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Akshay Tanna avatar image
Akshay Tanna asked

Victron multiplus II in parallel - sparking near the battery terminals after one year

Hello,

I had two multiplus II 48/5000/70 in parallel.

They worked great for one year, however, recently I noticed sparking near the battery terminals of one inverter. The sparks would occur when large current was being drawn from the battery (charging or discharging)

The sparks were not at the posts but "inside" the inverter. On removing the cover, I notice clear signs of where the sparks were occuring - photos attached.

image.jpeg

The sparks were accompanied by low battery warnings.


I have since shut down one inverter and have gone to single inverter ops and everything works well again.


I was wondering if anyone had any opinions/experience with this.

Multiplus-II
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3 Answers
marekp avatar image
marekp answered ·

Electronic equipment fail from time to time.

Warranty is given just for that reason.

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Akshay Tanna avatar image Akshay Tanna commented ·
Thanks @MarekP . These are old inverters and out of warranty. Would you know what that part is? it appears to be a screw that "links" the metal piece to the PCB in the back.


I assume it carries a large current from the battery.

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marekp avatar image marekp Akshay Tanna commented ·
In that case, I would look at that screw with brown marks under it.

I probably got loose.


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Akshay Tanna avatar image Akshay Tanna marekp commented ·
Thanks.


Yeah so the screw was tight. I loosened it, but now it wont tighten again - something I need to figure out and sort!

But it was really tight when I first checked!

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marekp avatar image marekp Akshay Tanna commented ·
I looks that it needs deeper disassembly.

I think the good news is that it is just mechanical problem.


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Akshay Tanna avatar image Akshay Tanna marekp commented ·
Thank you.

Any idea where one could find a diagram/ be able to look up what that part is? Seems like its a bus/heat sink?

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marekp avatar image marekp Akshay Tanna commented ·
Diagram is not needed.

It is mechanical failure.

Take it apart, clean it and put it together.


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Akshay Tanna avatar image Akshay Tanna marekp commented ·
Makes sense. Will do it and post some photos. Thank you for taking the time to answer :)
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kevgermany avatar image
kevgermany answered ·

Guessing the sparking/arcing was due to looseness, but the arcs have redistributed the metal. Good clean up, maybe run a tap through the thread to clean up... Check what's behind as well.

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Akshay Tanna avatar image Akshay Tanna commented ·
Thanks! @kevgermany

Any idea what that piece does? IT appears like its a large metal bus of some sort, maybe even a heat sink?


Would this information be available anywhere?

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kevgermany avatar image kevgermany ♦♦ Akshay Tanna commented ·
Busbar/heatsink, yes
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klim8skeptic avatar image
klim8skeptic answered ·

The shape of the splat (arc) marks suggests there was a star washer under the screw head.

Disassemble, clean, and reassemble with new hardware.

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