Mastervolt battery charger

[dj43]

Hi all
Our mastervolt mass 24/75 battery charger had stopped working, sent away for repair and not looking good apparently has water damage, can only think that it is condensation as it's located in the lacerate above the battery's ,
When we brought the boat there was and still is another Mastervote mass 24/74 charger located in the engine compartment connected but not working ,always thought the replacement was relocated in the lacerate as better environment than engine room,
Looks as if going to have to replace with new, where would the best location be for the new one ,
And is there an alternative make to the Mastervote mass plus anything worth adding while installing new.
We have owned the boat getting on for six years and the charger is always left on when connected to shore power
Any recommendations for an installer on the south coast appreciated ,
Boat is a Fairline squadron 52 year 2000/1

Boats don,t you just love em

 

[Piers]

Hi dj43,
Play d'eau uses Mastervolt 24/75 which I believe to be excellent. having said that, it failed a few months outside the 3 year warranty period so I was stung by having to buy another albeit at a 'fixed cost replacement'. That was just a few months over 3 years ago.....

 

[BartW]

in our boat was also a (old) mastervolt 24/75 when we bought her,
failed after 1 saison
replaced / added Victron instead.

If you do the investment in a decent battery charger, I would place a combi charger / invertor
like a Victron Phoenix Multiplus, fe 24/3000/70
I would add: 1 x Digital Multi Controll (remote panel) on which you can set MAX current from the shore connection, and a battery monitor such as a BMV700 (shows battery charge status)

on our boat we frist installed 2 x Victron Phoenix 24/3000/70, replaced now by 2 x Victron Quattro 24/5000 (more power, and automatic switching to genny)
not one single problem with none of these units so far, and they have 5y warranty
I'm a very satisfied Victron User, and wouldn't consider anything else !

best position is NOT in ER,
We nevertheless installed in ER, because cabling and space was there,
and our Utility Room has much moisture .
we made a ventilation duct with fresh air from UR to the Quatro's vent opening

 

[dj43]

Hi dj43,
Play d'eau uses Mastervolt 24/75 which I believe to be excellent. having said that, it failed a few months outside the 3 year warranty period so I was stung by having to buy another albeit at a 'fixed cost replacement'. That was just a few months over 3 years ago.....

Hi Piers
That's what worry,s me as two have failed on our boat, but not sure how old they are, spoke to an engineer that had

fitted lots of other makes and his opinion was that cheaper brands would only last 5years or so , but I could buy e few

cheaper brands for the price of one mastervolt,

 

[dj43]

in our boat was also a (old) mastervolt 24/75 when we bought her,
failed after 1 saison
replaced / added Victron instead.

If you do the investment in a decent battery charger, I would place a combi charger / invertor
like a Victron Phoenix Multiplus, fe 24/3000/70
I would add: 1 x Digital Multi Controll (remote panel) on which you can set MAX current from the shore connection, and a battery monitor such as a BMV700 (shows battery charge status)

on our boat we frist installed 2 x Victron Phoenix 24/3000/70, replaced now by 2 x Victron Quattro 24/5000 (more power, and automatic switching to genny)
not one single problem with none of these units so far, and they have 5y warranty
I'm a very satisfied Victron User, and wouldn't consider anything else !

best position is NOT in ER,
We nevertheless installed in ER, because cabling and space was there,
and our Utility Room has much moisture .
we made a ventilation duct with fresh air from UR to the Quatro's vent opening

Hi BartW

Thank you for your comprehensive reply, just what I was hoping for,

Will have a look at Victon range of chargers and inverters,

When you say automatic switching to gennerator ,is this when using the inverter ,and when battery's get low gennerator

starts and takes over,
,

 

[BartW]

When you say automatic switching to gennerator ,is this when using the inverter ,and when battery's get low gennerator

no thats not what I mean,
but that is possible with the setup above, you need some wiring between the relay contact on the battery monitor and the genny start,

by automatic switching I mean:

the Quattro allows to connect: Shore power AND Genny,
and as soon as one source is "live", the units take power from that source,
so no source switching needed. (genny input has priority on shore input)
some installations (my Original installation fe) have relay's for doing this source selection,
and you need to manually select the 230V source you are going to use.


these units have 2 x 230V outputs,
output 1 is alway's giving 230V from genny or shore or invertor, or a sum from 230V source + invertor
is used for 230V fridges, and all 230V sockets onboard.
output 2 is only 230V when genny OR shore is available.
that output I use for airco, oven, boiler, etc...

