I am chasing an issue ( Im thinking self created) but not not sure where to go from here.
Changed out both ATS switches .. I started having an issue with the inverter breaker popping when charging .. Initially thought it was coming from one leg being overloaded but I am no electrician so toss what I think out the window and lets start with what I do know.
1) the inverter wire is drawing 32amps.
2) Was originally on a 20amp breaker I put a 30 amp and same problem (I know what you are going to say so plz dont.. didnt go any further that that).
I took a pic of both ATS boxes. the one under the bed kicks (tied into the breaker of the inverter? The wires on spots #5 and 6 are to the inverter and that line is the one tripping
I went into the setting of the the victron and took it from 120 amps charge to 25. 50, and any other and it still trips.
I went through the boxes (ATS) and checked all connections and the ones to and out of the inverter all are tight. Had a couple that were loose but nothing major and after doing that I still have the same problem.
So some background.. The person who was helping me has passed away.. and all my old photos on my phone were lost so I lost everything from the last 5 years. It had pics of just about every inch on the coach. SO kind of starting from scratch.
Any ideas on where to start?
In looking at the box under the bed is the wires coming off of 5&6 supposed to be to the inverter or tied to the inverter? It is possible the wires got switched ( not sure how but I dont want to leave nothing on the table).
Anyone know if the ATS is wired correctly to start? I have the Diagrams with the coach but they say see lid on ATS.
Tried generator and had the same problem so thinking it wiring
here is the lid pic
Think it would have feedback if the other ATS is wired backwards So say generator is the 1st connection and then house? of would it matter..
I seen the ATS in the basement had generator on the shore side so I swapped them.. It still tripped after that but I did see it say PASSTHROUGH before it tripped. Does that mean anything.. Was showing bulk charge right before the passthrough display (on the GDX).
Does anyone happen to have a pic of the ATS wire installation under the bed? I want to compare. ^.^d
Do you have the schematic for your coach? I'd look at that as well as the instructions for the ATS and double check you installed it correctly. And that nothing is touching anything that it shouldn't. I presume it all worked fine before the ATSs were changed?
Wire the ATS as per the schematic. The wiring in the photo looks like there could some issues.
Not looking at your wiring in detail yet...
Where are you changing the amp limit in the Multiplus settings? I believe it needs to be the AC1 input current limit in the General settings.
Yep, if you have the original wiring in place, you need to drop the Victron's charge rate to 20amps or it'll continue to pop the breaker.
I am on 50 amp service.. I changed the setting in the multiplus with victron connect.
Never had an issue before with the breaker... When I say the break this is the one in the rv #8 under the bed and not the one at the receptacle.
Power coming in is at 118 volts on both legs(supplying the rv).
I had the original mechanical transfer switch and figured I would change it to the smart delay switch. It has 3 bundles of wires coming in to the box. Doesnt seem that hard..
Really dont see any other way it could be done.
Going to check some more things tonight when I get home.
Diagram shows the ATS feeding the breaker panel (which it does on one side)
Both the feed coming in and the panel box are powered at all times. Only when you flip the breaker #8 it transfers to the inverter charger and the box kicks on and the motherboard lights up.
Finally have a break through...
Inverter is overloading on Shore power.... I guess passthrough only allows so much and it crashes the system and shuts down and trips the breaker.. 1ac with the charger (no inverter) and its fine... 2nd AC and it crashes .. So far its been working with just 1 ac on so as long as I need to charge it can only have 1 ac.. strange as it used to work with both ac and charger at the same time... but I did move some stuff from one panel to the other so maybe a balancing issue? not sure.. but I am going to look into it further when I have the energy
You may be on the correct path to figuring this out. I'll share with you our experiences.
You mentioned you "moved some stuff from one panel to the other"... Look at the total 120V AC loads per panel, could you be pulling to many amps through the breaker, or panel? The Victron is capable with power assist, (takes power from the house battery bank) to make up, and supply up to 60 amps to the panel. Our Foretravel 120V AC power system has a design limitation due to the wire sizing to allow only allow 50 amps max, safely.
We might have similar 2002 U320 electrical systems: We too upgraded the Inverter and controls.
On our coach I have not moved the Air Conditioners or any other loads from thier original breaker positions. On the rear Air Conditioner, I have installed a soft stert. We have 600 AH of lithium, so the Victron can "power assist" and we can run the rear Air Conditioner even when attached to 120v, 15 amps, (our Multiplus 3000 is dialed down via Victron Multicontrol Panel to accept max 12 amps in that senario). When connected to 50 amp service, we also have no problem running the two AC's, just dial up the Multicontrol Panel input power. Luckily we rarely ever need to run both AC 's.
Jeff
The funny part is if I turn the front ac on with the charger going its fine... add anything else and it trips.... If I turn the rear ac on (one that was added) it trips. Strange... SO the loads cant be even close to overloaded at anytime..
When I get a min I will check for a short in the inverter feed to the breaker box. Still dont see how it could be pulling 32amps from the one circuit when charging so maybe still a back feed situation somewhere.. Or the inverter has an issue.. I have another inverter in the garage I will swap out and see if it does the same thing.
Solved!!! Trial and error and here we are...
Sent an email to Allan at Bay Marine. Explained my situation and what I did and didnt do which I did a lot at one time which is one reason this took a bit to figure out..
He said to connect the power in to the load side directly and see if the problem was duplicated as it could be the ATS or the inverter..
I decided to tryand move the wires around on the ATS first and that didnt work..
I had another ATS in the Garage (Dont ask) and removed the other oneand installed the new one in its location. I had to make a junction box to extend the Load and the Inverter wires. Plugged everything in and it worked.. Waited to see if the charger would trip the breaker and when the timer went off on the ATS (delay) it started Chattering and shaking .. SCared me...I unplugged everything and went back to the drawing board...I had put the inverter on the Generator side thinking main power would be shore (generator/shore) and the back up would be the inverter... NOT correct... Flipped the connections and restarted the system... Again it worked... I waited for the timer (delay) to start and see what connected and what didnt or shorted out.... It stayed on so I went out and unplugged to see if the inverter kicked on and it did.. waited for any delay to take place and nothing did so perfect.. Now the generator side.. I unplugged the shore and flipped the generator.. Bam the power came on after the delay timer and inverter went into charge mode....
So as it sits its pulling 40 amps with 3 ac going to cool that puppy down.. Almost 60% humidity today and 95 degrees.. WOW its hot..
Working like a charm... It was the ATS either wired wrong (which I never did find out as the instructions didnt make sense to the stickers in the box) or the ATS had an issue.. So its going in the trash now.