2. Installation and wiring
2.1. Installation
Find a dry and well-ventilated area to mount the Skylla-IP65 charger and battery. Keep the cable length between the charger and the battery less than 6 meters.
The charger may be wall or floor mounted. Always make sure that air may flow freely at the back side of the cabinet. This will improve cooling of the charger and prolong lifetime.
Wall mounting
The unit can best be mounted vertical to a wall. See appendix for exact positions of the mounting holes.
Wiring
The inlets for the mains cable, the battery cables, the remote functions and the connection to attach the earth cable are located at the bottom of the housing; see markings on the front panel.
6 mm bolt on left hand side mounting | Earth point |
Grey terminal block | External Voltage sense |
External Temperature sense | |
Remote shut down | |
User relay | |
Starter battery | |
VE.Can cables | |
Black cable glands: 2 or 4 pcs | Main battery cables |
Black cable gland single | Mains cable |
Warning
For best protection against water and dust from entering the case, all openings in the grey terminal block should be closed, either with a suitable cable or, when no connection is used, a dummy piece of cable.
Connecting earth
Connect the earth point to the installation earth. Connections to earth have to be according to applicable safety standards.
On a ship: connect to the earth plate or to the hull of the ship.
On land: connect to the earth of the mains. The connection to the earth of the mains has to be according to applicable safety standards.
Mobile applications (a vehicle, a car or a caravan): Connect to the frame of the vehicle.
The battery connections of the charger are fully floating with respect to this grounding point
2.2. Connecting the main battery
Before the main battery is connected to the charger, make sure the charger is set to the correct battery type.
Minimum cable cross section between main battery and charger:
Skylla-IP65 type | cable length up to 1.5 m | cable length 1.5 m – 6 m |
|---|---|---|
12/70 | 10 mm2 | 16 mm2 |
24/35 | 6 mm2 | 10 mm2 |
The largest possible cable lug that will fit through the battery cable glands is size S6-16. That cable lug will suit a maximum cable diameter of 16 mm2 and fit on an M6 bolt.
2.2.1. Main battery connection sequence
Warning
The Skylla-IP65 is NOT protected against reverse polarity of the main battery. ("+" connected to "-" and "-" connected to "+").
Follow the installation procedure. The warranty expires when the Skylla-IP65 becomes defective due to reverse polarity.
Caution
Disconnect the mains supply before making or breaking connections to the main battery.
1. Disconnect the mains supply | |
2. Disconnect battery cables from the battery. | |
3. Remove the grey cover in the front panel of the charger, enabling access to the terminals. | |
4. Connect battery cables to the charger: | plus (red) to “+BAT1”; minus (black) to “-BAT” |
5. Connect battery cables to the battery: | plus (red) to positive pole, minus (black) to negative pole. |
6. Connect the mains supply. | |
2.2.2. Main battery disconnection sequence
Warning
When disconnecting the battery cables, be very careful not to accidentally short circuit the battery.
Disconnect the mains supply.
Disconnect battery cables from the battery.
Remove the grey cover in the front panel of the charger, enabling access to the terminals.
Disconnect the battery-cables from the charger.
Disconnect all other cables like temperature sensor and/or voltage sensor used with this particular battery.
2.3. Connecting the starter battery
Warning
The Skylla-IP65 is NOT protected against reverse polarity of the starter battery. ("+" connected to "-" and "-" connected to "+").
Follow the installation procedure. The warranty expires when the Skylla-IP65 becomes defective due to reverse polarity.
Caution
Disconnect the mains supply before making or breaking connections to the main battery.
The starter battery has to be connected using wire of at least 1.5 mm2 (max. 6 mm2 ).
Connect the positive (+) battery-pole to the "Starter battery plus" connector, see Figure 1.
The negative pole of the starter battery has to be connected to the “-BAT” connection of the charger.
Note
The starter battery can draw current from the battery connected to the main battery terminals in case the voltage of the starter battery is lower than the voltage main battery. However, the main battery cannot draw current from the starter battery even when the starter battery is fully charged and the main battery is at minimum charge level.
