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Should my invertor burp?


Profzarkov

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Hello

I have a Victron Multi invertor/charger 3 kW I think - it does a very good job but it makes a strange booiiiing sound every so often, which I've narrowed down to when it's under a (new) load. The fridge (mains) causes this as does any substantial loading. It also does this when supplied with a shore line, so the invertor is not being used . . it should just pass thru the 230V? Unfortunately our cabin is fairly close to the stern & the Victron, so I hear it booiing during the night as the fridge demands juice! Is this normal?

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It might just be wakening from idle mode, or some inverters have a sort of semi-sleep mode where they still function but with a reduced voltage output, mine makes a slight noise when transferring from this mode to full voltage. Not a burping sound, but it's not a Victron.

 

Tim.

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Or

 

It is 'normal' it is just supporting the shoreline

You have 'power assist' turned ON on the inverter.

 

Quote:

With this check box the PowerAssist feature can be enabled or disabled. Use PowerAssist to prevent an external circuit breaker to trip due to excessive load. If the load exceeds the AC input current limit the Multi will start inverting in parallel with the external AC supply and will provide the extra current needed.

 

You may need to adjust

AC input current

 

Use this setting to specify the maximum input AC current. This value is important for both the PowerControl and the PowerAssist function.

 

These functions are adjusted with VE Configure (Program download from VIctron) and a laptop

 

WARNING:

 

If you do not know what you are doing then get someone that does, you can damage the inverter.

Edited by bottle
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I know the noise you mean. Ours does it as well, especially when a heavy load like kettle is added. If they all do it then must be normal.

No, don't think this is it. It's def an electrical sound. Nothing else seems amiss - we use the 2.5kW electric kettle, when on shore supply, it all works fine.

It just goes boing! Maybe I'll email Victron.

If you do and get an abswer please post. As I said, our Victron 12/3000/120 does it too
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OK - no more replies, please!

I get it. It's a Victron thing.

(The Power Assist feature is configured off - don't want to drain the batteries unknowingly)

There must be inductor coils

or something

or following the last post

probably a trans-phase matrix buffer fluctuating the anti-meson flow, or if you're into Terry Pratchett, a team of imps bouncing off a trampoline . . . that'll do it.

It's not a fault/error, is the main thing. Just get used to it . . .

Spock, out.

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(The Power Assist feature is configured off - don't want to drain the batteries unknowingly)

 

You misunderstand the the use of power assist, it only discharges the battery for seconds and as soon as the load is up and running it stops.

 

 

example: (all hypothetical figures and just for illustration)

 

A fridge when running needs about 3 amps but on start up requires 20 amps, the shoreline is only capable of supplying 16 amps so, when fridge starts supply cannot cope (trips out).

 

Power assist kicks in and supplies the missing 4 amps, fridge then starts to run and only needs 3 amps, power assist stops.

 

You may be thinking of UPS (uninterrupted power supply) this will discharge your batteries if the shoreline fails

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OK

Thanks for that. The system seems to cope with this facility switched off (it still burps!) maybe switching it on may help.

I thought that this was to be used if you had a power failure and the Victron would ignore the failure and switch to invertor mode to keep things like laptops running seamlessly. I'll look into it.

Right, beam me up.

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OK

Thanks for that. The system seems to cope with this facility switched off (it still burps!) maybe switching it on may help.

I thought that this was to be used if you had a power failure and the Victron would ignore the failure and switch to invertor mode to keep things like laptops running seamlessly. I'll look into it.

Right, beam me up.

 

That's the "UPS" bit, if you have the Multi "on" when on shore line it will be in this mode, it can be disabled (as well as PowerAssist) by turning the Multi to "charger". The Multi (not early versions) have two AC outlets, one for when on shore line only and one for via Inverter. This is to avoid high powered items like immersion heaters not running from batteries when the shore line gets removed.

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OK - no more replies, please!

I get it. It's a Victron thing.

(The Power Assist feature is configured off - don't want to drain the batteries unknowingly)

There must be inductor coils

or something

or following the last post

probably a trans-phase matrix buffer fluctuating the anti-meson flow, or if you're into Terry Pratchett, a team of imps bouncing off a trampoline . . . that'll do it.

It's not a fault/error, is the main thing. Just get used to it . . .

Spock, out.

 

Not a Victron thing, our Sterling does it whenver hair straighteners get turned on regardless of whether the shore line's connected or not.

Edited by Sabcat
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Not a Victron thing, our Sterling does it whenver hair straighteners get turned on regardless of whether the shore line's connected or not.

 

Some cheap travel hairdryers have a low power mode achieved by using a diode in one leg of the AC. Although household supplies can cope with this, it puts a half wave demand on any inverter which may damage it long term. The sound is a teeth rattling buzz though.

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  • 1 year later...

I think I have solved this - checking the dip switch settings - in the 2nd settings, the previous owner had set the Dynamic Current Limiter to ON. And reading thru Vctron's FAQs, this will cause the PowerAssist function to operate - hence the Boing & flashing of overload lights whenever anything was switched on over say 100W.

I also changed the output from 240 to 230 volts, though I doubt that made much difference. So no more hearing Boing all thru the night as the fridge comes on!! This current limiter is only for weak ac generators, allowing them to spin up when a large load is applied. We don't have a genny but maybe the previous guy did!

SOLVED!

  • Greenie 1
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I think I have solved this - checking the dip switch settings - in the 2nd settings, the previous owner had set the Dynamic Current Limiter to ON. And reading thru Vctron's FAQs, this will cause the PowerAssist function to operate - hence the Boing & flashing of overload lights whenever anything was switched on over say 100W.

I also changed the output from 240 to 230 volts, though I doubt that made much difference. So no more hearing Boing all thru the night as the fridge comes on!! This current limiter is only for weak ac generators, allowing them to spin up when a large load is applied. We don't have a genny but maybe the previous guy did!

SOLVED!

Well done! And thanks for letting the rest of us know, it can be frustrating never finding out the outcome.

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  • 2 months later...

As an addendum to this and probably worthy of a new post, I was puzzled over the Victron charge setting.

The manual says set this to 10 - 20% of your battery bank's capacity.

I have 600 Ah and so that would be 60 to 120 Amps.

The Victron dip switch configuration allows 25, 50, 75 or 100%

For some reason the previous owner had selected 25%

I think he must have been confused as this only charges the batteries at 25% of your charger's output.

Mine is a 120A charger, so it would seem all this time we were only charging at a max of 30A!

No wonder it was taking a long time to recharge, esp when static!!

Two hours of running my engine and only 30 Ah replaced.

I have now changed these infernal dip switches to charge at 75% ( this was the default setting).

And lo, after one hour it charged from 75% to 90+ and into it's absorption mode.

Another Victron anomaly sorted!

Maybe I should advertise myself as a Victron configurator.

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It could be the coils in the inductors "singing" due to the increased / changing current flow.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coil_noise

Ah! That'd be magnetostriction. :)

 

This will sit better in equipment make it easier for people to find. I will leave a link on here, though.

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