Advec problem

[Sans Bateau]

My Advec has been fitted to the boat for many years, always worked fine. Last season after a long period under motor the gas alarm went off. As the gas was turned off, I panic'd a little before I realised it was battery gas I could smell, I looked at the charge voltage and it was up at around 16V (maybe more, cant remember exactly). The batteries were not hot at all. When I unplugging the Advec, the voltage soon dropped to a sensible level. So guys, what wrong?

 

[jdc]

Possibly the sense wire from the battery back to the Adverc (note spelling if you're googling for them). I only say 'possibly': it's what I'd check first. There may be other things wrong! It might be worth checking the temperature sensor at the same time since the nominal 14.0/14.4V output is temperature compensated using a sensor which should be mounted in the battery box.

The Adverc is a feed-back system: it monitors the Voltage at the battery and boosts the alternator output to compensate for any voltage drops between the two (in my case splitter diodes and a few metres of wiring). However if the Voltage it senses is lower than reality for some reason (eg a wire has dropped off!) then it will boost the output erroneously.

The people at Adverc are super helpful on the phone btw.

 

[JumbleDuck]

My Advec has been fitted to the boat for many years, always worked fine. Last season after a long period under motor the gas alarm went off. As the gas was turned off, I panic'd a little before I realised it was battery gas I could smell, I looked at the charge voltage and it was up at around 16V (maybe more, cant remember exactly). The batteries were not hot at all. When I unplugging the Advec, the voltage soon dropped to a sensible level. So guys, what wrong?

I have a similar-ish issue at the moment, as my newly installed Adverc insists on boosting the alternator output 19V at all times. As far as I can see, there are three possibilities:

1. Problem with battery sense wire (red) - though if this is disconnected the green indicator light should flash when the engine is turned on
2. Problem with thermistor (two yellows) which is in the sleeve with the battery sense wire
3. Problem with the Adverc

My Adverc is going to Wolverhampton for testing. As jdc says, the Adverc people are extremely friendly and helpful, so it's well worth giving them a ring.

 

[Tintin]

I had similar briefly - a squirt of contact cleaner on the multi plug into the unit and a clean of the battery terminal connections seemed to solve it. Haven't had it since.

+1 re phone call too - very helpful people