[RE-wrenches] Inverter output fluctuations

[Ray Walters]

It could be the LED bulbs.  I've had different brands flicker like crazy 
on grid and off.  Seems to relate to other loads that are on, especially 
stuff like washing machines with VFD drives, and well pumps.   Add 
dimmers and it can get even worse.

IMHO, they really need to improve the quality of the driver circuits on 
the LED bulbs.  Only gets worse on a less than perfect AC waveform.

Ray Walters
Remote Solar

On 7/3/2023 5:09 PM, Dave Angelini Offgrid Solar via RE-wrenches wrote:
> I think I would try eliminating things. Turn off the AC coupling for a 
> few days and get results. Turn of DC solar and get results. Measure AC 
> voltage with a scope or just observe voltage during the flicker. Are 
> all of the lights flickering? Are they on dimmers?  Are there any 
> loads failing that could be the source? Is the output with-in spec? 
> Rock solid 60 HZ right.
> Do an AC bypass of XW with the genset and check for flicker symptoms.
> Are they on Insight? They really need it for you to monitor. Are there 
> any faults, warnings or events ? Check history.  There are a few 
> settings in the old XW+ that could have been glitched by a surge or 
> nearby lightning strike.
> XW+ could have a damaged FET. Open the unit and do a visual.
> There would be a smell and transistor fragments on the bottom right 
> side of the power bridge. 90% of XW failures have visual evidence.
> While you have it open, Check the DSP sensing and control board, both 
> LEDs (light-emitting diodes) D24 and D25 are on.
> Last thing is a DC power down of the unit and the DC buss for 5 
> minutes.  If that does not work, then a reset to factory values.
> This is off an old list I got from Support many years ago and combined 
> with my findings over the years. Really rare for this kind of 
> weirdness and why it would be getting worse without visual evidence.
> Good Luck Howie!
> *Dave Angelini Offgrid Solar "we go where powerlines don't" 
> http://members.sti.net/offgridsolar/ e-mail offgridsolar at sti.net text 
> 209 813 0060*
>
>   
>
> On 2023-07-03 12:42 pm, Howie Michaelson via RE-wrenches wrote:
>
>> Hi All,
>> I upgraded an old clients' off-grid system about five years ago to a 
>> Schneider XW6848+ and 2 Blue Ion 2.0 cabinets (32kWh). When the 
>> batteries were moving toward full, if the charge rate was on the 
>> higher side via generator or solar (AC coupled w/SolarEdge 6kW and DC 
>> coupled with an FM 80), they would start to get pulsating lights 
>> similar to symptoms of other older inverters when using a generator 
>> for charging. The solution for this pulsation has usually been to 
>> kick back the AC charge amperage just enough so the pulsating calmed 
>> down to a tolerable inconsequential level.  And that worked in this 
>> case as well.
>> However, a few weeks ago, the pulsating became more noticeable and 
>> has now become fairly intolerable.  To my knowledge, no settings 
>> changes we made within the previous year, and these clients would be 
>> loath to make any changes, so I doubt there were any. More puzzling 
>> is the pulsating has started to happen at seemingly random times not 
>> related to charging.  It happens at night or pre-dawn mornings 
>> without the generator, or during the afternoons with solar charging. 
>> And it is getting progressively worse.
>> Anyone have any thoughts on why that would start getting worse now?
>> Howie
>>
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