EG4 6000 XP general questions

ScrotusGobbleBottom said:

It fit in just fine. No terminal. I think the recommendation of 8 awg is only because that is the minimum size for 50 amps. BUT it does not follow the 80/20 rule that some of us follow.

Electricians usually calculate circuit load with a 20 percent safety margin, making sure that the maximum appliance and fixture load on the circuit is no more than 80 percent of the available amperage and wattage provided by the circuit.

If you have a branch circuit supplying nothing but continuous loads (Examples; battery charging, stove, dryer ect), then the minimum conductor size must have an ampacity of 125% of the load per NEC 210.19(A)(1).

6000xp output is 50 amps. 8awg is rated to 55 amps. Just too close for some of us and that electrician friend that someone was talking about up the post
Simply put its just good practice and overkill.

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MURPH-COMPLEX SYSTEMS said:

As an engineer you always calculate in extra safety factors overkill when it comes to safety is good. That is my opinion..I operate in the belief that it's better safe than sorry, maybe that's just me but I highly doubt that...

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ScrotusGobbleBottom said:

It fit in just fine. No terminal. I think the recommendation of 8 awg is only because that is the minimum size for 50 amps. BUT it does not follow the 80/20 rule that some of us follow.

Electricians usually calculate circuit load with a 20 percent safety margin, making sure that the maximum appliance and fixture load on the circuit is no more than 80 percent of the available amperage and wattage provided by the circuit.

If you have a branch circuit supplying nothing but continuous loads (Examples; battery charging, stove, dryer ect), then the minimum conductor size must have an ampacity of 125% of the load per NEC 210.19(A)(1).

6000xp output is 50 amps. 8awg is rated to 55 amps. Just too close for some of us and that electrician friend that someone was talking about up the post
Simply put its just good practice and overkill.

Click to expand...

ScrotusGobbleBottom said:

It fit in just fine. No terminal. I think the recommendation of 8 awg is only because that is the minimum size for 50 amps. BUT it does not follow the 80/20 rule that some of us follow.

Electricians usually calculate circuit load with a 20 percent safety margin, making sure that the maximum appliance and fixture load on the circuit is no more than 80 percent of the available amperage and wattage provided by the circuit.

If you have a branch circuit supplying nothing but continuous loads (Examples; battery charging, stove, dryer ect), then the minimum conductor size must have an ampacity of 125% of the load per NEC 210.19(A)(1).

6000xp output is 50 amps. 8awg is rated to 55 amps. Just too close for some of us and that electrician friend that someone was talking about up the post
Simply put its just good practice and overkill.

Click to expand...

side2show said:

Good luck!
Hope you have a lot of time on your hands talking to customer support.
It is NOT a plug and play setup.

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BentleyJ said:

The 6000XP is a 240V split phase inverter. The best way to connect the inverter AC Input is via a 2 pole, 25 to 30A breaker in your main panel. The transfer relay is rated for up to 50A but the Reliance Transfer switch is rated at 30A so the breaker has to be sized to protect everything downstream.

You could use 10/4 or 8/4 SO cable for a direct connection between the panel and the inverter. Another choice would be to install a NEMA 14-50 Receptacle in an outdoor box then make up an SO cord with the mating plug on one end and direct wire to the inverter on the other end. The 25 to 30A breaker rule would still apply but I would use #6 wire for the NEMA 14-50 receptacle connection to the panel just so the next owner of the house could safely upgrade the breaker to the full 50A receptacle rating.

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JL Hut said:

Does anyone know the maximum amp wire copper that will fit into the utility input of a 6000 XP? Or gauge size

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Marobel said:

Page 1, starting with the technical specs, shows 120/240v AC Input. The fact that any reference to 120v implied, for me, that either voltage could be used. And I understand that using 240v would require L1, L2 Neutral and ground. But it’s not stated succinctly anywhere in their manual or in any literature I’ve found. Eag4 has not replied to my inquiry either. Frustrating!

Here’s the issue, I won’t have 240v for this. My small generator is only 2000 watts and won’t make 240. Why make an Off-grid unit that has such requirements? Rhetorically speaking ,of course.

So I’ll return and get what? Whose inverter can handle 120 volt AC input?

View attachment 201139

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TAC40 said:

When connecting eg4 6000xp ac out to sub panel (125 amps) 8 circuits, then using a 40 double pole breaker to connect to a pro trans 2
6 circuit transfer switch Do you need to connect neutral and ground wires to pro trans 2 or just connect L1 and L2?

