Hi! Victron doesn’t expose explicitly this info, but it’s important for assembling proper system.
There is “plain” petrol generators(maybe even w/o AVR), which produce TWO LIVE outputs. A lot of such (cheap) generators exist, that’s why every “power consumer” must supply info about compatibility with “two LIVE wires”.
Question: will MultiPlus 2kVA 230V work from such generator?
If not, WHY? And which solution can be used with such old generator?
Thanks!
Basically, all 1 Phase Generators have 2 ‘live’ outputs as windings from the generator’s stator pack. This is technically impossible to realise otherwise.
There are generators with ‘ONE OUTLET’ for the operation of ONE appliance where only the two ‘LIVE wires’ are led directly to the socket. No earthing and only for one appliance for use.
Depending on the design, there are therefore generators with ‘direct’ 230V measured to the PE (housing) or also some with a so-called centre tap with +120 and -120V … i.e. 240V to each other.
In other generators, one of the ‘LIVE wires’ is routed to the housing and connected to this as a star point.
This automatically creates a star point on the generator and you get an ‘L’ and an ‘N-PE’
A separate N and PE are then led out of the N-PE at the generator terminal box. The generator should always be earthed and connected to the PE of the system.
Steffen, thanks for explanation, but I’m not elec.profi. I know(and understand) words “live” and “neutral”. I just wanna know will MultiPlus eat two "live"s (and output neutral + live as some devices expect). My guts tells me Victron made “tricky scheme”, which leaves AC input “as is” without any conversion, so we should forget about any voltage stabilization.
In principle, this should work, as the Multi would be the only device on this generator, as long as you maintain a relatively stable voltage and frequency. If this is not the case, and it is an old AVR generator that mechanically controls its output power via the carburettor etc., you will have problems and the Multi will throw the generator off again. In this case, however, charging on the DC side is easier with Eltek chargers, for example …However, you should definitely check whether there is a connection from ‘N’ to earth ‘PE’ or make this yourself so that protective devices such as a residual current circuit breaker will work later.
Do you have a picture, manufacturer or type plate for us?
