Need help! System is down

[THERED117]

As much as I hate to admit it I think I have found the root cause of my problems. After talking to the guys at SS yesterday (they where wondering if a frequency imbalance might have caused it. So I put a scope on each leg of the generator and I might have to agree. It is noisy and seem like the sine wave are capping a little. This is with me using my 4 ton AC as a load while checking it. It's supposed to be clean with in 3%. In the future I have a chargeveter to separate gen from inverter. Even if I get power ran to my place I think I will not connect AC to the inverters again. I don't want to take the risk. PV only!

Well the thd of 3% is the THD_U meaning the voltage THD, probably for a fairly sinusoidal pure 50hz load.

Your source has a very low short circuit level.

So if you have a big load drawing lots of harmonic currents, it might degrade the voltage shape a lot.

Can you try with a pure resistor of the same power rating or similar?

My guess is you are pulling lots of harmonic currents, which causes a lot of voltage drop internally to the inverter, which in turn looks like **** if you look at the output voltage of the inverter.

This should solve the back up changing needs.

 

[THERED117]

One thing to double check on is if the solar tax works if your not setting up to back feed. The more Ive read it appears that if you are not feeding to the grid then there isn't a tax.

I'm not sure of all of the details yet. As I get the I'll add them. As of right now Alabama power will have to run 1/2 mile just to get to my property. After that it's 3 or 4 poles to my house on my land.

 

[THERED117]

I bet I'm having more fun then you tonight ?

 

[timselectric]

It's even better when you turn it on, and it works.

 

[THERED117]

It's even better when you turn it on, and it works.

One down one to go.

 

[THERED117]

One down one to go.

Two for two. Bam!

 

[timselectric]

Two for two. Bam!

Awesome

 

[THERED117]

So I have have found out that when you change the BMSs in a set of batteries they kinda act like new batteries. Problem is they don't act the same as the other two. SS had me charge all to within .7 volts. Still didn't help. They are saying that the SOC doesn't match the battery voltage. ? So..... they had me change a bunch of manual battery settings and start a "deep cycle" process. Should take a week?‍. Any thoughts or ideas? Also dumb question. Would the bms being out of whack cause less amps on PV to come in? I was only reading 9 amps from each set of panels the other day in full sun.

 

[timselectric]

Hard to say. But a few deep cycles should help the BMS learn what it's controlling.

 

[silverstone]

So I have have found out that when you change the BMSs in a set of batteries they kinda act like new batteries. Problem is they don't act the same as the other two. SS had me charge all to within .7 volts. Still didn't help. They are saying that the SOC doesn't match the battery voltage. ? So..... they had me change a bunch of manual battery settings and start a "deep cycle" process. Should take a week?‍. Any thoughts or ideas? Also dumb question. Would the bms being out of whack cause less amps on PV to come in? I was only reading 9 amps from each set of panels the other day in full sun.

Can't you just set it in voltage range mode? Basically set to operate between 16*3.0V and 16*3.5V or something like that. Bms takes care of the balance and emergency protection, inverter takes care of normal operation.

I plan on doing this with jk bms at least, since multiple devices communicating is not supported and the interface board sold by alme enthusiast here is relatively expensive...

 

[THERED117]

Can't you just set it in voltage range mode? Basically set to operate between 16*3.0V and 16*3.5V or something like that. Bms takes care of the balance and emergency protection, inverter takes care of normal operation.

I plan on doing this with jk bms at least, since multiple devices communicating is not supported and the interface board sold by alme enthusiast here is relatively expensive...

I'm not sure. These are eg4 batteries

 

[THERED117]

Final update on this post. I've been back running for almost a month. Ran the deep cycle for almost 3 weeks. Confirmed that my generator murdered 2 different sets of inverters. Lastly the charverter smart charger is a God send. Thanks for the help and support guys.

 

[Tomthumb62]

Confirmed that my generator murdered 2 different sets of inverters. Lastly the charverter smart charger is a God send.

I read much of the thread, but not the part about the generator killing your inverters. In a few words, do you mind sharing how the generator did that?

 

[THERED117]

I read much of the thread, but not the part about the generator killing your inverters. In a few words, do you mind sharing how the generator did that?

Controller was going bad. Only signs I got was after the fact by connecting my oscilloscope to it. Very noisy and trying to square wave under load. After everything happened I went to turn It on to water my grass and it faulted and shutdown. I troubleshot it with a manual I got off line and determined the voltage regulator in the controller was not working. Working on a warranty replacement now.

 

[Hedges]

Do you mean it is an inverter generator, and was starting to act like MSW or square wave?
Would that be a 170Vpeak square wave?

I could imagine an inverter generator being stressed by loads. And maybe not as well tested as inverters meant to power a house.

 

[THERED117]

Do you mean it is an inverter generator, and was starting to act like MSW or square wave?
Would that be a 170Vpeak square wave?

I could imagine an inverter generator being stressed by loads. And maybe not as well tested as inverters meant to power a house.

24K whole home generator connected to the AC in on the EG4 6.5K inverters for charging. It was supposed to maintain a clean sine wave with in 3%

 

[THERED117]

Vigo if you think that is bad read my post on my this is my baby thread. Alabama power quoted me 100k to run me power. ???

 

[Hedges]

You think that's excessive, PG&E told me $150k to hang a 50 kVA 3-phase transformer on an existing pole and run wires 200' from it to the 12kV lines on the next street.

How long a run would Alabama Power have had to do?


Is yours just a rotating 3600 RPM or 1800 RPM generator?
Or is it an inverter-generator? Since you said it was making more of a square wave I thought that was failing electronics.

Double conversion avoids overload for starting surge on the generator, and compared to a cheap battery charger I assume ChargeVerter is PF corrected, draws sine wave current so an ideal load.

 

[timselectric]

The Chargeverter is like the future Flux Capacitor.
Through in a beer can, a couple of banana peals, some coffee grounds, and whatever garbage you want. And it turns it into charging voltage. lol

 

[THERED117]

You think that's excessive, PG&E told me $150k to hang a 50 kVA 3-phase transformer on an existing pole and run wires 200' from it to the 12kV lines on the next street.

How long a run would Alabama Power have had to do?


Is yours just a rotating 3600 RPM or 1800 RPM generator?
Or is it an inverter-generator? Since you said it was making more of a square wave I thought that was failing electronics.

Double conversion avoids overload for starting surge on the generator, and compared to a cheap battery charger I assume ChargeVerter is PF corrected, draws sine wave current so an ideal load.

I think it's 2300rpms. Its a generac 24k The changeveter is from eg4 using the technology from the 3k inverter. I was going to have to pay running 1/4 mile down a rural dirt road.