Mastervolt combi 12/2500-100 fault

[1agos]

Hi, our inverter has stopped working  on shore power,it is fine off shore power. The last time we used it on shore power which was over 6 months ago it was working. 

Could this be as simple as a failed fuse in the unit that could be done diy. I have done the obvious and checked there is power coming in to the boat. With the switch in inverter position I get a flashing a/c present green light but when switched to charge I get no lights at all.

If not do you guys know of a electrical/mastervolt engineer that would come out to repair ... we are at Aston Staffordshire.

Thankyou for any help in advance.

1agos

 

Edited April 24, 2017 by 1agos

[Robbo]

9 minutes ago, 1agos said:

Hi, our inverter has stopped working  on shore power,it is fine off shore power. The last time we used it on shore power which was over 6 months ago it was working. 

Could this be as simple as a failed fuse in the unit that could be done diy. I have done the obvious and checked there is power coming in to the boat. With the switch in inverter position I get a flashing a/c present green light but when switched to charge I get no lights at all.

If not do you guys know of a electrical/mastervolt engineer that would come out to repair ... we are at Aston Staffordshire.

Thankyou for any help in advance.

1agos

Are you 100% sure that the combi is getting power?  Unless you take the cover off any check if the incoming cables are live I wouldn't be sure.

[1agos]

There is  an rcd before the combi and there is power there .  That's why I'm hoping there is a fuse blown on the charge side of the combi. I haven't taken the cover off yet.

[Alan de Enfield]

Are you getting 220v from the inverter with no shore power ?

Are you getting 220v to your sockets with shore power ?

Is your battery charging on shore power ? (check with shore power connected and disconnected - use a multimeter at the battery terminals and not any change)

Are you getting power into the battery-charger ?

 

I had similar very recently, not having used the battery charger for the last 6 months I switched it on and although it 'lit up' it was not charging the batteries - sent it off for a quote for repair to be told it would be £450 + Vat as the power supply had 'gone'.

 

If your inverter is working OK then it may be more economical to just buy a new (and separate) battery charger.

Do as many checks as you can before calling in expensive experts and then still have to 'scrap it'.

[1agos]

7 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Are you getting 220v from the inverter with no shore power ?

Are you getting 220v to your sockets with shore power ?

Is your battery charging on shore power ? (check with shore power connected and disconnected - use a multimeter at the battery terminals and not any change)

Are you getting power into the battery-charger ?

 

I had similar very recently, not having used the battery charger for the last 6 months I switched it on and although it 'lit up' it was not charging the batteries - sent it off for a quote for repair to be told it would be £450 + Vat as the power supply had 'gone'.

 

If your inverter is working OK then it may be more economical to just buy a new (and separate) battery charger.

Do as many checks as you can before calling in expensive experts and then still have to 'scrap it'.

Hi

Yes 220v to sockets without shore power

No 220v to sockets with shore power.

I  can hear that the charger isn't working.

I'll have to work out how the cover comes off and have a look at the internals

[Alan de Enfield]

Just now, 1agos said:

Hi

Yes 220v to sockets without shore power

No 220v to sockets with shore power.

I  can hear that the charger isn't working.

I'll have to work out how the cover comes off and have a look at the internals

Great - so it should be fairly simple and is 99.9% probable that it is just a fault on the supply side.

Is there supply at the bollard or has it 'tripped' ?

Try changing supply bollards (or try on your generator), if still no supply then check for continuity on your mains lead.

If there is 220v getting into the boat then check if it is getting into the fuse box / rcd

If it is, is it then also 220v on the output side ?

If it is then remove the cover from the charger / inverter and check the input has 220v.

Read 'combi' manual and check fuse / replace.

 

You can (obviously) start at the 'combi' end first if you wish to.

[nicknorman]

I'm fairly sure that the flashing a/c present light means the supply voltage is out of range. You are talking about "220v" but have you actually measured the incoming shore supply voltage? My guess is that it might turn out to be very high. Allowed incoming voltage range on our MV 2500 Combi is 180 to 250v. Or if your "shore power" is a generator, it might be a waveform issue. Either way, it is probably no a fault with the Combi.

Edited April 24, 2017 by nicknorman

[1agos]

Hi.

I haven't actually measured anything, I haven't got the equipment or know how.

There is power at the rcd I only know it has a light on.

I have plugged into other bollards at marina - same situation.

[nicknorman]

13 minutes ago, 1agos said:

Hi.

I haven't actually measured anything, I haven't got the equipment or know how.

There is power at the rcd I only know it has a light on.

I have plugged into other bollards at marina - same situation.

The voltage will be much the same at all bollards, it is a substation issue.  I have seen this situation before, where the voltage at marina bollards is very high. Perhaps you could ask the marina to check it out? Otherwise you'll need to find someone with a multimeter and sufficient knowledge to not electrocute themselves! Different makes of Combi have different maximum voltage limits, the Mastervolt's upper limit is relatively low - although of course 250v is well above the nominal 230v.

Until you have checked the incoming supply voltage I wouldn't go spending any money trying to fix a "faulty" Combi - because it most probably isn't faulty.

