question

David avatar image
David asked

Delay generator synchronisation after genetator is started

Hi Victron team

Some other brands of inverter chargers have a setting to delay generator syncronisation for a minute or so after the generator is auto started. We cant see anything in the CCGX or VE config so we're assuming there isnt a delay that can be set? (the goal is to allow the generator to warm up before its loaded)

Generator
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2 Answers
boekel avatar image
boekel answered ·

I haven't tried it...but I think this should work to warm up the generator (for 4 minutes in this case)
I'm pretty sure a similar setup can be used to let the generator cool down before shutting down.


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Kienan avatar image Kienan commented ·
I tried that, it works perfectly!
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Guy Stewart (Victron Community Manager) avatar image
Guy Stewart (Victron Community Manager) answered ·

EDIT - Updated to say yes, this is now possible in Venus 3.00 with a GX device as long as the MultiPlus/Quattro, and MK3 version in the GX are running the latest firmware versions.

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ben avatar image ben ♦ commented ·

My Quattros, at least, take nearly a full minute anyway before they engage the relay. I don’t have any special settings configured. By itself, this gives the generator a good little bit of time to begin warming up.

What I would love, on the other hand, is the ability to schedule a cool-down after automatic start-stop decides it’s time to stop. This has been discussed elsewhere and is probably in the feature backlog.

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stampertje avatar image stampertje commented ·

Is there any news on this subject?

The time delay option is a bit crude. As the generator would be working at idle and not warming up properly some load should be applied to warm it up it also add to the components ( if its not there it can't break)


Ramping up the charger and ramping it down xxx seconds after and before stop signal is given should not be hard to imply. I am aware this would do nothing to the control the connected loads, but it would be a major improvement.
Not only for the diesel but also for the inverters. The have to switch in my case from charging at 2500watts to powering a load at 3000watts. The generator goes from 5500watts to 0 in 0 seconds. It works that is true but it seems overly crude and unnecessary.
A suggestion to Victron. Maybe I am thinking in a too simplistic way.
If generator is started ( relay closed) set input current limiter to 1amp> AC input detected=yes >then slowly ramp up the back to its original setting> connect AC2 output if selected generator running.
For stopping the same just the other way around so stop signal has been given> stop any AC2output generator running conditions> ramp down the charger> open relay> generator stops> ac input current setting back to original.

in this way at some point in the ramp down period the inverter will take over the load, and wil be in power assist mode for a while but not overloading. And it would be more gentle to the generators and inverters. Also as a bonus you could get away with using smaller underpowered generators as they would have more time to stabilize when loading.

As a user I would like the following settings
Ramp up and down time in seconds.
minimum load before disconnect.

Overrule incase of overload or high temp ect ect.

This is basically how large generators are synchronised. If one was to do it the Victron way. I would start wearing body armour at work.
For the Dutch speakers among us: Blaffende turbos bijten niet…. Kleine diesels met turbo worden steeds vaker gebruikt. Dit zal best problemen op kunnen leveren in sommige opstellingen

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hjohnson avatar image hjohnson stampertje commented ·

You might be able to pull this off with Node Red in the Venus Large image. Initially set the current limit on the inverter/charger to, say, 5A then ramp that up to the generator capacity over a period of time. Then, at the end you could taper back down.


But this would require a fair bit of custom configuration work, and wouldn’t work to keep the load frequency stable while the engine stabilizes.

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