question

justin-holmes avatar image
justin-holmes asked

Why does my Inverter keep tripping, high ripple voltage at battery

Hi guys, I’m currently renting a property that is completely off grid. I have a large workshop here that I run my motorcycle fabrication business out off.

It supposedly has 8kwp of solar panels, 79kwh battery storage (lead acid) and it’s using a Quattro 48v, 8000va, 110amp inverter.

My issue is that the inverter keeps tripping and leaving on the Overload and Low Battery LEDs. Which I believe means “high ripple voltage at the battery”.

What does that actually mean?


It usually trips when my air compressor kicks in (it has 4x750w motors) while im using something small, like a 4” grinder, or when the microwave and kettle are on switched at the same time. I also have a tig welder. It has no chance, even welding at very low amps.


When the compressor does run, there’s about a 14amp draw on the system. That also includes a fridge, deep freezer and some lights that are always on. I can run all this for hours and barely see a drop in battery voltage.


I bought a VE.Bus to USB adaptor and got into VE configure 3. I monitored the amperage and found it usually trips at around 18-20amp. Which seems excessively low for this system?

The AC1 input current was set to 50amp, I upped it to 70 to see if it would make a difference but it was no help. I’ve tried with and with out Power Assist on but it Just keeps shutting off at around 20 amp.


Can anyone point me in the right direction? Am

I chasing my tail?

I’ve spoken to the land lord and he put me onto the electrician who installed it and he was no help at all.


I’m am currently having to run my welder and some other equipment off a borrowed 5.5kw generator and that doesn’t seem miss a beat?


Any help would me much appreciated.


Note: it’s all 240v equipment.

MultiPlus Quattro Inverter Charger
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1 Answer
wkirby avatar image
wkirby answered ·

High ripple Voltage would indicate some high resistance between the battery bank and the inverter.

How long is the cable run from the inverter to the batteries and what size is the cable?


First thing is to check the cable connections to all of the battery terminals including the links between each of the batteries / cells. Do you know when these were last inspected? Is there any signs of corrosion?

This should be standard maintenence for lead acid battery banks.


If these connections have been properly maintained and are all sound then the next thing would be to batteries themselves. How well are they being maintained? Regular watering, testing individual cell voltages, and equalisation charges are essential if they are the flooded type.


Hopefully your landlord is maintaining his battery well and the battery bank is not damaged, just a bad connection somewhere.

Poor maintenence would damage a lead acid battery bank fairly quickly and then contribute to the problems that you are experiencing.


There is more information about DC ripple in Victron's Wiring-Unlimited-EN.pdf

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