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My Blue Smart IP22 charger (12 V / 30 A - 3 outputs) sometimes trips the automatic fuse of the shore supply when starting up. The fuse is 10 A , B-curve type. No other equipment than the charger is connected at that moment so the charger must be the cause of this. When the charger does not trip the fuse, it functions normally.
What could be the cause ? Is this a known issue ? Any suggestions for a solution ?
Further investigation showed an inrush current of up to 60 Amps when connecting the charger to the shore supply (230 Volts). This high current is clearly sufficient to trigger the Overcurrent protection (circuit breaker). which is a 10 Amps device in my case. I have contacted Victron for this issue, but they say it is normal behaviour for this product and that they can't do anything to prevent this from happening. I therefore now installed an inrush current limiter that brings the first current peak back to about 10 Amps. Just after the inrush (takes about 100 ms) the current limiter is switched off and the charger starts charging the batteries. Issue seems to be solved now.
Hi.
I've installed an IP22 and having the exact same issue. As soon as shore power is connected, the circuit breaker trips. When I turn the breaker back on, it all works perfectly - it's just the initial turn on.
Would you mind giving me more info on the inrush current limiter that you fitted? I've no idea what that is or how it would be installed, but would really appreciate some pointers. It's frustrating having to reset the breaker every time I hook up a shore line.
Thanks.
Ryan
What you need is:
One wirewound Power resistor in the range of 30 Ohm (minimum) to 60 Ohm (maximum). Power rating must be 10 Watts minimum.
One relay with a turn-on time delay of about 300 ms, contacts must be capable of switching 3 Amps as a minimum. coil made for 230 Vac.
The resistor needs to be connected in series with the charger input line and the relay contact needs to be connected in parallel to the resistor. The supply for the relay is the 230 V line that was initially used to supply the charger.
The circuit now works as described below:
As soon as the shore supply is switched on, the charger is connected to the 230 V through the power resistor, limiting the inrush current to maximum 8 Amps. The inrush process will not take longer than 300 ms.
After 300 ms the relay will turn on and will short circuit the resistor. From that moment on the charger is connected directly to the 230 Volts line and will then work as intended.
The series resistor is thus only used during the inrush process to limit the currect.
If you build this small circuit, make sure you build it safely, meaning that you ensure the 230 volt connections cannot be touched . Proper insulation is very important !!
Components can be purchased from Ebay or other electronic parts suppliers.
For the relay you can best use an adjustable time delay relay.
Try replacing the fuse and see if the trip still occurs.
Thanks Guy for your response, but actually it is confusing me.
As far as I know the fuse next to the outputs is protecting the converter output for reverse connections. This is likely to have no influence on the inrush currect. Or is there another fuse inside the converter ? Please clarify.
Is There any plug and play solution to this problem. ????
Son of a gun, we have a similar issue with the IP65/67 chargers popping the generator breaker when first powered on. Wonder if this is the issue?
I also have this issue but seems to be intermittent potentially when my fridge is drawing power at the same time. Do @Guy Stewart (Victron Community Manager) Victron not have a solution to this yet it seems to be a simple solution but assume it need a hardware adjustment and not just software update. Could it not be programmed to slowly ramp up the power rather than full hit at power on? its very frustrating sticking my head in the back of my cupboard to reset the breaker every time?
This situation has been discussed for IP65 models, and I remember some discussion for improving it, and reducing the inrush. Until then, either increasing the current capacity of the breaker (and charging circuit), or wiring in an additional soft start circuit seem to be the immediate solutions available.
I just ran into this problem on my BSC IP22 24/16 and guess we'll have to help ourselves. High currents are harmful to all components involved that suffer switch contacts. Changing from 6/10A to 16A fuse is not a solution, it just smoothes the effects.
A ramp with a resistor is certainly an option, but wouldn't an NTC current limiter be better?
Who can help with sizing? Based on a 24V 16A charger (or 12V 30A, identical performance class) we have a maximum input power of 500W (incl. losses) at 230V. If the current is to be limited to 5A, the resistance would need to be around 50 ohms "zero power resistance". The maximum current at full charge is about 2A. Simple arithmetic... :)
Has anyone already used an NTC successfully? How does the charger react?
I'll answer myself. A solution with tinkering and soldering made this circuit possible for me: https://www.tubeland.de/product_info.php?products_id=114
With this I limit the current via the cement resistors for almost one second and then switch through. A fuse with 3A does not trigger, the charging process is perfect.
A solution with NTC thermistors or ready-made inrush current limiters did not work because they were usually too large or unfavorable for changing currents during operation.
