Sargent or Victron set up?

[firedrake]

Hi, This is my first post have been lurking the forums and digesting loads of great information. My question is would i be better off with a sargent set up or a victron type one?
Mainly going to be off grid , intend to fit solar to roof and a lipo battery, opinions gratefully recieved,
Thanks in advance,
John

 

[Badjamin]

Welcome to the forum - pics of your van are required if you want help - pay the piper!

While there are many many general posts on this subject and while there are some who may feel you should be doing a search on setups... I have to say there is no harm in an updated opinions and peer support for this query as kit is forever changing and being updated. I myself have been through what I can find in the forums and am still struggling to gauge what I need. So I'd be very interested in what the updated consensus is of our esteemed T6F brothers and sisters in the technical know as it were.

 

[ginkster]

I, and lots and lots of others here, went down the Victron route. It just works - efficiently and reliably. Yes it’s not the cheapest but you do get what you pay for. Having separate units is great for redundancy and can help with squeezing things in under seats, back of cupboards etc. Support is also available widely. It also all links together and has an excellent and reliable app. I will go with Victron without a second thought in the next van.

 

[Stuiemc]

I done both, well similar. I like the Sargent’s unit and control panel, I think it gives a professional and user friendly look compared to toggle switches and normal fuse boards/consumer unit.

So I wired in a separate DC-DC charger with solar capability and a 12A mains charger. The Sargent is solely used as a fuse board and consumer unit. This is due to the built in DC-DC charger not being suitable for smart batteries and the built in mains charger not being great for AGM batteries.

 

[cgtmiles]

I have a similar setup, victron for solar and dcdc charger, will get a main charger when my battery fails and I want to upgrade. Seems like the Sargent is quite good consolidated unit for consumer unit, fuses and control panel etc which I don’t think victron do anyway (at least not completely and in a single unit)

 

[Drive Wayne]

Blue is my favourite colour, beside Ascot Grey. Victron for me.

 

[Salty Spuds]

Many, if not the majority of 12V related issues on here, especially LB problems, usually have “Sargent” in the post.

Search results for query: Sargent

www.t6forum.com

 

[firedrake]

not the best picture it was a motability van, had a wheelchair lift in the back, the floor was a nightmare to get out! Thanks for all the reply's had a look at previous posts and think i'm siding with the victron , looking how people have done their systems, majority seem to be under the seat? is this the best way forward?
Thanks,
John

 

[cgtmiles]

Many, if not the majority of 12V related issues on here, especially LB problems, usually have “Sargent” in the post.

Search results for query: Sargent

www.t6forum.com

I think the point is; for what victron provides it’s definitely the better option but if you remove that functionality from the Sargent then what is left is still a very neat package which I don’t think is readily available elsewhere as an off the shelf solution. There are plenty of examples on here of very good bespoke solutions but I’m not sure I’ve seen anything that offers what the Sargent does in such a compact package. What alternatives are there as I don’t believe just saying to “choose victron” fills the gap?