Victron Integration Guide

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Rev 2.1 09-14-21

Fortress Power - Victron Inverter Guide

Introduction

Battery Datasheets / Manuals: See “Downloads” section of individual product pages

Email: techsupport@fortresspower.com

Discord Support: https://discord.gg/kxX6QMjKFw

Phone: (877) 497-6937 x 2

Hours: 9:00AM - 6:00PM EST – Use Discord for After Hours / Weekends

Warranty Submittal: https://www.fortresspower.com/warranty/

Join Our Discord Chat

Step 1 – Getting Started. Turn each battery on individually while unpacking the batteries and note the voltage

of each battery as well as the serial numbers. The batteries must be within +/- 0.5V of each other before

commissioning. Turn off the batteries and install in parallel. Install the battery-to-battery communication cables and

proceed with system commissioning.

Pro tip: If the battery voltages are significantly different, wire the batteries in parallel without communication cables

and only turn on the lowest voltage battery. Use the inverter or external charger to charge the battery to the

voltage of the 2

lowest battery. Turn the 2

battery on and charge the battery bank to the 3

lowest battery

voltage. Repeat until all batteries are at the same voltage. Keep total charging voltages under 15A per battery during

this process.

Pro tip: If the batteries are just slightly outside the +/- 0.5V range, you can avoid using an inverter or an external

charger to balance the batteries by only turning the lowest voltage batteries on (ONLY if within 0.5V relative to each

other) and allowing those batteries to balance. Repeat this process with the highest voltage batteries. This brings

the lowest and highest voltage battery towards to the middle of the group.

Pro tip: It is not usually necessary to apply a firmware update to Fortress batteries during system commissioning,

but our installer firmware update tool can help speed up commissioning times.

Step 2 – Setup the Victron Hardware. Victron monitoring is supported with a variety of accessories. For

closed loop operation the VE.CAN protocol needs to be implemented. This is supported with the Cerbo GX, CCGX,

VenusGX, Octo GX, CANVU GX communication centers. It is recommended prior to commissioning the batteries

you use VictronConnect to get the latest release of firmware loaded.

Power up the Victron Inverter from grid, generator, or batteries. This

step can be done during pre-commissioning while running the

batteries in “master only” mode (all batteries need to be within 0.5V),

ahead of installing the battery communication circuits. Set up Victron Quatro

Inverter using the VE Configure App or using the touchpad and buttons.

Summary of content (18 pages)

