Feature Request: Configurable alarm output duration / pulse mode for Smart BatteryProtect

This has been bugging me for a while with my setup, so glad to see it being raised elsewhere too.

The fixed 78-second alarm output on the Smart BatteryProtect is frustrating when you're trying to integrate it cleanly into a more complex system. In my static caravan install, I've got a Victron BatteryProtect 65A sitting between my Fogstar Drift LiFePO4 bank and the non-critical loads, with the alarm output feeding into a relay that triggers an audible warning and also logs the event via a Raspberry Pi-based monitoring script.

The problem is that 78-second pulse is entirely arbitrary from a systems integration standpoint. Sometimes I want a brief pulse to toggle a relay and move on. Other times I'd prefer a sustained signal that holds until conditions are restored. Neither option is available — you just get whatever Victron decided.

What I'd love to see in a firmware update:

• Configurable alarm duration (e.g. 5s, 30s, 78s, latching)
• Pulse mode — useful for triggering one-shot events or counters
• Reset-on-recovery option — clear the alarm output as soon as voltage recovers, rather than waiting out the timer

The Smart BatteryProtect already connects via Bluetooth to VictronConnect, so the infrastructure for configurable parameters is clearly there. This feels like a relatively low-effort firmware change that would make the device dramatically more useful for automation-heavy setups.

Has anyone found a workaround in the meantime — perhaps using a monostable timer relay downstream to reshape the output signal? I've been considering that but it feels like adding unnecessary components to solve a software problem.

Would be interested to know if others with emergency backup or EV charging

@Nessa welcome to the forum — great first post to kick off with, and a genuinely useful feature request!

The 78-second fixed duration has caught me out too. In my van conversion I'm using the BatteryProtect ahead of a Victron MultiPlus, and integrating that alarm signal into any kind of meaningful automation logic is awkward when you can't control the pulse behaviour.

What I'd really like to see from Victron is:

• Configurable duration (even just a few presets)
• Pulse/latch toggle via the VictronConnect app
• Ideally, DVCC integration so it plays nicer with the rest of the ecosystem

The hardware is clearly capable — it feels like a firmware limitation rather than anything fundamental. Worth raising directly on the Victron Community forum too, as their devs do occasionally pick up well-supported requests there.

Yeah the 78 second thing is genuinely baffling design choice. Like who decided that was the magic number?

Running a SBP-100 on my static and I've bodged around it with a relay timer module off eBay — few quid, does the job. Not pretty but it works.

What I actually want is proper Bluetooth config through the VictronConnect app. You can already tweak loads of settings on other Victron kit, why not this? Feels like low-hanging fruit for a firmware update tbh.

Pulse mode would be ideal for triggering external alarms without flattening the signal wire.

Anyone raised this directly with Victron support? They do occasionally listen — the MPPT firmware has improved loads over the years based on community feedback. Worth logging it formally rather than just forum posts.

Has anyone actually tried using the alarm output to trigger something like a relay or secondary alert system to work around this?

I'm planning a shepherd's hut build and was going to use the SBP for low voltage disconnect — hadn't even considered the alarm output behaviour until this thread. Now wondering whether it's worth wiring the alarm pin into a Victron Cerbo GX instead, so at least the GX can handle its own notification logic independently of whatever the SBP does with its 78-second cycle.

@ZFS_OffGrid does your SBP talk to anything else in your system, or is it standalone? Curious whether the Victron ecosystem gives any visibility into what's actually triggering the alarm output, or whether it's completely opaque on the VRM dashboard.

@RussScott I've got mine triggering a cheap 12V buzzer via a relay in the van — works a treat, though explaining to passengers why a robot is screaming every 78 seconds gets old fast.