[RE-wrenches] Breaker trip

[bob at midnitesolar.com]

What can sometimes happen when the charge controller is wired 
electrically close to

the inverter and long-ish battery cables are used from that connection 
point to the batteries is

that surge currents from the inverter DC connection will be drawn from 
the charge

controller and its battery side filter capacitors.  That might not be 
the problem here

but the way to fix that is to wire the charge controller's battery wires 
closer to the

battery terminals so the inverter is forced to draw its current more 
from the batteries.


On William's PS note, the Classic has both negatives tied together at 
the terminal block

but the Kid has the separate negatives for the shunts to read battery 
and PV current

so they need to be separate for the Kid.

boB



On 12/6/2017 10:03 AM, William Miller wrote:
> Mac:
>
> Is this breaker perchance a GFDI breaker?  If so, the tripping could be
> indication of current flow in the bonding leg.  This is a more nuanced
> problem.
>
> William Miller
>
> PS:  I am not familiar with the Midnite charge controllers.  I do know there
> are differences on how charge controller negative leads should be connected
> from manufacturer to manufacturer.  For example, Outback charge controllers
> can accept just one negative lead from a common bus.  Blue Sky controllers,
> on the other hand, require both a negative connection from the PV and one to
> the battery bus.  This should be checked to eliminate as a contributing
> factor.
>
> William
>
>
>
> Lic 773985
> millersolar.com
> 805-438-5600
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: RE-wrenches [mailto:re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org] On
> Behalf Of August Goers
> Sent: Wednesday, December 06, 2017 7:00 AM
> To: RE-wrenches
> Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Breaker trip
>
> Hi Mac,
>
> What size breaker is tripping? I assume you are running at 48 v?
>
> August
>
>
>
> On Wed, Dec 6, 2017 at 4:18 AM, Mac Lewis <maclewis1 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Hello wrenches,
>>
>> I've got a mysterious breaker tripping that I need some ideas on how
>> to fix.
>>
>> Original system:
>> Array 6 x 235W Kyocera modules
>> 1 x Outback FM60 charge controller
>> 1 x Magnum MS 4024 PAE inverter
>>
>> Upgraded system we stacked a second inverter to accommodate an air
>> compressor:
>> Array 6 x 235W Kyocera modules
>> 1 x Outback FM60 charge controller
>> *2 x Magnum MS 4024 PAE inverter*
>>
>> There have been no changes to the solar array, just to the inverter
>> side of the system.  We have been getting intermittent breaker
>> tripping (a couple of weeks between) on the battery breaker side of the
>> charge controller.
>> The basics have been checked and rechecked.  Torque is good on all
>> sides of the breaker all the way to the battery bussing.
>>
>> The only thing that I can think of is that during a surge on the AC
>> side its sucking enough current out of the charge controller caps to
>> trip this breaker occasionally.
>>
>> Has anyone experienced this?  The only way I can see to fix it is to
>> go with a larger breaker ampacity, but maybe there is something
>> better.  Does anyone no how quickly the max current setting in the
>> Outback can respond, would dropping this help?
>>
>> Thanks
>>
>> --
>>
>>
>>
>> Mac Lewis
>>
>> *"Yo solo sé que no sé nada." -Sócrates*
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