[RE-wrenches] Outback Chargers

[Chris Mason]

One of the issues to be aware of is power factor, and most people will not
be able to determine power factor. If the Outback operates at a poor power
factor, your 10KW generator will become a about a 6KW generator. A lot of
the current will be wasted and will not produce charging power.



On Tue, Feb 11, 2014 at 11:25 AM, jay peltz <jay at asis.com> wrote:

> Hi Matt,
>
> With two systems on the thread right now with pretty much the same
> problem, I am suspecting a problem with one or more inverters. Most all the
> Outback inverter issues I've have been have been on stacked systems.
> Having installed a lot of these inverters I have yet to see the exact
> problems cited here.  Usually I've seen it with much smaller generators vs
> inverter size, but not with what I would call properly oversized units.
>  And because it is with charger issues, turning down the charge rate, but
> leaving generator size accurate has proved to be quite successful.
>
> I would try to run the inverters such that you can test to see how they
> are each working.
> For the quad stack, try 2 at full tilt, then the other 2 and see if you
> can find something there, might take some rewiring to test all combos.
> For the tri stack, well you get the drift.
>
> jay
> peltz power
>
>
>
> On Feb 10, 2014, at 5:09 PM, matt at solar-energy-solutions.com wrote:
>
> > Wrenches,
> >
> > Based on Kevin's comments about Outback Chargers in the HUP thread I am
> > hopeful that some of you well-versed in the off grid world can assist.
> > Particularly I am curious if others can confirm deficiencies with Outback
> > chargers and suggest strategies for overcoming these deficiencies.
> >
> > I currently have an off grid site with significant charging difficulty.
> > The site has been online around eight years with a quad VFX3648 stack.
> > Around six months ago the client began experiencing more generator issues
> > (he had certainly had occasional problems before but engine overruns
> > became almost a weekly occurrence which, considering the client is only
> > there on the weekends except during hunting season, is not good).  The
> > client decided to buy a new generator based on a comment from Outback.
> > They suggested his old 15 kW Briggs with mechanical governor should have
> > the governor replaced with an electronic governor.  This couldn't be done
> > so he bought a new GE 20 kW with electronic governor.  The GE does not
> > work with the Outback chargers at all (sounds like immediate overrun) but
> > will run the home just fine (and pass-thru Outback with chargers off).
> >
> > I am about at the point of asking the client to buy Iotas.  However, we
> > have a Honda 6500 that has worked as a backup generator for this system
> > and that has worked for other Outback systems we have installed.  The
> > Honda no longer works well with this Outback system (routinely
> disconnects
> > after a few minutes charging and won't charge more than a few amps per
> > port).  Something has obviously changed for the Honda to no longer work
> > well and I am beginning to think that maybe I am missing something else.
> > We have checked grounding and switched around inverters to run off dual
> > stacks without any noticeable difference.  The client has tried three
> > separate generators at this point and none work very well.  After eight
> > years the batteries aren't in great shape but they hold a charge and
> > should be capable of more years of service (Surrette YS).  Outback tech
> > support seems willing to listen and empathize but incapable of helping me
> > identify the issue.
> >
> > Any advice is welcome.
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Matt
> >
> >
> >
>
> _______________________________________________
> List sponsored by Home Power magazine
>
> List Address: RE-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org
>
> Change email address & settings:
> http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org
>
> List-Archive:
> http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org
>
> List rules & etiquette:
> www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm
>
> Check out participant bios:
> www.members.re-wrenches.org
>
>


-- 
Chris Mason
President, Comet Systems Ltd
www.cometenergysystems.com
Cell: 264.235.5670
Skype: netconcepts
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org/attachments/20140211/288c8ce6/attachment-0004.html>