Victron 3000 with Phoenix multi control- blinking blue?

Have the Victron 3000 12v and a phoenix multi control which the previous owner says was a remote for switching the charger. When using the microwave or coffee pot at the dock with power, noticed the blue light flashes on the multicontroller and the yellow light signaling the bulk or absorption or float goes off. Is there a manual that describes what these lights mean. I do see he had set the dial to 16. so when the blue light is blinking, does it mean the charger is not getting the amps it needs to charge? can't find anything but an install manual with no description of functioning and symbols.

Does this occur with the inverter off and charger on? Are you on 30 or 50 amp shore power?

sunchaser said:

Does this occur with the inverter off and charger on? Are you on 30 or 50 amp shore power?

Click to expand...

Have it on charger only, and it's 30 amp shore power

Do the lights “flash” when the charger is in float mode and total amp draw below say 25?

capran said:

Have the Victron 3000 12v and a phoenix multi control which the previous owner says was a remote for switching the charger. When using the microwave or coffee pot at the dock with power, noticed the blue light flashes on the multicontroller and the yellow light signaling the bulk or absorption or float goes off. Is there a manual that describes what these lights mean. I do see he had set the dial to 16. so when the blue light is blinking, does it mean the charger is not getting the amps it needs to charge? can't find anything but an install manual with no description of functioning and symbols.

Click to expand...

I see Victron makes a Phoenix inverter... and a Phoneix charger... so can't tell which you have.

We have a new MultiPlus inverter/charger, with a Digital Multi Control panel. Can't tell if our DMC is the same as yours...

But you can go to the Victron Energy website, downloads area, search Digital Multi Control Panel -- and see if you can find/download the manual for your specific DMC.

If yours IS similar to ours, the 16 might be the input current limit; 16A seems like it could be a likely limit somebody might have chosen...

On ours, the blue light indicates charger on (or not), inverter on (or not)... I dunno about blinking, yet.

-Chris

sunchaser said:

Do the lights “flash” when the charger is in float mode and total amp draw below say 25?

Click to expand...

No. only flashes if using microwave or small coffee maker.

ranger58sb said:

I see Victron makes a Phoenix inverter... and a Phoneix charger... so can't tell which you have.

We have a new MultiPlus inverter/charger, with a Digital Multi Control panel. Can't tell if our DMC is the same as yours...

But you can go to the Victron Energy website, downloads area, search Digital Multi Control Panel -- and see if you can find/download the manual for your specific DMC.

If yours IS similar to ours, the 16 might be the input current limit; 16A seems like it could be a likely limit somebody might have chosen...

On ours, the blue light indicates charger on (or not), inverter on (or not)... I dunno about blinking, yet.

-Chris

Click to expand...

I have not been able to find the manuals on line, but more about my lack of internet skills. here's pics of our charger and the accessories PO installed . does that match what you have?

I have this exact same setup, though 48v/230v.
The blinking blue simply means that the battery (via the inverter) is temporariy assisting the shore power during momentary periods of peak load, which in your case, appears to be caused by the oven. This happens to me too. If I increase the amps to provide more shore power, the blinking often will stop...because the shore power is sufficient. Many times, however, I cannot increase the shore power draw without tripping the circuit breaker on the dock, hence the supplement provided by the battery (and hence blinking blue inverter light) is much appreciated!

p.s. And the yellow light goes off because when the inverter is assisting shore power, there is no energy left over to charge the battery! The battery is providing energy, not receiving it, in this case.


I like Victron products, but their manuals and support documents seem to be written by engineers to be understood by engineers...and not mere mortals ;-)

In short, your Victron/Phoenix setup is doing exactly what it is supposed to do

ScottC said:

In short, your Victron/Phoenix setup is doing exactly what it is supposed to do

Click to expand...

