[RE-wrenches] Radian and Fortress incident

[pgiroux at mindspring.com]

Nick

 

  Thank you for doing this. I have been able to learn more. I did the original install 5 + years ago. Ac coupled system, has run great since installed. Replaced customers wet cells 1.5 years ago with a fortress evault and had Outback help with all of the programing while on site. System has been flawless until two days ago when the customer smelled smoke at 2 am in the morning.

 

  We thought the battery got hot and melted the container on top of the battery which in turn melted the conduit ( only one section, the other was fine ) running into the Radian. Pulled the lid off the battery and the insides were fine, including the BMS board I replaced last summer. No damage to the underside of the lid Re heat or ?? so I had the customer pull off the cover to the radian and the wires were intact and undamaged. Turns out one of the transformers/ power stages was burnt with lots of black soot all over it. So as of today it looks like the culprit is the radian. Headed up there next week to go over the whole system

 

  Any thoughts or ideas are welcome, please and thank you.

 

Peter

ASAE

 

From: Nick A Lucchese <lucchesesolar at me.com> 
Sent: Tuesday, December 27, 2022 3:47 PM
To: RE-wrenches <re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org>
Cc: pgiroux at mindspring.com
Subject: Radian and Fortress incident

 

Greetings Peter,

 

I created a new subject line out William's previous “utility transformer” thread for your incident. Any more details surface about this installation? Eflex or Evault? Were all the settings programmed by yourself or someone else you trust? Installed to specifications provided by each manufacturer? Do you know if it was charging by PV controllers or the Radian at time of fire? One battery of an entire bank that failed? Physical connections appear to all be of full integrity? I’ve had a control board on a Radian completely melt and appear to have been on fire for a brief moment due to extended operation pushing current limits on the AC side but my experience with the Eflex has been great so far other than a minor firmware snag initially. Only reason I used it instead of Blue Ion was due to their lack of an exterior cabinet compared to the Eflex’s IP65 rating. Hope you can provide more details once you have time to fully investigate. Highly likely I will be responsible for both of these products on future projects.

 

Nick

 





On Dec 26, 2022, at 6:40 AM, Peter Giroux via RE-wrenches <re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org <mailto:re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org> > wrote:

 

Morning all. Just got a call from a customer with a radian and fortress battery that caught fire. Has anyone had any issues with either unit?? We have numerous systems with combos of both and no issues. System has been in place for well over a year, climate controlled garage and system has worked well. Did a BMS board replacement earlier this year.

 

  Any and all help appreciated.

 

Thank you

Peter Giroux

ASAE

 


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