Victron multi control panel

[umpire111]

Help, just taken possession of new boat and it has one of these fitted, have read manual but still not sure what it does. Can someone in simple layman’s language tell me what it does and do I have to alter any settings?

[nicknorman]

It’s not entirely clear from your post exactly what you are referring to, but is it this?

 

if so, the switch bottom left allows you to turn the whole thing off (middle position), the whole thing on, ie inverter and or battery charger depending on whether shore power is connected (right hand position) or charger only (LH position). In this last position the device will act as a charger when shore power is connected, but be off when no shore power is connected. It is a good idea to always use this position when on shore power, otherwise if the shore power trips the device will seamlessly start inverting and you may flatten your batteries.

 

The black knob on the right allows you to set a maximum current that will be taken from the shore power. Shore power sockets are normally rated at 16A but sometimes the breaker on the bollard has a lower rating, so to avoid blowing the breaker you can turn down the maximum current. I think this also reduces the maximum battery charging current.

[umpire111]

4 minutes ago, nicknorman said:

It’s not entirely clear from your post exactly what you are referring to, but is it this?

 

if so, the switch bottom left allows you to turn the whole thing off (middle position), the whole thing on, ie inverter and or battery charger depending on whether shore power is connected (right hand position) or charger only (LH position). In this last position the device will act as a charger when shore power is connected, but be off when no shore power is connected. It is a good idea to always use this position when on shore power, otherwise if the shore power trips the device will seamlessly start inverting and you may flatten your batteries.

 

The black knob on the right allows you to set a maximum current that will be taken from the shore power. Shore power sockets are normally rated at 16A but sometimes the breaker on the bollard has a lower rating, so to avoid blowing the breaker you can turn down the maximum current. I think this also reduces the maximum battery charging current.

Yes that’s the unit, that explains it more simply, Tx. Do you have a suggestion for the input setting, 14?. So when not on shore power  it becomes a battery charger? That’s the bit I’m not shaw of as doesn’t the alternators charge the battery when engine on?

[nicknorman]

Ok so some basics about a Combi - it is both an inverter (converts 12v from the batteries, to mains to run the boat’s sockets) and also a charger (converts mains to 12v to charge the batteries and also passes through the incoming mains to the boat’s mains sockets). With the switch in the ON position it will do one or other of these things automatically - if shore power is plugged in it is a charger, if not it is an inverter, thus providing seamless mains power to your boat whether or not shore power is plugged in. But of course when not on shore power the mains is coming from battery power and so best not to connect appliances that use a lot of power, or you will flatten the batteries.

 

When you run the engine, the engine’s alternator(s) will charge the batteries directly, nothing to do with the Victron. The Victron only charges the batteries when you are on shore power. So if you put the switch to “charger only” and disconnect the shore power, it is the same as turning it off.

 

At the risk of causing confusion there are a couple of additional details...

 

1/ Some boats have a thing called a Travelpower which is like an additional alternator on the engine that feeds a “magic box” out of which comes mains power when the engine is running. If you have one of those it means the Victron can also charge the batteries when the engine is running, in addition to the normal alternator(s).

 

2/ Combis have a power assist function whereby when on shore power, if you reach the limit of the shore power supply (16A, or whatever you have set the knob to) by turning on lots of mains devices, it starts to invert as well so what you get at the sockets is a combination of mains power and inverter power merged. At the expense of taking charge out of the batteries of course. This feature may or may not be enabled on your boat, it is a configuration setting in the Combi.
 

As to the best setting for the rotary knob, I would leave it on 16. If the shore power bollard breaker blows, try a reduced setting. Any decent marina bollard should be able to supply the rated 16A.

[umpire111]

6 minutes ago, nicknorman said:

Ok so some basics about a Combi - it is both an inverter (converts 12v from the batteries, to mains to run the boat’s sockets) and also a charger (converts mains to 12v to charge the batteries and also passes through the incoming mains to the boat’s mains sockets). With the switch in the ON position it will do one or other of these things automatically - if shore power is plugged in it is a charger, if not it is an inverter, thus providing seamless mains power to your boat whether or not shore power is plugged in. But of course when not on shore power the mains is coming from battery power and so best not to connect appliances that use a lot of power, or you will flatten the batteries.

