Mastervolt 12/60 switchng on problem

[Proper Job]

I have a Mastervolt 12/60 charger that is reluctant to switch on.

 

It takes many attempts to get the thing to go. Is there some sort of latching relay when you switch it on?

 

Once it's 'on' it works fine.

 

Anyone had a similar problem or any ideas?

[blackrose]

I keep hearing about problems with Mastervolt stuff and have had to deal with a problem myself on a neighbour's boat.

 

In my opinion their equipment is far too complicated for it's own good. They include all sorts of features apart from the ones you really need. When my neighbour's combi cut out it took all of his AC electrics with it and there seemed to be no easy way to bypass it so that at least he had some shore power. It had all sorts of fancy settings, but I was amazed to learn that there was no way of turning down the 100amp charger!

 

On boats, simple is best and Mastervolt do not make simple equipment.

 

Sorry, I know that doesn't help with your problem.

[Guest]

I keep hearing about problems with Mastervolt stuff and have had to deal with a problem myself on a neighbour's boat.

 

In my opinion their equipment is far too complicated for it's own good. They include all sorts of features apart from the ones you really need. When my neighbour's combi cut out it took all of his AC electrics with it and there seemed to be no easy way to bypass it so that at least he had some shore power. It had all sorts of fancy settings, but I was amazed to learn that there was no way of turning down the 100amp charger!

 

On boats, simple is best and Mastervolt do not make simple equipment.

 

Sorry, I know that doesn't help with your problem.

Sorry but you can turn down the amps on the charger (at least you can on ours) using DIP switch settings.

 

But yes you are correct when we blew the mega fuse between the battery bank and the combi we lost all mains shore power too.

[J R]

It is easy, with correct wireing and fuses etc, to bypass the inverter charger so that you can access shore power without going through the inverter etc. This is normal practice for new builds unless there has been a cost cutting exercise for what ever reason. It is also easy and cheap to retro fit this. Make sure that there is the correct fuse board and RCB.

[nicknorman]

Surely it is just a matter of connecting the mains wires bringing power in, to the adjacent wires taking the power out. Not a 5 minute job perhaps, but surely no more than a 10 minute job. But anyway, the stuff rarely goes wrong compared to the competition.

 

Regarding the OP's question, are you trying to run it from the mains, or from a generator? If from the mains, check the supply voltage as it might be too high. If from a genny, it could be something to do with the waveform. It might help to have another mains load connected when you switch on the charger, like a large light bulb.

Edited January 19, 2015 by nicknorman

[Guest]

It is easy, with correct wireing and fuses etc, to bypass the inverter charger so that you can access shore power without going through the inverter etc. This is normal practice for new builds unless there has been a cost cutting exercise for what ever reason. It is also easy and cheap to retro fit this. Make sure that there is the correct fuse board and RCB.

That seemingly is not how Bath Narrowboats did it.

 

Its not a big issue though, We have only had such a problem the once.

[Quinafloat]

It seems to be a feature of mastervolt chargers, mine is a 12/80. When my first one burnt out, Mastervolt replaced it with a refurbished one and I sent mine off so that they could repair it and just charge me for the repair.

 

The refurbished one had to be restarted every time the engine was started. I have a travelpower and that, in combination with the charger, looks after the domestic bank. I complained as remembering to restart the charger every time we cruised, or risking flat batteries was unrealistic. The previous one was simply left in the on position and came on when the travelpower started putting out power.

 

Mastervolt replaced the refurb unit with a new unit and that did not require a restart on engine start, so far so good.

It does, however require a restart when I change from shore power to travelpower or vice versa.

 

When the new unit decided to emit smoke instead of electric power I had it rebuilt with different innards by a good refurb specialist company. It works to this day, but still requires a restart or two when we change over to shore power or travelpower. Obviously that was not one of the bits that needed replacement.

 

The travelpower puts out pure sine wave at 230 volts. However it is from +115 to -115, whereas mains electricity is sine wave from 0 to 240. I suspect that the Mastervolt samples the incoming electricity, and, if different from the last time requires a restart.

 

The specification of mains input is: 230v -10% +15% or 117v -10% +15% so it certainly has some sensing/adaption capability.

 

It might be worth checking for voltage fluctuation of your mains input.

[Proper Job]

I had a feeling that the mains input could be the problem.

 

It's running from a Honda EU20i generator. According to Honda, the output spec for the genny is compatable with Mastervolts input spec for the charger.

 

I thought it might be a high initial load on the genny was causing a voltage drop which was not allowing the charger to 'start'. Running the genny on 'rabbit' mode (allows the genny to take high start loads) makes no effect on the problem.

 

According to Mastervolt bumf it should be soft start anyway.

 

I'll have to try to find some mains power to see if that makes a difference

[nicknorman]

It's probably a genny waveform issue then. As I said, try having a load connected of a few hundred watts before switching on the charger since this can help stabilise the waveform which can otherwise be a bit ragged at zero load. Once the charger kicks in you can turn the extra load off.

[Proper Job]

I always have the laptop plugged in which will start charging when the ac circuits are energised, but I doubt that that is enough of a load.

