[RE-wrenches] SB Power during countdown

[Nick Soleil]

Hi Drake:
   I was recently troubleshooting a system with Sanyo 210s and an SB-4000US 
inverter.  The installation worked most of the time, but would blow the 1A GFCI 
fuse when it rained, due to humiidity.  Replacing the fuse would resolve the 
issue, until it rained again.  Finding the fault was difficult, but with a 
megger tester, I was able to isolate the issue to the SB combiner box.  When I 
connected the megger inside the combiner box, the test revealed a visible arc 
occuring on the surface of the SMA combiner box circuit board.  The circuitboard 
had been damaged by the tip of a screw driver during installation.  I had been 
called in to service the project after the original installer went out of 
business. 

Nick Soleil
Project Manager
Advanced Alternative Energy Solutions, LLC
PO Box 657
Petaluma, CA 94953
Cell:   707-321-2937
Office: 707-789-9537
Fax:    707-769-9037




________________________________
From: Drake <drake.chamberlin at redwoodalliance.org>
To: gilligan06 at gmail.com; RE-wrenches <re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org>
Sent: Sun, November 7, 2010 5:19:12 PM
Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] SB Power during countdown

 Gilligan,

Below is the data you asked for:

A)  Measure and Record DC Voltage between Positive and Negative (VOC).    0.0 to 
0.1
B)  Measure and Record DC Voltage between Positive and Ground.                 
0.0 to 0.1
C)  Measure and Record DC Voltage between Negative and Ground.                
503 VDC

No sign of rain.  

No evidence of a ground fault.  If a fault exists, it is intermittent.  The 
system worked fine for a week with the new inverter.  Since it went down, I've 
done repeated checks and found no evidence of a fault.  Fortunately the system 
is close by. 


There is one string of 10, Sanyo 210s.  The installation is 9 months old.   The 
only J-Box is in the attic and is dry and wired very cleanly.  The system worked 
great until a few weeks ago.  


I will check the rotation of wheel on the meter again, when we get the GFP fuses 
in.  I think the inverter was producing power.  


No Spark on the DC wires.  

Note:  The first inverter did NOT blow the GFP fuse.  I worked intermittently. 

Has anyone had problems with Sanyo modules faulting?  

Thanks,

Drake 


      
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org/attachments/20101107/635d8411/attachment-0004.html>