[RE-wrenches] DR>FX Compatibility Problem

jay peltz jay at asis.com
Sun Jun 14 18:22:01 PDT 2009


HI Allan,

How do you know its a overload, I'm with Bob-O. as to low voltage or?
I suspect another issue, either low VDC or a problem inverter, but  
I've never had this as a problem with a FX before, only with external  
problems.

jay

peltz power


On Jun 14, 2009, at 12:20 PM, Allan Sindelar wrote:

> Wrenches,
> Here’s one that has me quite stumped, and perhaps one of you  
> esteemed Wrenches has an answer or suggestion.
>
> In 2000 we installed a clean, basic budget off-grid system in a new  
> remote manufactured home for a client, a single woman who lives  
> quite consciously and frugally. The system was 24V, 600W of PV,  
> Trace DC175, DR2424 inverter, Solar Boost 50, eight golf cart  
> batteries and a Tri-Metric, along with a Sun Frost RF16 and Staber  
> washer. The system had worked perfectly for her, and we replaced her  
> batteries with same last year.
>
> She called a couple of weeks ago because her life situation had  
> changed and she now worked from her remote home using cell phone and  
> satellite internet. The new satellite equipment had been troublesome  
> and had already been replaced, but would still shut down  
> intermittently. Given that she had already replaced the electronic  
> equipment with same, I suggested that she finally was facing the  
> problem of modified-square wave DR waveform. I said that while there  
> were no guarantees, a switch to a sine wave inverter would likely  
> cure the problem.
>
> On Friday I removed the DR and installed an Outback FX2524T. No  
> other changes, other than longer 2/0 cables. I changed a few  
> settings for flooded batteries and her generator using a service- 
> truck Mate, but did not sell one with the system. Everything booted  
> up properly, job done, let me know how it works out.
>
> Friday evening she called with no power. The red “error” LED was  
> lit. I had her reboot the inverter with the DC breaker, and all was  
> restored. The only thing she had run was the Staber washer. I  
> assured her that the inverter could handle a DC reboot without  
> trouble. The next day (yesterday) she left a message that she had  
> six times overloaded while completing the wash load with the Staber.  
> Everything else was fine.
>
> On Monday she will call for an explanation of what is happening and  
> advice on how to correct it, and I won’t have any. What would allow  
> a Staber to run fine on mod-square DR power, but overload an FX of  
> the same capacity? The Staber was likely ordered with notification  
> of the need for a mod-square control board, as they instructed in  
> the early days, but I wouldn’t expect it to be incompatible with  
> sine-wave AC.
>
> Not having expected this problem, I didn’t go hunting for problems  
> such as a ground fault in the washer circuit. I haven’t done any  
> troubleshooting, of course, but would like to have some idea what to  
> look for. The only anomaly that I noticed was that some of her Tri- 
> Metric program settings had changed from what I checked when I  
> replaced the batteries: CEF of L98 instead of H97 meant she always  
> showed 100%, and a couple of other settings weren’t what they should  
> have been. I noted this and reset it, but considered it an  
> unexplained glitch, as though a nearby lightning surge had scrambled  
> some settings without damaging anything, or she had inadvertently  
> pressed the wrong button sequence and changed settings. Now I’m  
> wondering about extraneous things: a bad ground? Mice chewing  
> through the laundry circuit (although she has cats…)?
>
> What would cause an overload to be detected by the FX that wouldn’t  
> have tripped the DR all these years?
>
> All ideas and solutions would be appreciated. I will likely have to  
> make a return trip, not under warranty, though.
>
> Allan Sindelar
> Allan at positiveenergysolar.com
> NABCEP Certified Photovoltaic Installer
> EE98J Journeyman Electrician
> Positive Energy, Inc.
> 3201 Calle Marie
> Santa Fe, New Mexico 87507
> 505 424-1112
> www.positiveenergysolar.com
>
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