Hi Dianne 

I am not very technical but I have been doing what you are doing this very day! I won an eBay auction for a Honda EX1000 generator and have been cleaning carbs etc to get it going. In my research I did find out that the victron doesn’t like all generators.  The first question is what is the generators output in watts. My 1000va geni gives a constant 750w that is just enough to run my 40A sterling charger but not enough to run the inverter’s charger which runs at a higher 70A

PS I searched another forum for generators and there was 51 pages to read through!!

I did find a guy who knows his stuff – petepower.co.UK

James

Most likely reason is that the Victron does not like the wave form of the generator. You don’t say what generator it is but unless it is one of the suitcase type pure sine wave or inverter generators then its frequency will be very variable.

There is a setting in most Victron inverter/chargers to allow variable mains input. The easiest way to alter it is using VE Net but you need the adaptor and software for that. You can do it via the dip switches but you need to read the manual to find out how to do it.

Where are you? I’m in Birmingham for the next couple of weeks or so, so I could check it for you but you would need to get a RJ45 lead to make the connection as mine is permanently wired in. VE Net allows you to easily alter a lot of settings. I have a cruising setting and a shoreline setting as I find the charger goes onto float too early.

VE Net adaptor came from OnBoard Energy.

Regards

Pete

diannecollins said
Hello lovely boating people, we have a 57 foot narrowboat just had it a year and this is our first winter without hook up. We have been given a small generator and thought it would boost the batteries up for us, we do have a solor panel aswell. Our invertor is a victron, we started the genny no probs put the lead into the hook up slot — nothing !! we then tested the lead that was working fine and the genny is giving electric right down to the plug , why oh why doesnt the invertor kick in and charge the batteries, when we hook up it just does it automatically. please help thanks

from dianne

Hi Dianne, many people seem to have this issue with Victron Combi’s or chargers when powered from a generator.

First and foremost can your genny supply the power needed to run the Victron? Remember it will have a short but higher than normal start-up current so don’t underestimate the initial power drain. This will of course depend on size of genny and Victron model which you haven’t mentioned. 

As suggested the Victron can be customised to work in a range of lower power modes which may help but it still requires a clean sine waveform as available from a shore supply or a quality generator. 

Inverter generators usually suitcase style give such a clean pure sinewave so would be ideal, providing they are powerful enough.

FWIW I have a Kipor IG2600 suitcase generator running on LPG and rated at 2300 watts continuous. It only just manages to run the 100 amp charger in my Sterling Combi when charging low batteries.

nb ellisiana said
Just a thought. You mention that you have a Victron Inverter. That of course is not a charger. Unless it is a combi unit ie Inverter AND charger combined it will not charge your batteries. 

 

Ken

Op states that it charges automatically when plugged into shoreline so must be inverter/charger.

Regards

Pete