Victron code 17

[Jim Wortelhock]

I have just returned from 6 months overseas.  The solar has kept the  2 year old batteries topped up. 

My Victron Phoenix is flashing various lights which my manual describes as code 17. Quote " one of the devices has assumed 'master' status/ original master failed "

The solution it says is to check the failing unit and the communication cables. 

These various lights flash/light up in both charging and inverter mode and regardless of whether a mains cable is attached or not.

Can anyone shed light on this? 

 

[cheesegas]

Code 17 comes up when you have multiple inverters operating in parallel, with one unit acting as the master. It relates to the ve.bus communication between units, usually happening if the cable's pulled out. Do you have more than one Phoenix?

 

If you have just the one, this error code should never occur. Could you double check the LED flashing sequence?

[Jim Wortelhock]

Just one inverter. 

The bulk and inverter on lights flash.

The absorption, float and overload lights are on. The remaining lights are off.

Worth taking the front panel off and checking connections? 

I wondered if the sub zero temps while I was away might have triggered the mppt controller to put in 15+ volts as I have seen with my motorhome and the victron, although turned off, didn't like it. 

[cheesegas]

It's a ve.bus error which in theory should never occur with just one inverter - just checked the definitions, error 17 is shown by the absorption and float lights on, bulk and inverter lights flashing which isn't your error.

 

As the absorption, float and overload lights are on, bulk and inverter flashing, that says it's a powerpack failure. This usually means the device is toast and needs to be returned for repair - is it under warranty? I doubt it would have been caused by an over voltage on the DC side though.

 

It is however worth taking the front cover off and reseating all of the small connectors, particularly those between the large powerpack board and the smaller control board with the LEDs on it. The capacitors in there can hold charge for a while - disconnect 12v and mains from it, wait overnight and then go digging around inside if you are comfortable with it. 

[Jim Wortelhock]

Thank you. 

It was working great prior to leaving. I will take your advice and disconnect the 12v overnight. It's very clean inside bar a few spiders.

I hope to God it's not toast. They are pricey!

[Tony Brooks]

17 minutes ago, Jim Wortelhock said:

Thank you. 

It was working great prior to leaving. I will take your advice and disconnect the 12v overnight. It's very clean inside bar a few spiders.

I hope to God it's not toast. They are pricey!

 

He said "AND MAINS". Disconnect both 12V and the mains.

[cheesegas]

15 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

He said "AND MAINS". Disconnect both 12V and the mains.

Yep, this! Make sure it's totally isolated from both 12v and mains input, I don't know how complex your system is - auto start generator etc, but make sure that there's no way there's power getting to it when you open the cover. Victron require the inverter to be powered up and the cover off to make changes to the DIP switches inside, but they also say it needs to be done by a competent installer...there's exposed mains, 300v DC and of course high current 12v connections inside.

 

When you're replacing the front cover, make sure the LEDs go through the holes - they're on long legs and it's easy for them to miss the holes and get bent.

 

There's various iterations of Phoenix inverter/charger, but as you mention is has charger and inverter lights, and the manual mentions a ve.bus error, I'm guessing it's the last of the old Multiplus Phoenix series (orange bird on the front) before they dropped the Phoenix and just called them the Multiplus. After that, the Phoenix name was re-used for inverters which is confusing if you're searching the web with the fault.

 

Check if any of the large filter capacitors are bulging on top too, or oozing electrolyte, I've seen an old Phoenix do this although it didn't kick up an error.

[Jim Wortelhock]

You are right on the money.  It does have the orange bird on the front.

Thank you for taking the trouble to reply. It's very much appreciated. 

[Alan de Enfield]

13 minutes ago, cheesegas said:

There's various iterations of Phoenix inverter/charger, but as you mention is has charger and inverter lights, and the manual mentions a ve.bus error, I'm guessing it's the last of the old Multiplus Phoenix series (orange bird on the front) before they dropped the Phoenix and just called them the Multiplus. After that, the Phoenix name was re-used for inverters which is confusing if you're searching the web with the fault.

 

More confusion, in that the name Phoenix was also used for a range of stand-alone battery chargers ....................

 

 

[Quattrodave]

2 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

More confusion, in that the name Phoenix was also used for a range of stand-alone battery chargers .

 

Yes I have a phoenix charger although quite a but smaller than that one!

[Jim Wortelhock]

I reconnected the 12v supply this morning and no change unfortunately. 

At about 14 years old I'm informed that the unit is most likely kaput. 

 

[Tony Brooks]

33 minutes ago, Jim Wortelhock said:

I reconnected the 12v supply this morning and no change unfortunately. 

At about 14 years old I'm informed that the unit is most likely kaput. 

 

 

The advice to disconnect the mains and 12V, as I understand it, was prior to taking the cover off and reseating the various connectors that you will find inside. The disconnection is because you need to give the capacitors time to discharge before you get into the thing. The last thing you will what, and it may be your very last thing, is to discharge a larger capacitor charged at mains voltage through yourself. You WILL get burned at the very least. 12v is not so bad, but will be painful.

[Jim Wortelhock]

I re seated the 3 multi connectors several times but with no joy. I think that's the last thing I'm qualified to do. 

I respect what you say about the capacitors having messed around with an old radiogram as a teenager and got an enormous shock even though it was unplugged. 

Have a victron specialist booked for next week. 

[Tony Brooks]

9 minutes ago, Jim Wortelhock said:

I re seated the 3 multi connectors several times but with no joy. I think that's the last thing I'm qualified to do. 

I respect what you say about the capacitors having messed around with an old radiogram as a teenager and got an enormous shock even though it was unplugged. 

Have a victron specialist booked for next week. 

 

 

Ah, I got the impression that you thought the turning off may have reset the thing. Pity the connectors did not work

[IanD]

11 minutes ago, Jim Wortelhock said:

I re seated the 3 multi connectors several times but with no joy. I think that's the last thing I'm qualified to do. 

I respect what you say about the capacitors having messed around with an old radiogram as a teenager and got an enormous shock even though it was unplugged. 

Have a victron specialist booked for next week. 

 

It would be worth looking at the cost of getting it fixed (including any call-out charge) compared to replacing it with a new unit -- you've had 14 years use out of it, and depending what gets replaced you might well have other failures in future like electrolytic capacitor failures, not uncommon in old equipment.

 

Or it might turn out to be a quick simple and cheap fix -- who knows... 😉

 

Repairs are *expensive* nowadays. When my 3-year-old Miele dishwasher needed a replacement motherboard the cost would have been almost £500 if it hadn't still been under guarantee, more than half the cost of a new dishwasher. And then it failed again (at similar cost) just before the 5-year guarantee expired... 😞

[Jim Wortelhock]

Here's hoping.  The technician comes highly recommended.  It does seem to be a shame not to repair it. It's had very little use and looks basically new inside. 

But we live in a throw away society. 

[IanD]

11 minutes ago, Jim Wortelhock said:

Here's hoping.  The technician comes highly recommended.  It does seem to be a shame not to repair it. It's had very little use and looks basically new inside. 

But we live in a throw away society. 

 

If it's had very little use then capacitors shouldn't be a problem, these usually degrade when powered up and hot, not just with age.

 

We live in a throwaway society because the cost of making stuff -- especially electronic -- is far cheaper than it used to be and the cost of repairing stuff is a lot higher, especially if you get somebody in and pay them to do it. DIY is often the only thing that makes sense financially, we do it a lot with appliances at home where possible (parts and manuals/instructions available), but I suspect Victron won't supply to DIYers...