Victron SmartSolar MPPT 75/15 Solar Controller with Bluetooth - UnBoxing and Product Review

At Pacific Yacht Systems, we love solar. And one of our favourite solar controllers is the Victron SmaratSolar MPPT 75/15 with Bluetooth. Today, Jeff is going to look at why this controller is so popular. It is also available in 75/10, 100/15 and 100/20 - find out what this refers to! You can also check out @VictronEnergyBV

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[benlindner]

I have 3 Victron controllers including 2 75/15s and LUV them! The Blue tooth info is so cool I can’t wait to pull up the app when I get to the boat first thing. I leave everything running on the boat and the batteries are always 100% by the afternoon of course with no shore power. Solar is just fantastic, Victron is a great company and I can’t wait for another reason to buy another one of their products.

[koffibanan]

Hi Jeff, I love these too.
Confusingly however, the BlueSolar controllers actually don't have bluetooth. Those are the SmartSolar ones :)
I think the one you were holding was effectively a smartsolar.
Happy easter!

[tao]

The Victron gear is nice. Good packaging and they have the iconic blue case, good aesthetics for a clean-looking install. Their MPPT implementation is quite good and they also minimize the use of fans where they can, which is a major selling point; less energy draw and eliminates a common failure point. My personal fave in charge controllers is Morningstar (best MPPT in the industry and no fans), BUT I'd choose the Victron over that for a marine install where PV strings tend to be lower voltage and the salt air tries to eat everything in 27 seconds. Keep your lugs tight and your sails trimmed. :)

[electro_solar]

Victron products are my favorites. Great explain of this small beast. I use it for portable solar boxes and for camping....

[perspective]

I have the 75/15 and like it overall. The only issue I have had with it was during my last road trip when I somehow blew the fuse on it but it gave me no obvious indication. For example, when I would look at the app it would say such and such solar power was coming in and that the battery was like 13.48 volts (if I remember correctly... somewhere close to that at least). Two days into the trip, however, one of my devices refused to fully turn on and was giving warnings that my battery was almost dead. I checked the MPPT app and it still said around 13.48v. However, when I checked it with a volt meter it said it was only 10.8 volts... OUCH!
I did further tests and found that no voltage was going from the MPPT to the battery at all. I replaced the fuse and it started working properly again. It is possible it was giving me lights during this time... I have no clue what the lights mean though without checking the manual (problem in itself)... plus, I cover them up anyway during road trips since I can't sleep with the constant blinking, etc. Regardless, the app should be giving these warnings.
BTW, getting the fuse out is a MAJOR PITA. At least it was on my mppt. Not only is it in there tight but they used some kind of compound on it to glue it in place. I couldn't even get it out with normal pliers. I needed a special pair with super jagged grips in order to grip it well enough. And I almost tore the fuse in half getting it out...lol.
ALSO, it is idiotic that they have jumpers next to the fuse. Mine fell out while I was taking the fuse out. Had to research which prongs the jumper went on. Turns out that there is only one way the jumpers work on the 75/15... the other prongs are there for completely different models. They should just solder the two prongs and not have a jumper.

[deltabravo]

I like this unit for the compact size.

[jshrawder]

Do you use wire ferrules on your stranded wires? We use them on all our jobs. Tho we do home automation and some car audio not much with marine. I would wonder if it would cause more corrosion or not.

[billfreeman]

What are the appropriate wires to use, and where are they sold?

[JPJCH]

Hi Jeff, this is exactly the regulator I have installed. I also have a BMV 712 to monitor the system. The only problem encontered is the high voltage alarm. In theory the maximum voltage set on the regulator is 14.6 so I put the maximum for the alarm at 14.65. And from time to time it does reach that. As it was more enoying than problematic I think? I now set the alrm at 14.70 wondering if in fact there is an issu, my battery bank is lead acid no maintenance. Thanks in advance

[OHSTN]

The Victron 75/15 is amazing functionally. Unfortunately it generates lots of noise in our HF radio on shore and on the boat. It's so bad, we need yo disconnect the panels just to use HF email.

[srneal]

Hi Jeff. I was looking at the Victron manual. It suggests that the load for the boat be connected to the second lot of output connections. i.e. not the battery output. Does this mean that you'd connect the bus bars for the boats system to that? Does this mean that excess (not used for battery charging) solar electricity is used to power boat systems rather than being lost as heat?

Thanks for the great videos

[robbie-leevalentine]

Are you supposed to take the 20a fuse out? It’s super stiff. Upon Testing with my multimeter it seems dead. It switches off at night and charger is not working.

[DesmondNoel]

Hey jef
IHave question can I put two 320 watt pannells in series 38v by two 9 amp each on 12 volt battery bank

[jessw]

I just installed a renogy 100 watt panel with a victron 75/15 controller with a 100ah battery. The only thing I run is a ARB 50 qt 12v cooler. I would like to add another 100 watt panel. Here is the question, will the victron 75/15 handle 2 100 watt panels ?

[Ibian]

Does the bluetooth app work on laptops or just phones?

[svhappymondays]

Hi and thank you for the work your doing, i have swapped out an old controller for the victron smart 75/15. Whats the most panel wattage i can connect to it as the advice im googling is all over the place, thanks in advance

[davesmith]

Hello, Jeff. It is recommended in the Victron manual that the 75/15 be mounted on a fire resistant surface. Is this entirely necessary?

[stevehunt]

Hi Jeff, watching your videos every evening from the uk .... thanks for passing on your knowledge and experience. Question on the installation location of one of these controllers - should it be closer to the battery or the solar panel? or doesn't it matter?

[ricknicholson]

Can you download here or at your site, the profile for fireflies.

[bullseye]

Are they safe for a gasoline engine room? Ignition protected? Thanks