Xantrex SW+& Certification [RE-wrenches]

Ray Walters ray at solarray.com
Tue Sep 7 10:32:45 PDT 2004


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I'm responding to my own message... gets lonely here in the desert...
Actually I am reporting back to the group that I did in fact change out the 
2/0 cable for 4/0 on this 2500 watt 24 volt SW+ inverter. Previous AC 
voltage sagged to 89 VAC, now with 4/0 on the DC side the VAC sags to 89 v. 
That's right, nooo difference. But now my customer has some monster copper 
in there, so we can all dance a happy little dance, twiddle our diddles, 
and sleep better at night.....
I'd like some real info on this voltage sag from Xantrex . I tested a Honda 
EB3500( not an inverter generator, just a regular medium quality unit) and 
under the same load it didn't sag below 115 VAC. (I figured it would)
Lights flickering off, and UPS units switching on every time the fridge(or 
any inductive load) comes on is NOT going to sell anymore SW+s around here 
at least.
Also, I was wondering what any of the Xantrex certified dealers thought. Is 
the certification worth taking another test AND paying several hundred 
dollars?  I'm curious.....

Ray



>Hi Mark;
>
>Thanks for the quick response. The Staber (measured with a "Brand" watt 
>meter was peaking around 1500 VA, this is a fairly slow response meter 
>though, so the instantaneous draw may be much higher)
>Further testing was done with a worm drive circular saw. The continuous 
>draw of the saw was around 1000 watts, the surge current (as seen on the 
>SW+ meter menu) was 27 amps AC. A quick capture of DC current through the 
>shunt showed a 1/10 sec surge of 175 amps. DC volts at the shunt would 
>drop from 24.6 (rest) to 22.9vdc (1/10 sec minimum). I measured 0.3 vdc 
>line loss (under 2%) from the batteries to the shunt, and again that was 
>just for a  1/10 sec surge.
>  So basically you're saying that on a startup surge that exceeds 2500 
> watts, voltage regulation is out. I could see it relaxing to say 10%, but 
> 86 vac is over 25% out. Is there anyway to tighten the regulation (and 
> probably reduce the surge capability)? The high surge is nice compared to 
> the original SW series, but in this case we're paying the price in power 
> quality. Is this a smaller transformer, and therefore a higher impedance 
> issue? None of my measurements are showing more than a 4000 watt surge 
> (and that one is figured at the DC input, not output)
>Do I need to go get a Fluke 43, so I can get a more instantaneous power 
>factor reading too? (I'm just itching to get one, but I'd probably annoy 
>the list even more then)
>I am about to head out there, let me know if there is anything I should be 
>looking for.
>
>Ray
>
>>Hi Ray,
>>
>>The 2548+ is rated to provide the nominal output (120Vac +/- 3%) up to a
>>load of 2500 VA - with surges substantially above this the voltage will
>>droop outside the regulation window. Do you know how much current the
>>Staber was drawing at start up?
>>
>>Regards,
>>
>>Mark Edmunds
>>Xantrex Technology
>>
>>
>>Solar Ray wrote:
>> >
>> > Hi Mark;
>> >
>> > I'm glad to see you on the list. I really never got a response from you
>> > though on the SW+ voltage sag issue. ( it was a string you may have
>> > missed
>> > a couple of weeks ago) I will summarize: basically I and other wrenches
>> > have noticed SW+ voltage output dipping below 100 vac during inductive
>> > load
>> > starting. This is accompanied by the various expected symptoms of a
>> > brown
>> > out, i.e. lights flickering , computer UPS beeping on, etc.
>> > In my case, we have a malfunctioning Staber washing machine that we have
>> >
>> > gone through 2 replacement control boards. Staber insists it is a power
>> > quality issue. I was really fending for the SW+, until I set my Fluke89
>> > to
>> > regular minimum capture and found the voltage dropping to 86 vac for
>> > about
>> > a tenth of a second, while starting a circular saw. I checked DC wiring
>> > and
>> > connections, volt drop between the batteries and inverter, AC wiring
>> > ,etc.
>> > I have come to the current conclusion that the new SW+ series allows the
>> >
>> > voltage to dip on purpose to achieve its 10,000 watt surge rating. BTW,
>> > I
>> > have seen these same symptoms on 3 different units, both the SW2524+,
>> > and
>> > the SW2548+.
>> >

Ray Walters
ray at solarray.com
President, SolarRay, Inc.
NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer
BS Mechanical Engineering, UT Austin 88
Returned US Peace Corps Volunteer 

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