[RE-wrenches] XW6048 parts problem

Mon Sep 21 13:49:58 PDT 2009

Hi Mark,

I will talk to the installer to get more details.

At 02:06 PM 9/21/2009, you wrote:

>Hi Drake,
>
>I had not heard about this battery incident you 
>mention below...do you have any other details? 
>So far there has not been any record of battery 
>problems on the XW that I know of and we 
>obviously would like to hear if there is something we should be looking in to.
>
>Hi Peter - as far as I recall we resolved the 
>issue you mention below back in January, and 
>from our records the customer has been happy 
>with the results. It was a pretty unusual 
>condition that our tech support team had not 
>seen before, and it took the senior designer of 
>the XW product to finally be able to understand 
>what was going on. A learning "opportunity" for all.
>
>Cheers,
>
>Mark
>
>_____________________________________________________________________________________ 
>
>
>Mark Edmunds  |   Schneider 
>Electric   |  Renewable Energies 
>Business  |   CANADA  |   Senior Director, Engineering
>Phone: +1-604-422-2609  |   Mobile: +1-604-613-3285
>Email: 
><mailto:mark.edmunds at ca.schneider-electric.com>mark.edmunds at ca.schneider-electric.com 
>|   Site: www.xantrex.com  |   Address: 8999 
>Nelson Way, Burnaby, BC V5A 4B5, CANADA
>
>*** Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail
>
>
>
>From: Drake Chamberlin <drake.chamberlin at redwoodalliance.org>
>To: RE-wrenches <re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org>
>Date: 09/20/2009 05:10 PM
>Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] XW6048 parts problem
>Sent by: re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org
>
>
>
>
>Hi Peter,
>
>Do you need the extra fan?  The VFX has an 
>internal fan.  Are there a lot of heavy loads 
>that push the limits of the Outback?  If not, 
>take out the fan or swap it for a cover with no 
>fan.  Many VFX inverters didn't come with cover 
>fans.  I don't know if they are standard now, or not.
>
>Or, have the fan go on whenever the direct grid 
>tie inverter is being called on to charge 
>batteries instead of feed the grid.  If loads 
>are not real heavy, battery charging, by back 
>feeding the AC Out, may be the time when the fan is needed the most.
>
>Before inverters started controlling generators, 
>we used a device called the Simple Switch, which 
>was a voltage controlled contact.  (We'd use it 
>with a GenWiz).  I'm not sure what is out there 
>these days. You could use the Atkinson GSCM, 
>generator start module, which senses the 
>voltage. If you need this solution, I'd call AEE.
>
>Thanks for the heads up on the Xantrex.  I just 
>heard another horror story about the Xantrex 
>6024 system.  According to the installer, the 
>owner shut off an AC switch and the array cooked 
>a bank of Surrette 25CS 25 PS batteries.  I 
>don't know the new Xantrex line and don't 
>understand how this could happen.  Is this really possible?
>
>-Drake
>
>At 06:43 PM 9/20/2009, you wrote:
>Hi Drake (and everyone else interested in this thread),
>
>Armed with the information from my esteemed 
>colleagues, we went ahead and purchased a 
>SunWise “Solar Ready-Grid Tie Battery System”, a 
>SRB3.6 to be exact. The heart of the system is a 
>GVFX3648. I ordered it without the Charge 
>controller and purchased a SB3000 and 3150 Wdc of PV to go with it.
>
>I also purchased a Grainger 2P2T relay with a 12 
>V coil in a NC configuration (to disconnect the 
>SB when the batteries are fully charged in 
>off-grid mode) and an Outback PSX-240 to 
>transform the 240 Vac to 120 Vac (in order to interface with the GVFX3648.
>
>When we looked into hooking the relay up to the 
>AUX-OUT of the GVFX3648, we discovered that it 
>was already dedicated to the fan

>
>So it looks like we will need to put something 
>together to sense the battery voltage and 
>energize the relay coil, when we exceed the 
>threshold. Any recommendations for a add-on HVD? 
>And exactly what threshold voltage should we use 
>for 8ea 6V 305 Ah (C/24) AGM batteries?
>
>And for Drake: I gravitated away from Xantrex 
>because of a very unsatisfactory experience with 
>a XW6048. The system failed to work properly and 
>Xantrex “hemmed and hawed” for over six months. 
>Bottom line: we made six service calls, two 
>firmware upgrades and probably two dozen calls 
>to largely clueless group tech supporters. 
>Through it all, I lost the customer’s confidence 
>and he chose another integrator to do a follow 
>on commercial project. The last part of course 
>was the worst part of the experience.
>
>- Peter
>
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Drake Chamberlin
Athens Electric
OH License 44810
CO License 3773
NABCEP TM  Certified PV Installer
Office - 740-448-7328
Mobile - 740-856-9648  
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