Meter-MACS. Power-Fail. Alert

[Victor Vectis]

Looking at our CaRT/Meter-MACS account it says 'POWER-FAIL. ALERT' in capital red letters where it usually says 'On' in green.

 

I'm wondering what this means.

Does it mean a) That the incoming power to the moorings has failed and everything switched off, or b) That there is a fault between the power bollard and the boat, or on the boat itself?

 

It looks like the power went off Thursday afternoon and I haven't had any notification from CaRT of a power cut to the moorings.

 

If a) Does it mean the circuit breaker on the bollard will have tripped out and needs to be manually reset?

 

We're off to the boat at the end of next week but I'm wondering that if b) I might need to go there sooner to sort things out.

 

I've got a contact number for meter-MACS so I'll give them a call on Monday but any advice before then would be welcome, with thanks in advance.

[Alan de Enfield]

1 hour ago, Victor Vectis said:

We're off to the boat at the end of next week but I'm wondering that if b) I might need to go there sooner to sort things out.

 

Do you have a combi charger-inverter, do you leave it switched on, what make is it  ?

When you have a land-line power failure it could be trying to keep the battery charged (or the fridge running etc etc) by using the battery which will flatten the battery PDQ.

[Victor Vectis]

Yes.

I leave the combi charger switched to 'charger only' when I leave the boat and the 12volt system switched off at the 12v distribution panel.

 

 

[GUMPY]

7 minutes ago, Victor Vectis said:

Yes.

I leave the combi charger switched to 'charger only' when I leave the boat and the 12volt system switched off at the 12v distribution panel.

 

 

In which case I wouldn't worry, your batteries with no load should last until you get there and much longer.

Edited March 25, 2023 by Loddon

[Victor Vectis]

Thanks for those replies.

 

The batteries are about 4 years old and replacing them is on the 'to do' list this year.

 

I'm more concerned that there may be a fault on the boat (in the combi inverter/charger? Its a Victron. Guessing its as old as the boat, a 2003 build) that has caused the power to trip out.

[Jen-in-Wellies]

I've not seen this message, but the failure will be in the bollard, or in the mains supply to the bollard. The bollard, if it is like mine, has a microswitch in the socket, which physically detects if a shore line is plugged in to it. It therefore knows when the shore line has been pulled out. When that happens, the message on meter-macs site is something like "shore line disconnected", but I can't remember for sure. Definitely not "power fail alert". Beyond that, it has no idea what is happening in the shore line, or on the boat, including any inverter, charger, or combi. It will be measuring any current drawn by the boat to take it off your account, but if that current draw is zero, it doesn't care.

Jen

[Chewbacka]

24 minutes ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

I've not seen this message, but the failure will be in the bollard, or in the mains supply to the bollard. The bollard, if it is like mine, has a microswitch in the socket, which physically detects if a shore line is plugged in to it. It therefore knows when the shore line has been pulled out. When that happens, the message on meter-macs site is something like "shore line disconnected", but I can't remember for sure. Definitely not "power fail alert". Beyond that, it has no idea what is happening in the shore line, or on the boat, including any inverter, charger, or combi. It will be measuring any current drawn by the boat to take it off your account, but if that current draw is zero, it doesn't care.

Jen

What message do you get if the bollard breaker has tripped?  I would have thought if the bollard supply had failed a message would be sent to the bollard ‘owner’ as they would need to fix it, rather than the boater who has no control over bollard supply etc.

But as I have learnt over the years the logic in computer systems is often unpredictable.

[Jen-in-Wellies]

10 minutes ago, Chewbacka said:

What message do you get if the bollard breaker has tripped?  I would have thought if the bollard supply had failed a message would be sent to the bollard ‘owner’ as they would need to fix it, rather than the boater who has no control over bollard supply etc.

But as I have learnt over the years the logic in computer systems is often unpredictable.

No idea. Never checked what message Meter-macs give when a breaker has tripped. There are at least three things in the bollard that can break the supply. An RCD and a 16A MCB that can be reset by a human. There will also be a relay that is operated by Meter-Macs, when you log in at the master bollard, log out on the web site, pull out the plug, or when your credit runs out.

Edited March 25, 2023 by Jen-in-Wellies

[Victor Vectis]

Again, thanks for the replies.

 

Yes, I get a 'no reply' email from meter-Macs when the shore supply is unplugged from the bollard.

 

The only electrical stuff on the boat at pres is the inverter/charger, switched to charger only, and two 500W oil filled radiators. The radiators have been quite happy switching themselves on and off by their thermostats, judging from the consumption graph on the meter-MACS portal. This is as in previous winters.

 

I just a tad concerned that something on board has caused the RCD on the bollard to trip out. If the MCB on the bollard has tripped there doesn't seem to be a way of resetting it remotely.

I don't have a problem with resetting it when I get to the boat but we won't be there until the end of next week. The weather doesn't look like getting too cold before then so I'm not worried about things freezing.

 

I'll phone meter-MACS on Monday and post what they say here for future reference.

 

ETA Forgot to say. Looking at the portal the consumption has been zero since Thursday afternoon.

Edited March 26, 2023 by Victor Vectis

[StephenA]

We get that when the trip on the power bollard goes

 

 

Which tends to happen when the bulkhead mounted plug gets absolutely soaked during extremely heavy rain.

Edited March 28, 2023 by StephenA