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Mastervolt issue? AC light flashing


Matt&Jo

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Hi all,

I have super low levels of electrical understanding but ive been having an issue lately thats a bit maddening.....to the point it has me up at 4am......

 

Now we are plugged into shore line and granted our batteries are a bit knackered but the mastervolt combi we have is flashing on the AC input with another solid green light next to it (normal) and is not charging...now checked the online manual and it sais that means the electrickery is not "good enough" my words not the manuals.....is this correct....could it be an internal fault....it kicks bk in randomly it seems....its a multi port post at 6amp or something so it trips very easily.....could it be the low power allowance at the post....or could it be its cold and everyone is drawing power and my MV is a little sensitive......help.....lol

 

Getting a sparky in can take days to weeks so if any know how on here please please do shout it will be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks peoples in advance ?

 

 

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Can’t really help - but you have my every sympathy being also up at 4am worrying at a problem..

6a multi point supply does seem awfully small... Deffo what rusty says above! 

 

Hope your stove is roaring and your tea is steaming... ?

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I bet it’s a 16a supply not 6a, perfectly normal. 

 

Never mind your ‘interpredtation’ Of the manual, can you quote what it actually SAYS please?!

 

its situatons like this that lead you you gaining some electrical knowledge. Suddenly electricity gets very interesting.  

 

Just my 5am thoughts too...

 

 

 

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2 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

I bet it’s a 16a supply not 6a, perfectly normal. 

 

Never mind your ‘interpredtation’ Of the manual, can you quote what it actually SAYS please?!

 

its situatons like this that lead you you gaining some electrical knowledge. Suddenly electricity gets very interesting.  

 

Just my 5am thoughts too...

 

 

 

 Thanks very much all, hi mike ? its deffo 6amp there is talk to raise it to 10 amp or 16amp but for now its 6....my immersion tank trips it if i have anything else on so a pain in the butt to be frank.

 

As for the manual ill get you the actual wording shortly. 

I woke up to it working fine so no items unplugged or plugged in to cause it....i do wonder about moisture in the shoreline feed plug perhaps? Could that cause it...seems to happen at night more than often and my post tripped last night so i got up and reset it....i know some posts have 16amp rcd cuz ive checked but i think thats the exception not the rule.....are they difficult to change?

 

 

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2 minutes ago, Matt&Jo said:

 Thanks very much all, hi mike ? its deffo 6amp there is talk to raise it to 10 amp or 16amp but for now its 6....my immersion tank trips it if i have anything else on so a pain in the butt to be frank.

 

Hmmm ok. In that case is is no more use than as a battery charger supply. Increasing it to 16A is probably a complex issue involving a concept in electrickery called 'diversity'. The cable feeding all the leccy bollards is probably nice and fat but not fat enough by a long chalk to feed 16A to all the bollards if everyone tries to draw 16A at the same time. However, probably only 10% of the bollard users ever want 16A at the same time, so it would probably (but not definitely) work out fine if all the bollards had 16A breakers fitted, as the chances of them all being used at the same time are very small. So there is one of the complexities involved in electrical supplies!

 

 

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3 hours ago, lampini said:

Can’t really help - but you have my every sympathy being also up at 4am worrying at a problem..

6a multi point supply does seem awfully small... Deffo what rusty says above! 

 

Hope your stove is roaring and your tea is steaming... ?

The fire roared cuz i restocked it but i didnt have a nice steaming brew.....i am retrospectively jealouse i didnt make a brew lol. Now however i have brew lol. I do hope your worries are not too severe sir.

1 minute ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

Hmmm ok. In that case is is no more use than as a battery charger supply. Increasing it to 16A is probably a complex issue involving a concept in electrickery called 'diversity'. The cable feeding all the leccy bollards is probably nice and fat but not fat enough by a long chalk to feed 16A to all the bollards if everyone tries to draw 16A at the same time. However, probably only 10% of the bollard users ever want 16A at the same time, so it would probably (but not definitely) work out fine if all the bollards had 16A breakers fitted, as the chances of them all being used at the same time are very small. So there is one of the complexities involved in electrical supplies!

 

 

Yes battery charging only really mike as there is supposedly no liveaboards here.......ahem lol. We love it here tho spending weekends when we can so would never move for power.

 

I beleive the infrastructure is in place to hold 16amp just 6 amp fitted to try to disencourage those wanting to stay longer but ive seen them fitted into bollards.

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Check whether your Mastervolt has a dip switch setting for the maximum current of the power supply. Iirc, this can be set to 6 amp.  I don't know whether this will change your issue as I'm not sure what's going on from your description,  and we don't know what unit you have, but it's where it should be set if you're on a 6 amp supply.

 

Some Mastervolt units are quite clever and can use the batteries to boost the power supply if you need more than the 6 amp available. If that is selected, you need to be sure you want it or it may discharge your batteries by more than you can put back when your load is high.

 

Nicknorman knows these units well and will likely be along shortly. Try to identify the unit model number to give him and others a fighting chance.

Edited by Sea Dog
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9 minutes ago, Matt&Jo said:

 

I beleive the infrastructure is in place to hold 16amp just 6 amp fitted to try to disencourage those wanting to stay longer but ive seen them fitted into bollards.

