[RE-wrenches] Sawtoothing on the SW6048

[Peter Parrish]

Although this came through our website, I think it is important enough to
get a wider audience. I have left off the author's name and affiliation.

I have posted many times about the XW6048 sawtoothing. I was an early
adopter in 2008 (?) and got completely screwed in the process. Xantrex's
post sales support was abysmal, and it required a threat on the part of my
customer to take legal action before Xantrex took the matter seriously
enough to work the problem to a satisfactory conclusion.

It should be noted that Xantrex never mentioned to me about high grid
voltage as a potential problem, nor any fix. Since they read these posts, I
will assume that they will pick up this valuable bit of information

I just saw an old message from 2008 on a board where you were seeking help
with a "sawtooth" problem with a Xantrex 6048.  The system you described and
the problem you described sounds a lot like my system (except I have only
208 A-hr battery bank) and the problem I had starting in April of 2008.  My
dealer couldn't fix it, and Xantrex wasn't much help either (they also sent
me a software update).  Finally, when the problem was really bad a couple of
weeks ago, I discovered that the problem seemed to happen when my grid
voltage went a little high (124-125 v, if the meter is accurate).  I changed
the value in the 6048's AC Menu, AC1 HI Volt from default of 132 to 134,
even though 132 is still quite a bit higher than the grid voltage.  That
appears to have solved the problem since it has not occurred since I made
the change.  Hopefully you solved this issue for your customer long ago, and
perhaps I had a different problem, but I thought I'd mention it just in case
it might be helpful--the problem bugged me for 2 years to the point that
sometimes I'd switch to grid bypass to stop it.  It is really nice that my
system doesn't do that anymore!
Have a great (sunny) Day,

Peter T. Parrish, Ph.D., President
California Solar Engineering, Inc.
820 Cynthia Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90065
CA Lic. 854779, NABCEP Cert. 031806-26
peter.parrish at calsolareng.com  
Ph 323-258-8883, Mobile 323-839-6108, Fax 323-258-8885