Frank in Thailand
making mistakes so you don't have to...
I like to make things really simple.
As we are getting confused with the system here.
There is no L1 and L2.
Just N and L.
Ground? Just there for additional safety, it's not really used to feed any current.
Please remove the 4 left wires going into the Revo II.
Those are not used (for now)
The only thing that we need to be sure if is the power output of the Revo II.
Please remove (from left to right) the ground, Load, Neutral and ground from the next set.
If all is correct, you have 6 wires left.
Going from left to right:
AC Load AC Neutral,
Solar DC + and -
Battery DC + and -
What might me confusing:
neutral is not - it's 0.
Load is 240v
Now when we start with the minimal set of wires, we start to build up from there.
This should work perfectly.
I can not say if your electrical appliances will like it.
It highly dependents if they are suited for outside USA grid.
Not split phase, just good old 240 on one leg, 0 on the other.
You need to be sure.
Absolutely sure.
Your house doesn't need grid.
So, please turn off the main breaker from the house.
As there is no electricity, it's also safe to disconnect the ground.
Again, ground is not used.
It's additional safety if you happen to electrocute yourself.
The special safely breaker measures the leaking current to the ground, and when it's above threshold, it stops all power.
It is totally NOT used for any + or - AC or DC power.
So, just 6 wires.
2 x AC, 4 x DC.
Yes, in theory, the Revo II (not capable or able to be modified for split phase systems) can run without battery.
For reasons mentioned before, going to do parallel setup is not advisable, what if the panels from the master receive less then the slaves, way to less so it needs to stop..
Your slaves no longer have guidance, and might get out of sync.
60hz , one needs to go just a tad faster or slower then the other and you have collision.
There is something that makes the Hz.
It's not naturally there, it's created.
For starters, just one unit, parallel wiring can be there, (the "VGA" and red/black twisted cable) it doesn't interfere.
When you turn it on, it will give 240 volt, 60Hz out of the 2 wires.
When you measure, it doesn't matter what way , it's always 240v
There is no + or - to see.
(If you do, your meter is on DC setting, not AC)
Please see here for more explanation
Before you are going to feed your home with electricity, you should measure the power socket.
I don't know split phase that somehow seems to use ground.
To be sure I would measure all 3 outputs on every possible connection on DC and AC setting.
(Low power setting, probably 20v DC and 200VAC)
All reading should be 0.00
Only then we are sure that there is only coming electricity from the Revo II, and nothing and nowhere else.
This is just to confirm what power the Revo II is providing.
I'm 100% sure it will give 240v.
No + or -, that's only used for DC.
One leg, the neutral, you can hold with your hand.
I will not advise to test this with bare hands, but use your multimeter and measure from the soil to the neutral.
It should give -0.00 reading
(It does on my cheap meter)
Ow it's time to connect your home with the Revo II.
Be advised, all appliances that are not build to be used outside USA system will probably be fried.
Smoke
No longer working.
Do NOT blain me if that happens.
Use the manuals to confirm if they can be used for "Europe system".
One thing that is safe, is a glowing light bulb not led or other technical complicated stuff, just your good old light bulb.
You can use this to confirm functionality.
After this, it's just the question what do you want?
240 volt is not just 240 volt.
There are 2 incomplete systems that provide 240 volt.
One with +120 and - 120 and an other that have 240 and 0
0 is N or neutral.
No negative 120 volts, just 0.
You can use Google to get deep understanding between the 2 systems.
Using 50 and 60 Hz is also not going to work at the same time.
Just as much as the +/-120 to make 240 and plain 240 is not going to work.
Congratulations ?
You just finished your Revo II installation.
When you have installed the battery (your 4* 16 LiFePO4, in parallel so it is seen as one large battery), you can start building them up onto parallel mode. All 4 or 5, depending on your plans.
Now you have 4 or 5 X 5.5kw Revo II ready to take on the loads of your home.
You have confirmed that all your appliances are compatible.
You now flip the switch to make connection to your home.
Mind you, the main breaker of the house is still turned off.
Best to remove the 2 wires out, just to be absolutely sure.
The ground wire is disconnected at its base, This is the location where the grid enters your home.
You are disconnected, cut off from the grid.
Back to the Revo II.
If all settings are OK, you start by connecting the master to your home.
Yes, flipping the breaker that disconnected the Revo II from your home.
Next step is to confirm the settings on the second unit.
It should be slave.
If so, it is OK to connect this with the other by flipping the breaker to contact.
It it thinks it's a master also..
You have magic smoke.
Assuming that after being warned a few times, you do confirm that it's correct, it is indeed a slave, and you now have maximal 2 * 5500 watt loads, provided that your battery and solar arrays are capable.
Next step is to add the third unit, on the same way, and after confirmation, the 4th.
You are a happy puppy.
You have "European style" electricity at your home and all your appliances are still working!!
yeey!!!
Now again the sad news.
Your 240v from the grid (+ 120v and - 120v) is not compatible with the 240v from the Revo II (240v- 0v)
If you would insert the wires back into the main breaker from the house.
