question

Hi @Daza,

Lots of questions and troubleshooting, some can be done remotely, from clues in VRM.

My first question would be was the installation professionally installed?

A phantom load of 500W is pretty significant, and I wonder where that power/heat is going?

Is it real (power is being used and generating heat inside the Multi), or is it a calibration issue somewhere, or is there a wiring issue somewhere?

At some point it might require a technician with calibrated tools (mainly a high quality multi meter, handheld current clamp, thermal camera) on site to work out exactly where the power is flowing, from the troubleshooting presumption that all the on-site monitoring equipment is unreliable.

Though it sounds like you do still have the support of your distributor, they have assessed the multi may be at fault, and are trying out replacements. While it has been slow progress, and not yet resolved, they are trying to help you find out what is wrong.

That is the way these things are supposed to go, and I understand that experience can be quite variable depending on your installer, their distance to you, and other factors. As long as you are still able to get some support from them, then there is no reason for Victron to intervene.

They also have more avenues to get support from Victron if they are really stumped and unable to move forward.

If this is just an FYI, received, sorry to hear it's not going that great, and I hope your local support is able to get it resolved.

@Guy Stewart (Victron Community Manager) thanks for the reply.

The Multiplus was installed by myself after completing all of the webinar’s related to the install of the Multiplus and ESS assistant.

Yes the shop that I got it from looked into the VRM and couldn’t see any issues with it that’s where they noted approx 500watts draw when looking at the VRM, I have only been noting that on the smart meter display that it never zeroed the display and would randomly measure 100watts plus draw every now and again Even with a -30 grid set point it still drew power, this is even with solar that could have actually supplied the load and also feed back to the grid according to the VRM which I watched with 1400watts from solar recorded via ET112 and a load of 700watts it chucked the rest into the batteries and still 30watts on the VRM and when looking on the smart meter display it was 30watts and sometimes jumping to 60plus watts.

I checked the CT clamp which we went through the VRM and i also wired a ET112 to replace the clamp which exhibited the same issue with just a slower response.

The shop tried to raise an RMA for the unit as it’s well under a year old but Victron denied it stating that they wanted the unit back to fix so I presume Victron know what the issue is internall (this bit is just an assumption)

Anyway replacement loan unit mounted which is a qauttro and setup as they had no multi 5 loan units. This registers the grid set point of -10 and now the smartmeter HUD zeros out and now from my energy providers billing I can see that I’m not using there power at all during peak times compared to my multi.

Here comes the weirded issue that I’m having with the Quattro, I’m using AC 1in to run my washing machine and tumble dryer the Quattro seems to want to 50/50 this load even with a 89% battery and Solar. The shop haven’t had time to look at this one yet, but for some reason I can not use bidirectional supply on the Qauttro like the multi.

The Quattro can see the load of the dryer and washing machine as loads via the incoming ET112 as I can’t use the CT as no input for one, I thought that I thought I could just shut down the grid and get it to back feed but no I forgot that’s the whole purpose of the relay in AC 1 in, In the event of grid failure don’t supply grid side (oops) so in that way works as should just can’t get it to use bidirectional with the washing machine and dryer on AC1in. But my supplier ran a saver session and I set the grid set point to -3000 for an hour and it supplied power to the grid and then set back to -10 after the hour with no issues apart from not being able to use loads on AC 1in. (PS a grid feed in session on Victron for a set time and revert to original grid set point would be great but I digress)

Everything else bar the dryer washing machine and the EV charger are wired to Critical out, I have Shelly clamps on the EV charger which show it’s usage about 3 to 5 watts at rest and I know when it goes on when the vehicle is charging as my smart meter HUD just shows Red lol, but unless my vehicle is charging or I want my energy provider to give me a cheap rate outside of the 6hour cheap rate window I’ll set it up on there app and let them take control of the additional charging window that they give.

Thank you for taking the time to reply I did think it would be lost in the ether so thanks for your reply I’m hoping you know what the issue is with the Quattro but the Multi is where ever they get repaired in the UK.

I can’t fault your Distro at all but I am very aware that I’m not there only customer but they have been brilliant!

@Guy Stewart (Victron Community Manager) Pictures of import export, my multiplus 2 5000 is now with Victron for service and now I’m being told there is no fault with the Unit which is not correct. The Qauttro 5000 is not displaying the same issues with phantom draw and not fully covering the load of the house. The multiplus 2 5000 was set to minus -30 and still drew from the grid the loan Quattro is set to minus -10 and not displaying the same issue. As is evident by my meter reads every 30mins from my energy supplier.

The unit was changed on the 13th of December midday as you can see no data recorded by my supplier until later that day when I’m showing more export and no import for that period, this is in contrast to the multiplus 2 which shows grid usage still with a grid set point of -30 I have even set it to -50 on the multiplus 2 but it bounces around so much that I either import/export 180odd watts randomly. Here are my readings before the Loan Quattro unit and also after you can see the difference with import and export.

I pay much more for import at peak periods ie after 0530-2330 unless they give me extra charges from 0530-1100 so it’s beneficial for me to push back a bit on the grid not so much as waste to the grid ie the 100 and odd watts and not so much that I import at 4 times my off peak rate during the peak times as you can see if I’m not exporting then I’m importing and my energy provider monitors 6 to 9 points after the decimal so I’m 100% importing if I’m not exporting.