2.4. VE.Can connection
The two VE.Can connectors provide access for parallel synchronised parallel operation and remote control.
2.4.1. Synchronised parallel operation
Several charge controllers can be synchronized with the CAN interface to a maximum of 10 chargers. This is achieved by simply interconnecting the chargers with RJ45 UTP cables (bus terminators needed.
The paralleled charge controllers must have identical settings (e.g. charge algorithm). The CAN communication ensures that the controllers will switch simultaneously from one charge state to another (from bulk charge to absorption for example).The output current of one charger may differ from another charger although connected in parallel.In case of using remote sensors (voltage and/or temperature), the remote sensor needs to be connected to one of the parallel operating chargers. All other chargers will share the information via the CAN interface. In case of synchronised parallel operation, the network icon will blink every 3 seconds on all paralleled units.
2.4.2. Input/shore current limit
The AC input current limit of each charger is set to 10,5 A max and can be adjusted with a CCGX device, NMEA 2000 or a
Skylla-i-control GX remote panel. See https://www.victronenergy.com/panel-systems-remote-monitoring/skylla-i-control-gx
The input power of one charger will never be more than 1050 W. This means that at 100V AC in the input current is max 10,5 A, and at 230V AC the maximum input current is 4,5 A.
The input current limit of a parallel charger group can be set with a CCGX device or with a Skylla-i-control GX remote panel. The current limit as shown on the device is the shore current of the group.
2.5. User relay, external sense and remote shut down
The wiring of these signals must be done with the mains disconnected from the charger.
Figure 1 Connectors for external voltage/temperature sensing, Rem. Shut down, VE.Can bus and Starter battery.
2.5.1. External voltage sense
External voltage sensing may be used when accurate battery voltage sensing is important, such as high charging currents in combination with long cables.
To connect the external voltage sensing option, proceed as follows:
connect a red wire (0.75 mm2 ) between the positive battery terminal and connector "+ Volt. sense"
connect a black wire (0.75 mm2 ) between the negative battery terminal and connector "- Volt. sense”
2.5.2. External temperature sense
The external temperature sensor, supplied with the charger, can be connected to these terminals in order to perform temperature compensated charging of the battery. The sensor is electrically isolated and must be connected to the positive or negative pole of the battery.
To connect the temperature sensor, proceed as follows:
connect the red wire to connector "+ Temp. sense"
connect the black wire to connector "
Temp. sense" - mount the temperature sensor on the positive or negative pole of the battery
check in the menu for the actual temperature
2.5.3. Remote shut down
From factory the remote + and - are connected together with a jumper wire to turn the charger on.
In order to use the remote to shutdown the charger, remove the jumper and connect a wire to "remote -" input.
Switching the "remote -" input to battery voltage causes the charger to turn on. This wire can be used to connect to a BMS used for lithium batteries to control the charger.
2.5.4. User relay connections
The user relay is triggered by a battery under-voltage situation (<11.8 V). The function may be used for any desirable action: starting a generator, sounding an alarm etc.
The ratings of the relay can be found in the specification.
# | Description | Setup Menu # |
|---|---|---|
0 | Skylla-i behaviour: on when charging (no error condition) and battery voltage between low and high voltage settings | 12,13,14 and 15 |
1 | Always off | |
2 | Temperature high > 85 ⁰C) | 12 and 13 |
3 | Battery voltage too low | |
4 | Equalization active | |
5 | Error condition present | |
6 | Temperature low (< -20 ⁰C) | |
7 | Battery voltage too high | 14 and 15 |
8 | Charger in float or storage |
ON | : CM connected to NO |
OFF | : CM connected to NC |
2.6. Connecting the mains
Check if the battery is connected to the charger.
Remove the grey cover in the front panel of the charger, to access the AC input connector, see Figure 2.
Connect the mains earth cable (green/yellow) to the AC input connector, terminal .
Connect the mains neutral cable (blue) to the AC input connector terminal N.
Connect the mains line cable (brown) to the AC input connector terminal L.
 |
Figure 2 Mains input terminal