Installed Victron MP II 48 / 5000 -- Thanks Adam for Ignoring AC Input Video

[Danke]

The capacity of the inverter has thermal limits, poor PF eats into that thermal capacity. That’s why the inverter could come into overload alarm when only 80% watts are being consumed.

The inverter should be able to report PF of the loads as it’s just the relationship of the phase angle of current and voltage.

I don’t like how victron inverters on the cerbo don’t show PF but just watts.

PF is listed in the specs on my inverters. Is that inaccurate or better yet, useful?

volts x amps gives you VA power rating and at a ideal power factor of 1:1 its the same as the available watts - however most appliances will cause a different power factor to occur and on average its .8 - it all depends on what reactive and or inductive load types that are being used.

… it’s all to do with the ac sign wave and the leading or lagging current in relation to the volts sign wave.

Inverter Power Factor

Power factor is the ratio of real power (measured in watts) to apparent power (measured in volt-amps). It is a measure of how effectively power is used by an electrical device. Power factor can be leading, lagging, or unity.

Leading power factor occurs when the current wave leads the voltage wave, meaning that the current flows before the voltage reaches its maximum value. This is often seen in capacitive loads such as motors and transformers.

Lagging power factor occurs when the current wave lags the voltage wave, meaning that the current flows after the voltage reaches its maximum value. This is often seen in inductive loads such as motors and fluorescent lights.

Unity power factor occurs when the current and voltage waves are in phase. This is seen in resistive loads such as heaters and incandescent lights.

Power factor is calculated by dividing real power by apparent power. Real power is the power consumed by the appliance and is measured in watts. Apparent power is the total power supplied to the appliance and is measured in volt-amps. The formula for power factor is:

Power Factor = Real Power / Apparent Power

 

[Q-Dog]

Are you guys just a bunch of mac goobers or what? I have half a dozen Windows 10/11 machines, including the laughable mini-PC on which I'm running my Batrium Toolkit, that I can run VEConfigure remotely via VRM from 3.5 hours away.

I was forced to use a Macbook Pro by my then employer from 2014 to 2016, and it was the worst two years of my digital life.

Our one Windows PC belonged to my wife, I think it was running XP, and was retired quite a while ago. I keep offering to replace it but she just keeps using my Mac instead. Most of our daily computing is done on ipads. The Mac is mostly used as a DVR, and for photo and video and audio editing. And I often leave it running Victron Connect for days at a time.

 

[Adam De Lay]

Are you guys just a bunch of mac goobers or what? I have half a dozen Windows 10/11 machines, including the laughable mini-PC on which I'm running my Batrium Toolkit, that I can run VEConfigure remotely via VRM from 3.5 hours away.

I was forced to use a Macbook Pro by my then employer from 2014 to 2016, and it was the worst two years of my digital life.

???
When you rely heavily on keyboard shortcuts to get your work done and you have to have both a Windows and Mac on your desk, it gets very frustrating using the wrong keys in the wrong OS. One machine for work had to be a Mac, so I just started switching everything over to Mac and haven't looked back (except for these old programs that still require a windows machine).

 

[Culchee]

ALL FRUIT GOSE BAD!!!

Lol... especially if it’s missing a chunk..?

 

[sunshine_eggo]

Not a mac goober, just hate windows which i’ve been forced to use at work for 30 years now.

Okay, fine... I don't love it, but it's what I've chosen.

All of my PCs at home run Linux Mint, mostly for software development.

You are a dedicated soul. I had an affair with Linux. Back in the very early days on a 286 pre 1.0 kernel... then Redhat, Mandrake and a couple of other distros I can't remember. At one point, I had something like 4 O/S selectable at boot. I just didn't have the foundational skills to make it work for me. I'm THAT guy that average users think is great with computers, but those that TRULY know what they're doing look at me with pity.

The macs are for the creative stuff, like making drawings and block diagrams.
I use the right tool for the job. If I were using Solidworks, I‘d have a windows laptop.

Bingo! Must have.

???
When you rely heavily on keyboard shortcuts to get your work done and you have to have both a Windows and Mac on your desk, it gets very frustrating using the wrong keys in the wrong OS. One machine for work had to be a Mac, so I just started switching everything over to Mac and haven't looked back (except for these old programs that still require a windows machine).

We all have our own proclivities... being an old fart that grew up on PCs in the 80s, I still get a lot of "WTF is he doing?" looks as I'm navigating Windows and programs with the keyboard much faster than the mouse.

I also worked my way through college in a computer repair job for a school district. LOTS of Macintosh crapping out with very high repair costs. Probably soured me against the brand as the PCs I built on my own were bulletproof at a fraction of the cost.

 

[Madcodger]

I built a few Windows machines "way back when", and was fine with them through about XP. I bought a Mac at some point, and fell in love. We just find that they are much easier to maintain when we're doing much of our own IT support, and they last for years. But to each their own... Umm, what was our original topic in this thread, anyway?

 

[SteveBrown]

"Different Ways to Ignore AC Input on a Victron MultiPlus 2 Inverter"

I have watched Adam De Lay's YouTube over and over and followed it in making all the changes to my MultiPlus II and my Cerbo GX. I have double checked my cat wire from MultiPlus to my Cerbo. I have done everything I can think of and still my MultiPlus will not Ignore the Grid. My Generator shows to be stopped but the grid is still connected. You can check my VRM by clicking the link in my signature. Any help would be greatly appreciated. My VEConfigure file is attached.

