question

trawlercharmed avatar image
trawlercharmed asked

MultiPlus want to add auto transfer between generator and shore power

The MultiPlus 12/3000/120-50 120V only has single ac input with a Cerbo GX monitoring it and my generator. I currently have a manual transfer switch to choose between shore power and generator power. I would like to be able to autotransfer the power source like a Quattro. Can the multiplus be upgraded or what product can I add to accomplish this.

Multiplus-II
1 comment
2 |3000
Toggle Comment visibility. Current Visibility: Viewable by all users

Up to 8 attachments (including images) can be used with a maximum of 190.8 MiB each and 286.6 MiB total.

trawlercharmed avatar image trawlercharmed commented ·
Thanks for all the suggestions. I was hoping for a clean all Victron solution. I went ahead and created some node red flows on the Cerbo GX to change the current, AC source etc when the generator is on since it controls the generator. I will probably just add a latching relay to physically change the power source and have a node red flow control it.

Thanks :)

0 Likes 0 ·
3 Answers
lurch avatar image
lurch answered ·

You can add an automatic transfer switch in place of the manual one. However, the MPII has no way of knowing what the power source is, so the input limit will still need to be changed. The Quattro version does this automatically.

1 comment
2 |3000
Toggle Comment visibility. Current Visibility: Viewable by all users

Up to 8 attachments (including images) can be used with a maximum of 190.8 MiB each and 286.6 MiB total.

derrick thomas avatar image derrick thomas commented ·
Kevin Windrem's guimods adds this functionality for the MP2
0 Likes 0 ·
JohnC avatar image
JohnC answered ·

@trawlercharmed

Generators often don't fare well being switched with an ATS. With a load on they may not be capable of responding quickly enough, and the power gets rejected. Either by the ATS itself or the Multi. If the ATS and it instantly retries, a horrendous 'chatter' can result.

If the Multi, it will trip the AC input and retry a few seconds later. Enablng 'Dynamic Current Limiter' setting will soft-start the draw on the genset if this happens.

In either case, the Multi *should* continue on inverting to serve the load.

You could try it, just be aware of what might happen.

2 |3000
Toggle Comment visibility. Current Visibility: Viewable by all users

Up to 8 attachments (including images) can be used with a maximum of 190.8 MiB each and 286.6 MiB total.

derrick thomas avatar image
derrick thomas answered ·

You can install an ATS and use Kevin Windrem's guimods with the transfer switch setup to automatically switch between shore and generator AC input limits. You can also use the GX devices generator control logic for auto start functionality.

3 comments
2 |3000
Toggle Comment visibility. Current Visibility: Viewable by all users

Up to 8 attachments (including images) can be used with a maximum of 190.8 MiB each and 286.6 MiB total.

kevgermany avatar image kevgermany ♦♦ commented ·
@trawlercharmed

Note that there's no guarantee that guilmods will still be supported under the new gui which is in beta test at the moment.

0 Likes 0 ·
derrick thomas avatar image derrick thomas kevgermany ♦♦ commented ·
Kevin has said that it will most likely NOT be supported/ported over to venus gui v2, however Venus gui v1 will continue to be supported and updated per victron.
0 Likes 0 ·
Kevin Windrem avatar image Kevin Windrem kevgermany ♦♦ commented ·

While I have no immediate plans to do the significant GUI modifications as I've done for gui-v1, I am hoping to continue features such as the external transfer switch support. Victron and the community are thinking about how to support third party medications to gui-v2 so hopefully that can happen in the future.


0 Likes 0 ·