 

[Happiest Afloat]

Hi Bart, I have a newly acquired boat with lots of Victron gear. My Multicontrol shows a blue light 'Mains on' when connected to shorepower. When I start the generator, the blue 'Mains on' light stays illuminated. I have 220v power but don't know if it's from the mains or generator & if there is a change from mains to generator it is imperceptible. Per your post above, would it be standard with Victron that if shorepower is connected & the generator is started that the generator would 'go on the board' as the 220v supplier? My previous boat also had Victron gear but separate displays showing shore / generator, the generator had priority if running but there was a perceptible changeover between the two.
Tks.,
M

 

[BartW]

Hi Bart, I have a newly acquired boat with lots of Victron gear. My Multicontrol shows a blue light 'Mains on' when connected to shorepower. When I start the generator, the blue 'Mains on' light stays illuminated. I have 220v power but don't know if it's from the mains or generator & if there is a change from mains to generator it is imperceptible. Per your post above, would it be standard with Victron that if shorepower is connected & the generator is started that the generator would 'go on the board' as the 220v supplier? My previous boat also had Victron gear but separate displays showing shore / generator, the generator had priority if running but there was a perceptible changeover between the two.
Tks.,
M

if you have Victron Multiplus, this device has only one 230V input, so the switching between two 230V sources (shore / genny) happens outside the victron unit with relay's (this could work automatic or manually with a source select switch),
this is a system from the boat builder / electric system installer, not Victron.
but I guess that when you switch on the genny while shore power is on, the relay's don't switch over.

best way to test this:
switch on shore power / blue led mains power is "on"
then switch on the genny,
then pull out the shore plug, and see what happens with the bleu mains led.

and than you can also test it the other way round,
genny "on"
then connect shore power
and then switch off the genny
again, while doing this, look at the Victron remote display.

if you have a Victron Quattro, the switching happens IN the Quattro,
but there will be a interruption during switchover from shore to genny power (bleu led will go "out" and "on" again after a few seconds)
in the standard wring / setup of a quattro, the genny has priority over the shore connection, so as soon genny is running, 230v Power s is delivered from the genny.

 

[Happiest Afloat]

Thanks Bart, I'll give it a go when I'm at the boat next ?

 

[dj43]

no thats not what I mean,
but that is possible with the setup above, you need some wiring between the relay contact on the battery monitor and the genny start,

by automatic switching I mean:

the Quattro allows to connect: Shore power AND Genny,
and as soon as one source is "live", the units take power from that source,
so no source switching needed. (genny input has priority on shore input)
some installations (my Original installation fe) have relay's for doing this source selection,
and you need to manually select the 230V source you are going to use.


these units have 2 x 230V outputs,
output 1 is alway's giving 230V from genny or shore or invertor, or a sum from 230V source + invertor
is used for 230V fridges, and all 230V sockets onboard.
output 2 is only 230V when genny OR shore is available.
that output I use for airco, oven, boiler, etc...

Thanks Bart have now got estimate to repair existing and it's close to half the cost of a new Victron multiplus 24/3000/70, as we do not currently have an invertor ,this appeals to me , looks a very good piece of kit and I like the idea of remote battery monitor,

 

[BartW]

Thanks Bart have now got estimate to repair existing and it's close to half the cost of a new Victron multiplus 24/3000/70, as we do not currently have an invertor ,this appeals to me , looks a very good piece of kit and I like the idea of remote battery monitor,

just to be clear;
for remote battery monitor (and low battery alarm and or automatic genny start) in addition to the Multiplus, you would need:
1 x Victron BMV700 (or BMV702) Battery monitor, cost is around 150euro including the shunt, and worth every penny imo !

for those interested, in a few weeks I will replace my bmv600's by the new bmv700's, the main difference is that the bmv700 can display KWatt's, which is interesting when having Solar panels, appart from that the units are nearly the same. our BMV 600's (2pcs) will soon be for sale.