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AC power connections

Djbodya

Djbodya

New Member
Joined
May 30, 2022
Messages
73
Moring ya'll. here is the situation..
The wonderful tech support at signature solar is about as good as my 3 year old with a 4 stroke lawn mower motor.
the eg4 6500 ex 48v inverter needs to have a way to draw power from the grid. The unit has a AC input and I'm trying to figure out the best way to wire the thing.

I'm sure you know what I'm referring to but if not here is the pick.
inverter.png
the wiring is good everything works but the AC input is my problem
I get a clicking sound inside the unit when I plug it in to AC directly with a 15AWG cable. can anyone provide me with information on how to run AC power to the unit so I can have the battery toped off with a generator or utility if I so chose to.
thanks.
 
Is the clicking a continuous noise? Could be a problem with NG bond relay. What are other symptoms and problems? Do you have indication of utility power on panel when you turn it on? I do not see any AC out wiring.
 
Mattb4 said:
Is the clicking a continuous noise? Could be a problem with NG bond relay. What are other symptoms and problems? Do you have indication of utility power on panel when you turn it on? I do not see any AC out wiring.
Click to expand...
Yes the click is contentious. The display shows power coming in from utility also the picture the 3 terminals on the left of the hand the not connected ones are the AC input. So it is getting power it's just when I plug in it clicks .here is my ac load box from the inverter to loads 20220918_133100.jpg
 
Do you have the battery connected?

Also, please note, EG4 recommends using a 4 AWG cable (using with a 60a breaker) to supply the input. Make sure Hot, Neutral, and Ground connections are all made.

1664215369891.png
 
Your sub-panel has a common neutral ground. Typically it would have separate neutrals and grounds (unbonded) because the inverter bonds neutral and ground when running in inverter mode. In AC bypass mode your bonded neutral is at your Main panel and the unit acts as a sub-panel of the Main. A relay at the inverter breaks the neutral ground bond.

However, that said, it is hard to know what is clicking as someone not there.
 
Samsonite801 said:
Do you have the battery connected?

Also, please note, EG4 recommends using a 4 AWG cable (using with a 60a breaker) to supply the input. Make sure Hot, Neutral, and Ground connections are all made.

View attachment 113661
Click to expand...
Yep everything works good just the ac input... I used 6awg for output with a 20 amp braker it's enough for my loads. So do I use a 4awg with a braker for utility input? Why can't i just directly plug in? Something I'm not getting...
 
Mattb4 said:
Your sub-panel has a common neutral ground. Typically it would have separate neutrals and grounds (unbonded) because the inverter bonds neutral and ground when running in inverter mode. In AC bypass mode your bonded neutral is at your Main panel and the unit acts as a sub-panel of the Main. A relay at the inverter breaks the neutral ground bond.

However, that said, it is hard to know what is clicking as someone not there.
Click to expand...
So if I rewire the penal to separate ground and neutral it should fix the relay issues? The clicking sounds like a relay popping in and out
 
Djbodya said:
Yep everything works good just the ac input... I used 6awg for output with a 20 amp braker it's enough for my loads. So do I use a 4awg with a braker for utility input? Why can't i just directly plug in? Something I'm not getting...
Click to expand...
You do not need heavier wire if your loads are less. Just use a appropriate amperage feed breaker to the load you expect.
 
Djbodya said:
So if I rewire the penal to separate ground and neutral it should fix the relay issues? The clicking sounds like a relay popping in and out
Click to expand...
I hesitate to say that it would fix the issue. The subject of NG bonding and these AIO's is a contentious one. I just note that code requires all sub panels to have separate neutral and grounds. There is also the case that you might need to run a ground rod to the ground bus of the sub panel
 
Mattb4 said:
I hesitate to say that it would fix the issue. The subject of NG bonding and these AIO's is a contentious one. I just note that code requires all sub panels to have separate neutral and grounds. There is also the case that you might need to run a ground rod to the ground bus of the sub panel
Click to expand...
It's a stand alone system it's not wired to any other panel. That panel is jumped to give both pols 120v. the 6awg supplies the panel from the ac output of the inverter over a 20amp braker and the rest of the loads have there own 20amp, and 2 15amp brakers. Power draw is from a battery bank only and solar power supplies a recharge. Plugging it in to utility is the last resort if solar is not available or I need more charge
 
Djbodya said:
It's a stand alone system it's not wired to any other panel. That panel is jumped to give both pols 120v. the 6awg supplies the panel from the ac output of the inverter over a 20amp braker and the rest of the loads have there own 20amp, and 2 15amp brakers. Power draw is from a battery bank only and solar power supplies a recharge. Plugging it in to utility is the last resort if solar is not available or I need more charge
Click to expand...

Your input breaker size / cable size would depend on battery charger demand + AC output loads demand (since it will only charge battery when inverter is in bypass, meaning inverter circuit off).

