Inverter Fix

Saturday has been fix the inverter day. Our brand new Victron Multiplus Inverter converts battery power at 12 volts into 110 volts for our household appliances. Since new every time we charged our Victron batteries it flashed a red light saying low voltage. The rest of the system works fine and the inverter itself does its job but that light has been a bother.

It’s a bright sunny morning in Paraguay, a cool breeze and warm sunshine makes an ideal combination. In the distance roosters are crowing, inside the workshop Chris’ assistant is attaching our skid plate now the water coolant leak appears to be fixed. The skid plate protects the underside of the engine sbd transmission from objects in the road. 

Layne got out our laptop which we mostly use to do taxes and we plugged it in to get online with a Victron specialist in Germany. Chris our Bavarian mechanic found him online and while they talked on the phone the Victron guy was going over our system  - from his home in Germany! He checked all the parameters and found one was missing. 

He checked out our installation and  discovered  that no one had programmed our battery size into the inverter so it didn’t know what it was monitoring. So quickly and easily he found the issue  and it was not yet lunchtime. I have high hopes this problem may be solved today and Monday we may get on the road. I keep hoping the solution is found. I never learned his name but he likes to volunteer his time helping Victron customers around the world. An interesting hobby. He saved us. 

Astrid brought by a cake Friday for our anniversary and as she had heard me praising the joys of bienenstich cake (Bee Sting) she made one. It’s a famous cake in Germany and I first had it at a German campground in Ecuador in 2024. It has cream and almonds and I recommend it, not too sweet but the crunchy nuts and the soft smooth patisserie cream is luscious. Hans the owner of Sommerwind campground in Ecuador giving us route advice before we left. Nice helpful guy, married to an Ecuadoran and between them run a restaurant at the campground with a huge selection of German cakes. Highly recommended.

Astrid’s version was thicker and lusher and made an excellent mark on our anniversary.

We are sharing washing lines with our Swiss neighbors whose English is better than my German which isn’t saying much but the atmosphere is much better.

Their house is bolted firmly back on the truck frame and we have our issues solved so a barbecue planned for tonight should be a merry affair. At last.