Foretravel Owners' Forum For owners and Fans of Foretravel Motorcoaches September 12, 2025 ...

Re: Heart Interface 2500 - Keep it? Replace it?

Reply #25 – January 04, 2019, 12:15:02 am

If I recall from your previous posts the micro air is a soft start device for the compressor starting, demand which is great for an inverter but doesn't reduce energy use once at full load. Seems like the real Achilles heel of our coaches is the really poor efficiency of the roof AC units and that has a 30-40% room for energy use improvement lf not more during the nightime cooler hours. Once you address the very poor efficiency AC unit ssues all coach electrical power systems benefit another couple of percent from losses. Kinda like a snowball effect. Less wear and tear on everything electrical.

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Re: Heart Interface 2500 - Keep it? Replace it?

Reply #26 – January 04, 2019, 12:41:17 am

Thanks for the info.

Does anyone know where to fix or buy parts for the Victron units?

I have scrapped a dozen old inverters through my inverter guy.  No parts.

I went though all these choices 6 years ago when upgrading our 97.

Made in USA with parts and a local repair place was factored in. 

One of the other choice was outback.  Rugged quality.  Sealed units available.

My guru did a lot but their software was not rv enough.

So ten  years ago he switched to Magnum and mk gels.

Lifelines were  his AGM  recommendation as they are high quality.

He had a few warranty issues so he switched on his own to the same mk gels as every unicoach made

The magnum does have a  dedicated profile that few inverters seem to have with voltage and  equalization settings specific to lifeline agm's so if someday I wanted the additional 37 amp hours out of three 8d's useable to 50% SOC versus std AGM the charger can control it automatically.

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Re: Heart Interface 2500 - Keep it? Replace it?

Reply #27 – January 04, 2019, 07:55:34 am

Victron equipment seems to have a good reputation among the boating crowd and I believe that is their major market focus.

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Re: Heart Interface 2500 - Keep it? Replace it?

Reply #28 – January 04, 2019, 09:10:03 am

As I posted before part of my objection was that on a boating forum I ran across people putting Victron inverter chargers in the engine compartment on gas engined boats,

There was no warning in the Victron literature or web site that their units were not ,like most units, were NOT non sparking designs.

Magnum notes in their literature and on their website about the non no sparking construction.

Outback sells expensive sealed inverter/chargers that are UL  certified non sparking.

As far as I can read the Victron control units have a non re programmable charging profile like the standard magnum me-rc that starts  bulk charging at 80% SOC.

In other words in an storage situation with the coach plugged in the batteries will be cycled from 100% to 80% continuously.

If you happen to go to the coach at the bottom of the charging cycle you are at 80% SOC starting out.  In my case that's 130 amp hours.

Magnum addressed this issue with the ME-ARC panel where the SOC drop before the charger kicks in is adjustable up to 99%.

That lessens the unneeded battery cycling.

Plus the built in lifeline program and its almost 30% higher power output and made in USA with parts available and a 60 amp  pass through made the Magnum worth the extra 25% price to me.  Dual fans.  Ambulance cerified.  Stainless internal bolts.  Coated boards. 

I am aware of Victron's boating presence just am worried about the lack of warning customers about the potential spark issue.

Foretravel put my oem inverter in an adjoining compartment next to the battery compartment and fit the coach with non gas producing sealed gel batteries.

The industries other inverter choices are all 3,000 watt units that weigh in the mid 50 pound weight area  versus 42 pounds.

The India construction and my inverter guys having no part availability were issues as was the lower power and transfer amps and the  non availability of a remote that can be altered to not endlessly  cycle the batteries were considerations.

Alll inverters have service needing parts in them.  Contactors, cooling fan and such. Parts will be required sooner or later.

I tested our rebuilt 160 amp LN on a Vegas drive by baking a large dish  in  the convection microwave and plugged in the refer to the inverter side of the plug in the refer compartment and turned on the magnum inverter with no generator and tested the system for several hours. Lots of flickering gsugez as the loads came on and off.

A inverter/ charger I thought should be able to do this if needed.  Versus run the gen.  What if it was non op?

Having a backup way to run the 110 volt power without the gen being on from the alternator only seemed a valid backup.

I also had the chest refer on underneath the coach using 12 volts at the same time.

Can a multipass do this?  Just asking if anyone has tested theirs this way? 

No sour grapes from me.  Given the current choices I still would use the Magnum instead of a Victron and for the wider temp range the mk oem gel batteries.

The hybrid had little advantage to me as my potential need to draw more power than a non 50 amp shorepower can provide was very low as we still have our absorption refer and propane cook top.

Your personal uses and lifestyle differences  may have you select different equipment than I did.

Just thought I would mention my decision points.

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Re: Heart Interface 2500 - Keep it? Replace it?

Reply #29 – January 04, 2019, 09:44:51 am

My Victron is able to connect via bluetooth and set any perameters I want. User set or they have some preset rythms you can use. All the interface has the ability to be custom programmed with a dongle or thru built in blootooth. not sure how or where you read they were not. I have the inverter programmed to charge lithium batteries with a custom profile I put in. It took less than a min to program and finish.. Nice having everything interfaced with one brand and I have the color display in the cab to read everything with a glance.. very happy with it and only time I touch it is to turn the inverter on or off.. very nice features though.


Parts? Havnt seen or heard anyone that has had an issue with a failed part yet and mine is going strong after 1.5 yrs.

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Re: Heart Interface 2500 - Keep it? Replace it?

Reply #30 – January 04, 2019, 10:01:33 am

David you can change the charging profile to override the standard 80% setting?  The Victron literature I read says it not adjustable like the magnum ME-RC which is also not adjustable. Only the ME-ARC has that ability.

Just trying to learn.

My original freedom 25 and Amos Harrison's here both had contactor corrosion develop over 15 years or so reducing the amount of charging amps the charger put out to the batteries.

I watch my inverter man clean the dusty boards in old inverters and retighten the internal wirings connections and replace the contacters and the cooling fans to send them back out again.

He reseals the old boards,

The magnum has sealed boards in them now.  Not mentioned for other brands. As is non corrosion internal fasteners use mentioned, 



Sooner or later all electronic devices will require service.

 

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Re: Heart Interface 2500 - Keep it? Replace it?

Reply #31 – January 04, 2019, 10:50:09 am

I have now had an all Victron house system including the Multipass for over two years.  No component issues.  I believe I was one of the first on this site to use their entire system. I do not use the Bluetooth dongle.  l have installed the CCGX.  I use the Wi-Fi capability to monitor my system when I am not at the coach.  I also used it to allow AM Solar to enter my system and read out the data, including the Multipass, to validate my install and settings of their kit.  The Multipass is easily programmed and if you anticipate future use of lithium it is directly compatible as are their solar controllers. 

Thanks Tim for adding the info on certifications.

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Re: Heart Interface 2500 - Keep it? Replace it?

Reply #32 – January 04, 2019, 10:56:38 am

Here you go Bob. Infinitely adjustable.
https://battlebornbatteries.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Victron-MultiPlus-12V-3000W-.pdf
You can use the battery type profiles, or actually change the times and voltages on each stage of charging.

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