Mastervolt new Combimaster 12/3000/160 does not like my generator

[DFletcher2]

Hello Fellow Sailors:
I have replaced a 5 year old Mastervolt Mass Combi 12/2500/100 with a new Mastervolt Combimaster 12V/3000W/160A charger inverter on my Hinckley Sou'wester 59. It works great on shore power to recharge new Lifeline batteries. Old charger inverter ran fine on my Westerbeke 10.0 BTDA but the new one will not accept the same genset voltage. It shuts down the charger in 1 to 5 minutes. Westerbeke says, "...an alternative you could consider adding electronic speed control to the engine to make the speed be 60 HZ regardless of the amount of load applied however the occasional spike in speed as loads are shed from the generator would still exist. The costs associated with upgrading your generator with both retrofits is significant and we could not guarantee success. Our best recommendation is to suggest you contact the inverter manufacturer. The inverter may not be able to accommodate the sign (sic) wave produced by the generator, the generator most likely makes a dirtier wave form than the inverter can tolerate. It is important you ask them for information regarding adjusting the threshold of the speed, voltage, and sine wave inputs of their equipment."
I have a query into Mastervolt but so far no response. I measured Hertz at the input to the charger from the generator and saw 60Hz with occasional spikes to 64Hz. Specifications for the unit from Mastervolt show transfer hertz range of 40-65Hz. I had a Mastervolt engineer tell me that the acceptable input range is more like 58-62Hz. Mmmm, not what their specifications say. Dip switch is set for 60 Hz.
I see three alternatives:
1. Decrease engine speed of genset to drop hertz to 58 from current 60 and hopefully drop spikes of 64Hz down as well.
2. See if Mastervolt can tell me how to adjust input hertz to a wider range.
3. Install some line conditioning device that smooths voltage input and cleans sine wave (is there such a device?) for genset voltage.
Any ideas from this community? This has been a tough one for me.

[smac999]

Get the mastervolt usb programmer. So you can program with pc. You can Likly adjust voltage and hz cut off points. But not 100% sure. But everything gets programmed with their pc software. Battery voltages etc. so you should have it

[DFletcher2]

SMAC999:
That is a great suggestion. My research shows that you are right on target. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction. I tried to buy a Mastervolt monitoring screen in January to control the unit but US stock was out. A couple places have this USB Interface and I will give it a try.
Capt. Don

[ttex]

I have the Combimaster and you definitely are going to need/want the interface to control it.

[sailjumanji]

The software is MasterAdjust. It is very easy to use, and makes the units almost infinitely programmable. There is also a monitoring feature that allows you to record data in as little as one-second intervals. But you will need the interface.

[DFletcher2]

Copy that. Thank you.

[DFletcher2]

OK, I installed the Mastervolt USB Interface p/n 76030100. Downloaded the software from the Mastervolt website. Mastervolt tech support had previously had me change a few settings which did not help. I reset to factory default then started from there. Mmmm. AC input settings (3) were Ac input A amps at 6, AC input B at 10 and AC input C at 16 amps. The CombiMaster is rated for 30 amp AC input and so is my boat. So I upped A to 16, B to 20 and C to 25 to be conservative. But really, Mastervolt, 6-16 AC amps factory default? That is pretty light. And you can’t change this without this additional interface which has been back ordered since January. I am on the hard this week and back in the water next week. I will fire up my Westerbeke 10.0 BTDA with the CombiMaster and we will see if they play together nicely now..
By the way, anyone know why there are 3 AC amp input limits in the CombiMaster? Charging phases?

[DFletcher2]

Sorry, typo on the p/n which should state 77030100.

[DFletcher2]

Yes, the Mastervolt USB Interface unit and the MasterAdjust software downloaded on my PC with the new AC input amps noted above fixed my ability to get my Westerbeke generator to work with my new Combimaster. Thank you to those of you here that pointed me in the right direction.
Not a thank you to Mastervolt that created this situation with low factory AC amps in, programmed and no way for the user to adjust without buying new Mastervolt equipment that was back ordered for six months. Then Mastervolt provided incorrect technical support regarding this issue. And the Mastervolt remote monitoring screen from the previous generation sold new until last year, that screen will not work with the new Combimaster.
Poor manufacturer’s technical design and support, but great support on this very technical issue from Cruiser’s Forum!