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Hello, I have a Multiplus 2000/12/80. The Ground Relay setting is on by default. Based on my reading it looks like I should turn it off. I don't have a ground relay wire hooked up and I didn't buy an autotransformer. All I have hooked up to my multiplus is the battery, chassis ground, shore power, AC, and battery temperature cable. Am I missing anything or should this be turned off? Would having it turned on have caused any issues?
Thanks for the help!
Hi, this is an important setting, if you have an RCD involved in your installation or not. If you have no RCD it is better to turn it off in my opinion, to have an isolated IT network, when running on inverter power.
But please, if you are not sure, involve an electrician for your own (and others) safety and read: wiring-unlimited
Regards,
Markus
Thanks for the info, based on what I'm reading I should turn it off since I'm not using RCD. However, since I'm using GFCI outlets it may still be useful since RCD and GFCI are both a type of circuit breaker which shuts off electric power when it senses an imbalance between the outgoing and incoming current. Does this make sense?
I would love to find a local electrician to assist, but they seem to be hard to come by for vehicle house battery systems. Any suggestions on where to find one would be much appreciated. I'm comfortable with all my settings and configurations except for this one.
In my region GFCI breaker sockets are not available, so I have no personal experience with it. I would strongly advise to ask a professional installer, how they should be implemented. It is also a matter of local laws and regulations. Ask a Victron Distributor in your location or R/V and caravan servicing companies. They usually have electricians with knowledge of local laws and regulations.
Thanks Markus, I'm reaching out to a few local van builders to see if I can pay one of their electricians to look over my setup. I'll reach out to a Victron Distributor as well, thanks for the advice and information!
I’m having similar issues finding an electrician who wants to wire up a off grid solar inverter. If they do solar, they want me to buy equipment from them. If they don’t do solar, they don’t want to mess with solar.
what setting did you go with? I plan on using gfci outlets as well.
Section 7.6 (page 63) of Victron's Wiring Unlimited says,
"If no reliable ground is available and/or if an RCD (or RCCB, RCBO or GFCI) is not installed, the AC neutral to chassis connection should be removed to improve safety."
In your case you have GFCI (a form of RCD), so I think you should leave it on. If you did not have GFCI you could have still left it on provided you have a reliable ground.
Yeah I'm not using RCD breakers. I have a Paneltronics panel (one 30 Amp main, with three 15 Amp breakers). Then off each 15 amp breaker I have a GFCI outlet for additional protection.
This is a very important setting and is specific to your installation, specific to the type of earth system that your installation uses - there are a few.
You shouldn't need to ask about this setting. It should be absolutely clear to you.
If you are unclear then please, please consult your electrician. It's very important.
Ve Config Inverter page only says "Ground Relay". Help mention it allows to Enable or Disable the function. But it Does not specify if the Tick mark is to Enable (I would assume) or Disable the function. But when it comes to safety Assuming is not a real option.
Can someone confirm if. I would suggest to up date the help to make it clearer.
Hi @Jmarc@aeandmengineering.com,
checkbox ticked = ground relay enabled
checkbox unticked = ground relay disabled
I will forward your suggestion to name this option a bit better to the devs.
Regards,
Markus
Okay I am not using any rcd breakers and my old system the gfci’s worked and all I did was put the two multis between incoming power via shore or generator and the motorhome main AC panel. I currently have them configured in Split phase one inverter feeding each leg of the AC panel and I have the ground relay shut off on the slave inverter but enabled on the master per another users recommendation. Is this correct. If it worked before would any of that change and is the gfci’s a good way to test if I disable it
RCD and GFCI have the same function.
Dear,
I am using Multiplus 48/3000/35 (2 x parallel, 1-phasig system) in Off-Grid configuration. On the AC Out 1 and AC Out2 are RCD-s installed. Should the Ground relay be On or Off?
So when should it be turned off? And why?
If the multiplus is in paralell with all the loads and nothing is connected to ac1 out or ac 2 out. Should the multiplus be connected before or after rcd?
If the current source of AC power is the invert then the ground relay sound be used and set on, if you are plugged into shore power and not in inverter mode the inverter will turn off the realy to make the bond be upstream from the inverter (the main power panel you are plugged into). you should only have one point of ground/neutral bonding in an AC system and it needs to be upstream as far as possible from the AC power source in use, so if you have two inverters the master should have it on the the slave should have it off. The setting enables the inverter to bond the ground and neutral at the inverter if it's in the inverting mode (source of AC power), if not and you are getting your power from shore then it automatically unbounds the ground and neutral as it is bounded upstream at the main panel for the shore power. I think there are exceptions to this depending on what devices you are using in your AC/DC systems, but generally this is good practice - check with a qualified electrician and/or equipment manufacture (Victron, AIDS, Power Panel vendor, ect.) for your specific system requirements.
