Lightning arrestors [RE-wrenches]

[Robert Warren]

I just recently had to replace the AC control boards on two paralleled 
Trace SW4548E inverters because Xantrex would not warranty them, even 
though they were only halfway into their two year warranty period. This 
repair cost me nearly as much as the price of one new inverter! 
They said, "because the same fault was found on both inverters, it was 
likely an external cause." Now, both inverters were still working as far 
as inverting: it was the battery charger mode which was bad. First clue 
was that the internal LCD meter showed 0 VAC output when the inverter 
was really putting out 228 VAC. So if the inverter didn't know if it was 
producing any power, how could it synchronize to the generator when it 
started?
 I think it is really bad news for dealers that there is no internal 
surge protection inside these inverters. Sunnyboy inverters have a bank 
of MOV's and multi-path surge protection, as far as I know. 
  The technie I talked to on the help line said that the particular 
chip, T5, could have been damaged by a spike or a high demand. This 
could have been lighting, or could have been a spike from the gen set.
Since the Trace inverters have both software and hardware overcurrent 
protection, this led me to believe it was a spike. Further analysis 
before sparking them up again revealed a corroded through grounding 
clamp bolt. Everything was properly earthed to a single point grounding 
system when installed, but I think there was still a bit of ground-loop 
current between the house and the barn, where the generator sits, 
accelerated the di-electric effect on this brass bolt. Once the closest 
Earth to the generator was lost (even though it had another oversized 
grounding wire back to the main earthing rod for the inverters) the 
genny was likely throwing out spikes. 
 I just hate lifting those heavy Trace monsters up on the wall, and 
don't want to do all this again!  So I installed a couple of lightning 
surge suppressors parallel to the AC2 input to protect the inverters 
from the diesal generators, and another on the AC out circuit, just in 
case I get an induced lightning spike coming back from the house. 
Robert Warren
robert.warren at solarcentury.co.uk
www.solarcentury.c.uk
 

What will we do if there is another fuel shortage? 
Did you know that there is a pollution free, completely
renewable fuel which you can use right now in your own car? 
Don't replace the engine, replace the fuel.
Check out my website on making your own fuel: 
http://running_on_alcohol.tripod.com 
robertwarren at mail.com

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