Weird mains power problem - help?!

[pandw]

So I'm in Turkey, and I have an unusual problem I'd love some help with.

When I connect to shore power (220V AC), I no longer have any power on my AC outlets. The standard battery chargers both still output > 13.6V, and the water heater works according to the monitor panel.

Also the mastervolt combi inverter/charger has stopped functioning...this used to do all my battery charging instead of the 2 standard cristec units. Seems coincidental.

I have tested 220V to the inverter and then to the board. I am pretty certain if the masscombi unit would turn on, then I have AC outlets again. The masscombi 2500/12 has both AC and DC voltages present, but I notice the output labeled short break is dead. The max output is working fine at 220V. But regardless, I thought this unit should not affect the AC outlets?

The boat is 2009 Beneteau Oceanis 50.

The only known thing to change recently, was a few weeks back I bought a new 16-32A shore power adapter, and didn't notice it was wired in reverse polarity for a few days....

Any suggestions guys?
Its currently a big public holiday here and near impossible to get any assistance from shore.

Thanks in advance.

[transmitterdan]

The inverter probably routes AC power to your AC outlets. This is the normal wiring configuration. So the inverter must be blocking the AC. The inverter is fitted with an internal circuit breaker. Read your manual and find out where is this breaker. Try to reset it. Probably your AC and charging function will be restored.

[pandw]

Thanks for the reply.
I have traced all the cabling, and indeed the AC outlets are only powered by the inverter, so if the inverter is not on, there is no power.

The reset button seems to not work but maybe this is the problem.

For now I have managed to get it turned on, but it isn't very reliable....sometimes it won't come on unless I switch off the 240V supply, sometimes it won't come on at all.

I tried to access the inverter unit without removing but it's not possible. If it fails to come on again, I will have to remove completely and inspect, probably focusing on this reset button.

So is it normal for there to be no power, unless inverting?
I thought there should be some kind of switch inside the inverter/combi, that detects the 240V and allows AC through without using the inverting function to power the AC outlets?

Cheers!

[transmitterdan]

Yes, it is a known failure mode of the Mass-Combi that it fails to turn on if charger mode is selected. But in inverter mode, with good batteries, it should work. If you disconnect the batteries then it won’t start sometimes when AC is applied.

[smac999]

What voltage are you connected to. And what is the inverter voltage?

Are you connected to wrong power?

Ie plunging into 230v 50hz dock with a 60hz inverter?

If you are plugging into wrong voltage. Or the power is bad. The inverter will not pass through. It's doing its job

If the power is correct. The likly it has failed.

You can just remove the ac in and ac out wires and join them together. To power plugs until you can get it fixed.

Or if your chargers are big enough. Disconnect ac power to inverter and let it invert to plugs. . (It should have its own input breaker). If not. Disconnect ac in wire. Charge batteries from chargers. Invert from inverter.

[jmschmidt]

You've bounced around between 220VAC and 240VAC in your post and your responses. What do you really have from the shore power? Probably not 220VAC

[Ahmet Erkan]

According to the manual the CB in the combi is operational only when the "Short Break" output is used. If the nuisance trips for whatever reason are not acceptable to you, trace the AC receptacles conductors to the "Short Break Output", disconnect them and rewire them to the "Power Output" one wire at a time.
DISCONNECT THE SHORE POWER AND TURN OFF THE INVERTER AND THE CB ON THE INVERTER WHILE YOU ATTEMPT THIS.
By the way, the local holiday should be over by Monday.
Good Luck and be careful.

[pandw]

Thanks for the replies. I will summarise what I've found and maybe it will help someone else.

The mass combi has both an internal fuse and a reset switch. (BTW Mastervolt say that if the internal fuse is blown, then some other component has failed, so it will need to sent in for service anyway).

But I believe that my fault was a "sticky" reset switch.

I found that I could reliably get the unit to power back up by disconnecting the AC power, and toggling the Masscombi switch from ON > OFF > Charger a few times. After a couple times the control panel lights would flicker briefly before going out. At this stage if you switch it to ON, and wait a few seconds the unit will fire up (in Invert mode). Then the AC power can be switched on, and the unit would function until the shore power was next interupted.

After doing this a few times, the unit began to operate normally, and I have had no further problems.

I should add that there is a reset switch at the bottom of the unit, behind the panel that covers the connections. (but it my case this did not appear to function at all). Also you are able to get the correct manual by emailing Mastervolt directly. No idea why they do not have it listed amongst all their other downloads.

Cheers Team!

p.s. The reason I refer to multiple voltages is that is what I was seeing on my mutimeter while connected at different places. There seems to be quite a variety here in the Eastern Med, from 215V to just under 240V

[transmitterdan]

I have a Mass-combi with exactly the same problem. I believe the issue is not the switch. It is something more than that. At first I thought it was the switch too but eventually it would never turn on in charger mode. If i leave the switch in inverter mode then it will run.

My theory is that in charger mode the controller is powered by the 12V battery bus. But in charger mode it is powered by a small 12 VDC power supply that runs off the mains. That power supply gets weak and eventually fails.

The reason it acts like a bad switch is that when you put the switch in inverter mode the controller powers up. If you flip the switch to charger mode there is enough 12V to keep it running.

But if yours is like mine eventually the charge mode will fail completely and it will only function in inverter mode.

[pandw]

Good info. I will keep an eye on it. I don't believe in things fixing themselves, but I don't use the inverter often. I have other battery chargers too, but the combi seems to do a good job. I will prob just make some small jumper wires to wire at least one plug directly in (behind the main switchboard) in case it fails completely and I need AC inside.

So what are you going to do about yours? Send the unit in for repair?

[pandw]

Transmitterdan, I just reread your post and I think mine is exactly like yours. Except I leave mine in the On position and use the external monitor/control panel to control the function, and by doing so it will still switch to charge mode once it detects AC power. I tend to leave it on standby now it has this issue. If you figure out how to fix the power supply without sending it away to mastervolt let me know. Cheers!

[transmitterdan]

Originally Posted by pandw

So what are you going to do about yours? Send the unit in for repair?

I will fix it if it truly fails. Don’t want to risk shipping it. For now I do same as you. Leave the charger/off/inverter switch set to inverter. Then I can turn it on and off via the remote panel. When i truly want it off I open the big battery disconnect switch feeding the inverter.

It’s been like yours for about a year. Nothing bad has happened yet. My guess it will be ok for a long time.

[pandw]

Sweet as... that gives me at least another year then!
I'm still discussing it with Mastervolt , will let you know if I get any progress there.