Victron Compatible Lithium Battery: CAN and BMS Guide

A Victron compatible lithium battery does more than store energy. It tells your Victron system how hard to charge it and when to stop. Most third-party LiFePO4 batteries do this through a CAN-bus BMS connection to a GX device like the Cerbo. Here’s what Victron officially supports, how the connection works and where support ends, all from Victron’s Battery Compatibility page and the Cerbo GX manual.

A third-party lithium battery on a Victron system video.

How a Victron Compatible Lithium Battery Communicates

Victron says lithium batteries are “mostly connected via BMS-Can (CANBus) on a GX device.” The battery’s BMS sends its charge voltage limit, its charge and discharge current limits and its state of charge. The GX then uses DVCC (Distributed Voltage and Current Control) to pass those limits to every MultiPlus, Quattro, MPPT and charger in the system.

Cerbo GX MK2	Spec
VE.Can ports	2 (VE.Can 1 isolated, VE.Can 2 non-isolated)
VE.Direct ports	3, always isolated
DVCC	Required for CAN-bus BMS batteries

Source: Victron Cerbo GX manual.

Batteries Victron Lists as Tested

Victron’s Battery Compatibility page names these brands, among others: BattleBorn, BYD, Discover AES, Dyness, Freedom Won, Hubble Lithium, MG Energy Systems, Pylontech, Pytes, Rolls LFP, SimpliPhi, Victron Lithium and more. Each brand has its own page with setup notes.

Victron also says many other third-party batteries work. They’re “permitted under warranty,” but you’ll get support from the local supplier. Victron shares its battery protocol with battery makers on request.

DIY BMS Warning

For self-built packs, Victron lists BMS brands known to follow its specification, including 123\SmartBMS, Batrium and REC. It notes these are “not tested by Victron” and offers only “very limited support” for systems that use them.

Setup Steps

Check the battery’s own Victron guide for the correct cable pinout. A standard Ethernet cable usually doesn’t work.
Connect to a VE.Can port on the Cerbo GX MK2 (the original Cerbo also has a BMS-Can port), with terminators where needed.
On the GX, go to Settings → DVCC and enable it if the battery maker requires it.
Choose the battery as the battery monitor and state-of-charge source.
Check that the charge limits appear in the battery menu.

No CAN-bus? Use Closed-Loop Alternatives

Without CAN-bus, set the charge voltages manually on each device. Use a SmartShunt for state of charge, and share voltage with VE.Smart Networking. The setup is simpler, but nothing coordinates the chargers.

Want the source figures? The Cerbo GX page on Victron’s site has the datasheet.

What DVCC Shares Across the System

Once DVCC is on, the GX device can coordinate more than charge limits. Victron’s GX manual describes these shared functions:

Charge voltage limit (CVL): the battery’s requested maximum voltage, applied to every charger.
Charge and discharge current limits (CCL and DCL): the total current the battery accepts or supplies, split across the chargers and inverters.
Shared voltage sense (SVS): chargers use the battery’s measured voltage instead of their own terminal reading.
Shared temperature sense (STS): one temperature reading for all chargers.
Shared current sense (SCS): MPPTs see the true battery current from the battery or a shunt.

Some battery makers ask for certain of these settings to be on or off. Their Victron setup guide takes priority.

Worked Example: A 48V Home Bank With a CAN-bus Battery

A 48V system with a 10kWh CAN-bus LiFePO4 bank, a MultiPlus-II 48/5000 and a SmartSolar MPPT 250/70:

The battery’s BMS sends a charge voltage limit of, say, 53.2V and a charge current limit of 100A (example figures; your battery sets its own).
The Cerbo GX passes those limits on through DVCC. The MPPT and the MultiPlus-II together never push more than 100A, and neither raises the voltage above 53.2V.
When the BMS lowers its current limit near full charge or in cold weather, the chargers follow automatically.
The battery’s state of charge shows on the GX overview and in VRM.

Without CAN-bus, you would need to set each charger’s voltages by hand and accept that they can’t adjust together.

Worked Example: A 12V Van With a Bluetooth-Only Battery

Many smaller 12V LiFePO4 batteries have Bluetooth but no CAN-bus. In a van with one of these, a SmartShunt and a SmartSolar MPPT 100/30:

Set the MPPT’s absorption and float voltages to the battery maker’s figures in VictronConnect.
Join the SmartShunt and MPPT in a VE.Smart network so the MPPT charges using the shunt’s accurate battery voltage and current (example setup).
Use the SmartShunt for state of charge and alarms.

It’s a tidy, low-cost setup that suits a single battery with modest loads.

Troubleshooting a Battery That Doesn’t Appear

Check the cable. Use the pinout from the battery maker’s Victron guide. Many need a specific RJ45 cable, not a plain Ethernet patch lead.
Check termination. Each end of a VE.Can or BMS-Can bus needs a terminator.
Check the VE.Can port profile on the GX. CAN-bus BMS batteries usually need the 500 kbit/s BMS profile.
Check the battery’s own settings. Some need a DIP switch or app setting to enable Victron communication.
Update the GX firmware. Newer firmware adds support for more batteries.

Questions to Ask Your Battery Supplier

Does it have a Victron setup guide, and which GX firmware does it need?
Which cable and which GX port should be used?
Should DVCC, SVS, STS and SCS be on or off?
How many batteries can run in parallel on one CAN connection?

Sizing the Bank for the Inverter

A CAN-bus battery reports a discharge current limit, and the GX respects it. Size the bank so that limit sits comfortably above your inverter’s continuous draw. A MultiPlus-II 48/5000 at its 4,000W rating pulls about 90A from a 48V bank (estimate), so a battery bank that allows at least 100A of discharge keeps the system running smoothly at full load.

FAQ

Does a Victron compatible lithium battery need a Cerbo?

For CAN-bus communication, yes, you need a GX device. The battery itself still works without one.

Is my warranty void with a non-listed battery?

No. Victron says third-party batteries are permitted under warranty.

Which GX port do CAN-bus batteries use?

On the Cerbo GX MK2, a VE.Can port set to the right profile. The original Cerbo GX also has a dedicated BMS-Can port.

Can I mix CAN-bus batteries from different brands?

It’s best to keep one brand and model on a CAN connection. Mixing brands means mixing BMS logic, and the GX can only follow one battery monitor.

Do I still need a SmartShunt with a CAN-bus battery?

Usually not for state of charge, since the BMS reports it. A SmartShunt can still help measure a specific DC circuit.

Sources: Victron Battery Compatibility page; Victron Cerbo GX manual (DVCC; Battery compatibility), victronenergy.com, accessed Oct 2026.