Roy,
 
From what I've seen so far it doesn't seem to take much to blow a FET.  The data I posted on the web (http://www.wagonmaker.com/tracedata.html)  is from a 4024 that experienced a single genset out of gas condition.  As you can see from the data it is already out of spec at some loads.  That suggests that the transformers are not interacting properly at those load levels.  From what the Trace tech told me at the time he returned my previous unit, the FETs don't fail all at once but can fail successively with continued instances of voltage spikes.
 
I wonder if even spikes from the grid, especially at a location at the end of a line that is running heavy loads, could be enough to blow a 200 volt FET.  As I understand it a 200 volt FET (which is apparently what Trace uses) doesn't have much overload capacity, they fail at a little over their rated capacity.  If enough of the FETs fail the waveform would be terrible, maybe enough to fry a charger.  It would be interesting if Donna could put an O-scope on those inverters and check their signal and spectrum at different loads.
 
Tom Elliot
Guffey Energy Works
Solar Energy Education
http://www.wagonmaker.com
 
 
----- Original Message -----
From: Roy Butler, Four Winds RE
To: RE-wrenches@topica.com
Sent: Thursday, July 06, 2000 2:45 PM
Subject: Re: SW4048 giving me grief [RE-wrenches]

Michael,
    That's a real good point regarding the possibility of a blown FET in that SW...but wouldn't you need an extremely poor waveform to blow one of those chargers? I run my DeWalt chargers off of my Trace DR3624 all the time...even while running my cheapo Coleman Powermate 5KW genset for battery charging. We even run the DeWalts off of a 1000 watt PortaWattz while in remote locations...still no problem. My point is...I'd bet Donna will find that it's the generator that's the culprit here...providing dirty power to those chargers, and not the SW inverter.
Roy Butler
Four Winds Renewable Energy CO.
www.four-winds-energy.com
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