(Please fire do turn off the Revo's, as those wires ar HOT, charged, life, power , electrocution danger)
You make connection between 2 incompatible systems.
You are still safe.
The main breaker is off.
The Revo's are off.
If you like to see a whole lot of fireworks....
You turn on the Revo II, all of them.
All your home electric things work.
Now turn on your main breaker that gets electricity from your grid....
Please do use special gloves and suit up, it will give many sparks.
If you are lucky the breaker won't even go on.
If you are not so lucky you make enough sparks for the next 10 Christmas....and blacked out the block.
Plus fried the 4 Revo II.
I know.
It's hard to understand that there can be 2 types of 240 volt.
Just as crazy as driving on the left or right lane is different in many countries...
You can get away with driving on the wrong lane.. quite some time.
It's not to be advised.
Your car works perfect.
So do all the other cars.
And yet....
Driving the " wrong" lane will get you into an accident sooner or later.
This is similar.
You are lucky to got away with mis using the "Europe style" in USA style.
Misusing is accidental.
Abusing is intended.
The Revo II is not intended for USA market.
It can do 240v, 60Hz, and is great to use in off grid situation.
Off grid, not connect to and for sure not feeding grid.
That would be abuse.
If you want to use?
Sure.
Use conversion system.
Like for the car I wrote about.
Left or right driving...
It will adjust the things you do to meet the rules and regulations on the road.
Like a smart Tesla who accept you want to drive on the left lane, bit makes sure you stay on the right lane....
It would put your inside of the car into VR, let you see your version of reality on the windows, and while you are sure you think you are driving on the left lane (your windshield aka monitor shows you) the car lets you navigate on the right lane, showing all obstacles along the way, correcting you when you want to pass, but won't show you.
Miracles...
Or scifi.
Well....
The Revo and your grid aren't that smart.
They just need conversion box.
They don't see eachother.
They do NOT connect directly with eachother.
For them, the other doesn't exist.
Only the conversion box.
And that one is compatible with both systems, doing the translation for them.
I'm still surprised how you didn't end up in a fountain of sparks yet!
And that they are "all" still functional.
What is wrong with the spare unit?
Replacement parts are available.
What was the error message you wrote about, blaming the Revo II for something?
What it if just informed you about the mishap?
Wrong settings / setup?
I have many, many events in the log, no errors.
Obviously, that error message is important!
It probably would confirm what we have been writing since the start.
Two incompatible systems that where as by wonder able to work together without getting damaged quickly.
As we are getting confused with the system here.
There is no L1 and L2.
Just N and L.
Ground? Just there for additional safety, it's not really used to feed any current.
Please remove the 4 left wires going into the Revo II.
Those are not used (for now)
The only thing that we need to be sure if is the power output of the Revo II.
Please remove (from left to right) the ground, Load, Neutral and ground from the next set.
If all is correct, you have 6 wires left.
Going from left to right:
AC Load AC Neutral,
Solar DC + and -
Battery DC + and -
What might me confusing:
neutral is not - it's 0.
Load is 240v
Now when we start with the minimal set of wires, we start to build up from there.
This should work perfectly.
I can not say if your electrical appliances will like it.
It highly dependents if they are suited for outside USA grid.
Not split phase, just good old 240 on one leg, 0 on the other.
You need to be sure.
Absolutely sure.
Your house doesn't need grid.
So, please turn off the main breaker from the house.
As there is no electricity, it's also safe to disconnect the ground.
Again, ground is not used.
It's additional safety if you happen to electrocute yourself.
The special safely breaker measures the leaking current to the ground, and when it's above threshold, it stops all power.
It is totally NOT used for any + or - AC or DC power.
So, just 6 wires.
2 x AC, 4 x DC.
Yes, in theory, the Revo II (not capable or able to be modified for split phase systems) can run without battery.
For reasons mentioned before, going to do parallel setup is not advisable, what if the panels from the master receive less then the slaves, way to less so it needs to stop..
Your slaves no longer have guidance, and might get out of sync.
60hz , one needs to go just a tad faster or slower then the other and you have collision.
There is something that makes the Hz.
It's not naturally there, it's created.
For starters, just one unit, parallel wiring can be there, (the "VGA" and red/black twisted cable) it doesn't interfere.
When you turn it on, it will give 240 volt, 60Hz out of the 2 wires.
When you measure, it doesn't matter what way , it's always 240v
There is no + or - to see.
(If you do, your meter is on DC setting, not AC)
Please see here for more explanation
Before you are going to feed your home with electricity, you should measure the power socket.
I don't know split phase that somehow seems to use ground.
To be sure I would measure all 3 outputs on every possible connection on DC and AC setting.
(Low power setting, probably 20v DC and 200VAC)
All reading should be 0.00
Only then we are sure that there is only coming electricity from the Revo II, and nothing and nowhere else.
This is just to confirm what power the Revo II is providing.
I'm 100% sure it will give 240v.