 

[Adam De Lay]

I have watched Adam De Lay's YouTube over and over and followed it in making all the changes to my MultiPlus II and my Cerbo GX. I have double checked my cat wire from MultiPlus to my Cerbo. I have done everything I can think of and still my MultiPlus will not Ignore the Grid. My Generator shows to be stopped but the grid is still connected. You can check my VRM by clicking the link in my signature. Any help would be greatly appreciated. My VEConfigure file is attached.

If you disconnect the cat wire from the cerbo relay and touch the two ends of the wire together, do you heard the relay click in your MP and see grid disconnect?

In your cerbo, did you set Relay 1 to the Generator start/stop function?

 

[Adam De Lay]

I have watched Adam De Lay's YouTube over and over and followed it in making all the changes to my MultiPlus II and my Cerbo GX. I have double checked my cat wire from MultiPlus to my Cerbo. I have done everything I can think of and still my MultiPlus will not Ignore the Grid. My Generator shows to be stopped but the grid is still connected. You can check my VRM by clicking the link in my signature. Any help would be greatly appreciated. My VEConfigure file is attached.

So looking at your VE Config file, you don't have the relay programmed to use the cat cable connected to the cerbo. Your assistants are set to specific power and SOC thresholds before AC IN is ignored.


If you want to wire up to the Cerbo and use the Generator start/stop feature, you need to tell the assistants to use the Aux input to control the Ignore AC Input state.

 

[SteveBrown]

If you disconnect the cat wire from the cerbo relay and touch the two ends of the wire together, do you heard the relay click in your MP and see grid disconnect?

In your cerbo, did you set Relay 1 to the Generator start/stop function?

No, when I short the orange pair it does not click the relay in the MP.
Yes, my Relay 1 is set for the Generator start/stop function.

 

[SteveBrown]

If you want to wire up to the Cerbo and use the Generator start/stop feature, you need to tell the assistants to use the Aux input to control the Ignore AC Input state.

You fixed my problem. The main problem is I'm 77 years old and it just doesn't take much to get my mind wrapped around the axle. I was confused with your multiple methods of ignoring AC input. Anyhow I really appreciate your kind help. You made me stop and rethink the whole thing. I love this method of control that I now have with my system. Thank you.

 

[Adam De Lay]

You fixed my problem. The main problem is I'm 77 years old and it just doesn't take much to get my mind wrapped around the axle. I was confused with your multiple methods of ignoring AC input. Anyhow I really appreciate your kind help. You made me stop and rethink the whole thing. I love this method of control that I now have with my system. Thank you.

No worries. Glad we were able to get it straightened out!
Have fun!

 

[sun_of_a...]

Hello folks. Heady stuff. Keep up the creativity.

I am a novice, but could these things also be done with a 12 volt, 3000w MultiPlus-II ? (ie, either the MP II 2x120V 12/3000/120-50 or the MP II 230V 12/3000/120-32 ??)

Thank you!

 

[sunshine_eggo]

Hello folks. Heady stuff. Keep up the creativity.

I am a novice, but could these things also be done with a 12 volt, 3000w MultiPlus-II ? (ie, either the MP II 2x120V 12/3000/120-50 or the MP II 230V 12/3000/120-32 ??)

Thank you!

Yes.

All VE.Bus inverter/chargers (Multiplus & Quattro) have near identical feature sets.

EDIT: per @Adam De Lay some models may lack certain secondary connections (v-sense, t-sense, Aux1, Aux2, Gnd relay, K1 relay and K2 relay). In particular are the horizontal "compact" versions, but those are 230VAC only.

 

[Adam De Lay]

Hello folks. Heady stuff. Keep up the creativity.

I am a novice, but could these things also be done with a 12 volt, 3000w MultiPlus-II ? (ie, either the MP II 2x120V 12/3000/120-50 or the MP II 230V 12/3000/120-32 ??)

Thank you!

I believe so. They all use the same software. As long as the one you look at has the Aux input connections, you should be able to program the assistants and use the Cerbo to control the AC Input.

 

[sun_of_a...]

I believe so. They all use the same software. As long as the one you look at has the Aux input connections, you should be able to program the assistants and use the Cerbo to control the AC Input.

Thank you!

 

[sun_of_a...]

Yes.

All VE.Bus inverter/chargers (Multiplus & Quattro) have near identical feature sets.

EDIT: per @Adam De Lay some models may lack certain secondary connections (v-sense, t-sense, Aux1, Aux2, Gnd relay, K1 relay and K2 relay). In particular are the horizontal "compact" versions, but those are 230VAC only.

Thank you too eggo!

 

[cdsolar]

You’re welcome!

Yeah, if I can make settings more available outside of VE Config, that’s a win in my book. While I’ve gotten used to using Remote VEConfigure feature of the VRM, it still means I have to make changes on my old windows laptop…

FYI, I use veconfigure on my Linux desktop. I installed wine and am able to run VEConfig and vebussetup:

$ wine <path to VEConfig exe>

I've also updated Multiplus II firmware this way.

This is using the remote VEConfig method through VRM. I suspect I could get it to work directly through a USB port with the mk3-usb device, but I haven't tried as the inverter is 150 ft from my desktop.