CarlT

When you get a chance, can you maybe have a look if there is a manufacturer name on there? Much appreciated.

That is a very nice DB. Mind sharing where you bought it? I need a large surface mount DB to cover my old one, but one that isn't too thick.

By moving AC OUT 2 behind the relays, you then limit your total load to whatever the 32A (and 50A for the 5kVA) relay can handle? I'm guessing then that that specific limit doesn't apply to AC OUT 2 on the earlier HW revision. My Multiplus II (that I picked up on Friday), is still this older version. I was going to bypass AC OUT 2 completely since I have seen that it sometimes happens that in our house someone switches on the tumble dryer and electric kettle on at the same time, and while they are on the geyser switches on to re-heat water. All of this pushes the load very close to the 32A limit. The only limit might now be the current limit on the PCB traces...

Of course...slow day for me...

So ideally, will the Multiplus detect Loss of Mains, and communicate with the PV inverter to ensure it shuts down?

Isn't the idea that there should be two anti-islanding relays between the input and the output(s), thereby ensuring that it isn't possible to back feed into the grid if you have an AC inverter with PV connected to AC OUT 2?

Maybe someone can shed some light on this. From the following document: Multiplus II to Multigrid Comparison On page 2, the following diagrams appear: The diagram on the left is the newest hardware version of the Multiplus II (HW rev 8 and up), while the one in the centre is the older hardware version (HW rev < 8). It looks like in the older hardware version, AC OUT 2 does not pass through the dual anti-islanding relays. Since Victron claims it was designed to comply with NRS 097-2-1, something seems wrong here. Is the diagram overly simplified, or is it an actual issue that we should be cognizant of?

I bought mine from Re-volt automation. They had decent prices and I got the battery around 2 weeks after ordering (mainly due to stock shortages).

We were unfortunate and fortunate in that regard. Our son was born 2 months early, spending the first 40 days (incl Christmas and New Year) in ICU, with me and the wife almost living there as well. But after coming home, I can almost count the number of sleepless nights on one hand. He has essentially been sleeping through from about 3 months old. But even with a calm little one, these outages are still stressful. Can we survive without a genny or inverter system? Probably. Do we want to? No. We want to keep the disruptions as minimal as possible.

That idea for the DB might work. Our current DB is behind the (fairly tall) fridge, so I just need to make sure a surface mound DB will fit. We also have a little 2 burner cadac camping stove, but it takes up too much space in our kitchen. I'm currently looking into replacing our ceramic hob with gas/induction.

I'm actually reading through the Victron Grid-Tied thread. My genny is bog enough for fairly big loads, like the microwave, kettle, hairdryer and maybe even the electric geyser (still need to test this). The big test will come in how easy/difficult it is going to be to rewire parts of the house to get the critical items on separate isolators, to make it easier to install the inverter. Our DB is full, and the house dating from the '80s, the kitchen is full of weird brownish-greenish tiles, making it difficult, if not impossible, to increase the size of the DB or even expand. I might have to move the entire DB to the outside room where I'm planning on installing the inverter.

Hi everyone With the recent load shedding, it seems a lot of City Power's infrastructure took strain/damage, so even though there hasn't been any load shedding in two weeks, we have had multiple power outages (usually in the evening). Having a little one at home, this has been stressful, especially for my wife. Step one was to get a backup generator. Cheap capital outlay (although running costs are high) and fast to get setup up so that the essentials can still function. Step two is the longer plan. Get some critical items (Lights, Fridge, TV, Alarm, Internet, Electric Fence) on an inverter with battery backup. This must allow for further expansion with added PV. It should also allow us to run around 5 hours (load shedding in Joburg is 4.5 hours). I am looking forward to exploring some of the discussions around this subject and seeing what works, and what doesn't. Regards Carl