MultiPlus II 48/3000/35-50 120V firmware upgrade issues

Q&A and troubleshooting
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1

Hello All from Canada

Quick Background. I have 20 years of designing and installing battery based systems. It has been quite the evolution from Trace >> Outback >>> Schneider >> Sol-ark >>> Solis. We have done hundreds of multi inverter systems, including single phase and three phase system.

Canada now has good supply of Victron products, so we are now starting to dabble in this product line. For the most part the product has been great to work with. However, I am now running into an issue I need resolved.

We have this small off grid system that we upgraded from Magnum to Victron.

  • first started with replacing the old Magnum inverter with a Multiplus II 48/3000/35-120-120V. That inverter was commissioned and all good.
  • The client has his electrical system wired to code for 60 hz, 240/120V split phase for Canada. Initially, we simply supplied 120V, as that is all he had for loads.
  • The client is now adding a few smaller 240V loads, so we now need a split phase system.
  • with 6 months, we ordered another MultiPlus II inverter.
  • Tried to firmware upgrade to allow us to phase sync at 180 degrees and that is were we ran into issues.

Original Inverter - MultiPlus II 48/3000/35-50-120V

  • PN: PMP482305100
  • SN: HQ2136GKY99

New inverter - MultiPlus II 48/3000/35-50-120V

  • PN: PMP482305100
  • SN: HQ2536TNY6H

Second inverter installed

  • Both inverters would run independently of each other. the client does not have any 240V loads at the moment (will be added this summer), so each inverter simply supply each pole of the electrical panel with 120V
  • Original inverter’s firmware was upgraded to 2729557 as per the most available firmware and to match the new inverter.
  • Upon the firmware upgrade, the original inverter would not operate.
  • I was able to actually phase sync the inverter to split phase at 180 degrees, but since the original inverter was not operating, the new inverter would operate.
  • I then reset the VE Bus network to stand alone for each inverter.

After all that, my plan became try to install archived firmware to try and get the inverters on the same firmware as required to phase sync.

  • with the original inverter, the newest version of the archived firmware the inverter would accept is 2729480. Once this version was uploaded into the original inverter, it worked fine in standalone.
  • I tried uploading the 2729480 firmware into the new inverter, but the new inverter would not take this firmware. The oldest of the archived firmware that the new inverter would accept is 2729500.

So, now i am stuck with the original inverter with 2729480 firmware and the new inverter with 2729500.

I have a hard time believing that there is no solution forward and my original MultiPlus II is garbage.

I have to believe Victron as a solution to allow me to get both these MultiPluss II inverters, with the same part number, to accept the same firmware, so I can phase sync these units for 240/120 split phase.

Victron Tech Support is pushing me to use the community support first, so does anyone have a solution for me?

Thank you for your time and assistance.

Caleb Schmidt, Canadda

2

Usually its dealer/seller support first - there where did you get it from route.

These are 3 years apart in age. 2021 and 2025. So no usually can’t be paired the hardware revisions between them through the years besides components aging would make this a terrible idea.
But you say the upgrade was within 6 months- the supplier should know your were plannigna spit phase and helped you out there if they knew your plan to pair.

Look in the manual at Compatibility IDs explained.

What were you using for the firmware changes? Ve flash?

3

Thank you for taking the time to reply.

  • over the last 20 years, we have installed dozens of other brand of inverters 5-10 years after the first inverter, and we could always downgrade the inverter firmware to match the oldest unit, allowing all the units to work together. If this is not doable with Victron Inverters, that is a major oversite with systems that can be in operation for 20 years with the need to expand over time.
  • As far as firmware, I downloaded the firmware from Victron’s site and uploaded via VictronConnect through a MK3 interface.
  • The initial plan was not the split phase; that came about due to site infrastructure improvements.

It surprises me Victron doesn’t seem to have a plan on being able to integrate legacy equipment with new. Hope to still find a path forward here.

4

They should both be able to update.
And Victrons advice is always update (not downgrade) firmware on an installation.
And both should be able to update.
Use ve flash if victron connect is not working.
They won’t allow a programming i to one system if they are not on the same firmware.

5

The original inverter did update to 2829557, but would not operate and displayed a fault 25, Firmware Incompatibility. If I installed any firmware newer than 2729480 the unit will not work. I did not have a problem actually updating the firmware; the issue is the inverter will not operate after the firmware is installed.

6

Ah so the unit id incompatibility is inescapable.

The solution is speak to the supplier. There is a way forward there that involves working out unit swapping. And they should possibly with a small admin fee since the other (older) unit was not purchased out of the six months time between what is generally allowed.