I don't know if the EG4 is anything like the MPP Solar LV6548 in this regard (since they are very similar clones), but MPP Solar says this about utilizing the AC input:

1664218495740.png
 
Djbodya said:
It's a stand alone system it's not wired to any other panel. That panel is jumped to give both pols 120v. the 6awg supplies the panel from the ac output of the inverter over a 20amp braker and the rest of the loads have there own 20amp, and 2 15amp brakers. Power draw is from a battery bank only and solar power supplies a recharge. Plugging it in to utility is the last resort if solar is not available or I need more charge
Click to expand...
Yes, I can see all that. However once you plug into utility then it is no longer a stand alone system.
 
Samsonite801 said:
Your input breaker size / cable size would depend on battery charger demand + AC output loads demand (since it will only charge battery when inverter is in bypass, meaning inverter circuit off).

I don't know if the EG4 is anything like the MPP Solar LV6548 in this regard (since they are very similar clones), but MPP Solar says this about utilizing the AC input:

View attachment 113671
Click to expand...
Good to keep in mind the draw on the AC circuit if battery charging and what you set as max utility charge amperage.
 
Samsonite801 said:
Your input breaker size / cable size would depend on battery charger demand + AC output loads demand (since it will only charge battery when inverter is in bypass, meaning inverter circuit off).

I don't know if the EG4 is anything like the MPP Solar LV6548 in this regard (since they are very similar clones), but MPP Solar says this about utilizing the AC input:

View attachment 113671
Click to expand...
Yes they are almost the same thing. I will need to try the connection with inverter output off and not putting it into USB mode. It's almost like there is no AC charge controller now that I think about it and I'd need one of the standalone units directly into the battery while disconnecting it from the system and just charging it that way... back to the reaserch I go..
 
Djbodya said:
Yes they are almost the same thing. I will need to try the connection with inverter output off and not putting it into USB mode. It's almost like there is no AC charge controller now that I think about it and I'd need one of the standalone units directly into the battery while disconnecting it from the system and just charging it that way... back to the reaserch I go..
Click to expand...

That's what my plan was for my LV6548's, I'm adding standalone charging and basically won't use the grid input on the inverter, unless for emergency if my standalone chargers fail or something. Would rather just spec a smaller generator that can do only the battery charging, and leave the inverter running all the time.

Also, was your input power source from grid power source, or are you trying to feed it off a generator right now (while this clicking thing is happening)? Is the inverter showing any error message like it's rejecting the power source?
 
Samsonite801 said:
That's what my plan was for my LV6548's, I'm adding standalone charging and basically won't use the grid input on the inverter, unless for emergency if my standalone chargers fail or something. Would rather just spec a smaller generator that can do only the battery charging, and leave the inverter running all the time.

Also, was your input power source from grid power source, or are you trying to feed it off a generator right now (while this clicking thing is happening)? Is the inverter showing any error message like it's rejecting the power source?
Click to expand...
So I had it in output mode no load supplied just showed 120v output. No Solar input nothing plugged in. I took the 15awg extension cord and stuck it in direct to the grid, regular ac receptacle. Display showed ac input and started to click with the light flickering on the extension cord, one blink with one click. I thought it was weird and unplugged it no errors came up and it continued as nothing happened..... I'm guessing it needs more power. But I've contacted an electrician who should know how it works will see...
 
Djbodya said:
So I had it in output mode no load supplied just showed 120v output. No Solar input nothing plugged in. I took the 15awg extension cord and stuck it in direct to the grid, regular ac receptacle. Display showed ac input and started to click with the light flickering on the extension cord, one blink with one click. I thought it was weird and unplugged it no errors came up and it continued as nothing happened..... I'm guessing it needs more power. But I've contacted an electrician who should know how it works will see...
Click to expand...

Perhaps you can install Watchpower and see if there is a way to look at logged messages (or in the local display panel).. Perhaps it is trying to test the circuit and is failing it. Whatever it's doing, it's not loading down the circuit enough to pop the breaker though, right? Only loading it enough to make your extension cord indictor flicker... How long is the extension cord? Maybe it's so long it can't even get enough current to pop the breaker or something weird like that...
 
Last edited:
Djbodya said:
... I took the 15awg extension cord and stuck it in direct to the grid, regular ac receptacle. Display showed ac input and started to click with the light flickering on the extension cord, one blink with one click. I thought it was weird and unplugged it no errors came up and it continued as nothing happened..... I'm guessing it needs more power. But I've contacted an electrician who should know how it works will see...
Click to expand...
That is odd indeed. How long of an extension cord are you using? BTW 15 awg is not a standard wire size. More likely 14 awg, however if it is only 16 awg than you indeed might have too much of a voltage drop. I would not go below 12 awg and no longer than 25 ft.
 
Samsonite801 said:
Perhaps you can install Watchpower and see if there is a way to look at logged messages (or in the local display panel).. Perhaps it is trying to test the circuit and is failing it. Whatever it's doing, it's not loading down the circuit enough to pop the breaker though, right? Only loading it enough to make your extension cord indictor flicker... How long is the extension cord? Maybe it's so long it can't even get enough current to pop the breaker or something weird like that...
Click to expand...
The cord is 3 feet should not be an issue at all.. the only thing I can thik of is I don't know but I'm having electrician come out and we will figure it out ... I'll update after that. If anyone is interested let me know.
 
I see you started another thread on your setup problems. Over there you are no longer mentioning a click noise so I assume that at least is corrected.
 
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