More Trace Unresponsiveness [RE-wrenches]

[Michael Welch]

<x-flowed>Wrenches:

Ezra Auerbach of the Trace marketing department has read at least 
some of our posts. He asked to be able to reply to Bob-O's recent 
post, and I said I would have a look at it and post it on his behalf. 
At first I didn't want to post it because it is so darn long and 
contains info that is available elsewhere. But after talking it over 
with a couple of wrenches, we agree that there is enough new info and 
interesting news to go ahead and post it.

Additionally, Ezra will be added to the list as he has substantial 
field experience installing systems. He meets the criteria set forth.

Here's his post:

March 10, 2000
FROM: Ezra Auerbach
ezra at lasqueti.net
RE: More Trace Unresponsiveness (RE-wrenches)
Posted by Bob-O Schultz (econnect at snowcrest.net)
February 2000

Hi Wrenches:

I would like to reply to Bob-O's above noted posting about the new 
Trace PS inverter.  Allow me to begin by introducing myself.  My name 
is Ezra Auerbach.  I currently live off-grid on a small island in 
British Columbia, and have done so for more than twenty eight years. 
I've been involved in many aspects of the renewable industry 
including retail sales, installation, and support of Trace equipment 
to end-use customers. These days, I work in the Marketing Department 
of Trace Engineering.  Among other duties, I am given the opportunity 
to take new products home and try them out.  In mid-December, I 
replaced my SW4024 with a PS2524.  I have been running the new 
inverter in daily service since then.

BASIC PS INFO

Is the PS a product line that customers will hate and wrenches will 
dread?  My answer is an unequivocal NO.  Far from being "a turkey," 
the PS is a very powerful and versatile inverter/charger right out of 
the box.  The PS has a myriad of additional features that can be 
accessed and programmed.  This is an extra bonus that is simply 
unheard of in an inverter/charger in this price range.  In addition 
to my own enthusiastic reception of the PS, we have also been getting 
very positive reports from the field.

The Trace PS Series was designed and built in response to a steady 
stream of requests for an entry level sine wave product that is 
simple to install and operate.  By using the SW as a basic starting 
point, we were able to bring the PS to market with a relatively short 
development time. In the past, we found that a lot of people were not 
using all of the features that they paid for in the SW.  In order to 
minimize the cost, we eliminated some of those features in the PS 
Series (Gen Start and Aux relays for example).  One issue that arose 
during the development and testing of the PS was the availability of 
interested and qualified Beta testers.  The more feedback we get from 
you, the better we will be able to continue meeting the needs of your 
customers.  If you are interested in becoming a Beta tester for Trace 
products, please contact Tricia Hoffer at (360) 435-8826, extension 
2083.  Any suggestions you can offer in terms of new products or 
product improvement would be appreciated as well.

The PS Series has very little user interface.  There is a main switch 
that may be set in four possible positions: Off, Search, Search 
Defeated, and Battery Charger Only.  There is a selector switch for 
the AC input, which allows the user to choose between 30 amps AC 
input (generator), or 50 amps AC input (utility). Trace designed the 
PS this way for two main reasons.  The most apparent reason was to 
keep costs down. We really wanted to be able to offer the benefits of 
sine wave power at the lowest price possible.  The second reason the 
PS has so little user interface is that many people have requested a 
less daunting inverter than our SW.  This may be difficult to 
understand from a wrench's perspective, but some people simply don't 
want the information and are downright intimidated by all the menu 
choices of the SW.

There are some major differences between the PS and SW series 
inverters. The new PS has a different transformer arrangement.  The 
PS has five, rather than three as in the SW. The combination of our 
new multi-layer circuit board and an aluminum chassis (instead of 
steel) means that RF from the PS is lower than the SW. The new PS 
inverter is also fully screened to keep bugs and other small critters 
out.

Many of the software upgrades written for the PS Series will 
eventually be incorporated into the next revision of the SW Series. A 
couple of these upgrades are worth noting, the AC pass-through now 
works even under certain inverter error conditions including; Over 
Current, Low Battery Cut Out, High Battery Cut Out, Transformer 
Overtemp, Heatsink Overtemp and Low Inverter volts.  The LBX transfer 
mode is also changed, the grid is no longer allowed to charge 
batteries in this mode, thereby allowing your renewable source the 
opportunity to replensih the batteries and preventing needless 
inverter to grid transfers. The new PS software allows the RC8 to 
operate, the On/Off switch on the TM500 will also operate on this 
inverter.

Trace PS Series inverters are available in 12 and 24 VDC input.  The 
North American configurations produce 2.5 kVA. Trace also currently 
builds 220 VAC, 50 Hz versions of the PS Series for use in European 
countries (PS2212E and PS2524E).  All PS Series inverters share their 
sine wave form approximation with over twenty five thousand of the SW 
inverters operating around the world. PS Series inverter/chargers are 
UL and cUL listed.  They are CE compliant (European standard) and 
conform to CTIK (Australian) standards.

