mystery fan [RE-wrenches]

[allan]

Scott,

    Water is the big nemesis of inverters.  We put a small DR-based Y2K
system in a buried culvert in a client's yard.  Winter cold caused the steel
lid to condense and occasionally drip: one drop in the inverter and we sent
it back to Trace for a $300 repair bill, not under warranty.  Another client
lost her SW relay control board the same way--this one not our fault, thank
God...What you're describing sounds similar: it'sa senditin.

Allan @+E

----Original Message-----
From: Scott Suddreth, Rock Castle Solar <grateful at boone.net>
To: RE-wrenches at topica.com <RE-wrenches at topica.com>
Date: Thursday, September 21, 2000 10:02 AM
Subject: mystery fan [RE-wrenches]


>Wrenches,
>       I have a client who has a small pv system that I designed and
>installed (320  watts of pv, 2500 watt TRace DR, Four HCTrojan l-16s). The
>system is a "college student package" that our company began offering for
>students who wanted a sytstem that is self contained (most of the equipment
>in a freestanding box) so they could use it to supplement their energy
usage
>in the small college apartments and unplug and take it with them when they
>move which is once a year. This client moved to a small farmhouse and put
>his "power box" in a small shed beside the house to store until he got
>settled in. During this transitional period a freak rain/flood occured
which
>literally drenched his system(not a quality shed) (our boxes are not built
>to be waterproof). So i went over the next day and opend the box and
>everything was indeed wet, not drowned but definetly wet. I pulled all of
>the covers off the equipment and let it dry in the sun for the next two
days
>afterwhich i fired the 250 disconnect up and powered on the inverter and
>everything worked fine. ( we all sighed a relief and were thankful for the
>ruggedness of the equipment  - perhaps too soon) Anyway the client used the
>systems for a few months off and on and everything seemed fine. Just
>recently we discovered the cooling fan in the inverter cycling on and off
>while the inverter was OFF. It hadn't been used for a week and yet the fans
>were running and the three lights on the front of 2500DR were flashing red
>(this only happened for a brief moment). I have tried every ajustment in
the
>inverter, charge controller, the whole system that i can think of but the
>only thing that affects the fans is shutting off the 250 disconnect. The
>inverter seems to still work fine when cut on and used but that darn fan
>starts cycling on and off (maybe 2minutes on 2 seconds off) as soon as
power
>is turn on the 250 disconnect. I am baffled but figured that somebody else
>would might have a clue. How about it?
>
>thanks,
>
>Scott Suddreth
>grateful at boone.net
>Rock Castle Solar, Inc
>Boone, North Carolina
>www.rcsolar.com
>Installer
>
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For info contact list moderator by email:
 michael.welch at homepower.com
___________________________________________________________
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