Victron

[Seileren64]

Hi,
I have an electrical problem with the charging system. The setup is a Victron charger with four 165 amp AGM batt, one starting batt and two batteries for the bow prop. After having emtying the batterybank a few times, I got a battery temperature warning light on the regulator resulting in no charging and no 220 v. I decided to change the four batteries that had been run down - the other three are fine.

Afterwards the problem persisted. Any ideas?

Cheers

[nigel1]

I do not have any experience with the Victron chargers, but my guess is that the temperature warning light coming on indicates that the charger has overheated and the unit has shut down to protect itself.
Most chargers will have a fan to assist in cooling, if the fan has failed, the charger may overheat.

As you said you had run a battery bank down, the charger would have been working hard to charge the batteries, and getting hot.

You say there is no 220V. Did you mean there is no 12V output, or is there really no 220V supply to the charger.

Does the charger work for a short time when first switched on? If it does, can you hear a fan running?

Certainly worth giving Victron a call or sending them an email.

[Seileren64]

I have 220v outlets onboard, on the controll panel I have green light for shorepower - in other words there is 220 from shore, but the same panel indicates no 220 going out. 12v output is fine.

The charter goes directly to battery temp warning without switching on.

[ausnp84]

More info please - what model Victron? Which batteries were run down - the AGM? How run down were they? What's the distance from Victron to batteries & dist panel? Do you have the Victron remote panel (the one that has the charger / inverter / off switch and the shore power buttons?

You're going to need to provide all this info to Victron anyway so worth collating as much as you can, post it up, also ask Victron (they're VERY helpful IMHO) and we'll see what we can do

FWIW, I have a Victron MultiPlus, 6 x 115aH batteries and quite a bit of elec on board - I've run the welder off it before, plus brought the batteries up from 50%, and never had an overheat.

n

[Zanshin]

I've got a Victron aboard as well (a 5000W inverter/charger Quattro). The overheat light has gone on before, when the charger was working hard and long (an almost empty 1000Ah bank).
One thing that you should do after the overheat is to turn the unit off - if you have a remote panel such as a multi-control then it isn't sufficient to turn it off there; you need to use the switch on the unit itself.
As mentioned by ausnp84, the internal Victron fan or fans should be going and if they have burned out that would explain the device overheat.

[Seileren64]

Thank you for your input, I got four 165 amp AGM batt, one AGM for start and two agm for the bow thruster. The latter two banks Are OK. The charter is a Victron 12v 3000 120 amp, I got the remote panel. Everything was installed at the Hanse factory in Greifswald. The problem startet after the batteribank (four AGM batt) emtied twice.

[ausnp84]

Originally Posted by Seileren64

Thank you for your input, I got four 165 amp AGM batt, one AGM for start and two agm for the bow thruster. The latter two banks Are OK. The charter is a Victron 12v 3000 120 amp, I got the remote panel. Everything was installed at the Hanse factory in Greifswald. The problem startet after the batteribank (four AGM batt) emtied twice.

Hmmm. Ok.

#1 - when you say emptied, you mean down to 0%? If so (and unless something has changed), you're going to want to have a look at your batteries. Never below 50-60%. It will kill them quickly and AGM batteries aren't cheap.

#2 - Have you got a battery switch that will allow you to only select the start battery? If so, can you just charge the start battery? (If so, great - sounds like it's a house bank issue. If no, keep reading).

#3 - As Zanshin said, turn the whole system off. Everything. Off at the remote panel, off on the Victron unit itself, batteries off at the switch. Disconnect shore power. Off. Now, turn on the Victron. If that's good, turn on the remote panel. Turn on the batteries. Check for warning lights. If that's ok, re-connect your shore power.

Victrons are relatively simple units in the scheme of things - I've had to hard-boot mine twice in three years but they're generally reliable.

Come back to us with what happens.

n

[Zanshin]

It could be that there is a GFCI/Breaker on the 220V before it goes to the Victron, the Hanse manual should show where that breaker is. It does look like there is a problem in the Victron if it immediately goes to "overheat", though.
Have you shut it off completely to reset the error condition? I had a similar problem once on the Victron when it charged past the number of hours limit set in the firmware and it shut down completely; after turning it off-and-on again it went back to work.

[ausnp84]

Taken from the Victron 3000 12V manual found here:

To increase battery life: temperature compensation
Every MultiPlus comes with a battery temperature sensor. When connected, charge voltage will automatically decrease with increasing battery temperature. This feature is
especially recommended for sealed batteries and/or when important fluctuations of
battery temperature are expected.

