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morten-1 asked

Shore power RCD trip multiplus 12/1600/70 (Boat)

Hi all

I have a system setup on my boat where I have shore power coming in via onboard MCB (16A) and a RCD type C as specified in the Victron instructions. The earths are in separate terminal, so I’m separated from the shore earth. Then wired directly to the AC Input on the Multiplus.

After installation I plugged in the AC from shore and everything was fine but after the first time I disconnected I have a strange phenomenon where I have a RCD trip either in the shore supply system or the one installed before my inverter AC input every time I plug into shore power. At first I thought it was because there were another RCD type C in the shore supply so tried to Bypass the one installed onboard but with the same result.

I found a procedure that worked for connecting to shore AC supply but I does not seem right that I have to go through that every time. The procedure is as follows:


-turn off the main 12V distribution switch

-turn off my multiplus on the front or via remote

-turn off the AC output loads via the AC out MCB/RCD

-Pull my main 12V system fuse (125A) out

-then in able to connect the shore cable, turn the inverter back on, insert the main 12v fuse and reconnect the 12V and 230V loads from the distribution panels internally.


I can’t get my head around why this happens?


anybody have any ideas?


MultiPlus Quattro Inverter ChargerGeneratorshorepower
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2 Answers
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morten-1 answered ·

By the way, the AC out MCB/RCD is type B as specified but that should not affect anything of the above.

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Paul B answered ·

Suggest you try turning off the multi plus internal earth relay, as you may already be connecting the N to earth at another point. so this relay may need to be turned off

note SUGGEST YOU GET A QUALIFIED ELECTRICIAN TO CHECK that your earthing is done correctly if you turn this relay off


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morten-1 avatar image morten-1 commented ·

Thank you very much for your response Paul. But if that was so, I would expect the system to be able to power up without having to pull the fuse but with just the inverter turned off. That’s not the case unfortunately. The only way to get shore power is to follow the procedure described which is kind of annoying.

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