Victron playing up

Discussion about any electrical topic except 240 volts. Solar, converters, inverters, lights, battery chargers, etc
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Wilbor
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Re: Victron playing up

Post by Wilbor »

Do you have your shore power input amps set too low? Mine does similar if I am using the batteries as well as the shore power for high use appliances and have the shore power amps set below 10 amps.
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SteveW
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Re: Victron playing up

Post by SteveW »

To answer that I would have to pretend I know more than I do - I can get away with that with the grandkids and some other people.
All I can say is that I believe it is still on its default settings.

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Kelvin12
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Re: Victron playing up

Post by Kelvin12 »

Don't have a Victron inverter myself but my, (GenTech) has cut out, (shut down) twice in the last few days after months of running 24/7. No 240v. I put it down to a power surge but it could also be a no load situation or not enough load from I have been reading. When we were way for a few days a while ago it went to an alarm situation and when I switched on the elect. side of the HWS it came good again and didn't play up after that at all. The wet weather might be causing surges. All my power, shore power and battery goes through the inverter.

Not up to speed on the 240v side of things and these are only thoughts.

Dirk
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Re: Victron playing up

Post by BruceS »

Dirk it sounds like yours might be a Combo unit like mine?
If I have the "power saver" mode turned on, it will continually switch on and off a few seconds apart with just my TV on.
It senses that power is being used so it switches on but then it decides it's below the required amount & goes back into standby mode.
Initially I thought it was 'stuffed' but after I turned on an extra small load it was OK.
I now do not use power saver mode at all..... saves heart palpitations!!
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Re: Victron playing up

Post by Kelvin12 »

G'Day Bruce,

Hahahahah, that's exactly what happened to my heart when it happened. I don't run the power saver mode either. Can't really see the use for it personally. I was thinking maybe it was moisture in the air but the inverter is down on the hold and well away from any moisture. Seems to be OK again so far and I am thinking it was just power surges upsetting the thing. We aren't far from a power sub station where we are at the moment but don't know if that effects the supply or not. Where is Super Sparky when you need him.....

Good product the GenTech stuff. Quite impressed. Even bought one of their generators and its running fine.

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Re: Victron playing up

Post by Kelvin12 »

Wet misty weather and rain here again and the inverter shut down again. Resets easy enough when switch off and on but annoying.

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Re: Victron playing up

Post by Kelvin12 »

Bruce,

If you are still following this thread. I think I had a lead what the problem is with these units, its not the unit itself that quits on wet misty days. Just drove through some torrential rain and no inverter power at all. Starts up but then immediately cuts out. Spoke to a local electrician about the problem and he suggested the batteries might be getting wet/damp and shorting. Next day bright and sunny and inverter comes back to life no problem at all and hasn't missed a beat since but its been dry until the other night and it stops again. Covered the batteries with some plastic and not a problem since no matter the weather. Still got to make up something to keep them dry and out of the spray line of the bus moving so that's down the track when I get somewhere where I can work on it properly. Hope this sorts the problem but will let you know.

Dirk
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Re: Victron playing up

Post by BruceS »

You could be onto something there!
Although I'm sitting on water, I never go fast enough to spray the batteries!!
A bit worried with Brian (Homeless) driving though! This steering with bare feet stuff is definitely not for the Hume Highway........ lol
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Re: Victron playing up

Post by pet-els »

It's OK if he keeps his feet on the wheel. :lol: :lol: :lol:

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Re: Victron playing up

Post by T1 Terry »

The red dust build up across the tops of lead acid batteries is a major battery killer, especially the flooded cell type as the electrolyte tends to settle back into the red dust and create a path between the negative and positive terminals and shorts them out. Maybe the all cells in one flat top case type lithium batteries could suffer the same problem. Generally the Li battery packs we build have a Perspex lid, as a safety item to stop things being dropped across the terminals.... but maybe it provides a dual function
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