I don't even know. I am assuming it is charging and running the inverter the few times I have taken it out. When the blue light was flashing and the yellow light was not on absorbtion, float or bulk, I assume something is not working right. Sounds like I just need to consider that doing things like running the mircowave while on shore power or the coffee maker while on shore power is going to stop the charger from being able to work, hence the yellow light is off. But when the microwave stops, then the steady blue light and a yellow light come back on, so I guess that is still working. I am hesitant to increase the dial about the 16 amps that the PO set, afraid something bad might happen. It's also frustrating since the BMV-702 is only apparently reading outgoing amps, even though the charger is clearly on. I would not have a clue how to trace back the wiring to know why. on another thread someone suggested the shunt is likely only hooked up to read outgoing amps rather that considering incoming amps charged.

capran said:

I don't even know. I am assuming it is charging and running the inverter the few times I have taken it out. When the blue light was flashing and the yellow light was not on absorbtion, float or bulk, I assume something is not working right. Sounds like I just need to consider that doing things like running the mircowave while on shore power or the coffee maker while on shore power is going to stop the charger from being able to work, hence the yellow light is off. But when the microwave stops, then the steady blue light and a yellow light come back on, so I guess that is still working. I am hesitant to increase the dial about the 16 amps that the PO set, afraid something bad might happen. It's also frustrating since the BMV-702 is only apparently reading outgoing amps, even though the charger is clearly on. I would not have a clue how to trace back the wiring to know why. on another thread someone suggested the shunt is likely only hooked up to read outgoing amps rather that considering incoming amps charged.

Click to expand...

1) If you are plugged into shore power and the blue light is flashing and the yellow light is not on float/absorption/bulk, the inverter is assisting shore power, which is not sufficient at the moment. This is exactly how it's supposed to behave. I have been using my setup for nearly 12 years now and this is how it behaves.


2) The rheostat/dial for adjusting the amps is simply a "shore power limiter". It limits the amount of power (amps) your boat will draw from shore power. Nothing more than that. There is absolutely no risk in experimenting with it. The worst that can happen is that if you set the amps too high, you might try to draw more shore power than the the marina system can provide and you will trip a circuit breaker on the dock. There is absolutely NO risk to your system if you wish to experiment with this! How is this rheostat useful? Here's a scenario that, unfortunately is not so uncommon: You stay at a marina where 2-3 boats are all pigtailed to a single "lamp outlet". If any one boat draws too much, the circuit breaker on the dock will trip (and it may not be accessible to re-set). If you want some power, but do not want to contribute too much to the risk of overload/circuit breaker tripping on the dock, you dial down your Phoenix limiter to only a few amps. This means your inverter will kick in to assist from your battery if you run the oven (blinking blue light), but after that, the system will go back to (slowly) charging your batteries (solid yellow light on bulk/float or absorption).


3) About the BMV 702 showing only outgoing amps...
When I first got my boat the Victron BMV 602 showed the amps. I = xx.
I, too, thought it was only showing outgoing amps, until it was pointed out to me that there is a very small minus (-) sign in front of the number for outgoing amps and NO minus sign in front of the number for incoming amps. It is really easy to miss the presence (or not) of that minus sign. Have a close look!

ScottC said:

1) If you are plugged into shore power and the blue light is flashing and the yellow light is not on float/absorption/bulk, the inverter is assisting shore power, which is not sufficient at the moment. This is exactly how it's supposed to behave. I have been using my setup for nearly 12 years now and this is how it behaves.


2) The rheostat/dial for adjusting the amps is simply a "shore power limiter". It limits the amount of power (amps) your boat will draw from shore power. Nothing more than that. There is absolutely no risk in experimenting with it. The worst that can happen is that if you set the amps too high, you might try to draw more shore power than the the marina system can provide and you will trip a circuit breaker on the dock. There is absolutely NO risk to your system if you wish to experiment with this! How is this rheostat useful? Here's a scenario that, unfortunately is not so uncommon: You stay at a marina where 2-3 boats are all pigtailed to a single "lamp outlet". If any one boat draws too much, the circuit breaker on the dock will trip (and it may not be accessible to re-set). If you want some power, but do not want to contribute too much to the risk of overload/circuit breaker tripping on the dock, you dial down your Phoenix limiter to only a few amps. This means your inverter will kick in to assist from your battery if you run the oven (blinking blue light), but after that, the system will go back to (slowly) charging your batteries (solid yellow light on bulk/float or absorption).