PAGE 1
Rev 2.1 09-14-21 Fortress Power - Victron Inverter Guide Introduction Battery Datasheets / Manuals: See “Downloads” section of individual product pages Email: techsupport@fortresspower.com Discord Support: https://discord.gg/kxX6QMjKFw Phone: (877) 497-6937 x 2 Hours: 9:00AM - 6:00PM EST – Use Discord for After Hours / Weekends Warranty Submittal: https://www.fortresspower.com/warranty/ Join Our Discord Chat Step 1 – Getting Started.
PAGE 2
Rev 2.1 09-14-21 Fortress Power - Victron Inverter Guide Setup the Inverter for Voltage control or open loop with the batteries Voltage control or Open Loop values for Absorption and Float Voltage should be 54.40V Absorption time and interval are set at 0.25 Hrs and 45 days Charge current is dependent on type and number of batteries and Inverter Quatro 48/3000 – 35A Quatro 48/5000 – 70A eFlex < 55A eVault < 150A Pro tip: If a BMS error occurs when powering up the inverter, turn the batteries off.
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Rev 2.1 09-14-21 Fortress Power - Victron Inverter Guide Step 3 – Install the battery-to-battery communication circuit When installing multiple batteries use standard ethernet cables to enable communication between them. Each Fortress Battery type (eFlex, eVault, eVault MAX) has unique communication requirements. If a single battery is being used skip this section. eFlex: IP65 Bus Terminator + Cap. Installed on the last available communication port of the eFlex when paralleling multiple batteries.
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Rev 2.1 09-14-21 Fortress Power - Victron Inverter Guide Set the battery number and identify specific battery to Master or slave on the front panel touchscreen M-Set | Slave . One Battery is set to Master and all others are set to Slave. The Battery that is set to Master is typically at one end of the communication wiring. Parellel Num . This should be set to the total number of batteries being used. All batteries should have the same number The batteries should Parallel with each other automatically.
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Rev 2.1 09-14-21 Fortress Power - Victron Inverter Guide Skip to Step 6 if you are using eVault classic Step 4 – Battery-to-Inverter communication setup The Fortress batteries communicate with Victron GX using three wire CAN bus. Closed loop communication between the Fortress eFlex and eVault MAX Batteries and Victron Inverter uses the VE.CAN bus. This is provided only on Victron GX communication modules.
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Rev 2.1 09-14-21 Fortress Power - Victron Inverter Guide eFlex COMMUNICATION PROTCAL Setting up closed loop with an eFlex requires running CANtool software. This is installed on a windows laptop to set the protocol ID. If you don’t have a CANtool contact Fortress Power.
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Rev 2.1 09-14-21 Fortress Power - Victron Inverter Guide eVault MAX: Modified Battery-to-Inverter Communication cable eVault Inverter CAN port pins 1+2 correspond to Victron pins 7+8. cut a standard ethernet cable, cut out wires 3+4+5+6+7+8 cross wires connecting 1+2 on the eFlex to 7+8 in the Victron VE.Can port. Note: nothing is connected to eVault Inverter RS485 port The eVault MAX has dedicated a dedicatedport for inverter communication.
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Rev 2.0 08-28-21 Fortress Power - Victron Inverter Guide Step 5 – Configure the Victron GX for Closed Loop operation Using Victron GX Touch or other interface set VE Can port for VE.Can & CAN-bus BMS (250 kbit/s) On the GX display go to Settings then select Services Then select CAN Port and CAN BUS profile Then select VE.Can & CAN-bus BMS (250 kbit/s) and verify on main menu CAN-bus BMS battery data 505 Keystone Rd, Southampton, PA 18966 . (877) 497 6937. sales@fortresspower.com . Fortresspower.
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Rev 2.0 08-28-21 Fortress Power - Victron Inverter Guide Step 6 – Setup Victron using VE Configure The following parameters listed are for Quatro 48/3000 105/eFlex 315/eVault Max 505 Keystone Rd, Southampton, PA 18966 . (877) 497 6937. sales@fortresspower.com . Fortresspower.
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Rev 2.0 08-28-21 Fortress Power - Victron Inverter Guide Grid Tab. 505 Keystone Rd, Southampton, PA 18966 . (877) 497 6937. sales@fortresspower.com . Fortresspower.
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Rev 2.0 08-28-21 Fortress Power - Victron Inverter Guide Inverter Tab. Set SOC Levels 505 Keystone Rd, Southampton, PA 18966 . (877) 497 6937. sales@fortresspower.com . Fortresspower.
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Rev 2.0 08-28-21 Fortress Power - Victron Inverter Guide Charger Tab. 56.00 56.00 Set Absorption and Float voltage Increase to 56.00V for Closed Loop Absorption is set at minimum levels Inverter specific/how many batteries Charge current is set by inverter type and batteries Quatro 48/3000 – 35A Quatro 48/5000 – 70A eFlex < 55A eVault < 150A 505 Keystone Rd, Southampton, PA 18966 . (877) 497 6937. sales@fortresspower.com . Fortresspower.
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Rev 2.0 08-28-21 Fortress Power - Victron Inverter Guide Virtual Switch. This is used to for setting up a dedicated “AC Ignore”, which is used for Load Shaving or Daily Battery cycling Customer application specific (see next images) 505 Keystone Rd, Southampton, PA 18966 . (877) 497 6937. sales@fortresspower.com . Fortresspower.
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Rev 2.0 08-28-21 Fortress Power - Victron Inverter Guide Virtual Switch continued Customer application specific: Sets grid charging values 505 Keystone Rd, Southampton, PA 18966 . (877) 497 6937. sales@fortresspower.com . Fortresspower.
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Rev 2.0 08-28-21 Fortress Power - Victron Inverter Guide SAVING the Setup Select YES 505 Keystone Rd, Southampton, PA 18966 . (877) 497 6937. sales@fortresspower.com . Fortresspower.
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Rev 2.0 08-28-21 Fortress Power - Victron Inverter Guide Finishing up Upload the specific file that you saved Your Device is now configured and can be commissioned 505 Keystone Rd, Southampton, PA 18966 . (877) 497 6937. sales@fortresspower.com . Fortresspower.
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Rev 2.0 08-28-21 Fortress Power - Victron Inverter Guide Steps 8 - Verification: Confirm all batteries are “working” before leaving site by confirming amperage is flowing in or out of each battery. If the battery is showing 0 amps while other batteries are working, then that battery has not been commissioned correctly.
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Rev 2.0 08-28-21 Fortress Power - Victron Inverter Guide Step 9 – Updating firmware (optional): All Fortress batteries are now shipping with firmware necessary for closed-loop communication with Victron inverters.