 

When you run the engine, the engine’s alternator(s) will charge the batteries directly, nothing to do with the Victron. The Victron only charges the batteries when you are on shore power. So if you put the switch to “charger only” and disconnect the shore power, it is the same as turning it off.

 

At the risk of causing confusion there are a couple of additional details...

 

1/ Some boats have a thing called a Travelpower which is like an additional alternator on the engine that feeds a “magic box” out of which comes mains power when the engine is running. If you have one of those it means the Victron can also charge the batteries when the engine is running, in addition to the normal alternator(s).

 

2/ Combis have a power assist function whereby when on shore power, if you reach the limit of the shore power supply (16A, or whatever you have set the knob to) by turning on lots of mains devices, it starts to invert as well so what you get at the sockets is a combination of mains power and inverter power merged. At the expense of taking charge out of the batteries of course. This feature may or may not be enabled on your boat, it is a configuration setting in the Combi.
 

As to the best setting for the rotary knob, I would leave it on 16. If the shore power bollard breaker blows, try a reduced setting. Any decent marina bollard should be able to supply the rated 16A.

Got that, sorry for stupid question, but what is the Combi you refer to? So is there any point in switching it to the charger setting?

[TheBiscuits]

3 minutes ago, umpire111 said:

Got that, sorry for stupid question, but what is the Combi you refer to? 

 

It's a combined inverter and battery charger.

 

5 minutes ago, umpire111 said:

So is there any point in switching it to the charger setting?

Read Nick's post carefully!  It's important you understand that if the switch is ON rather than Charger Only when plugged in, a fault that switches off the shore power will kill your batteries.  You could easily turn £500 worth of good batteries into £40 worth of scrap metal overnight.

41 minutes ago, nicknorman said:

In this last position the device will act as a charger when shore power is connected, but be off when no shore power is connected. It is a good idea to always use this position when on shore power, otherwise if the shore power trips the device will seamlessly start inverting and you may flatten your batteries.

 

[nicknorman]

20 minutes ago, umpire111 said:

Got that, sorry for stupid question, but what is the Combi you refer to? So is there any point in switching it to the charger setting?

A Combi is a generic term for a combined inverter and charger such as a Victron Multiplus, Quattro etc.

Have the switch on the charger setting when on shore power. It avoids the risk of draining the batteries if the shore power fails or trips unnoticed.

[umpire111]

Think I now understand. So set to 16, switch to right hand side when not plugged to shore. Then when plugged in to charger only position. To left, OK? Much appreciated. So do I ever turn it to the off position?

[TheBiscuits]

Just now, umpire111 said:

Think I now understand. So set to 16, switch to right hand side when not plugged to shore. Then when plugged in to charger only position. To left, OK? Much appreciated. So do I ever turn it to the off position?

Only if you are unplugged from shore power and don't want any 240V onboard.  The only time you'd probably want to do this is if your batteries are getting a bit too flat and you don't want them to go any lower.

[nicknorman]

1 hour ago, umpire111 said:

Think I now understand. So set to 16, switch to right hand side when not plugged to shore. Then when plugged in to charger only position. To left, OK? Much appreciated. So do I ever turn it to the off position?

Yup that’s about it.

 

If you want to avoid interrupting the mains supply eg other half is watching that crucial soap on the telly, do it in this order:

 

when you plug into mains, first plug in then move switch quickly to charger only (don’t pause in Off position).
when you want to unplug, first move switch quickly to on position  (don’t pause in Off) then unplug.

 

Off position stops shore power being passed through to the boat’s sockets so can be a useful means of turning off the mains on the boat, however if you are doing that in order to do some work on the mains circuits, it would be sensible to also unplug the shore power.

Edited June 27, 2020 by nicknorman

[umpire111]

Got that, tx. I’m much wiser now