PS Series inverter/chargers are fully line-tie capable and may be 
programmed to sell excess power back to the utility.  An SWRC (Sine 
Wave Remote Control) or SWCA (Sine Wave Communications Adapter) is 
required to setup this feature.  All of the standard adjustments and 
information available on the SW are also accessible on PS Series 
inverters when a SWRC or SWCA is installed. PS Series inverters may 
be stacked in series for 120/240 VAC, 60 Hz operation.  This makes 
for a very economical 5.0 kVA, three-wire power system. They may also 
be stacked in parallel at the same voltage (i.e. 5.0 kVA at 120 VAC 
60 Hz.) for twice the power.

INSTALLING AND RUNNING A PS2524

When I installed the PS2524 at my house, I decided to try it blind, 
just like a "real world" customer.  The installation was simple and 
easy. Everything was clearly marked and there was plenty of room for 
decent sized wires, although the AC ground termination point is 
rather hard to reach.  Selecting the AC input and turning on the 
inverter was very straight forward, although the mode status 
indicator could be marked slightly better.

The first thing I noticed about the PS was it's load starting 
ability.  As soon as I installed it, I attempted to start my 1.5 hp 
jointer and my 1.5 hp air compressor at the same time.  They both 
came on beautifully, so I added my 2-hp thickness planner with no 
adverse affects.  The next challenge was to see how it would handle 
the washing machine spin cycle and the water pump at the same time. I 
set it up and got the same results without any problem.  As near as I 
can tell, it starts and runs the same loads as well as the SW4024 did.

The second thing I've noticed about the new inverter is that it's 
default search setting is 48 watts.  Like almost everyone else who 
uses Trace inverters, off-grid users are used to a much lower, 
16-watt, setting.  The high wattage search setting proved to be 
inconvenient, and I decided that, electrically, I could afford to 
simply defeat the search.  My system uses flooded lead acid batteries 
and the factory settings have proven to be just fine.  All I really 
use the generator for is bulk charge anyway. Beyond wanting to alter 
the search settings, I have had no particular desire or need to 
access any of the menus or adjustments in the PS.

RESPONSE TO BOB-O

Perhaps my experience is quite different than Bob-O's, however I can 
think of dozens of SW systems that I've sold over the years where the 
only adjustment ever made was to lower the search wattage.  Of course 
I can also think of hundreds of hours I've spent on the phone with 
clients who called and said "I pushed a whole lot of those buttons 
and now nothing seems to be working right, I want you to fix it 
please."  Those are service calls too. It also seems to me that any 
reasonably qualified dealer or wrench should be able to make a simple 
determination, when designing a system, of who will need to buy the 
optional remote and who will not.  Why should any of us charge the 
folks who can operate at the factory defaults for the SWRC?

Bob-O is not alone in crying out for non-volatile memory.  It would 
clearly be a bonus if adjustments to SW or PS settings were stored in 
memory during a DC shut down.  Our Engineering Department maintains 
that this request is not as simple as we in the Marketing Department 
would like to think.  Nevertheless, they continue to work on 
incorporating non-volatile memory into the SW and PS line-up.  It is 
our hope that when non-volatile memory becomes available, it will be 
offered in a retrogradable version for existing SW and PS inverters. 
We cannot promise a release date for this long awaited improvement, 
however I assure you that I join you all in waiting patiently.  Trace 
has also recognized the need to change the default search mode 
settings in the PS to 16 watts and will implement this change in the 
reasonably near future.

I agree with Bob-O in that, with the introduction of the PS Series, 
it is a good idea for a conscientious dealer/installer to have an 
SWRC (or SWCA if they pack a lap top around to job sites) in their 
tool kit.  When I was installing PV systems, I also had to carry 
specialized wire connection tools and multimeters.  It appears that 
accumulating tools just comes with the territory.  We've tried to 
make it easy for installers to get their hands on these tools.   We 
are currently offering Trace dealers a free SWRC or SWCA or PSCB 
(conduit box) or $50 in cash for every PS inverter purchased through 
Authorized Trace Distributors between February 15 and March 15.

As I said before, many people will happily install and operate the PS 
at factory defaults.  For systems that require customization, the 
dealer/installer has a couple of choices.  They can set up the 
inverter at installation time.  If the DC is shut down, the inverter 
will not fail; it will simply default back to factory settings. If 
the client is close-by, a quick service call may not be too 
inconvenient.  For local clients, you may want to lend out your SWRC 
so they can re-program their own inverters.  Certainly those clients 
who are difficult to access and need customized inverter settings and 
features should be sold an SWRC or SWCA with their systems.  Ensuring 
that the end-use client has all the appropriate parts, features and 
options for their unique requirements is simply good design, good 
business, and in the end is the responsibility of the system vendor.


Michael Welch

------------------------
"Society is like a stew. If you don't keep it stirred up, you get a 
lot of scum on top."


			Edward Abbey


Michael Welch, michael.welch at homepower.com www.homepower.com
      Associate Editor, Home Power magazine
      Office Coordinator, Redwood Alliance
      (Not HP mag's #s) 707-822-7884 fax: 707-822-3481

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