 

The only other ac loads I have are the vacuum cleaner and the iron. They don't like being switched on

[nicknorman]

I always have the laptop plugged in which will start charging when the ac circuits are energised, but I doubt that that is enough of a load.

 

The only other ac loads I have are the vacuum cleaner and the iron. They don't like being switched on

The laptop will have a switch mode supply and therefore will not be good at smoothing the waveform, as well as being rather a small load as you say. You could always procure a mains inspection lamp and fit a 100w incandescent bulb if you can still find such a thing. As to vacuums and irons, well the former is an inductive load so not ideal, and the latter might be too powerful, so it looks like you got away with that.

[Boredrider]

On our boat, which comes from the same yard, the mains socket for the mastervolt 12/80 charger is only live when the three way mains selector switch is set to shore, or generator (i.e. the TravelPower). If the three way is set to inverter, then the charger mains socket is dead. So if you have a similar set up, then possibly the three way switch is playing up.

 

We also have a Honda eu20i. If I plug that into the shoreline, and switch the three way to shore, then the charger starts up every time, automatically, and it runs quite happily off the generator.

[Proper Job]

Mine is a bit more simplistic. I have a 16A plug by the mains input RCD in the 'electrics cupboard'. Beside it it on three seperate cables are 3 16A plugs marked: 'Bow', 'Stern' and 'Inverter'. Depending on where the ac supply is from, depends on what you have plugged in.

 

The inverter is supplied from the boat ac distribution system. It has a fused spur to isolate it.

 

I need to sort this out this out as potentially you can plug the 16A @Inverter' ac socket to the ac input for the boat, which in turn supplies ac input to the battery charger, which charges the batteries, which supplies the inverter, which supplies ac to to the boat, which supplies ac the charger......................................................

 

On my list of things to do

[Proper Job]

Bloody thing still doesn't switch on properly when on main shore power!

 

[nicknorman]

mmmh, probably nagered then!

[Proper Job]

Just found this on a salty rag forum: http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?258234-Mastervolt-Battery-Charger-does-not-start

 

Maybe a couple of capacitors gone(?)

 

Time to have the cover off in a nothing ventured/nothing gained look

[nicknorman]

Just found this on a salty rag forum: http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?258234-Mastervolt-Battery-Charger-does-not-start

 

Maybe a couple of capacitors gone(?)

 

Time to have the cover off in a nothing ventured/nothing gained look

 

Certainly worth a look, you might just be lucky and find a bulged capacitor. Our old Sky box had an unreliability problem and on research, it turned out to be the same issue with electrolytics. I just replaced all the electrolytics which was not that expensive, and then it worked flawlessly (until we got an HD box). Hope you are good at soldering...

[Slim]

Don't know how I missed this topic over the last couple of weeks but I have exactly the same problem as the OP with my Mastervolt MASS 12/60 charger.. Initially it was reluctant to start up without several attempts then more and more attempts needed to the point where now it won't start at all.

 

Without going into detail the Mastervolt inverter failed several years ago, the MICC has become increasingly unreliable i.e not changing from discharge to charge and now the chargers U/S. My response has been to get a a new Mastervolt 12/200/100 Combi and another MICC (which I have yet to fit). This was after much soul searching of whether to get separate units again, go Victron or what.

 

It seems to be a feature of mastervolt chargers, mine is a 12/80. When my first one burnt out, Mastervolt replaced it with a refurbished one and I sent mine off so that they could repair it and just charge me for the repair.

 

The refurbished one had to be restarted every time the engine was started. I have a travelpower and that, in combination with the charger, looks after the domestic bank. I complained as remembering to restart the charger every time we cruised, or risking flat batteries was unrealistic. The previous one was simply left in the on position and came on when the travelpower started putting out power.

 

Mastervolt replaced the refurb unit with a new unit and that did not require a restart on engine start, so far so good.

It does, however require a restart when I change from shore power to travelpower or vice versa.

 

When the new unit decided to emit smoke instead of electric power I had it rebuilt with different innards by a good refurb specialist company. It works to this day, but still requires a restart or two when we change over to shore power or travelpower. Obviously that was not one of the bits that needed replacement.

 

The travelpower puts out pure sine wave at 230 volts. However it is from +115 to -115, whereas mains electricity is sine wave from 0 to 240. I suspect that the Mastervolt samples the incoming electricity, and, if different from the last time requires a restart.

 

The specification of mains input is: 230v -10% +15% or 117v -10% +15% so it certainly has some sensing/adaption capability.

 

It might be worth checking for voltage fluctuation of your mains input.

 

Quinafloat,

 

Could you tell me who this was? When my inverter went bang I took it to a company in the midlands who fixed it only for it to go bang again after a couple of hours running. Took it back and was told that part of a PCB had been distroyed and that Mastervolt would neither supply a board or circuit diagram. To the best of my knowledge they still have it (or skipped it). I wouldn't mind getting my charger fixed as I could use it as 12v supply in my shed/workshop.

 

Didn't think to check the mains imput voltage but if I recall correctly it can tolerate down to 180 volts (the new combi can) but will check next time i go to the boat

 

Frank