This makes me think the batteries were so discharged, the system has tried to bulk charge them too rapidly, causing an overheat. The Victron is then stuck with that error code, requiring a hard reset to get it back to normal.

To the OP, what state are the batteries in right now (% of charge)? Are you connected to shorepower? What light is illuminated on the remote panel (Bulk, Absorption or Float)?

n

[Seileren64]

To answere,
The house bank was down to 9 v... And after that this problem startes.

I can not charged the starting batteri separert. I just changed the 4 AGM batteries yesterday (house bank) and the 12 V works, I have shot the system competely down both the charger, the shore and all the breakers that I could find. And turens then back on again in various configurations.

I have not found a breaker between the Controller panel for shore poser and the Victron. This panel indicates 220 v in is OK.

Sine the Victron regulates the 220v and I do not have any 220v out. it indicates a problem with the unit. Is there a fuse inside the unit or a reset function?

[Seileren64]

What is a hard reset and how do I perform it?

Batteries are new, the panel goes directly into temperature without illuminating any of the other diods.

[ausnp84]

Originally Posted by Seileren64

To answere,
The house bank was down to 9 v... And after that this problem startes.

I can not charged the starting batteri separert. I just changed the 4 AGM batteries yesterday (house bank) and the 12 V works, I have shot the system competely down both the charger, the shore and all the breakers that I could find. And turens then back on again in various configurations.

I have not found a breaker between the Controller panel for shore poser and the Victron. This panel indicates 220 v in is OK.

Sine the Victron regulates the 220v and I do not have any 220v out. it indicates a problem with the unit. Is there a fuse inside the unit or a reset function?

Ok great.

#1 - 9V is too low. If they go that low a few more times, you'll effectively have killed them. Not criticising you, just making you aware.

#2 - My boat doesn't have a breaker between the Shore and Victron; instead the shore connects directly to the Victron, then splits too the AC (220V) and DC (12V) breaker panels / fuses.

#3 - A hard reset is turning EVERYTHING off.

Questions.
#1 - Have you turned everything off, including disconnecting from shorepower and turning off the battery switches? This gets you back to zero, and will in effect reset the system. If you haven't, take 5 mins to do it now (Victron will ask you to do this as part of their troubleshooting as well).

#2 - With everything on (AC breakers, Victron, 12V panel, Victron remote panel), are you seeing a battery temperature alarm?

#3 - I'm assuming from the Victron, you then have an AC cable that goes to the AC breaker panel. One (or more) of these breakers will control the AC outlets in the boat. If this is correct, are all the breakers "on"?


n

[Zanshin]

To add to what has been said - you can remove the front panel of the Victron with 4 philips screws and use a voltmeter on the power leads to see if it is getting 220V from shore power (after you do the reset, of course). If the unit is getting 220V and still showing the overheat light then you will have to talk to Victron; the temperature compensation uses the battery temperature from a sonde and reduces the current/voltage; I have the compensation sheet from the factory since my boat is in the tropics and their factory ambient temperatures are a lot cooler.
The Victrons do not have an internal DC fuse, that will be located between the battery bank and the Victron. You can check the state of that fuse at the same time as you check the 220V AC power, if there's no 12V due to a blown fuse then that could explain the temperature reading.
I like to use the software and cable connection to my PC, as it allows all of the Victron's settings and state to be read and also allows a very granular setting for amperages and voltages that take temperature and voltage drop into account.

p.s. Per PM kann ich weiteres in deutsch schreiben, sofern Bedarf besteht.

[Seileren64]

This is a mystery, I turened everything off and disconnected shore supply. Then I turner on the charger to test og the inverter worked, connverting 12v to 220 V I got 3 redblink and then a permanent red light on the temperature diod. Nothing else lit up.

[ausnp84]

Originally Posted by Seileren64

This is a mystery, I turened everything off and disconnected shore supply. Then I turner on the charger to test og the inverter worked, connverting 12v to 220 V I got 3 redblink and then a permanent red light on the temperature diod. Nothing else lit up.

Ok - and in confirmation with Zanshin - sounds like you have an internal unit issue. You've done a lot of basic troubleshooting which will help when talking to Victron - drop them an email, listing what you've done to troubleshoot and what your setup is (Hanse should have provided a wiring diagram) - then give them a follow up call.

Good luck - let us know how it turns out!

n