No + or -, that's only used for DC.
One leg, the neutral, you can hold with your hand.
I will not advise to test this with bare hands, but use your multimeter and measure from the soil to the neutral.
It should give -0.00 reading
(It does on my cheap meter)
Ow it's time to connect your home with the Revo II.
Be advised, all appliances that are not build to be used outside USA system will probably be fried.
Smoke
No longer working.
Do NOT blain me if that happens.
Use the manuals to confirm if they can be used for "Europe system".
One thing that is safe, is a glowing light bulb not led or other technical complicated stuff, just your good old light bulb.
You can use this to confirm functionality.
After this, it's just the question what do you want?
240 volt is not just 240 volt.
There are 2 incomplete systems that provide 240 volt.
One with +120 and - 120 and an other that have 240 and 0
0 is N or neutral.
No negative 120 volts, just 0.
You can use Google to get deep understanding between the 2 systems.
Using 50 and 60 Hz is also not going to work at the same time.
Just as much as the +/-120 to make 240 and plain 240 is not going to work.
Congratulations ?
You just finished your Revo II installation.
When you have installed the battery (your 4* 16 LiFePO4, in parallel so it is seen as one large battery), you can start building them up onto parallel mode. All 4 or 5, depending on your plans.
Now you have 4 or 5 X 5.5kw Revo II ready to take on the loads of your home.
You have confirmed that all your appliances are compatible.
You now flip the switch to make connection to your home.
Mind you, the main breaker of the house is still turned off.
Best to remove the 2 wires out, just to be absolutely sure.
The ground wire is disconnected at its base, This is the location where the grid enters your home.
You are disconnected, cut off from the grid.
Back to the Revo II.
If all settings are OK, you start by connecting the master to your home.
Yes, flipping the breaker that disconnected the Revo II from your home.
Next step is to confirm the settings on the second unit.
It should be slave.
If so, it is OK to connect this with the other by flipping the breaker to contact.
It it thinks it's a master also..
You have magic smoke.
Assuming that after being warned a few times, you do confirm that it's correct, it is indeed a slave, and you now have maximal 2 * 5500 watt loads, provided that your battery and solar arrays are capable.
Next step is to add the third unit, on the same way, and after confirmation, the 4th.
You are a happy puppy.
You have "European style" electricity at your home and all your appliances are still working!!
yeey!!!
Now again the sad news.
Your 240v from the grid (+ 120v and - 120v) is not compatible with the 240v from the Revo II (240v- 0v)
If you would insert the wires back into the main breaker from the house.
(Please fire do turn off the Revo's, as those wires ar HOT, charged, life, power , electrocution danger)
You make connection between 2 incompatible systems.
You are still safe.
The main breaker is off.
The Revo's are off.
If you like to see a whole lot of fireworks....
You turn on the Revo II, all of them.
All your home electric things work.
Now turn on your main breaker that gets electricity from your grid....
Please do use special gloves and suit up, it will give many sparks.
If you are lucky the breaker won't even go on.
If you are not so lucky you make enough sparks for the next 10 Christmas....and blacked out the block.
Plus fried the 4 Revo II.
I know.
It's hard to understand that there can be 2 types of 240 volt.
Just as crazy as driving on the left or right lane is different in many countries...
You can get away with driving on the wrong lane.. quite some time.
It's not to be advised.
Your car works perfect.
So do all the other cars.
And yet....
Driving the " wrong" lane will get you into an accident sooner or later.
This is similar.
You are lucky to got away with mis using the "Europe style" in USA style.
Misusing is accidental.
Abusing is intended.
The Revo II is not intended for USA market.
It can do 240v, 60Hz, and is great to use in off grid situation.
Off grid, not connect to and for sure not feeding grid.
That would be abuse.
If you want to use?
Sure.
Use conversion system.
Like for the car I wrote about.
Left or right driving...
It will adjust the things you do to meet the rules and regulations on the road.
Like a smart Tesla who accept you want to drive on the left lane, bit makes sure you stay on the right lane....
It would put your inside of the car into VR, let you see your version of reality on the windows, and while you are sure you think you are driving on the left lane (your windshield aka monitor shows you) the car lets you navigate on the right lane, showing all obstacles along the way, correcting you when you want to pass, but won't show you.
Miracles...
Or scifi.
Well....
The Revo and your grid aren't that smart.
They just need conversion box.
They don't see eachother.
They do NOT connect directly with eachother.
For them, the other doesn't exist.
Only the conversion box.
And that one is compatible with both systems, doing the translation for them.
I'm still surprised how you didn't end up in a fountain of sparks yet!
And that they are "all" still functional.
What is wrong with the spare unit?
Replacement parts are available.
What was the error message you wrote about, blaming the Revo II for something?
What it if just informed you about the mishap?
Wrong settings / setup?
I have many, many events in the log, no errors.
Obviously, that error message is important!
It probably would confirm what we have been writing since the start.
Two incompatible systems that where as by wonder able to work together without getting damaged quickly.