question

herbcheck avatar image
herbcheck asked

Victron Multiplus-II consuming 200 Watt?

Hi,
We have a new installation consisting of:

1x MultiPlus-II 48/5000/70-48
2x BSLBATT Powerline 5
1x SmartSolar MPPT VE.Can 150/85 rev2

During the night, we find, that about 200 Watts more than load is drawn from the batteries.
Also in the morning, we observed, that from 474 Watts produced by the PV charger only 214 Watts are ending up for loads.
Can the inverter consume 200 Watt? Any ideas please.


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Multiplus-II
2 |3000

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8 Answers
brendongarikai avatar image
brendongarikai answered ·

Hi there I once had the same issue with a Quatro 10kw it was it was consuming more than the idle power only to find out the issue was emanating from the battery current sensors that were not calibrated correctly i advise to contact the battery manufacturer/supplier and have a look on the battery parameters

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herbcheck avatar image herbcheck commented ·

I just replaced the two BSLBATT with a single new one. Same problem. So the batteries can be ruled out.

I also compared the inverter settings with VE Config with another inverter (same system configuration - see image below) and found that they are exactly the same.

So it must be a hardware problem of the Multiplus II?


bildschirmfoto-2023-12-22-um-111753.jpg

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herbcheck avatar image
herbcheck answered ·

I thought the same - especially when I saw in VRM, that the current reported from the battery BMS are about 30% higher than what the Victron VE.Bus DC current records. But on the second VRM image, the battery is on idle and I still see more than 200 Watts missing.

Surely there is a self consumption and also a loss on conversion. But 200 Watt seems very high. The time where the panel are not producing power from the sun is about 15 hours. 15x 200W = 3000W. That means I need 60% of a 5KW battery to just feed the inverter between sunshine?

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JohnC avatar image
JohnC answered ·

@herbcheck

What you could try is enabling the 'Has DC System' slider in the GX. It will give you another tile with the calculated discrepancy. And a widget graphing that.

I *suspect* that Victron make some sort of allowance for efficiency/standby losses in the calculation, but I can't confirm that.

It might help you to nail down what the cause of this is..

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herbcheck avatar image
herbcheck answered ·

That is a good idea - thank you.
Did that. And also with three other systems that I look after - for comparison.
It clearly shows, that the new systems draws a far higher power for self consumption.
Even a three phase AC-coupled system is lower.
But what now? :-(


compare.jpg


compare.jpg (473.5 KiB)
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kevgermany avatar image
kevgermany answered ·

Have you tried the AES settings?

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herbcheck avatar image herbcheck commented ·

When I understand AES right, then it is only for very low loads (default is 92W). And I have no AES enabled with all other systems which all use only around 50W instead of 200W.


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from-waste-to-wind avatar image
from-waste-to-wind answered ·

Strange. The Multiplus datasheet gives max 55W for zero load power consumption: https://www.victronenergy.com/upload/documents/Datasheet-MultiPlus-II-inverter-charger-EN.pdf

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rvicev avatar image rvicev commented ·
rather a max of 18 W to be precise : the OP has a MP II 5000/70 ...... so 200W is way off.
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rvicev avatar image rvicev commented ·
No, 18W to be more precise : the OP has a MP II 5kVA ....... so 200 W is way off
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Jason Spurr avatar image
Jason Spurr answered ·

@herbcheck Did you come to any conclusions with the power draw, I have a 3~ system with a similar missing amount of power, about 250W all the time.

I am starting to think it is the 3x50W Grid Setpoint used in ESS and 3 x self consumption.

Due to the grid standard for Australia i am unable to set a feed in set point.


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daza avatar image
daza answered ·

@NuclearSpud I too am in the same boat even with a -30 grid set point its not the grid set point im still struggling with this and the repair centre say its ok but cant zero out my smart meter even with -30 grid set point, my distro is having the same issue with my unit the loan unit they lent me works great and can be set to -10 set point that zeros out my smart meter. @herbcheck have you got anywhere with this? I purchased my unit in 2023

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