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alc asked

EasySolar 24/1600/40 not charging with generator power

I'm having a rotten day. Having just received my new Victron unit yesterday, I spent the whole day very, very carefully hooking it up. It all went well, or so I thought, and in spite of the very poorly written instruction manual, I felt I had the matter in hand. I'm quite sure I made no mistakes. I definitely NEVER hooked up the batteries with their poles reversed.

With the batteries hooked up, I noticed that the blue "Bulk" LED was flashing briefly every 4 seconds or so. And when I started up my generator and turned the unit on, after a brief flash of all three LEDs at the top of the unit, the "Charge" LED didn't come on at all. Not with the switch set to "On," and not with the switch set to "Charge Only." Checking with a volt meter, I see there's no charging at the batteries. And still, the "Bulk" LED flashes briefly every 4 seconds or so. With the switch set to "On," the "alarm" LED flashes-- that's no surprise; my batteries are severely depleted. I also have no 230V power.

In the manual, in the troubleshooting section, there's a sentence that says something like "reset the temperature sensing 16A circuit breaker." There is otherwise no mention of such a circuit breaker in the same manual, and no indication of where I might find it.

This unit costs a good 3 to 4 times what the Chinese knock-offs do. I thought I was buying a quality product. I thought that for that kind of money, the units would be tested before shipping. Was I wrong?

I really, really don't like the idea of sending the unit back for repair or replacement. By the time I get it back, my batteries will be beyond saving. Grrrrrrrrrrrr. Angry.

battery charging
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1 Answer
JohnC avatar image
JohnC answered ·

Hi Al. Don't be angry. Your Easy may just be doing what it's designed to do, reject poor quality ac to protect downstream loads. This is a common issue, but you can deal with it.

https://www.victronenergy.com/blog/2017/11/27/the-trouble-with-generators/

https://www.victronenergy.com/live/multiplus_faq

Note you may need additional kit to fix it. Your dealer could help, but if you're remote from him, maybe he could send you out a loaner adapter. I use a GX box to do mine, and one of those in your arsenal is a great investment.

This is likely your issue, and can probably be largely confirmed by listening to your Easy and noting 'clicks' from it's transfer switch as it attempts/rejects shortly after starting your genny. It may/should make more than one attempt.

Please don't be fazed, you have high-end kit. Bit like buying a Porche and finding the buttons a learning-curve. Your dealer should appreciate this, but keep asking if you need. Good luck too.




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