question

markwilde avatar image
markwilde asked

Inverter/Charger keeps toggling

Can someone help me out. When I switch the charger to on, the green light "mains on" turns on and blinks. After a few seconds I hear a relais toggling, "low battery" flashes once and it toggles back to "mains on". Can anyone point me in a direction what to do next.


Some more info:

I have a Victron energy combined inverter / charged (Phoenix Multi 12/2000 100). It is in a boat (just in posession) and no experience with the charger. One of the two battery was dead and I replaced both (from 2x12V/130Ah to 2x 12V 110Ah). I am not sure if the charger was working correctly before I replaced the battery.

When I measure the voltage on the battery with a voltage meter it shows 12.4V, same as the Victron BMV-501 indicator shows. I never measure a loading voltage when I switch the thing on. Battery came straight from the shop.

Edit: typos


battery charging
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5 Answers
Paul B avatar image
Paul B answered ·

is the inverter charger connected to the battery correctly, so check the battery cables at the inverter/charger and all connections all the way back to the batteries.

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eliott avatar image
eliott answered ·

Did you measure both batteries? It is worth a try

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markwilde avatar image markwilde commented ·

Both batteries were replaced and are in parallel.

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Paul B avatar image Paul B markwilde commented ·

Could you please measure the voltage and report the voltage

At the batteries and at the inverter terminals

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markwilde avatar image markwilde Paul B commented ·

voltage at the terminals was 12.4 volt (measured with the voltage meter). The external gage (connected to the Victron) is also stating 12.4. I won't be at the boat for the next two weeks, so won't be able to measure any additional stuff.

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markwilde avatar image
markwilde answered ·

Cables trace to correct poles / connectors on victron. Is the toggling a sign that there is a misconnection? If I look at the manual and cannot find hints on this behavior.

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Mark avatar image
Mark answered ·

Upon initial connection the capacitors within the Multi need to be charged and can draw a huge load for a brief instant.

The problem 'may' be that upon connection the battery voltage is being drawn down momentarily (by the huge load) to a point below the Multi 'start up' voltage threshold.

I would recommend to the carefully monitor voltage at the Multi DC terminals (not the battery) DURING connection to the batteries to see what is actually happening at this time

If it looks to be dropping excessively, then try either of the following;

- Remove batteries & fully charge externally before reconnection

- Connect AC power to Multi AC Input & use the built in battery charger

- 'Pre-charge' the Multi capacitors through a suitable resistor before full connection to the battery (look up some other posts about this - I have never done it myself)

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markwilde avatar image markwilde commented ·

Ok, that would explain. I have to check if I can have an additional charger attached. Is there anything the dip-switches can do to prevent this behavior?

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Mark avatar image Mark ♦♦ markwilde commented ·

What do you mean by 'an additional charger attached' - Doesn't your Multi have charger functionality built in?

Sorry I have only ever used a MK3 to USB cable & VE Configure for setup (much easier). You would need to check the manual to see if the low voltage thresholds are configurable via the dip switches.

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jeffles avatar image
jeffles answered ·

Hi, I'm seeing this behavior as well. I think it started after an upgrade to 1.59. I know it's not the battery, because I just installed a new one to see if it would fix this -- my old battery was on it's way out anyway, so I'm not bummed. Any advice on how to fix?

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