional loads based on other criteria (see relay assistant for control of ACOUT2 relay) but that would require an additional breaker as you couldn't then put that switched power through the existing breaker panel.

Note that if you have an existing converter/charger plugged into power from the breaker panel, this will have to be removed/disabled to avoid setting up a loop (120->12->120->...)

This is all assuming you have a single phase breaker panel, or one where the two phases have been merged with a jumper wire (also assuming 30a 120vac service here, not 50a 240/120 split, in which case get a multiplus2-2x). If you do have a 30a split panel (where an existing inverter has already been wired in) you would need to either connect it up the same way as the original inverter (one side of the split is "shore", the other side is "inverter"), or if you wanted to power everything through the multiplus (gain ability to operate aircon from battery) then you want to merge the two sides of the split (jumper between the two 30a breakers) and wire the multiplus in as above (shore/gen->ats->multiplus->breakers).

I do this on a regular basis (upgrading mostly b, some c class RVs). 

Edited April 14 by rideadeuce

[Rivernerd]

Love the Wera and Knipex tools.  Your plan may not have yet worked out as well as you hoped, but you have been using quality tools!

Edited April 15 by Rivernerd

[MAX Burner]

17 hours ago, rideadeuce said:

Turned on inverter... Microwave works nothing els. AC plugged in... nothing. Oh well, had fun installing the hardware and attempting electrical. 

Hey, Mike:  

Just a thought which has worked for us on several occasions with some of our Victron components - try giving the boys at Battleborn Batteries in Reno, NV a shout.  

They are an authorized Victron dealer and are well accustomed to helping out DIY'ers.  We've called them many times and have always got a solution to our issues.  They're very patient and will walk you through a troubleshooting process to get that AC operating with the MP2.

Keep us posted as you go through the troubleshooting as we're interested in doing the same MP2 mod after our 2,000w Xantrax fails.  

Good luck!

[Ronbrink]

17 hours ago, rideadeuce said:

May give the project a break for a few days and then wire the inverter back to OEM configuration and then hire an RV electrician or talk to OTT to make the changes necessary to use inverter for AC.

When converting my 2020 OLEll to lithium, I had to install a dedicated transfer switch to enable use of the A/C on battery. You may need to do the same; a few other owners on the forum have also discussed the need of an additional TS to accomplish this goal. 

[MAX Burner]

I thought the MP2 has an internal ATS, but could be mistaken...

[Ronbrink]

On 4/15/2024 at 7:42 AM, MAX Burner said:

I thought the MP2 has an internal ATS, but could be mistaken...

Woke up thinking about this, so briefly researched and confirmed my recollection regarding the Xantrec Freedom XC 2000 in my unit.

‘All Xantrex Inverter/Chargers incorporate an automatic transfer switch. This switch senses when outside AC Power is present and transfers the load from the inverter to the source of incoming power (shore or generator). The unit also automatically switches from invert mode to charge mode.’

I suspect the ATS in the MP2 serves the same function and that an additional TS is required to run an A/C via the inverter.

[ChrisMI]

On 4/13/2024 at 10:10 AM, rideadeuce said:

Packed to the gills. I felt like a German mechanic changing a water pump connecting batteries but I am happy with the result. No maintenance and they have remote monitoring and shut offs so they shouldn’t need to come out. 

Wow, that might be the limit of our battery campartment.  920 amp hours…amazing!

Looks like they released another 460 battery that’s a little smaller. However, it’s about an inch wider which will not fit two wide in the compartment. 

[rideadeuce]

So problem solved regarding no power to cabin. I had left off the main neutral to the bus bar. I had tucked it out of the way and with all those wires I just kept missing it. It was so nice to see the MP2 fired up and everything working in OEM configuration. @Ronbrink, I think you may be right. I have reached out to OTT and support at the place where  bought the MP2. I will get it done eventually. At least the bulk of the install is done and I am ready to power some A/C when I get it figured out. Some other small things like the Can BMS port was removed from the new Ekrano monitor so Epoch battery Victron coms won’t work without a cable to convert CAn-BMS to VE.can. Old Cerbo GX has CAN BMS port. Now just to tidy up everything. Made a big mess. 
 

SIDE NOTE: OTT did reimburse me for my coupler and hitch. Jason was very helpful. Still investigating but looks like a one-off still. 
 

Best, 

Mike

Edited April 18 by rideadeuce

[Ronbrink]

31 minutes ago, rideadeuce said:

@Ronbrink, I think you may be right

I searched this forum and reached out to the community to glean pertinent info; my primary purpose in converting to LFPs was to be able to run the A/C via the inverter for short durations (up to 2 hrs.) during breaks and other stops when underway, and when at the storage facility for cleaning and maintenance. Formerly, I would use one of my dual-fuel generators on propane to cool the Oliver, but now the task is much simpler and a save on propane! Installation of the dedicated TS is very straightforward; I can provide info if a need is determined. 

[katanapilot]

Timely post.  Just switched to BB lithiums and planning a complete Victron conversion.  Thanks for the detailed write ups. 

[rideadeuce]

So everything is working. A/C is running off the batteries as we speak. Woohoo! Shore power to ATS to EMS to MP2 AC IN then AC OUT to panel. GFCI circuit hooked back in to panel, all shore power running through MP2. Finally.... WOooohooo... and power assist is so cool.

Still have to mount the Solar charger. 

Edited April 18 by rideadeuce

[Rivernerd]

4 hours ago, rideadeuce said:

SIDE NOTE: OTT did reimburse me for my coupler and hitch. Jason was very helpful.

This is solid evidence that Oliver continues to do the right thing.  Regardless of how the 5K rated coupler got to Oliver, Oliver installed it on an Elite II, and took financial responsibility for replacement when it failed, even after expiration of the 1-year warranty.  This confirms one of our reasons for choosing an Oliver:  a culture of integrity.