My Cerbo GX is installed on a 22 yr old sailboat. The Cerbo shuts itself off and restarts frequently when the power port (cigarette lighter) is used or the VHF radio is switched on. It’s obvious this is happening because the touch screen display and inverter also shut down. They all restart several minutes later…
I followed the advice of a visiting Victron tech who suggested relocating the power cable for the Cerbo which I’ve done. I cleaned the connection points on the positive and negative busbars and tried to keep the new connection points as far from the power pickup for the VHF and cigarette lighter. I had assumed our backup fridge was drawing too much power creating a voltage spike, creating havoc at the power adapter but I get the same results just plugging in my cell phone to it. There is minimal voltage to the VHF when just turning it on. It consumes roughly 5 watts when transmitting and substantially less when idling. Noyhing else in the system triggers this including freshwater pumps, bilge and sump pumps. I’m stumped. Is this a voltage spike issue or some othet known issue and how do I fix it?
Hi Gary, welcome to the Victron club!
Reading your text, I’m wondering what type of batteries are in the sailboat, and what age they are.
If the battery voltage drops that low when a load is connected, it could be the batteries that can’t deliver to much, giving a voltage drop. Maybe they need to be checked, and changed.
Or the batteries are almost empty, and need to be charged for a longer time, to get healthy again.
Another possibility might be bad or corroded connections. Start at the batteries and check all connections towards the loads, if they are tight, and clean. Check the fuse box, if all connections are tight, and clean there also. And check if the fuse holders are clean, and making good contact with the fuses.
Thanks for all the above.
Our batteries are 2 1/2 yr old AGMs.
I have been cleaning and checking all connections as I try to troubleshoot what’s going on. I observed today that if the power adapter to the cigarette lighter is already in place, I can plug in the phone and unplug it with no problem as long as I don’t touch the adapter.
I’ll begin voltage drop checks again soon but for now finishing up a refrigerator/electrical issue.
I’ll touch base again after I get some of this sorted out.
Also keep in mind that batteries used to easily last 10 years, while current lead-based batteries can degrade around an average of 3-5 years.
I wonder if there is a temporary short in your power adapter causing voltage drop.
Connect the gx power cable to the battery terminals in the inverter. The caps in the power bank there will smooth out the power.
It doesn’t fix and old battery bank but may fix the disturbance in the electrics affecting the cerbo. It does sound like the one item has an issue though.
Those cigarette lighter sockets are not good connections and the Cerbo GX is sensitive to noise on the DC power supply.
As others have said hard wire in a better and permanent connection to your DC bus and it should be more reliable.
Thanks for responding.
Understood.
One of the problems I’m having is locating that better connection spot. Ive already relocated the Cerbo power to a different place on the busbar while checking all existing connections there.
But now that I’m hyper aware of the situation, I’ve also noticed that I can plug in and unplug the power adapter with zero load on it with no issue. But even the smallest load will trigger an event. For instance, my cell phone plugged in to the adapter, then plugging in the adapter.
My Cerbo is installed in a cabinet near my breaker panel. To connect directly to my battery leads at the inverter is just not practical. It involves major rewiring and relocation. And unfortunately, I’m also still working on another possible related issue. Hopefully will resolve that later today.
In the past people have added a capacitor in parallel to the Cerbo GX power supply terminal inputs and that provides voltage stability as well.
That isn’t normally needed now, but given the usual remedy (a more direct connection to the DC bus) isn’t available in your situation, you can try this instead.
2022-08-cerbo-gx-power-supply-issue-in-48v-systems.pdf (265.0 KB)
While troubleshooting, have you tried added a ferrite core to the power supply cables as well? That might help take out some of the interference.
Haven’t tried the ferrite core but it has crossed my mind. And thanks for the capacitor tip as well. We may have to wait until we relocate to try some of the fixes being mentioned. Currently in St George, Grenada. Options aren’t as plentiful as we’re used to.