Philippe

Canals are effectively stagnant and carry a significant risk of disease. Stick to swimming in rivers.

Now that is very useful information. Thanks!

Well I'm not actually under trees but very close to them so could easily be getting some bird mess and sap, though that hasn't really been an issue so far. I do prefer the acrylic to the PVC, but interested that you also say the PVC is more hard wearing.

I'm getting a new pram hood for my boat and have been offered either a heavy weight acrylic material with an open weave exterior or PVC. I think the acrylic looks better because of the open weave but have been advised that the PVC is much easier to keep clean, especially with bird mess and tree sap. I'm leaning towards the acrylic but what are other boaters' experiences with these materials and any advice on the relative advantages/disadvantages of each?

I'll see if my mechanic has an RCD tester. I'm in a marina at the moment so theoretically have shore power for the input to the Victron. I say theoretically as everything disconnected at the moment until the TP goes back in. Then I'll try out the washing machine directly from the TP. If all okay I could then try the washing machine off the Victron with shore power input.

That makes sense but I couldn't find any explicit reference in the documentation. It therefore doesn't seem to be an issue with E/N bonding as they should have been disconnected throughout. Several people here using TP and Victron with power assist without any issues. If I ever connect the TP and Victron again, I will remember to turn up the ampage limiter to 16 amps before turning on the washing machine. I guess that connecting the TP directly to the washing machine and trying that out will either point the finger at or rule out the washing machine as the culprit here. If innocent, not sure what I'll do. Probably leave as is, not wanting to blow the TP up yet again (if I haven't already!)

But what about when 240v is being supplied but not enough for the demand so that power assist mode is activated and the inverter is working as well? Software version is 1802140 so I'm led to believe that the switch is there. Will check this when everything wired up again, hopefully later this week.

Another quick update on this ongoing saga... Travel Power fixed again and received end of last week but my mechanic not available until end of this week to refit. In the meantime I purchased the USB interface for my Victron and took a look at the settings. Power Assist mode is set on and the Ground Relay switch is set on so that neutral/earth is connected when the inverter is running and disconnected otherwise. Now the scenario for the last blow up of the Travel Power was that the ampage limiter on the Victron was set too low initially when the washing machine was running and the washing cycle began turning off and on. I then turned up the limiter to 16 amps and the Travel Power went bang! I’m wondering if when I was running the washing machine the Travel Power wasn’t providing enough power as the Victron input ampage limiter was set too low and the Victron was “topping up” the required amps, meaning the inverter was on with neutral/earth connected. I then turned up the ampage limit on the input to the Victron allowing the Travel Power to provide all of the power for the washing machine. The inverter then wasn’t required and neutral/earth was disconnected causing the Travel Power to blow up. If this is the issue, then I’m not sure how to get around it as the only available setting is to stop neutral/earth connection altogether on the Victron. Unless the issue with the Travel Power is switching from one to the other during operation. Maybe it would be happy with neutral/earth disconnected if it was always that way? It does say in the documentation about the Relay Flag - “Connection between N and PE during inverter operation. To permit use of a Residual Current Device (RCD). During operation as and inverter, a connection between PE and N is required.” Anyway, first thing to try when the TP gets reinstalled is connecting directly to the washing machine without any link to the Victron. It will be "interesting" to see if this works.

Thanks for the kind offer. I'll see how I get on and may be in touch if I cannot fathom it.

Thanks everyone for the advice. I went ahead and ordered the USB interface so we'll see when I get it.

Not on the boat at the moment and won't be until next week so serial number not available until then. I was vaguely hoping to get the interface ordered and delivered before going back to the mooring. It would have been useful to have before going through the next drama with refitting the Travel Power Which version of the USB connector do you have? Mk2?

As you probably know from various posts about frying my Travel Power , I have a Victron Phoenix Multiplus 12/2500/120. I want to get the PC interface to configure from my laptop but on the Victron website it says that the current VE Interface MK.2.2B and VE interface MK2-USB are "Only for models: 12/1200, 12/1600, 12/3000, 12/5000, 24/1200, 24/1600, 24/3000, 24/5000, 48/3000, 48/5000, 48/8000, 48/10.000”. Will this interface work with my 12/2500/120? I'm guessing that it will and the only reason my model isn't listed is that it is not part of the current range. Wanted to check first though before forking out the cash and finding it doesn't work. I've emailed Victron but haven't received a reply yet and wondered if anyone here had experience of using the new interface with an older model Victron.

You've led a sheltered life!

Originally there was a "fancy" Victron Filax installed that did the switching. When the TP blew up for the second time this was removed as it didn't seem to be working and a simple 2 way switch fitted. The TP then blew up again. As the washing machine will complete its cycle running exclusively on the inverter with the engine running (if there's enough charge in the batteries to make up the deficit in power being provided by the alternator), it doesn't appear to be an issue with the washing machine. The issue does appear to be with feeding the TP into the Victron. Next step is to reinstall the TP box when it's repaired but not connect to the Victron. Going to run an extension lead through to the galley and try running the washing machine directly from the TP. If that works then wire up dedicated circuit directly from TP. Boring part of this solution is that I'll have 2 separate 240v circuits and would need to swap around if on shore power. Also wouldn't get batteries charged from TP.

The loom has been checked out and is fine. This got me thinking though(always dangerous!). Maybe running the Travel Power when the Victron is turned on as an inverter is the problem? If I always set it to “Charge Only” when the Travel Power is turned, then maybe the issue will not occur. The Travel Power would then feed through to all the 240v sockets and also charge the batteries. Of course I don’t need the inverter if the Travel Power is running so this wouldn’t be a problem. Would just need to remember to always do this. I’ll have to think about whether I’m prepared to take the risk of frying the Travel Power box again by trying this out. I’m almost certain that I’ll get a suitcase generator as a fallback anyway (Honda 20i or 26i) so I suppose the worst that can happen is that I lose the TP and end up with only the separate generator. The ideal solution is that I have both. Having the TP on a separate dedicated circuit for the washing machine and possibly other devices loses the additional benefits of additional charging of the batteries and heating the water. Trouble is, trying the Victron charge only option is a one attempt only. If it fries I’m done and I’m binning the TP so it’s a bit of a risk. Need to sleep on this.... Too much at the moment to be making important decisions...