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bigbrovar avatar image
bigbrovar asked

Multiplus 10kva AC terminal too close especially the Live and Neutral

I recently bought the Multiplus 2 10kva as part of an upgrade to an all Victron solar setup. Before now and for the past 8 years I have mostly used Chinese based inverters (paired with the Victron MPPT smart solar)


While checking out the MP10, I noticed that the AC terminals but in and out had the L and N terminal very close and exposed without any form of isolation or between L and N. Unlike what I saw from the MP5kva which used a non exposed and isolated terminal block. The 10kva is exposed.


I am concern about the risk of

  1. Accidental touch of such terminal which I think is why even service panel like residential DB, exposed live connection are covered by some form of plastic insulation. Does such exist on the Victron 10kva Multiplus even as an addon.
  2. Risk of accidental bridging live and neutral. The way the terminals are close together.. it is so easy to accidentally bridge and short the 2 terminals. All it takes is a a loose lug or screw and beng. This inverter is incredibly expensive and in all my 8 years experience I have never encountered such a close exposed AC terminal not in any of the elcheapo Chinese inverters. Is there something I am missing
  3. The last concern is the risk of arcing. Having L and N so close doesn't this increase the risk of arcing across the terminal? I noticed that there is a physical non conductive material separating the P and N of the DC connection. Why isn't this done for the AC side too.


The above are my concerns I would appreciate some insight into this concerns it would help to understand the thinking into why Victron made these design decisions and any advise would help.


I went through your manual and it was not detailed on how to wire the AC side of the Multiplus 2 10kva. If there is any training material on this particularly as it relates to the Multiplus 2 10Kva AC wiring or any documentation or video that would be helpful. My googlefu has so far not yielded anything

Multiplus-IIwiring
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Alexandra avatar image Alexandra ♦ commented ·

The amount of volts that would be needed to jump across that gap should not be possible in a normal installation.


Google how many volts it would take to make and maintain an arc of that distance. Air is a good insulator.

The only way something could happen os if some numpty shorted the terminals while live, and even then the inverter will shut down in an overload condition or breakers should trip and cut off supply (referring back to correct installation, with correctly sized batteries).

And I have on many inverters seen the same distance on terminals on other brands. Literally never thought there was an issue.

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3 Answers
Michelle Konzack avatar image
Michelle Konzack answered ·

Are you sure?


All AC Terminals from MultiPlus and Quattro Inverters I have installed, have are insulated AC Terminals (two green 3x terminal blocks)


And it is NOT recommended to work on it while it is under tension.

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fbo avatar image fbo commented ·

10K Multis are different. Have a look at https://dh-solarenergy.de/Victron-Energy-MultiPlus-II-48-10000-140-100-48V-Batterie-Wechselrichter-Ladeger

OP is right - the terminals are quite close.

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bigbrovar avatar image
bigbrovar answered ·

1000045503.png

See for yourself.

And yes it goes without saying that AC terminals should not be energized before you work on them. This is standard and best practice. But protection is in layers or should be. Best practice also provide that AC terminals should not be left exposed but covered by an insulated material.

Your response does not address risk of shorting nor arcing across to poles so close together. There are a lots of ways such poles so close together can be shorted. A lose screw, a lose lug. Lug that are too big in size.. they just ain't enough clearance between the 2 poles. Again just my opinion so I could be wrong. Waiting for insight from someone who is more knowledgeable than me.


1000045503.png (17.5 MiB)
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Fideri avatar image
Fideri answered ·

@bigbrovar

I have 2 Quattros 10kva and mine are definitely different. @Michelle Konzack is right, your questions become redundant with our models. Also see the excellent photos in this Victron blog post: https://www.victronenergy.com/blog/2020/10/30/how-to-install-a-multiplus-inverter-charger/#:~:text=Mounting%20is%20easy,it%20horizontally%20the%20same%20applies.

Yours look dangerously close. It would be interesting to hear what Victron has to say.

F.

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