3) About the BMV 702 showing only outgoing amps...
When I first got my boat the Victron BMV 602 showed the amps. I = xx.
I, too, thought it was only showing outgoing amps, until it was pointed out to me that there is a very small minus (-) sign in front of the number for outgoing amps and NO minus sign in front of the number for incoming amps. It is really easy to miss the presence (or not) of that minus sign. Have a close look!

Click to expand...

Thank you so much for your input. I may experiment with the limiter. I went back to check the 702. I am 100% certain that currently the number reads "-242.4 AH" even though the charger has been on the entire time that the fridge has been running while on shore power on DC. With the fridge running, it has been reading about -5 1/2 AH despite having shore power and charger on. And since hooking up the refrigeration to shore power , it's ow only showing -1.2 AH rather than the -5.5. I wish there was a plus sign, because that would mean it is hooked up to read both income AH being charged and outgoing AH for AH being used. Looks like that is not happening, so plan to unplug to reset AH used every 3 or 4 days so I know how many AH I am using per day once out on the hook. I don't know of any other options to try to keep daily track of our amp hours used. here's a current pic showing the minus sign. (after having been on the charger which reads float the last 3 days.

capran said:

Thank you so much for your input. I may experiment with the limiter. I went back to check the 702. I am 100% certain that currently the number reads "-242.4 AH" even though the charger has been on the entire time that the fridge has been running while on shore power on DC. With the fridge running, it has been reading about -5 1/2 AH despite having shore power and charger on. And since hooking up the refrigeration to shore power , it's ow only showing -1.2 AH rather than the -5.5. I wish there was a plus sign, because that would mean it is hooked up to read both income AH being charged and outgoing AH for AH being used. Looks like that is not happening, so plan to unplug to reset AH used every 3 or 4 days so I know how many AH I am using per day once out on the hook. I don't know of any other options to try to keep daily track of our amp hours used. here's a current pic showing the minus sign. (after having been on the charger which reads float the last 3 days.

Click to expand...

What you're looking at, as you say, is "Amp Hour" -- and that would be total amp-hours used since you last cleared the 702 counter or fully charged your battery. There should be another reading you can "toggle" to that will show AMPS (not Amp Hour). If you can find this, it should show a negative number when you are drawing amps, showing exactly what you are drawing at that moment. When you are charging, the negative sign will go away, but I do not think you will see a positive sign. (My 602 is older than yours and the readout may be somewhat different). In your photo, the negative always appearing before the AH reading makes total sense, and is how mine operates too. It's showing the total Amp hours drawn since your last charge. For example, my battery is nominal 48v 240 Ah. When the voltage gets to around 44 ("empty"), I see something close to -240 Ah on this meter. When I charge the battery again, this reading goes to 0.0 Ah.
You definitely need to see a manual. I will look and see if I can find a link for you on line. I have seen my 602 manual online before. I also have hard copy for my 602.

Found it!
I think this will supply the answers to your Victron mysteries of life!
https://www.victronenergy.com/upload/documents/Manual-BMV-700-700H-702-712-EN-NL-FR-DE-ES-SE.pdf

capran said:

I have not been able to find the manuals on line, but more about my lack of internet skills. here's pics of our charger and the accessories PO installed . does that match what you have?

Click to expand...

Similar, but not exactly the same. Given the "MultiPlus" label, I'm guessing that what you have is an older version of what evolved into our MultiPlus (no "Phoenix) line.

