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billk asked

Pair of Quattro 48/5000 accepting power in charger mode only

Been operational since Nov 2019. Using a Duromax 12000EPH that puts out 9500 watts continuously. Power comes in evenly to both legs at roughly 2500 watts per leg. Has been working well for the past five winters. Yesterday while they were in inverter/charger mode they repeatedly rejected AC input. I cycled them on and off and they worked. Today they wouldn't accept input even after I cycled them. I put them into charger mode and they accepted the power on the first try.

Is this something there is a fix for or are the inverters malfunctioning in some way that is going to require professional attention?

Generator
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JohnC avatar image
JohnC answered ·

Hi @BillK

It's far more likely the cause is the genset rather than the Quattros. Might need adjustment even. For general stuff.. https://www.victronenergy.com/live/multiplus_faq

Could be other possibilities too, like even a dicky power plug, etc.

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billk avatar image billk commented ·
I tried cleaning up the power plug connectors and did a trial connection that worked. Yesterday I needed to put power in and the connection failed again. Once again I was able to put power in using the "charger only" setting for which I am grateful. This isn't making sense to me, everything has worked well for over four seasons and now isn't but not all the time, just sometimes.


Since it seems I may be dealing with this for the rest of the season is there anything I can do wrong as I switch from inverter/charger mode to charger only mode? Do I need to shut off power from the generator as I switch back to inverter mode? Bad enough to be in the middle of a miserable solar winter without making things worse by damaging the equipment.

Thanks.


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JohnC avatar image JohnC ♦ billk commented ·
@BillK

You won't break the Quattros by making such changes. Relax.

That it's worked for years without issue means it's likely something simple. Might be just a throttle governor adjustment needed in the genny (that will usually change Hz in an avr regulated genset). You don't say what other Victron kit you have, like say a GX device, or even a MK3 adaptor and a pc. Either would help indicate what you need to do. Even a multimeter to check the AC V and Hz is better than nothing. Nice to be able to make setting changes in the Quattros if needed too.

I don't recommend making (say) throttle changes by guesswork, you'll just deepen the mire.


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billk answered ·

@JohnC

John, I do appreciate your sticking with me on this. I've got a ColorGX, a VRM account, a MK3 adapter with PC and a WiFi module that provides me with lots of information about my REC BMS activities. I'm at a loss to understand how any of them can help me know what to do but boy am I happy to learn. That would be great information to know. I have a decent multimeter as well. We live and die by the system so I try to stay out ahead of problems. This has been the first winter where we have needed to use the generator extensively. In my area a serious El Nino equals no sun for extended periods from the end of November to mid January.


The analog volt meter on the generator hasn't been indicating any visible change but I don't know how sensitive the Quattros are to slight variations in either V or Hz.


Do you have any thoughts on why the Quattros are accepting the gen input on charger only mode but not on Inverter/Charger?

Thanks again.

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JohnC avatar image JohnC ♦ commented ·

@BillK

First thought on the 'charger only' thing is that the added load is is just taking the ACIN Amps beyond what the genset is comfortable with. You could try setting a limit on ACIN to test this, but there's a lower limit you can set that to. I could tell you what that is if I knew what model the Quattros actually are, but it should default to that anyway if you try lower.

The trouble with gensets is that they can't buffer their output like grid can. Their ouput can be influenced by what they're feeding, even the Quattro charger. This a VRM custom widget of my own 6kVA Yamaha (it's avr a bit sick I think)..

1706255216316.png

Looks nasty, but the scales are tight, and within the (Multiplus) limits. No trips , and I usually have extra varying loads on when I run it. This is where I'd look first if it was tripping. For clues, hey.

I like to keep a backup genset - dirt-cheapies, donors, littlies, anything. Amazing what issues they can have, especially the Chinee ones.

Your problem may even be something like alternator brushes, dirty sliprings, etc. Get beyond the obvious, then maybe time for a pro to look at it.

Just for fun, some light reading. This an old article from Victron testing quality gensets. You might pick up something useful. The sinewave shapes alone are for wonderment.. https://www.victronenergy.com/upload/documents/VE_Marine_generator_test_RVA_07-jan-2008.pdf

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billk answered ·

@JohnC Didn't want to respond too quickly but it's beginning to look like the plug not being absolutely, totally, and perfectly seated was the cause of the problem. Thank you so much for your help. I probably would have figured that out, well, just about never so thanks again.

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