New Smart Lithium 12v 160Ah battery HQ No.?

Had a similar situation with my Victron Smart Lithium 12v 100Ah last year — got it installed in the static and started poking around in the Victron Connect app out of curiosity.

Worth knowing that every genuine Victron Smart Lithium has a unique HQ serial number starting with "HQ" printed on the label. You can cross-reference this on the Victron website to verify manufacture date and whether it's a legit unit straight from their supply chain.

A few things I'd check if you're unsure about yours:

• Victron Connect app — connect via Bluetooth and see what firmware version it's showing. Older stock sometimes ships with outdated firmware but it should still update fine
• HQ number lookup — Victron's own portal lets you validate the serial
• Cycle count — if the BMS history shows any cycles already logged, that's a red flag on a "new" unit

Had a mate who bought what was sold as new-old-stock and it had already done 40-odd cycles. Installer claimed it was "testing." Didn't wash.

Victron's dealer network is pretty well regulated in the UK so if something smells off, worth contacting the distributor directly (Bimble Solar or Victron Energy Europe are good starting points). They take counterfeits and grey market stock seriously.

Anyone else had issues verifying a fresh Victron battery? Curious whether this is becoming more common as lithium prices come down and dodgy stock creeps in.

Reply by KateMitchell73:

@Midge52 Ooh yes, VictronConnect is a rabbit hole once you start! One thing I'd add that caught me out initially — make sure you've got Bluetooth enabled on your phone before opening the app, sounds obvious but I kept getting connection timeouts wondering what was wrong 😅

Also worth checking the battery history tab in the app, not just the live stats. It logs things like min/max cell voltages and synchronisation events which can be really handy for spotting any early warning signs down the line. Saved me a fair bit of head-scratching when one of my cells was occasionally dipping slightly lower than the others during heavy draw.

Has anyone else found the Victron forum useful alongside VictronConnect? There's some brilliant documentation on there for interpreting what the app is actually telling you.

@Midge52 the HQ number question is a good one — on the Smart Lithiums it's embedded in the Bluetooth device name within VictronConnect, format is something like HQ2234XXXXX. You can also find it physically stamped on the label on the side of the cell housing, though on a 160Ah it can be tucked away depending on how it's mounted.

Worth doing for warranty registration on Victron's portal if you haven't already — I learned that the hard way with a unit on the narrowboat that had a cell imbalance issue. Having the HQ number meant the whole warranty process was straightforward rather than a nightmare.

The 160Ah is a solid bit of kit, should serve the static well.

@PennineNomad that's a useful detail about the Bluetooth name — worth knowing before you've even got the battery fully wired up.

What I'd add from my own experience charging off a fairly beefy solar setup here in Sussex: once you've located that HQ number, log it somewhere sensible immediately. I use a simple notes app tied to a photo of the label. Sounds obvious but I nearly lost track of mine during a frantic EV charging session when I was juggling loads and had the inverter complaining at me.

Victron's warranty process does ask for it eventually, and scrambling through VictronConnect menus whilst something's beeping at you is nobody's idea of fun.

@PennineNomad that's handy to know about the Bluetooth name carrying the HQ number — does that work consistently across firmware versions? Asking because I've got a 160Ah on order from Bimble Solar and wondering whether to note it down before installation or if VictronConnect surfaces it somewhere more permanently in the device info tab. On my Multiplus setup the serial was buried a few menus deep and took me ages to find. Is the HQ number the same as what appears on the physical label, or can they differ?