Victron IP22 12/30+charger DC-DC e regolatore MPPT al nodo POWER-LINK 2 TTK della ArSilicii

Been reading a few threads lately about combining multiple charging sources into one system — particularly with the Victron IP22 shore charger alongside a DC-DC and MPPT all feeding into the same bus or distribution point.

Got me thinking about my shepherd's hut setup. I'm running a Victron SmartSolar MPPT and a Victron Orion-Tr Smart DC-DC, both talking to each other via VE.Smart networking. Works a treat most of the time, but I've had the odd phantom fault flag show up on the app — similar to what some folks describe when a fuse or connection isn't being read correctly by the BMS.

Specifically wondering if anyone's had issues where the system reports a blown fuse or missing battery connection when actually everything's fine physically? Seems like it could be a comms/config issue rather than a real fault — possibly the IP22 and the MPPT not playing nicely when they're both trying to be "in charge" (no pun intended).

A few things worth checking if you're in a similar situation:

• Are all your grounds properly bonded?
• Is your BMS actually rated to handle combined charge current from multiple sources simultaneously?
• Check the absorption/float voltages match across devices — conflicts can cause weird behaviour

Using Fogstar Drift LiFePO4 here, which has been solid, but the BMS definitely gets confused if charging sources aren't properly coordinated.

Anyone else running a multi-source setup into a single distribution node? Curious whether a proper Lynx distributor-style solution would clean things up or just add complexity.

Has anyone actually done this with a Fogstar battery on the receiving end? I've got a similar setup in my garden office — Victron IP22 12/30 as my primary when I'm on hook-up, plus a Renogy MPPT from the roof panels, and I keep wondering whether throwing a DC-DC into that mix would cause any issues with the BMS getting confused about which source to prioritise.

@MikeCross what's the ArSilicii node actually doing in terms of load balancing — is it genuinely managing charge priority or just acting as a fancy bus bar? That bit's not clear to me from the product page.

Also curious whether the IP22's absorption phase plays nicely when the MPPT is also pushing charge simultaneously — does the node prevent them from stepping on each other?

@Liz1979 — yes, exactly this. Running a Fogstar Drift 100Ah as my house bank and I've got the IP22, a Victron Orion-Tr Smart DC-DC, and a 100W panel through an MPPT all converging on the same bus. Took a fair bit of head-scratching to get the charge profiles talking nicely to each other without one source fighting another.

The key thing I found was letting the Fogstar's BMS do the heavy lifting on cutoff rather than trying to coordinate the chargers themselves. Once I stopped overthinking the "who's in charge" question and trusted the BMS, the whole lot settled down beautifully.

What's your panel situation in the garden setup? That changes things considerably depending on shading and how often you're actually hitting absorption.

@VanJim curious what you're seeing load-wise when all three sources hit the Fogstar simultaneously — any BMS grumbles?

I've got a similar multi-source setup and the thing that caught me out was charge current stacking. Each source thinks it's in charge, none of them know what the others are doing, and suddenly you're pushing more into the bank than the BMS is happy with.

Worth checking your Fogstar's max continuous charge rating and working backwards from there — set the MPPT and Orion-Tr limits accordingly, then let the IP22 be the "dumb" top-up when shore is available.

The Victron VE.Smart networking helps a bit if everything's Victron-side, but the Fogstar BMS comms don't play into that loop unfortunately.

@LutonNomad this is the bit everyone glosses over. Fogstar Drift's BMS has a combined charge current limit — I think 50A on the 100Ah — so if your IP22 is pushing 30A, Orion another 15A, and MPPT contributing say 10A during shoulder hours, you're already over threshold before the BMS starts throttling or throwing a tantrum.

I run a similar arrangement on my shepherd's hut with a Victron SmartSolar 100/30 and Orion-Tr Smart 12/12-30. I deliberately stagger my charge sources using BMS-connected load outputs as inhibit signals rather than letting everything pile on simultaneously. Bit of wiring faff but the Fogstar's been solid for 18 months since.

Point is: check your battery's total charge current rating, not just per-source limits. Most people don't bother until something trips.