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Old 16-08-2013, 21:54   #61
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Re: From My Design to My Installation: New AC Power System

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Ah ha we return to my favourite subject , " do isolating transformers add any safety benefit over just suppressing galvanic currents , if yiu follow ABYC strictly, they do not . Diagrams to follow later today

Dave
Dave,
Did you find those diagrams yet? I'm interested in hearing your opinion on this subject.
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Old 17-08-2013, 05:22   #62
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Re: From My Design to My Installation: New AC Power System

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Dave,
Did you find those diagrams yet? I'm interested in hearing your opinion on this subject.
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...um-109344.html
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Old 17-08-2013, 06:30   #63
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Re: From My Design to My Installation: New AC Power System

Thank you Dot Dun. That was a good read.

I see that my concern was not unfounded, but I also see that there are trade offs involved & a judgement call needs to be made.

I once again compliment Jedi on building a nice system.
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Old 17-08-2013, 06:59   #64
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Dave,
Did you find those diagrams yet? I'm interested in hearing your opinion on this subject.
Yup see thread isolating transformers .. The earth wire conundrum..,

Dave
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Old 12-06-2014, 22:50   #65
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Re: From My Design to My Installation: New AC Power System

Hello All,
I have installed a Victron 32 amp Autotransformer on Palarran and am having a problem with it. I thought the installation would be pretty simple. I disconnected my shore power cable, wired the autotransformer between it, and powered it up. When power is connected without the main breaker on, I get a reverse polarity light. Once I set the breaker, the shore power ground fault trips.

So, before, I didn't have a problem with my shore power. I have black and red with a white common on the output of the transformer. With the current installation I am not going through the galvanic isolator on the input. The shore power is gray to 220, blue to neutral, and green/yellow to ground.

Before the shore power trips I have 230v between gray and blue on the input and 115 v between black and white, red and white, and 230v between black and red. It must be a grounding problem but I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong as it's wired correct according to the diagram provided. Any suggestions? I have though about disconnecting the output from my main bank and connecting it directly to my 230v battery charger to see if the issue is in my existing main wiring. I will have shore power available again in two days and would appreciate any suggestions.
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Old 13-06-2014, 21:03   #66
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Re: From My Design to My Installation: New AC Power System

Any suggestions?? I'll be in Kos today and able to test out the transformer again.
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Old 13-06-2014, 22:59   #67
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Re: From My Design to My Installation: New AC Power System

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Any suggestions?? I'll be in Kos today and able to test out the transformer again.

You'll get better response if you post a new thread.
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Old 14-06-2014, 05:24   #68
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Re: From My Design to My Installation: New AC Power System

Thanks for the suggestion but this isn't my first rodeo. The guys who have posted on this specific thread are very knowledgeable about this transformer.
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Old 14-06-2014, 12:57   #69
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Re: From My Design to My Installation: New AC Power System

An auto transformer is a single winding which does not interrupt the main feed... it may have an inrush current but shouod not interfere with the input feed at all. Can you post a schematic with positions of the breakers etc. ?
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Old 14-06-2014, 21:49   #70
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Re: From My Design to My Installation: New AC Power System

Thanks Nick I was hoping you would give me some advice. I don't have a printer or scanner so I can't really do a schematic. The breakers are standard ones in a European shore power pedestal. They are modern with ground fault protection. I am connecting a power cord that has gray as hot, blue as neutral, and green/yellow as ground and then wiring them to the autotransformer as shown in the instructions. On the output side I have it currently going to my main breaker panel as described above. I somehow think I'm missing something with the grounding on the output side. I'll wire in my charger today and let you know if it powers up one single item. It should be done in about 8 hours as we need to leave the boat for a while today.
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Old 14-06-2014, 22:28   #71
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Re: From My Design to My Installation: New AC Power System

Well, draw a diagram with pen and paper and post a picture of it It is not clear where a "main breaker" is etc.

The auto transformer does not do anything with ground except connect it's housing to it.

When the ground interrupt flips, it means that on the 230V feed more current goes out the hot than what returns in the neutral: these two are compared. This makes it assume the difference is flowing back through bodies to ground and it triggers.
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Old 18-04-2015, 13:39   #72
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Re: From My Design to My Installation: New AC Power System

Hello,

I know it's an old post, but I'm considering a similar setup. Just wanted to check in and see how the system has performed since you installed and if you've had to make any changes?

Thanks,
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Old 18-04-2015, 14:49   #73
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Re: From My Design to My Installation: New AC Power System

I'm sure Nick's is performing well, and I've also installed a near exact same system and it is working fine. What I would say is that it would have been just as easy (easier) to have installed the Charles isolation transformer. It would have saved me $1500 and there are zero electronic parts in it.

The combo of the auto transformer and isolation transformer is nice, but it's not IMO worth the price for the benefit of equal split 110v outputs. Another benefit of the Charles is that it can operate as a step up transformer if you need 220v and only have 110v. The Victron doesn't allow for this.
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Old 18-04-2015, 19:02   #74
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Re: From My Design to My Installation: New AC Power System

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I'm sure Nick's is performing well, and I've also installed a near exact same system and it is working fine. What I would say is that it would have been just as easy (easier) to have installed the Charles isolation transformer. It would have saved me $1500 and there are zero electronic parts in it.

The combo of the auto transformer and isolation transformer is nice, but it's not IMO worth the price for the benefit of equal split 110v outputs. Another benefit of the Charles is that it can operate as a step up transformer if you need 220v and only have 110v. The Victron doesn't allow for this.
It works great and the Victron will do the step-up from 110V to 220V just fine.
I am going to change the setup though as I am planning to make Jedi all-electric, i.e. I'm getting rid of the propane stove and oven. For this I will upgrade the shore-power to the US 50A 110/220 standard. Nothing changes for the generator as that gives me 25A at 240V which is enough for using microwave + induction cooktop + convection oven plus either watermaker or A/C.
This means that I need a 7,200W transformer and I'm gonna checkout the current options.

The auto-transformer is great as you never overload one 110V leg due to imbalance. For shore power it's just a breaker that can flip but on the genset it actually prevents wear & tear
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Old 20-04-2015, 09:03   #75
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Re: From My Design to My Installation: New AC Power System

System working well, will update shortly
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