Charging Modes

Manual

Manual mode gives the operator direct start, stop, current, and phase control from the dashboard.

Use Manual when you want immediate control, when you test charger communication, for example at 6 A, or when you do not want solar or schedule decisions.

The Manual current preset stays within the charging limits under Settings → Charger & installation. The phase control on the Charging page sets the Manual mode phase; see Phase settings.

Auto

Auto charges the car the way a Victron EV Charging Station does. Select Auto on the Charging page. The Auto mode under Settings → Charging decides how Auto charges; changing it does not start charging.

• Controlled by the Victron GX lets the GX decide when and how fast to charge once a GX feature takes control of the charger. It is the default for new installations. Until the GX takes over, and after it hands control back, Auto charges as Battery-powered. The GX can take over only when Phaeton connects to it over MQTT: on the GX itself, or on another computer once Phaeton is paired with the GX.
• Battery-powered charges from the solar surplus while the home battery keeps its share. It needs the home battery at 90% or more to start, and changes the current in 1 A steps.
• Feed-in charges from solar power that would otherwise go to the grid, and changes the current in 0.2 A steps. It starts once more than 500 W goes to the grid, or 1,400 W after the car has charged on more than one phase since it was plugged in. It works without a home battery.

The caption under the Auto button shows who decides now: Follows solar surplus while Phaeton runs Battery-powered or Feed-in, Controlled by Dynamic ESS or Controlled by Opportunity Loads once that GX feature has taken over (Controlled by GX until the GX names it), and GX not connected when the GX had control and the connection to it is lost.

When The GX Controls Auto

With the Auto mode Controlled by the Victron GX, a GX feature can take control of the charger: Opportunity Loads, or Dynamic ESS from Venus OS 3.90; see Requirements. Choosing this Auto mode does not turn such a feature on; set it up on the GX or in VRM. As on a Victron EV Charging Station:

• A GX request outside the charger's limits charges at the nearest limit, and a phase count the charger cannot switch to is ignored.
• When the GX pauses charging, the Charging page shows Paused by Dynamic ESS or Paused by Opportunity Loads (Paused by GX until the GX names the feature), and the GX and VRM show Waiting for sun, or Low SOC when the GX pauses for the home battery. Start/Stop stays as it was.
• When the GX sends no command for 15 seconds, the charger keeps the minimum current for up to 2 minutes, then waits for the GX.
• When the GX hands control back, Battery-powered continues from the present current, or starts after its start delay when charging was paused.

Dynamic ESS takes control only when EV charging control is on in its VRM settings and the charger is in Auto. It then charges the car at the times it plans. When no Dynamic ESS time slot has included the car since it was plugged in, Venus OS 3.90 starts charging at the lowest current an hour after it was plugged in, or an hour after charging now from VRM ends, until a time slot includes it.

A lost GX connection, stale charger readings, an interrupted phase change and a Phaeton restart still stop charging and end GX control. Applying changes in Settings also ends GX control. After a restart, Auto runs as Battery-powered with your last Start/Stop choice until the GX takes control again; after the other events, charging stays stopped until the GX takes control again or you choose Start charging. Your charging limits, phase checks and inverter protection apply whoever controls charging.

How Auto Starts And Stops

While Phaeton decides, with the default settings of a Victron EV Charging Station:

• Once the start conditions hold, Auto starts after a start delay of 30 seconds. After repeated short sessions the delay grows, up to 4 minutes. A start command, or plugging in the car with the setting Start automatically when connected on, starts charging at once if the conditions already hold.
• A start countdown survives conditions that fail for up to 10 seconds; when they fail for longer, the countdown starts again.
• At the minimum current with too little solar, charging stops after 30 minutes when the setting Use battery or grid power is on (the default for new installations), or after one minute with it off.
• With Charge on a small solar surplus also on, Battery-powered starts and keeps charging at the minimum current while the solar surplus is at least 500 W, without a time limit.
• Off-grid, every Auto mode charges as Battery-powered, and charging stops when the home battery falls to the off-grid stop level, 20% by default. It starts again once the home battery is back at Start at home battery charge and at least 2% above the stop level.
• The dashboard shows what Auto is waiting for and, like the GX, counts down to a start or a stop.

Solar charging with a Victron ESSVictron GX setup

How Auto Sets The Current

Feed-in runs only with the Feed-in Auto mode while the GX reports a grid connection. Every other case runs Battery-powered: that Auto mode, Controlled by the Victron GX until the GX takes over, and every Auto mode off-grid.

• Charging starts at the minimum current, and the status shows Starting to charge until the car draws current.
• Feed-in raises or lowers the current by 0.2 A every second: up while more than 250 W goes to the grid, down while the grid supplies more than 250 W or the home battery discharges more than 100 W.
• Battery-powered lowers the current by 1 A when, for more than 7 seconds, the home battery's charging falls more than 400 W below its share, or the grid supplies more than 400 W. Below 80%, the home battery's share is 500 W of charging; from 80% it has no share, so the battery then lowers the current only when it discharges more than 400 W.
• Battery-powered raises the current by 1 A every 15 seconds while neither happens, but not in the first 45 seconds after a start or a reduction.
• Phaeton checks these rules every time it reads the charger, every 2 seconds by default, so a step that is due comes at the next reading.

