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roblatour avatar image
roblatour asked

Multiplus Remote Switch - unexpected behaviour / bug

I have a Multiplus 2 12v 3000; on it there is a connector for a remote switch - which I hooked up for ease of turning on and off the Multiplus when I'm working with the cabling of my setup.

Normally, for my purposes, the Multiplus is set to Inverter only mode, however the connection to the grid plugged in so that I can switch it over to inverter and charger mode via Venus if needed.

However, today when I turned the Multiplus off and then later on again using the remote switch the Multiplus turned on in with both the charger and the inverter on.

Looking at my VMR numbers I can confirm the Multiplus was in inverter mode only prior to being turned it off via the remote switch, and charger and inverter mode after being turned on via the remote switch. Unfortunately, I didn't notice this right away, but did later after the Multiplus had pulled a couple kilowatts from the grid which I would not otherwise would have needed it to (as the sun was just coming up and the light through the day would have charged the battery just fine).

In my opinion, this behaviour is unexpected at best and a bug at worst. The user manual does not describe the intended behaviour in this scenario, but I believe that when the Multiplus is turned on via the remote switch, it should revert to the same mode it was in when last turned off. Imagine starting your car in the morning and having your windshield wipers, radio, heater, and hazard lights come on each and every time.

Before anyone suggests that the device cannot remember its prior state when turned off and on again, let me point out that this could be resolved by storing the previous state in non-volatile memory.

Hope this message gets through to Victron.

Multiplus-II
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2 Answers
Justin Cook avatar image
Justin Cook answered ·

I'll point out that "inverter only" isn't a natively-accessible option, it's only digitally-accessible via VE.Bus Smart Dongle or GX device. There is no physical switch position for "inverter only".

So really, this isn't at all like starting your car and having the radio, windshield wipers, heater, and hazard lights come on - all of those have physical switches that can be "on" or "off".

This is more like starting your car and having traction control automatically on even though you'd switched it off the last time you drove it... which is exactly what will happen, because switching traction control off is a digital override command that automatically resets when you physically power cycle the vehicle.

I do understand your point and that it's not the behavior you'd like to see, but it is normal behavior, and I'd advise patience wrt any expectations of it changing anytime soon at least.

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roblatour answered ·

Well now I know about it, it won't be as much of an issue for me - although an annoyance for sure.

May catch others by surprise - esp. if someone wasn't expecting their inverter to go online and it does.

At the very least, I would think it should be documented in the Multiplus' user manual.


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