Poor guy lost his cabin to a fire in MPP charge controller

[ncsolarelectric]

Another fire burned this poor man's cabin to the ground. He said it was a faulty charge controller that caught fire. Then he said it was MPP. These inverters have no ground fault protection, no arc fault protection, no rapid shutdown, and half the time the installer doesn't put in proper over-current protection or ground bonds. NEC is what it is for a reason and you're looking at it.

 

[time2roll]

Too bad no details were given. Not sure I can blame the equipment unless the full setup is known. Looks like new install as the panels are very clean.

 

[Ampster]

I dove into that thread and when he mentioned Tesla modules and a default configuration I suspected the reason was overvolting the batteries. Tesla modules are a unique voltage that do not fit many default settings. The nominal voltage is 22.8 which is easily overvolted on any typical 24 volt default setting. I also assume no BMS which if set properly could have stopped the disaster before the battery got hot. I do not know for sure that is what happened but I have seen too many reports of Tesla modules being abused to not suspect that was the case. I did not see any statements that concluded it was the MPP charge controller.
What a shame.

 

[nc73]

I think I will build a solar shed after all....at least if that burns down it's a couple hundred in wood.

 

[ncsolarelectric]

I think I will build a solar shed after all....at least if that burns down it's a couple hundred in wood.

My system has nothing to burn, it's not attached to the house, and it's not HVDC.

 

[nc73]

My system has nothing to burn, it's not attached to the house, and it's not HVDC.

View attachment 110439

Mine isn't mounted on the roof either...but the noise of the inverter when it's charging is crazy.

 

[ncsolarelectric]

Mine isn't mounted on the roof either...but the noise of the inverter when it's charging is crazy.

Microinverters = no noise except the clunk of the transfer switch in the garage.

 

[RV10flyer]

Where's the before pics of the installation, so we can all learn from each other?

That is why I did a ground mount, power shed is 50' from house, everything is mounted on cement board, oversized wiring, undersized breakers/fuses, RF smoke detectors, liquid CO2 fire extinguishing tubes over battery bank and batteries are separated by 1/4" ceramic fiber mat.

 

[OzSolar]

Another fire burned this poor man's cabin to the ground. He said it was a faulty charge controller that caught fire. Then he said it was MPP. These inverters have no ground fault protection, no arc fault protection, no rapid shutdown, and half the time the installer doesn't put in proper over-current protection or ground bonds. NEC is what it is for a reason and you're looking at it.

Oh that just stinks. It would nice to see some before pictures to get an idea of the installation details. No idea about the guy in question but I've seen that DIY battery forum on Facebook and quite honestly most of the pics posted are great examples of what not to do.

 

[JRH]

My system has nothing to burn, it's not attached to the house, and it's not HVDC.

View attachment 110439

Mine either…

 

[ncsolarelectric]

Mine either…

With an avatar like that, it better be!

 

[ncsolarelectric]

Oh that just stinks. It would nice to see some before pictures to get an idea of the installation details. No idea about the guy in question but I've seen that DIY battery forum on Facebook and quite honestly most of the pics posted are great examples of what not to do.

I get laughed at whenever I mention NEC on there.

 

[Bud Martin]

It is hard to tell what the real cause of the fire without the details of the installation and pictures before the fire.
It reminds me of this guy that claims the NEW generator caught on fire.

Utah man heartbroken after generator explodes, causing massive wildfire

A man whose brand new generator exploded and started the 4,000-acre wildfire in Tooele County spoke with FOX 13 News.

www.fox13now.com

 

[turbo6bar]

curious how codes in Europe compare to our codes. Do folks using Victron equipment suffer fires and catastrophic issues?

Not sure how any of us can tell what caused that fire based on a few pictures.

 

[Danke]

Are you guys against charging EVs in attached garages?

 

[Checkthisout]

How did he conclude that's what started the fire?

Did he see it start there and maybe it was connection he made that wasn't tight etc.....lame.

 

[Checkthisout]

Another fire burned this poor man's cabin to the ground. He said it was a faulty charge controller that caught fire. Then he said it was MPP. These inverters have no ground fault protection, no arc fault protection, no rapid shutdown, and half the time the installer doesn't put in proper over-current protection or ground bonds. NEC is what it is for a reason and you're looking at it.

Agree but very careless of you to cite NEC and blame lack of "to code" install as the reason for the fire without actually knowing the cause.

Maybe be less emotional and more technical?

 

[400bird]

curious how codes in Europe compare to our codes. Do folks using Victron equipment suffer fires and catastrophic issues?

Not sure how any of us can tell what caused that fire based on a few pictures.

I don't think MPP and Victron are in the same level. It's not even a close comparison.

But either could have been involved in a fire based on a poor install. For example, overcharging a NMC battery due to installer error.

 

[Checkthisout]

It is hard to tell what the real cause of the fire without the details of the installation and pictures before the fire.
It reminds me of this guy that claims the NEW generator caught on fire.

Utah man heartbroken after generator explodes, causing massive wildfire

A man whose brand new generator exploded and started the 4,000-acre wildfire in Tooele County spoke with FOX 13 News.

www.fox13now.com

"Exploded"

Yeah....it just blew up exploded! Yeah exploded! I'm sure the offgrid hillbilly did a bang up job hooking it up to his trailer.

 

[JRH]

"Exploded"

Yeah....it just blew up exploded! Yeah exploded! I'm sure the offgrid hillbilly did a bang up job hooking it up to his trailer.

Hey hey hey…. your hittin close to home here… most hillbillies up here could give seminars on DIY stuff to most city folk…that’s all they have ever done.. damn clever people on many things…
we don’t know what happened with that boys gen set…. Many things including a gnawing possum could have been the cause….ya know the space shuttle exploded too…

Jim.