[RE-wrenches] outback radian question

[Ray Walters]

Hi Kevin;

I have both a comment and a question:

Comment) I thought that while charging, the AC loads were simply powered 
directly by the generator, and the inverters were operating strictly as 
chargers.  My experience is that it is almost always an issue of poor 
waveform regulation with the generator.  This is easy to check with a 
Fluke 87 or 89.  Set to quick peak capture, and see what the peak of the 
waveform is.  A clean sine wave of 120 vac will have a peak that is 1.41 
times the RMS, or 169 vac.  I've seen them as low as 135,  or 
alternatively have weird spikes into the 200s.
Of course a scope reading is better, but not everyone can afford those.

Question) Which inverter did you switch to that cured the problem?

Thanks,

R.Ray Walters
CTO, Solarray, Inc
Nabcep Certified PV Installer,
Licensed Master Electrician
Solar Design Engineer
303 505-8760

On 3/18/2015 9:20 PM, Kevin Pegg wrote:
> This sounds like the exact same issue with the FX and VFX inverters. Meter the power quality while under charge - nasty. We found a lot of computerized control systems on furnaces and boilers would either reject the power and not power up, or would behave erratically, some would be ok if you powered it up before generator on, some not. They were fine on inverter, fine on generator, but under charge bad.
>
> Ended up swapping out a lot of inverters since customers were not so keen on certain loads not operating properly when under generator charge.
>
> Kevin
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: RE-wrenches [mailto:re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org]On
> Behalf Of jay peltz
> Sent: March 18, 2015 5:32 PM
> To: RE-wrenches
> Subject: [RE-wrenches] outback radian question
>
>
> HI All,
>
> My question is. are there any known issues with the Radian interfacing with a generator?
>
> I have a customer with flickering lights.
> The lights are LED ( some dimmer/some on/off)
>
> The generator supplier says that there are lots of problems with the Radian.
> I've not heard this and don't believe it.
>
> symptoms:
> radian alone:  no flicker
> generator alone: no flicker
> generator/charging flicker.
> different generator: no flicker.
>
> So there is no doubt its the generator.
>
> I'm trying to get more information to go back to the customer.
>
> Thanks
>
> jay
>
> peltz power
>
>
>
>
>
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