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TAC40 said:

When connecting eg4 6000xp ac out to sub panel (125 amps) 8 circuits, then using a 40 double pole breaker to connect to a pro trans 2
6 circuit transfer switch Do you need to connect neutral and ground wires to pro trans 2 or just connect L1 and L2?

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MURPH-COMPLEX SYSTEMS said:

Whoa whoa whoa English please...what is a "pro Trans (2)"? Sounds like an extinct Pontiac car from the early 90's...

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Rednecktek said:

So since we've got a general questions thread going, I'll ask in here rather than opening yet another 6000xp thread.

1: Just how off-grid friendly is it? Do I need to set up an app and get it online to make everything work or can I just bolt it to the pump house wall and send it?

2: Does it do its own N-G bond and if so, how hard is that to disable? My Growatt I had to open up and remove a couple screws.

3: How important is communication with the battery for operation? Is it required or just nice to have? The battery build will have an integrated shunt.

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Rednecktek said:

So since we've got a general questions thread going, I'll ask in here rather than opening yet another 6000xp thread.

1: Just how off-grid friendly is it? Do I need to set up an app and get it online to make everything work or can I just bolt it to the pump house wall and send it?

2: Does it do its own N-G bond and if so, how hard is that to disable? My Growatt I had to open up and remove a couple screws.

3: How important is communication with the battery for operation? Is it required or just nice to have? The battery build will have an integrated shunt.

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RocketTester said:

Relating a 6000XP quirk, to help others. I turned off my 6000XP to re-wire from 8 awg THHN to 6 awg since I found the former wasn't rated for the number of active conductors in the 1.25" PVC conduit run (subpanel to inverter, 2 hots down, 2 hots back, 1 neutral, plus non-flowing ground). No waste since I re-purposed the 8 awg wire in 2 other conduit runs for the future (EV charger & mini-split). BTW, I bought the 6 awg stranded in red, blk, wht, grn by the foot at Lowes at a special price (~$1.14/ft), whereas Home Depot had only a few color choices in 8 awg THHN by the foot, at higher price. Still not cheap for 6 lengths of 30 ft ($205 total).

Soon after re-powering the 6000XP, I noticed a "Battery Open" message and no PV output, drawing always from the grid. The Battery Breaker on 6000XP was ON, and turning it OFF then ON didn't fix it. Repowering the inverter didn't help. Continued for several days until I could trouble-shoot. I was concerned the panels might have somehow been damaged by not bringing things up in ideal order while the sun was shining, since I had heard a slight creak around the panels when switching back ON days before. Poking around in the 6000XP screen settings, I finally got the "Battery Open" message to clear, the Fault lamp to change from flashing to continuous (normal), and the inverter to again draw from the panels. You can tell when the charge controller/inverter is operating because the fans come on authoritatively.

My suspicion is that if the battery ever goes open (usually from turning 6000XP breaker OFF), the software requires that you go back thru the Battery menu setting (#3), then select "Li-ion" and "Type 2" comm (for me, to work w/ EA Sun Power Wall 100 A-hr battery). Without doing that, it keeps showing "Battery Open" and will not draw PV. That was true even when I tried setting "No battery" (#3) and "PV only" (#19 enable). The magic seemed to come from reselecting battery type. Note, whenever you pass thru the Battery setting (even if you don't change the settings), the 6000XP powers off then on, so backup anything open on a desktop PC and warn your family. BTW, the "Protocol" display on my EA Sun screen shows "Fail" w/ above settings, even though it does communicate with the 6000XP (knows SOC and BMS charging limits).

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MURPH-COMPLEX SYSTEMS said:

I am just learning what the ground neutral bond is

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RocketTester said:

My suspicion is that if the battery ever goes open (usually from turning 6000XP breaker OFF), the software requires that you go back thru the Battery menu setting (#3), then select "Li-ion" and "Type 2" comm (for me, to work w/ EA Sun Power Wall 100 A-hr battery).

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MURPH-COMPLEX SYSTEMS said:

So from what I cam gather from my research Is that a protrans 2 is some sort of automatic transfer switch..if that's the case then still. What is the necessity of that if the transfer switch is built on to the inverter? Maybe a dumbe question...?

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k490 said:

I went with the Reliance controls Pro-Trans transfer switch because depending on the season I want to direct power to different circuits. In the spring and fall we use evaporative cooling runs almost 24/7 depending on how hot it is which is perfect for solar power. If I have any issues with flickering lights or some device that doesn't like the inverter power I can flip it back to grid easily.

Also if I'm out of town something goes wrong with the inverter my wife can go in the garage and flip all the circuits to grid power. It's simple nothing I have to direct her to do over the phone I can show her how to shut off the inverter bypass it easily.

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