[RE-wrenches] Quantifying power quality

[Chris Mason]

I recently worked on a Sunny Island/Sunny Boy system in a nearby island,
that powered and protected a complete Home Automation system, including the
airco system keeping it cool. I had to restart the Sunny Islands to sort
out a COMS problem, which revealed some IT issues. It turns out the Sunny
Island system had kept it all running smoothly for about four years without
an issue so no-one had realized some of the firmware was crunched. I would
get rid of the UPS altogether and that ends the problem.

On Sun, Oct 12, 2014 at 8:01 AM, Tump <tump at swnl.net> wrote:

> I have in the past have used the Fluke power logger 1735 , It will monitor
> 1/3 phases voltages spikes/dips in V, A, Hz , +++ AND one is able to print
> out a time line of all the "occurrences" that may trip the UPS. I rent this
> from some folks in Texas quite reasonable ~ $230/month or weekly too. NO
> MORE finger pointing!
>  I found that when the generator was charging the batteries, the UPS's
> acceptable voltage window was below the limits and began beeping, due to
> the poor voltage regulation of the gen under hi load/charging conditions.
> Are you able to log the Hz as well as the voltages? The ups sometimes have
> very close voltage windows that they work within. The SI/SB's power quality
> should NOT be the issue. With this power logger one is able to see a time
> line and figure out what it operating at the time of "fault/beep" utility
> power or generator power. Contact me off list for rental contact info or if
> you would like to see what the graphs look like. Tool is easy to use and
> VERY informative.
> On Oct 12, 2014, at 1:21 AM, William Miller wrote:
>
> Friends:
>
> I am still having a pi$$ing match with the company that installed the
> expensive home entertainment system for a client over the issue of power
> quality.  The UPS beeps frequently and the AV system crashes now and then.
> The lead installer has copped an attitude and is blaming the Sunny Island /
> Sunny Boy / Generac system for the AV system problems.  The UPS emails
> reports in flurries that indicate a “power failure” has occurred.
>
> I have a Dataq data acquisition system sampling at a rate that allows me
> to see the individual cycles on the system output on one of three phases.
> During the time that a power failure is reported to have occurred each and
> every cycle looks great.  I know this is not a definitive test of power
> quality so I upped my game.  I bought a Fluke VR1710 power monitor and I am
> recording power quality from the same receptacle that feeds the UPS.
>
> I have some log files from the Fluke Power Log software but the
> instructions are not that great and I don’t know how to interpret the
> data.  Do any of you have any experience with this software and could
> possibly advise me?
>
> In a more general sense, how good is power to be called “good”?  I have
> done some research and the industry material is a bit overwhelming.  Does
> anyone have a short answer?
>
> And lastly, even though the UPS is beeping, if it is doing what it is
> designed to do, the power quality should not be an issue because the UPS
> corrects for any problems.  (Actually the UPS was beeping—the best move in
> this situation was to mute the annunciator so at least the homeowner is not
> hearing the beeper.)
>
> I know others of you are dealing with the same problems because it came up
> on this forum.  I am interested in an approach that verifies the Sunny
> Islands are producing adequately good power, or not, so I can either
> address the problem or get the AV guy off my rear end.
>
> Thanks in advance.
>
> William
>
>
> <image002.jpg>
> Lic 773985
> millersolar.com <http://www.millersolar.com/>
> 805-438-5600
>
> _______________________________________________
> List sponsored by Redwood Alliance
>
> List Address: RE-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org
>
> Change listserver email address & settings:
> http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org
>
> List-Archive:
> http://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/maillist.html
>
> List rules & etiquette:
> www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm
>
> Check out or update participant bios:
> www.members.re-wrenches.org
>
>
> *Tump at swnl.net*               *www.SWNL.net*
>                 Solarwinds Northernlights
> *       Serving Mid Coast Maine & Northern California*
> *                         207-832-7574 <207-832-7574>   Cl. 610-517-8401
> <610-517-8401>                              *
>                               *Blair "TUMP" May*
>
>
> *               ********  MAINE'S CHARTER ******** *                   *
> NABCEP    "Certified PV Installer"*
>
>
> *                 ********  MAINE'S CHARTER ********          **
> Trace Xantrex "Certified" Dealer / Installer"*
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> List sponsored by Redwood Alliance
>
> List Address: RE-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org
>
> Change listserver email address & settings:
> http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org
>
> List-Archive:
> http://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/maillist.html
>
> List rules & etiquette:
> www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm
>
> Check out or update participant bios:
> www.members.re-wrenches.org
>
>
>


-- 
Chris Mason
NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer™
Solar Design Engineer
Generac Generators Industrial technician

www.cometsolar.com <http://www.cometenergysystems.com>
264.235.5670
869.662.5670
Skype: netconcepts
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org/attachments/20141012/81119adc/attachment-0002.html>