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Electrical humm or buzz from my mastervolt 240v pannel


Matt&Jo

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Hi all as above i have a mastervolt pannel that sometimes...not always has started as of yesterday humming or buzzing....know ive tried to name that tune but i cant get it ?

 

Any electricary wizard know if this is a sure fire sign of a loose connection etc? It seems to do it when on landline as soon as i switch over to inverter....nothing.....then switch bk and it stops....also not sure if just when i have heard it but does it on float charge....its a mastervolt inverter charger.

Edited by Matt&Jo
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13 minutes ago, bizzard said:

Bumble bees or wasps set up camp behind it. They can sound very electrical.

Wasps have done that in an old airbrick in the outer wall of our kitchen. they can't get in the house as there is a modern plastic cover on the inside. I  spent ages crawling around the electric meter till I realised what it was.

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25 minutes ago, Robbo said:

What happens when you turn the inverter off?, what’s behind the panel?

Cant open the wooden facia its all glued and fitted in place. Its all electricery behind there.....as soon as i switch it to inverter it stops. As i say it seems to be on float mainly and from the bottom 240v pannel

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But you could isolate the mains, turn the inverter off, turn the master switches off and unscrew the four screws holding the panel to the wood. Then it will probably lift out but take care not to pull any cables off the back of the panel.

 

The question about isolation transformer is a good one because any transformer can buzz at certain loads.

 

Have you tried tightening the fixing screws?

 

Question for the mains type members. It looks as of it has an RCD, and MCBs. Can the coils in those buzz? I suspect they can so make sure they are tight in the panel. Just pressing them to one side would probably stop the buzzing to aid locating the buzz.

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21 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

But you could isolate the mains, turn the inverter off, turn the master switches off and unscrew the four screws holding the panel to the wood. Then it will probably lift out but take care not to pull any cables off the back of the panel.

 

The question about isolation transformer is a good one because any transformer can buzz at certain loads.

 

Have you tried tightening the fixing screws?

 

Question for the mains type members. It looks as of it has an RCD, and MCBs. Can the coils in those buzz? I suspect they can so make sure they are tight in the panel. Just pressing them to one side would probably stop the buzzing to aid locating the buzz.

Thanks very much tony ill wait for it to buzz again and test it

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1 hour ago, Tony Brooks said:

Question for the mains type members. It looks as of it has an RCD, and MCBs. Can the coils in those buzz? 

Yes. But I’d expect them to also do so on inverter. 

 

So can an IT of course. 

 

So can a transformer in the charger. 

 

Touching/pushing/listening is going to be the way to track this down methinks. 

 

Edited by WotEver
Extra bit added for clarity
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1 hour ago, Tony Brooks said:

But you could isolate the mains, turn the inverter off, turn the master switches off and unscrew the four screws holding the panel to the wood. Then it will probably lift out but take care not to pull any cables off the back of the panel.

 

The question about isolation transformer is a good one because any transformer can buzz at certain loads.

 

Have you tried tightening the fixing screws?

 

Question for the mains type members. It looks as of it has an RCD, and MCBs. Can the coils in those buzz? I suspect they can so make sure they are tight in the panel. Just pressing them to one side would probably stop the buzzing to aid locating the buzz.

 

Yes, my son has a MCBs in his house that buzzes irritatingly. One day I will get round to changing it for him. 

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1 hour ago, Boredrider said:

Or a relay in the wire from the ignition switch to the starter solenoid, so you can't start the engine with the shoreline plugged in?

Deffo not got that....i did that by accident the other day and panicked about the power to the batteries being too much.....bit of a newb question but does it hurt to do so?

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The reason ours has such a relay is because it has a Travelpower 240V AC unit fitted, which generates as soon as the engine is started.

 

On your switch panel there is a generator light, and the selector has a third position - do you have a Travelpower fitted, or some other sort of generator?

Edited by Boredrider
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20 minutes ago, Matt&Jo said:

Deffo not got that....i did that by accident the other day and panicked about the power to the batteries being too much.....bit of a newb question but does it hurt to do so?

The batteries will take in as much as they can in bulk charging, it won’t “hurt” them really (see below), as more likely you wouldn’t have been bulk charging them.   If you’ve been on shore power and charging then if you have a amp meter you’ll notice when starting the engine the amps will be low as they will already be fully charged, it doesn’t matter if you have a shore power and alternator running at the same time.

 

* It’s recommended to keep the bulk charging amps at around 10% of the bank capacity, however you’ll find those off grid and charging via a generator will up this to 25% for quicker charging but reduced life span of the battery as it stresses it more.

 

In other words, yes your okay to run the engine whilst your batteries are on charge from shoreline.

 

Edited by Robbo
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1 minute ago, Matt&Jo said:

Thanks guys ? my batts instantly drop to around 50% as soon as they are taken off charge anyhow as they are pooped....7 years old tho so not too bad but in desperate need of swapping out. I will wait until after winter tho.....

Is that on a Smartguage, inferring form a voltmeter, or some form of amp hour counting gauge like the BVM?

 

If its a Smartguage then as you say the batteries are shot. If its a voltage reading they are worse than you thought because they will still have some surface charge. If its an Amp hour counting gauge then unless you really understand how it works, how to set it, and understand batteries it has probably been instrumental in encouraging you to persistently undercharge you batteries so they are still pooped. Please ignore any percentage, readings and Amp hour in readings. In the majority of cases they will be wrong to downright lies. Rely upon tail current (amps) at 14V + to tell you when the batteries are fully charged.

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5 hours ago, Tony Brooks said:

Is that on a Smartguage, inferring form a voltmeter, or some form of amp hour counting gauge like the BVM?

 

If its a Smartguage then as you say the batteries are shot. If its a voltage reading they are worse than you thought because they will still have some surface charge. If its an Amp hour counting gauge then unless you really understand how it works, how to set it, and understand batteries it has probably been instrumental in encouraging you to persistently undercharge you batteries so they are still pooped. Please ignore any percentage, readings and Amp hour in readings. In the majority of cases they will be wrong to downright lies. Rely upon tail current (amps) at 14V + to tell you when the batteries are fully charged.

No i use just the lights on the state of charge pannel on the mastervolt controller so i expect not accurate...i will get a smartguage at some point but costs are mounting heavilly currently so bottom of the list at present.

The 5 lights drop straight to 3 lights instantly and sit at 2 for a fair while....the guy before me admitted to using the batterys to full discharge.....he had no clue about not dropping below 70%.....they are done for sure

Edited by Matt&Jo
Spelling mistakes....must proof read
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