Anyway, I think this is your manual:
https://www.victronenergy.com/uploa...s 3k 230V Ve.Bus enabled - rev 00 - EN NL.pdf

If that link doesn't work, go here and graze down to Phoenix MultiPlus 3K VE.BUS enabled:
https://www.victronenergy.com/old_manuals#inverterchargers

I think this is the manual for your Battery Monitor:
https://www.victronenergy.com/upload/documents/Manual-BMV-700-700H-702-712-EN-NL-FR-DE-ES-SE.pdf

I can't tell from your pic which model it might be; if it happens to be a BMV-712, then that gives you Bluetooth connectivity and there's an app named VictronConnect that you can use to augment all the stuff the basic monitor might show you. (Edit: Ah. I see you have a BMV-702. I think that one doesn't do the Bluetooth thing.)

For your Digital Multi Control, go here and graze:
https://www.victronenergy.com/support-and-downloads/manuals

Yours is different from mine, probably just an earlier product, but the main difference is in the display about limiting input current (your 16A thing). Mine is an LED display.

That's about controlling AC input current, and 16A is probably a reasonable threshold if your inverter/charger is on a 20A circuit.

-Chris

I totally agree. The BMV 702 HAS TO only be connected in such a way that it is not reading any charging related data (AH going into the battery from either shore power or alternator), and only reading the discharging data. (AH going out of the battery). Unfortunately, getting a technician out at this time of year is rare if not impossible. (been waiting over 2 months to get a radar guy out and still no show) so I'll have to make do with at least knowing the AH daily discharge rate for this cruising season. Also, since getting the fridge running on AC while at the dock, the BMV702 reads a -1.1 pretty steady, whereas when fridge was on DC it was -5.5ish. and definately a minus number. Have to leave the weak wifi by noon today, so will have to download manuals when have better wifi. can barely log in and reply to a thread. Thank you all.

Does the display not change when you press the + and - buttons on the BMV-702?

Looks to me like each report you want to see (voltage, amps, state of charge, etc.) needs to be turned ON before the BMV will display that factoid. In the manual -- think it's the same for both your 702 and our 712 -- those are cited in section 4.2.4 Display Settings. Some of the default values are listed, but most data points say "must be ON to display..."

The Setup button pushes look relatively simple...

-Chris

Again, are the lights flashing when plugged into shore power, microwave and/or toaster ONLY on and inverter OFF? Are the two units plugged into the same breaker loop?

Also, is this a new issue? I sense there is more going on ?

sunchaser said:

Again, are the lights flashing when plugged into shore power, microwave and/or toaster ONLY on and inverter OFF? Are the two units plugged into the same breaker loop?

Also, is this a new issue? I sense there is more going on ?

Click to expand...

new boat to us. It is set when at dock as Charger only. Blue light steady, amber light at float. turn on only microwave while on AC power and the blue light flashes and yellow light goes off. (so no other device on that circuit). however, did follow recommended change on the dial that limits amps to 16 and switched it to just under 30 and when ran the microwave the blue light did not flash and the yellow float light stayed on, verifying someones hypothesis that when using high amp device, the charger does not have enough amps to charge.

sunchaser said:

Again, are the lights flashing when plugged into shore power, microwave and/or toaster ONLY on and inverter OFF? Are the two units plugged into the same breaker loop?

Also, is this a new issue? I sense there is more going on ?

Click to expand...

new boat to us. It is set when at dock as Charger only. Blue light steady, amber light at float. turn on only microwave while on AC power and the blue light flashes and yellow light goes off. (so no other device on that circuit). however, did follow recommended change on the dial that limits amps to 16 and switched it to just under 30 and when ran the microwave the blue light did not flash and the yellow float light stayed on, verifying someones hypothesis that when using high amp device, the charger does not have enough amps to charge.

capran said:

I totally agree. The BMV 702 HAS TO only be connected in such a way that it is not reading any charging related data (AH going into the battery from either shore power or alternator), and only reading the discharging data. (AH going out of the battery).

Click to expand...

I happened to remember our BMV is just connected via ethernet cable.

-Chris