Accidentally damaged the LEDs on MultiPlus, what now?

Question

question

igvan asked Apr 3, '22

Accidentally damaged the LEDs on MultiPlus, what now?

Hi all. I am at a loss right now. I am in the process of setting up my vans victron system, and today noticed that I somehow broke the “mains on” and “bulk” led lights on the multiplus. The cover was off, and they were somehow bent to the side with the top solder on each being snapped off. I am feeling sick that I let this happen. Unbelievably careless. So now I am wondering how I can get this fixed, and more importantly, what other damage I may have done to the inverter. Can I still use it assuming the only thing I hurt was the led lights? Will the broken solders cause any additional damage if the unit is powered on? Man, I’ve made mistakes, but this one really, really hurts. I am at a complete loss. Thanks in advance for any advice and help.

multiple inverters campervan led

2 |3000

Attachments: Up to 8 attachments (including images) can be used with a maximum of 190.8 MiB each and 286.6 MiB total.

Modifications Space

Node Red Space

Answer 1 · 2022-04-03T14:34:47Z

John macrae answered · Apr 03, 2022 at 02:34 PM

If you can post a picture somewhere then maybe we can assess the best direction to take. In the mean time, best not to power it on. Also roughly where you are - there may be someone local that can help.

2 |3000

Attachments: Up to 8 attachments (including images) can be used with a maximum of 190.8 MiB each and 286.6 MiB total.

Answer 2 · 2022-04-03T14:49:40Z

igvan answered · Apr 03, 2022 at 02:49 PM

Thanks so much for the reply, John. I’m currently in Florida, middle of the state. Hopefully the pictures are clear enough to see the damage. I bent the lights back into place enough to get the cover on to prevent anything else from happening, so the pictures don’t illustrate how badly they were bent. They were close to 90 degrees, completely bent to the side. I did just find a place in Fort Myers that services Victron inverters, inverterservicecenter.com. Looks like that may be my best bet. Hoping it’s not too costly a repair. It is seemingly just two broken solders, but repairs can get costly I imagine.

38c86f1f-2b87-4df4-a67e-45341087aba1.jpeg (2.9 MiB)

437fe502-1a83-4fb9-b856-644a89b84593.jpeg (3.6 MiB)

1

2 |3000

Attachments: Up to 8 attachments (including images) can be used with a maximum of 190.8 MiB each and 286.6 MiB total.

John macrae commented · Apr 04, 2022 at 06:22 AM

It looks like a straightforward job. A local electrical repair shop or radio amateur should be able to help you and cast a practiced eye over it. Forgive yourself :)

0 ·

Answer 3 · 2022-04-03T15:08:56Z

kev answered · Apr 03, 2022 at 03:08 PM

I would think any local electrical repair shop could fix/replace the LED's. They cost next to nothing. There is no obvious physical damage that I can see in the photos and the LED's will have current limiting resistors so even if the LED's are shorted, it will not damage anything.

2 |3000

Attachments: Up to 8 attachments (including images) can be used with a maximum of 190.8 MiB each and 286.6 MiB total.

Answer 4 · 2022-04-03T15:36:07Z

kevgermany answered · Apr 03, 2022 at 03:36 PM

It would be better to go to an authorised repairer, especially if it is still under warranty.

2 |3000

Attachments: Up to 8 attachments (including images) can be used with a maximum of 190.8 MiB each and 286.6 MiB total.

Answer 5 · 2022-04-03T18:04:31Z

igvan answered · Apr 03, 2022 at 06:04 PM

Thanks for the responses, everyone. I’m still feeling stupid for doing this, but I’m feeling better about the ability to have it repaired. I was nervous about the availability of an authorized service shop near me, but it looks like the website I linked above should be able to take care of this. I’ve sent the shop a message, and hopefully will hear back from them early in the am. I’ll update this post to let people know how it all goes and how much the repair costs. Maybe it will help someone else in the future in a similar position.

2 |3000

Attachments: Up to 8 attachments (including images) can be used with a maximum of 190.8 MiB each and 286.6 MiB total.

Answer 6 · 2022-04-27T19:29:33Z

igvan answered · Apr 27, 2022 at 07:29 PM

Well, try not to make this dumb mistake, because Victron will not let even an authorized repair shop make the repair. In their eyes, it's replace the entire circuit board or nothing. Pretty disappointed with that solution, but it is certainly my fault for breaking the led's. Just seems a bit ridiculous that they do not trust even an authorized shop to re-solder two little broken led's that probably only cost a couple dollars a piece. So for now I will be without those lights, because as pretty as they are, they are not worth a new $600 circuit board.

Thanks for everyones input on the matter.

2 |3000

Attachments: Up to 8 attachments (including images) can be used with a maximum of 190.8 MiB each and 286.6 MiB total.

Answer 7 · 2022-04-27T19:45:02Z

Trevor Bird answered · Apr 27, 2022 at 07:45 PM

I understand the Victron position but if it were mine I would simply get a competent person the re-solder the LEDs. It is a very basic repair.

1

2 |3000

Attachments: Up to 8 attachments (including images) can be used with a maximum of 190.8 MiB each and 286.6 MiB total.

igvan commented · Apr 27, 2022 at 07:57 PM

Thats precisely what I will be doing, unfortunately voiding the warranty on my brand new inverter in the process, though I suppose I did that when I broke the leds.

I understand their position also, to a degree. It's just unfortunate that is where we are with liability/responsibility today, that even the people authorized to make repairs aren't actually allowed to make very simple repairs on a brand new unit- it's replace the circuit board or bust.

0 ·

question