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DC Load calculations for marine and mobile projects. A discussion on how to size the loads for panelboards, how to calculate daily power consumption and generation, and how to use that to come up with a battery size.

This article tells you what to do if you are asked for a Bluetooth pairing code for your Victron Bluetooth device

Warranty claims are handled differently depending on the manufacturer of the item. Read more to learn how to deal with warranty issued for items purchased at PKYS

This post shows a wiring diagram prepared by Victron Energy showing in detail how some of their products connect together. I have annotated the drawing with notes and comments.

Please use Victron VE Bus cables to hook up VE Bus equipment. Other brands may or may not work, its really not worth the hassle. Read more....

Its a bit confusing that there are three different types of Victron 24 volt Lithium batteries and this article attempts to explain the difference between them.

I spend so much of my time answering questions about Lithium Batteries that I decided to put some of the most common questions here for all to see. This is an ongoing project so check back again to see more. I apologize for the randomness of it but when I have enough written I will try to sort them by category

This is a link to two detailed articles that appered in the online magazine Truck Camper Adventure. Written by PKYS customer Pat Davitt they detail the ultimate electrical system he constructed for his Truck Camper Rig. He went with a pair of 24 Volt Victron HE Lithium batteries to make a system that runs on 48 volts. The articles give detailed wiring diagrams and specifications as well as background on why he selected the items he did.

This is a sample labout prepared for a catamaran with a 24 volt electrical system.

The United States Coast Guard recently issued an alert regarding the potential for Electro Magnetic Interference between some LED lighting products and vital communication devices like VHF radios and Automatic Identification Systems.

The panel is a Canadian Solar 300watt mono-Si PERC. The van is a Sprinter 170. The batteries are Victron Smart LiFePO4 200 Amp Hour Lithium Iron Phosphate. The Inverter is a Victron Multiplus

The Victron Energy Autotransformer is the one item we sell that causes the most confusion. Read about how it gets used in a US 120/240 volt system here

Camper van and RV electrical systems comprise charging from the engine, shore power and solar panels. From these sources we can charge batteries or power AC and DC systems directly allowing for extended time off grid and away from shore power.

As many of you know, on November 10, 2018, a fire broke out at the Blue Sea Systems Bellingham, WA facility resulting in a total loss of the building including the production area, office space, product, assembly fixtures and test equipment. Since then, a lot of work has been done to aid in the recovery plan. Read an update of the progress that has been made.

Galvanic isolators are a bit difficult to test.  Current ABYC standards require that galvanic isolators be self testing.  For testing older isolators without this feature there are a number of methods that can be used, the one that follows is one that I found most useful.

Arguably, there is no more worthwhile electrical project you can undertake on your boat to improve comfort and convenience than the installation of a high power alternator.  Having a high power alternator will provide you with a substantial improvement in the availability of electrical power on board. 

Amp hour meters do a great job at assisting the boat owner with battery management.  They provide an accurate reading of voltage and of amps going in and out of the batteries and by keeping track of these readings over time they can provide a reading of "amp hours" or the state of charge of the battery as a percentage.  They also often maintain a record of historical data and can use that to figure out battery efficiency.

For most people to answer to this is "as big as possible".  Charlie Wing's book the "Boatowners Illustrated handbook of Wiring"  has a very good explanation of how to calculate the capacity you need. The calculations start by working out what your daily load will be both at anchor and while underway.

There may be some disadvantages to hooking up batteries in parallel but there are also considerable advantages. The main disadvantage as I see it is that as the batteries get old one will fail first, quite often by getting a shorted cell.