Victron multiplus

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Apr 27, 2020
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apologies in advance for general question that may already be answered. am in chile with limited internet. rented an rv with victron multiplus 12/1200/50. company swears it will charge coach battery from vehicle but i don't see that capability on the info i can find and I've seen no indication it's doing so.
it's raining alot and if there's some setting that needs changing it would be a big help if this thing did what they claim.
helpful comments yay or nay appreciated. will only have service a few hours.
 
...
. will only have service a few hours.
This may be too late to be of use.
Quick and dirty confirmation - Turn on something in the coach that uses a moderate amount of 12 Volt power - a furnace would be perfect and a few lights that you can see easily. Have somebody start the vehicle and you watch the lights. If they get brighter when the motor revs up then it is likely that the battery is being charged. A bit more complicated; if you have a multi-meter and access to the battery then do the same and watch if the voltage goes from 12 to 13+.
 
Thanks Alan and Blair for your replies.
I just got back from that trip but it was quite clear that the battery wasn't charging from the vehicle.
The rental company knew nothing about solar power; they had installed nice LFP batteries in their fleet but had the Victron solar charge controllers set to the selection of GEL(2) rather than Lithium. I tried to let them know that was a bad thing (especially the temperature compensation aspect) and easily remedied but they were unwilling to listen. They didn't even have the charge controllers locked so I could easily mess with any of the settings if I wanted to.
We were desperate for a little help from the vehicle charge system after 5 days of rain and one of the solar panels had been crushed by a previous renter. Luckily, we know how to eek out the most from a system so we made it through without ever draining the battery too low. They also had a standard battery meter which is for lead acid and pretty much useless for lithium but I gave up on trying to explain that one.
Thanks again!
 

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