Edited April 24, 2017 by nicknorman

[Jambo]

8 minutes ago, nicknorman said:

The voltage will be much the same at all bollards, it is a substation issue.  I have seen this situation before, where the voltage at marina bollards is very high. Perhaps you could ask the marina to check it out? Otherwise you'll need to find someone with a multimeter and sufficient knowledge to not electrocute themselves! Different makes of Combi have different maximum voltage limits, the Mastervolt's upper limit is relatively low - although of course 250v is well above the nominal 230v.

My instructions suggest 207-265VAC is the range of input voltages. Voltage shouldn't be allowed to go more than 10% above 230V, exceeding 265V would be pretty unusual. Could it be that the charging post is connected with a long run of too thin wire leading to voltage drop? Sticking a multimeter on it will be the only way to find out.

[WotEver]

2 minutes ago, Jambo said:

Could it be that...

Could be lots of things. The simplest first check is incoming voltage. If that's okay then move onto fuses etc. 

[nicknorman]

I think the important point is that the ac present light is flashing, not just extinguished. Therefore something is getting through to the inverter, it's just that it doesn't like it!

[1agos]

 The flashing light is a warning when the three way switch is in the inverter position. When in the shorepower/charge position there are no lights present. 

 

I took the front cover off jeez there is a lot of circuitry in there.(frightening so) I put the cover back on and will try and find professional help. n

[nicknorman]

1 hour ago, 1agos said:

 The flashing light is a warning when the three way switch is in the inverter position. When in the shorepower/charge position there are no lights present. 

 

I took the front cover off jeez there is a lot of circuitry in there.(frightening so) I put the cover back on and will try and find professional help. n

Presumably, when the shore power is not plugged in, the a/c present light doesn't illuminate? And when it is plugged in, it starts flashing? If so it indicates that "something" is getting to the Combi, which rules out tripped breakers.

According to the manual, flashing a/c present with the charger light out means poor incoming AC. Flashing a/c present with flashing red charger light means the internal thermal fuse has tripped. Is the charger light extinguished or not (switch in inverter position)?

The manual is not very clear but when the switch is in charger mode the whole point is to not use any battery power, so nothing to power the internal electronics except the incoming shore mains, and if that is out of limits I wouldn't be too surprised if the charger section refuses to do anything at all ie no lights.

If you are desperate to spend money on a professional, Keith Meadowcroft (KeithM of this forum) is very knowledgable and helpful about Mastervolt products. His company is Volt Master Systems here: http://voltmastersystems.co.uk/pages/about-our-team/

[1agos]

Yes I think your have it Nick. In inverter mode I have a flashing green AC light and a solid green inverter light. Have been told this.means the AC in is suspect. I will get the marina to test the voltage at the bollard tomorrow. 

Thanks guys for all your input.

[Richard10002]

Given that voltage can drop in a cable, the voltage at the bollard may be OK, it may not be OK where it comes into the boat at the other end of the cable, or when it comes out of the RCD consumer unit. Perhaps it could do with checking at a variety of points before it enters the inverter.

[Ssscrudddy]

I thought my Mastervolt inverter/charger was going faulty, it wouldnt recognise shore power. It would go through its start up routine & the AC present light would flash, but then nothing.
Turned out to be a faulty RCD, the test button would trip it, but it wasnt letting enough electric through to do anything with.

[1agos]

Update.

I changed the RCD - still no joy.

230v showing at the load side of RCD and at the inverter.

So must be a problem with the inverter.

Called in Keith of Voltmaster. Unit now on it's way to Holland for repair.

 

[Sea Dog]

5 hours ago, 1agos said:

Update.

I changed the RCD - still no joy.

230v showing at the load side of RCD and at the inverter.

So must be a problem with the inverter.

Called in Keith of Voltmaster. Unit now on it's way to Holland for repair.

 

Well, I guess it'll be sorted properly. I (and many other Mastervolt owners, no doubt) would be interested in an update on what they did, pricing and how you found their service once you have it back. In the meantime, I hope it gets sorted quickly. Good luck!

[1agos]

Will be happy to report back when sorted.

[1agos]

The good news is that I have the combi inverter back as is working as should. 

Mastervolt charge a flat rate £458.

Turn around is ten days from receipt in Holland(Thats on their web page).

 

Not so good is it took 7 weeks to get the thing back not the 2/3 I was expecting.

I don't have any more info about why the delay.  

 

 

[sans allumette]

2 hours ago, 1agos said:

Not so good is it took 7 weeks to get the thing back.......

So what did you do / what did you use while the Mastervolt unit was in NL?

[1agos]

Well thats the thing SA we didn't miss it that much. We only use it for the washing machine and charging a lap top & radio. Popping in to marinas takes care of the laundry and pubs dont mind me plugging the laptop in for an hour. 

I believe my next boat will be inverterless.

[mross]

It's easy to charge phones and laptops from 12V...

[Phil Ambrose]

This thread reminded me why I don't like combi's. I much prefer stand alone charger and stand alone inverter.

Phil