Victron Charger/Invertor.. too damn clever !

[scotjimland]

Some of you may recall I installed a Victron 70 A Charger / 1600 watt invertor some months ago.. and as the title of the post suggests it is a clever bit of kit, if it had legs I'm sure it would plug the EHU in by itself..
Loss of EHU for whatever reason results in a seamless change over to the inverter without you ever knowing, it continues to power everything on board that was previously using shore power .... but, this is the problem.. you don't know this until you've ran out of battery power and it shuts down on low voltage oh: There is however an option on the Victron for 'Charge Only' which I now use while on EHU. Ideally I need to install an alarm for 'Loss of Shore Power'

The second issue is really only RV related, when not on shore power and using the inverter you need to ensure you have switched off all 110v appliances, fridge, water heater etc .. but it's still powering the transformer.. not good, off load the tranny still uses juice. To overcome this problem I've installed a 45A 240 v switch for the tranny inside the RV, when switched off this also ensures that no 110 v appliances are inadvertently left switched on and the tranny isn't sucking away at the batteries.

One of the best features is it's ability to supplement a low power shore supply by using the inverter, then recharging when the load is reduced..

See Manufacturers Description for better explanation..

Multi Compact -functional (Multi Compact / MultiPlus Compact only)
The Multi Compact gets its name from the multiple functions it can perform. It is a powerful true sine wave inverter, a sophisticated battery charger that features adaptive charge technology and a high-speed AC transfer switch in a single compact enclosure.
Beside these primary functions, however, the Multi Compact has several advanced features that provide a range of new applications as outlined below.

Uninterrupted AC power (Multi Compact / MultiPlus Compact only)
In the event of a grid failure, or shore or generator power being disconnected, the inverter within the Multi Compact is automatically activated and takes over supply to the connected loads. This happens so fast (less than 20 milliseconds) that computers and other electronic equipment will continue to operate without disruption.

PowerControl – Dealing with limited generator or shore side power (Multi Compact/ MultiPlus Compact only)
The Multi Compact is a very powerful battery charger. It will therefore draw a lot of current from the generator or shore side supply (nearly 5 A per Multi Compact at 230 VAC). With the Phoenix Multi Control (PMV) a maximum generator or shore current can be set. The Multi Compact will then take account of other AC loads and use whatever is extra for charging, thus preventing the generator or shore supply from being overloaded.

PowerAssist – Boosting the capacity of shore or generator power
The feature that distinguishes the Phoenix MultiPlus Compact from the standard Multi Compact is PowerAssist. This feature takes the principle of PowerControl to a further dimension allowing the MultiPlus Compact to supplement the capacity of the alternative source. Where peak power is so often required only for a limited period, it is possible to reduce the size of generator needed or conversely enable more to be achieved from the typically limited shore connection. When the load reduces, the spare power is used to recharge the battery

 

[olley]

Hi jim chase who did my conversion fitted it with a small consumer/RCCD unit, its got separate mcbs for both the 240 and 110 volt systems. Just a thought, 45amp is way to big, 20amp is all you need for a 3000watt tranny. The mcb is to protect your wiring to the tranny and this only needs to be 2.5mm flex. So unless your using 6mm cable I would reduce it.

Olley

 

[scotjimland]

Hi jim chase who did my conversion fitted it with a small consumer/RCCD unit, its got separate mcbs for both the 240 and 110 volt systems. Just a thought, 45amp is way to big, 20amp is all you need for a 3000watt tranny. The mcb is to protect your wiring to the tranny and this only needs to be 2.5mm flex. So unless your using 6mm cable I would reduce it.

Olley

Thanks Olley

That's a good plan which I'll look into doing, at present I only have the main RCCD and a mcb for the 240 v sockets, the switch I fitted on the tranny is only for isolation purposes, it's not a circuit breaker.

Cheers

Jim

 

[Digger Driver]

Its all gobbledigook to me!
I can pretty much wire any power supply to anything and i find Motorhome supplies over-complicated and not needed!
My Transit was powered by three plant batteries on a breaker to the engine battery (so i could charge from the alternator) and powered everything including my 20 inch plasma TV, Digibox, laptop, lighting, fridge and other needs for two days with 2 hours charging!
I also had a huge German battery charger connected to my 240 volt hook up that charged up the batteries and fed my needs while on hook up!
This was all monitored by a simple £4 battery tester that gave me much more information than any system in a Motorhome!
Most of my components were industrial but very cheap compared to caravan shops and did the job twice as good while being more user friendly!
When at college on a Telecommunication course i learned that electricity is very simple and most reliable when kept that way!
I am known to my mate as NASA because of the technology i have connected where-ever i go!