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cedarm asked

Odd behavior multiplus spontaniously switching modes

I have a Cerbo/Multiplus 12/3000 based system on my boat. We live aboard full time and it has been flawless for 2 years. We have made no changes to our electrical system since installation. A couple of days ago I started to get a multiple strange symptoms, I hope someone can help trouble shoot.


Normally I would not think the two symptoms are connected, but they both showed up on the same day after 2 years of flawless performance, so it seems a big coincidence to be unrelated.


Symptom 1) The Multiplus has been switching modes spontaneously. Typically we control inverter with Cerbo control panel, and at night turn to "Off" and during day, turn to "On". Twice yesterday it switched modes. For example, yesterday under low load (watching TV) it switched to "Charger Only" and we lost AC power. But earlier in the day while under high load (induction cooking) it switched to "Inverter Only". I happened to be nearby and noticed shortly after it changed, but we didn't even lose AC power. Nothing logged on the Cerbo "Notifications" page.


Symptom 2) The same day the Multiplus problem started our main breaker (RCBO) has been occasionally trips (disconnecting) when I turn on our hot water heater. We had been doing some high loads (AC watermaker, hot water heater, laundry) and I thought it was perhaps just an overload situation, though in the past the Multiplus complains about overload before the RCBO trips. However after a thorough cool down period I turned on the water heater and the RCBO instantly tripped. Later I tried again, and it did not trip, and was able to make hot water. A third attempt, and it instantly tripped. It also tripped once with Laundry, so I don't think it is isolated to the Hot Water circuit. It has not tripped with any other cicuits, and we were able to do high load cooking without tripping the RCBO.

I'm not really sure where to even get started with trouble shooting. Suggestions welcome!

MultiPlus Quattro Inverter Charger
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2 Answers
delf67 avatar image
delf67 answered ·

An RCBO can trip for two reasons. The 1st is if the current exceeds the rating of the RCBO (overload). The second is that it detects an imbalance between the current flowing through the L & N conductors (earth fault). The second is normally a faulty appliance, but could be a loose wire somewhere.

Was there any other equipment plugged in while the trips were happening? Especially something that may be switching on and off via a thermostat (such as a fridge). The fact that the water heater did work the second time seems to imply that is not the issue. A process of elimination is often the only way to track down this sort of fault. So unplugging everything and trying things one at a time to see if you can recreate the trip.

It does seem too much of a coincidence that 2 things started happening at the same time, but I have no idea how they could be connected.

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cedarm avatar image
cedarm answered ·

The culprit turned out to be a short developing in the water heater element. Replaced that and the problem hasn't been back. Not sure what the Multiplus mode switching was about, but it hasn't happened again since the water heater element was replaced. Thanks for your input.

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