Switching between one and three phases follows the phase settings.

Auto Settings

Settings → Charging holds the Auto settings, grouped as on a Victron EV Charging Station and with its defaults.

• Auto mode: Controlled by the Victron GX, Battery-powered or Feed-in.
• Solar, battery & grid: the settings both algorithms use, such as Use battery or grid power, Battery or grid power time, Start at home battery charge and Off-grid stop at battery charge.
• The card of the chosen Auto mode: Battery-powered for Battery-powered and Controlled by the Victron GX, Feed-in for Feed-in. The Feed-in card also opens the Battery-powered settings, which apply off-grid. Each card's start thresholds, steps, delays and other thresholds are under its Advanced section, and Find a setting finds them all.
• Starting a session: Start automatically when connected.

The GX can read and change the Auto mode too. Over Modbus it can choose only Battery-powered or Feed-in, as with a charging station.

System without a home battery, under Advanced in Solar, battery & grid, replaces the GX battery readings with an assumed battery power (0 W) and charge (100%). Turn it off on a system with a home battery: Auto would then raise the current while the real battery discharges.

Compared With The Victron Manual

Victron's manual describes only Battery-powered, as the default, and control by the GX. It also simplifies starting: it says Auto needs more than about 1.3 kW of solar surplus, the power of the 6 A minimum on one phase. With its default settings, the charging station's firmware, which Phaeton follows, can start with less: Feed-in from more than 500 W of export on one phase, and Battery-powered from 100 W of solar surplus once the home battery is at its start level.

Until the surplus covers the minimum current, the rest comes from the home battery or the grid: for the stop delay, for Battery or grid power time, or without a time limit while Charge on a small solar surplus applies.

Scheduled

Scheduled mode follows active charging windows from the Schedule page in Phaeton. Use it when charging should only be allowed during predictable time periods.

A window has its repeat days, a start and end time and an optional maximum current. The first enabled window that matches the present time decides, also where windows overlap. Charging also needs Start/Stop on and a car that is ready to charge. The Manual mode phase applies in Scheduled too.

Edit Schedules

Open the Schedule page. Its week overview shows every window; How to edit schedules repeats these steps.

• Select a window to show its Edit, Enable/Disable and Delete actions. Disabled windows stay visible and can still be edited.
• Drag the middle of a window to move it, or drag its left or right edge to change the start or end time. Changes use 15-minute steps and save when you release; press Escape or release outside the week to cancel. A failed save restores the previous schedule.
• A time change applies to every repeat day of that window. Moving a window to another day shifts all its repeat days together. Overnight windows continue on the next row, also from Sunday into Monday.
• Click a day label or Add schedule to create a window. Double-click an empty track to start a new window at that time. Click the exact-time text below a track, double-click a window, or use Edit to set the times, repeat days and current limit.
• With a window focused, Left and Right move it by 15 minutes and Up and Down shift its repeat days. On an edge handle, Left and Right resize that edge. Enter opens the editor.
• On a phone, scroll the week sideways, or use the day labels and exact-time buttons instead of dragging.

Price-Based Schedules

A window can also require a low electricity price. Phaeton uses the import prices of your VRM installation, as Dynamic ESS publishes them.

1. Under Settings → System → Session pricing, choose Create a VRM token, create a token named Phaeton in VRM, paste it as the VRM access token and choose Connect to VRM. If Phaeton cannot find your installation, also open GX identity, if automatic discovery fails, and enter the 12-character VRM Portal ID shown on the GX under Settings → VRM (older menus: VRM online portal). Connecting saves at once.
2. Set the Currency symbol and the Static / fallback rate per kWh to the currency of your VRM installation, and apply the changes.
3. On the Schedule page, add or edit a window, choose Charge when → VRM price is at or below a limit, and enter the Maximum price per kWh.
4. Select Scheduled on the Charging page.

Price windows follow these rules:

• A price equal to the limit qualifies. Zero and negative prices and limits are allowed.
• A missing price pauses charging, even when the static fallback rate is below the limit. VRM publishes prices only as far ahead as they are known.
• Optionally set Minimum home battery (%). The window then also needs a GX home battery reading at or above it, and missing readings pause charging. Without a minimum, the home battery may supply the car. This minimum is separate from Auto's battery settings and does not refer to the car's battery.
• Disconnecting VRM pauses every window with a price limit.

The Schedule page shows the current price and the next period the saved rules allow, up to three days ahead. A price strip shows one bar per hour of known import prices, filled for the hours the rules would allow; hover, touch or use the arrow keys on it to read an hour's price. Neither promises a charge level or a departure time.