[RE-wrenches] Trace Replacement?

[Ray]

Greetings Esteemed Wrenches;

I have yet another customer whose 20+ yr old Trace SW inverter has flown 
off to inverter Nirvana.  I have replaced a few over the years and never 
quite solved the quandary of whether to replace the entire power board, 
or to retrofit a Magnum/ Outback in place of the SW, and keep the old 
Trace DC enclosure.  In this particular case, he has a pair of SW 4024s 
on an old Ananda power center. I'm considering taking the system to 48 v 
as well, since this will let us use the Magnum 4.4 kW inverters.  This 
however will also involve rewiring 20 yr old arrays of 50 and 75 watt 
modules......
What is the consensus on the best replacement practices on these legacy 
systems?  I have several out there with the clock ticking down.  My 
current idea is to just keep the Ananda and use Magnum's extension boxes 
to connect up the new MS 4448 inverters.  Its a tough call: I've 
replaced a few single SW installs and reused the Trace DC enclosure, and 
cursed working in those tiny boxes.  In other cases, I've put up a whole 
new system, but wondered if that was over kill too.  It seems to be a 
case of more field installation hours vs more equipment costs.

Sure be handy, if someone made an SW replacement kit, there are still a 
bunch of them out there.

As always, thanks for all your comments and ideas,

-- 
Ray Walters
Remote Solar
303 505-8760