 

As I explained, the infrastructure is unlikely to be able to supply ALL of the bollards with 16A at the same time, or even 6A all at the same time. Its a calculation involving statistical probability as well as cable sizes!\

 

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Firstly that it is a 6A bollard is not the issue. The only issue with that, as you’ve discovered, is that it trips if you take too much current.

 

It will be one of two things, either the supply voltage is out of limits (207 to 265v, min 180) or there is a fault in the Combi.

 

Lets hope it is the former as it will,then be someone else’s problem to fix! It is not uncommon for voltages to be out of limits at marinas, to do with the way 3 phases are used to power multiple power points.

 

can you measure the voltage at the incoming power with a meter set to AC volts? Obviously if you touch the probes or wires you will get a severe electric shock so be careful!

 

Mastervolt Combis have a lower maximum voltage than Victrons, which is a good or bad thing according to your viewpoint!

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It is a fairly old 2008 i think mass combi 12/2000-100 if that helps. I cant measure as the builder of the boat sealed the whole shabang so cant get in and behind....its not done it at all so far today i honestly feel its the marinas electricery supply.....the inverter seems to be doing its job.....

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54 minutes ago, Matt&Jo said:

It is a fairly old 2008 i think mass combi 12/2000-100 if that helps. I cant measure as the builder of the boat sealed the whole shabang so cant get in and behind....its not done it at all so far today i honestly feel its the marinas electricery supply.....the inverter seems to be doing its job.....

Does your boat not have a shore power connector on the outside that you can access, or on the bollard itself?  If in ANY doubt though,get someone who knows what they're doing,preferably a marina employee to check the shore power.

 

ETA, Although ,if it is now working,its probably not worth the hassle, maybe just a blip in the supply voltage.

Edited by rusty69
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1 hour ago, Matt&Jo said:

It is a fairly old 2008 i think mass combi 12/2000-100 if that helps. I cant measure as the builder of the boat sealed the whole shabang so cant get in and behind....its not done it at all so far today i honestly feel its the marinas electricery supply.....the inverter seems to be doing its job.....

It may be just on the cusp of being too high voltage (or possibly too low, but less likely). Trouble is if you don’t try to determine the problem now, it will recur at a more inconvenient time!

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14 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

) work out fine if all the bollards had 16A breakers fitted, as the chances of them all being used at the same time are very small.

 

 

nope,  previous marina had shared 16 amp to bollard so really 8 amp per socket, strangely many people put thermostatically controller heaters to prefent frost damage. So when cold snap came all the heaters tried to come on about the same time, most bollards tripped and even one whole jetty went out about 30 bollards. without access inside the boats to reduce the load,s the only way to restore power is to unplug boats, which boat do you chose to power and which do you let freeze?

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On 27/10/2018 at 04:09, Matt&Jo said:

Hi all,

I have super low levels of electrical understanding but ive been having an issue lately thats a bit maddening.....to the point it has me up at 4am......

If it’s around 4am every morning my guess is that a few boaters have immersion heaters or other types of heater come on dragging down the voltage.

Edited by Robbo
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  • 1 month later...

So had it trip a few more times and the light for the shore power flash on the unit around 2 to 3 times a day saying the electricity supply is poor.....today i had a call from the marina saying that the post mcb repeatedly trips with my boat plugged into it....which is nice of them to do and to ask if they can unplug it.

Now currently the boat is set to charge only on the mastervolt combi and no draw at all from the boat....its all isolated at the master switches apart from the bilge.....so just topping up the batteries which are not in great shape to be fair...is that a problem for the post?

 

Im confused as to the problem. could my shore power connection be at fault? Could the cable be dodgy.....very frustrating. The marina may investigate the post but they are going to seek advice first from a marine engineer understandably. 

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MCB tripping means either overloading the breaker or a short.   My first thoughts would be the shore cable shorting, more likely on the plug/socket ends.   If you can wire a plug you can check to confirm and rewire the ends, if you can’t I’m guessing a neighbour will have the skills to do so.

Edited by Robbo
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Its outside the boat.....what cables are suitable then? Ive got 2 different cables and it happens on both but i dont know the condition of these cables internally. I can rewire plugs no problem....

 

Where would you guys suggest i start in my search for this? The plug? Simplest first as they say.....do hope its not the inverter...its not throwing up any fault lights? Other than the flashing ac light every now and then....

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20 minutes ago, Matt&Jo said:

Where would you guys suggest i start in my search for this?

Unplug the shore lead. 

Dismantle the plug at one end and ensure it’s dry and well connected. If it looks at all ropey, cut the end off and remake the connections. Ensure the screws onto the cable are tight. Do the same with the socket on the other end of the cable. 

 

Once you know both ends are good, and before you plug it back in, run the entire length of the cable through your hands, feeling for any cuts, deep abrasions, or other damage. 

 

If the cable and its ends are good, if it continues to trip the bollard then the problem must be on your boat. Either damp or a shorting cable somewhere. 

 

It is unlikely to be anything to do with the combi. 

 

 

36 minutes ago, Detling said:

 

is the plug in connector outside or inside the boat.

 

Note that Detling is asking about the connection between the shore power and the boat. If it gets wet then that can cause problems. And we’ve had a lot of rain. 

Edited by WotEver
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