[RE-wrenches] Outback VFX input voltage cycling

[R Young]

Mick,

referring to
> there's not an auto-idle switch on that genset which may have  
> accidentally been set for auto, is there?

His generator was actually running in idle mode, operating the  
household loads when I got there and the first thing I discovered was  
that the voltage was ~90 volts coming in to the inverter. I manually  
switched the generator to full speed and then checked the voltage  
again, that is where I found the rapid fluctuations occurring at the  
inverter.

Ron

On 27-Dec-08, at 1:23 PM, mick abraham wrote:

> Ron wrote: "The owner told me...that someone had wired a switch  
> incorrectly
> and when he turned it on the system "shut down". He then re-wired  
> it and
> everything appeared ok but I'm wondering if this fried a board."
>
> Mick replies: I've seen several times with Outback and other brands  
> (going as
> far back as the Trace SW) where the inverter responds to an  
> accidental short
> circuit in the household wiring by shutting itself off quicker than  
> a circuit
> breaker can open. I'll bet that is what your customer  
> experienced...possibly
> due to a nicked hot wire in that new switch box shorting out to  
> ground.
>
> I suspect that (part of your customer's report) is completely  
> unrelated to
> your present problem scenario. If it was my headache I would beg,  
> borrow,
> or...rent a second generator to insert temporarily instead of the  
> Honda 3800.
> That's the most conclusive way to determine fault or no-fault on  
> the generator.
>
> Sometimes a genset will operate non-inverter loads OK and will  
> exhibit normal
> looking voltage etc. but there still could be transients or spikes  
> which
> render this input AC power unacceptable to the inverter/charger.
>
> Thinking...there's not an auto-idle switch on that genset which may  
> have
> accidentally been set for auto, is there?
>
> Mick Abraham, Proprietor
> www.abrahamsolar.com
> Voice: 970-731-4675
>
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