Heart Interface Question

[ess105]

I am currently aboard a charter cat which has on board a genset and a Heart Interface. Based on the readings I get on the Heart Interface it seems I get much better battery charging on the genset than I get through the motors. The problem is, the Heart Interface doesn't always seem to recognise when the genset is running and hence won't always charge the house bank from it.

Has anyone experienced anything similar or can point me in the right direction to fix. This will be a real help as we'll spend less time with motors running.

[Rick]

The Heart Interface inverter/chargers qualify the input power before engaging the internal transfer switch and turning on the charger. The methods of qualification vary somewhat according to the model and software revision.

If the frequency of the genset is off between 1 and 3 Hz (again, depending on above) or if the input voltage is too low or too high the unit will not come "on line". I've also discovered that if there is a problem in the neutral bonding as in an intermittent or poor quality it can affect the unit from qualifying the input power. The neutral of the generator is supposed to be well bonded to the green wire ground and genset chassis as a source whenever the genset is running or switched in the system as a source.

If you have any of the Link monitors installed in conjuction with the inverter/charger it is easy to see when the unit has qualified the input power by looking at the green LED for AC IN on the remote.

Some gensets, particularly the lower power ones like 5kW or less, have pretty non-uniform waveforms which get further distorted when the charger attempts to put out full power and sometimes the distortion causes a "de-qualification" and the unit drops off line. At those times it is sometimes to remedy the problem by running a heater or other resistance-only load (assuming that your genset has enough power do do both) so that the charger remains on line.

Other more detailed symptoms?