[RE-wrenches] VFX produces no output with no error

[Hugh Piggott]

hi Everyone, and thanks for the support.

I took it apart and it is producing good sine wave up to the AC board but there is a black relay that is failing to close and it turns out that there is a light on the control board showing it is not even trying to close this relay, so that is why we are not seeing output at the terminals.  I propose to fit a new control board and hope that works.

This will be the second time I have been inside this inverter (since 2006) and maybe the fourth or fifth time I have replaced a board in a FX.  They are easy to work on, but my experience has been they do seem to need it.

cheers
Hugh
Scoraig
Scotland

> On 9 Mar 2020, at 18:20, Ray <ray at solarray.com> wrote:
> 
> We had one last year with a bad relay, the customer had been charging a Tesla EV through it (pass through from the grid) and smoked the relay.  It was pretty obvious, the clear relay cover was all covered on the inside with burnt relay bits and smoke coating.
> Ray Walters
> Remote Solar
> 303 505-8760
> On 3/9/20 12:13 PM, John Blittersdorf wrote:
>> 
>> Hugh,
>>    I have one at my guest cabin doing the same thing except that the meter on the mate says I have 119 vac but nothing at the AC Out terminal.  I think Kent might be right that it may be the AC output relay.  It is odd though that there is no error message in your case.  This inverter had been tortured by the last tenants of the cabin with bad generators.  I was actually going to go up there and check it out some more as it is warm today. No heat in the cabin.  
>> 
>> John Blittersdorf
>> 
>> On Mon, Mar 9, 2020 at 1:00 PM Kent Osterberg <kent at coveoregon.com <mailto:kent at coveoregon.com>> wrote:
>> Hugh,
>> 
>> I've seen these symptoms before. The problem was a failed output relay on the ac board.
>> 
>> Kent Osterberg
>> Blue Mountain Solar
>> 
>> 
>> On 3/9/2020 9:25 AM, Hugh Piggott wrote:
>>> Hi Wrenches,
>>> 
>>> I wonder if anyone can tell me what is happening here?
>>> 
>>> I have an Outback VFX that I used for my own home from 2006-2018.  It’s a 50Hz 240V unit, but similar otherwise to any other 48V VFX.  It was working well when disconnected.  I needed to replace the inverter system for other reasons.
>>> 
>>> I installed this for a neighbour recently on his 48V system, and it apparently worked when I left the building.
>>> 
>>> Now it’s not working.  When “off” it shows a warning for temperatures sensor - fair enough I did not install one.  Maybe when it gets connected to a generator it will be found a sensor.  This is the only error or fault with a yes.
>>> 
>>> When “on” it makes a reassuring buzz and both lights come up green and there is no error or warning in the Mate.  Just one problem - no output.  
>>> 
>>> Another weird thing.  I go to the status menu and check meters  STATUS/FX/METER output voltage and it says “4V”.  So it knows that it is not working but it appears to have no qualms or misgivings about this state of affairs.  NO error, no warning, two green lights.
>>> 
>>> I tried rebooting with the battery fuse.  I tried resetting to factory defaults.  No joy.
>>> 
>>> I suppose I will take it to pieces and try to figure out a hardware failure but I wonder if anyone has seen this and can give me a clue?
>>> 
>>> cheers
>>> Hugh
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Hugh Piggott
>>> Scoraig Wind Electric
>>> Dundonnell
>>> Ross shire
>>> IV23 2RE,  UK
>>> +44 77 1315 7600
>>> hugh at scoraigwind.co.uk <mailto:hugh at scoraigwind.co.uk>
>>> www.scoraigwind.co.uk <http://www.scoraigwind.co.uk/>
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
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