Safety question regarding removing the ARC fault sensor from an H6 inverter.

[traymor]

I have been getting a persistent ARC Fault trip on one of my Delta H6 inverters. Signature Solar has a you tube video out showing a possible work around for this problem. The comments on YouTube are off so I'm looking for some feedback on doing this. Seems like wrapping the sensor ring in electrical tape would be a good idea before closing the cover back up. Any other tips or warnings would be greatly appreciated. I replaced the problematic inverter with a new spare, and it has been working fine. The fault code showed up on the first day of a new install and tripped every few hours. This install has three inverters each receiving a max of 5200 watts and 6 evenly matched strings of panels.
Here is the YouTube video with the work around.

Thanks!

 

[FilterGuy]

The modification looks straightforward. I don't see anything that would be of concern for damaging the unit. All it is doing is taking the wires out of the AFCI sensor loop. The loop is still functional, but since the PV wires don't go through the loop, the detector will never detect a fault.

The question I have is "Why are there AFCI trips in the first place?" Before I blamed it on nuisance trips, I would make damn sure all of the connections along the PV lines are rock solid.

If they are nuisance trips, that is a big condemnation of the MPP system.....

BTW: Have you been able to correlate what is happening when it trips? Were you flipping the PV disconnect?

 

[traymor]

I did check all the wiring and connectors and then switched the inverter to another string and had the same issue. I'm relatively sure the issue is in the inverter. I guess I'm not the only one with this issue, hence the video?

The trips just happened after an hour or so of normal operation with no trigger cause apparent.

I did tape up the sensor loop and zip-tie it in place, I don't really like to leave things rattling around.

Thanks for the reply.

 

[Casa81]

I just finished a 4 each Delta H6 inverter system with 10 each 445w inverters with two strings connected to each inverter. I had the same arc fault issue on 2 of the inverters and swapped the strings from the other inverters with the same issue. Did the mod and it took care of the problem. However I am having issues with all four of the inverters stayed on-grid. I seem to be able to keep 3 on-grid all the time but not four. The problem moves from inverter to inverter although two of them seem to go off grid more than the other two. Looking for suggestions. They seem to be throwing a grid overvoltage error when it happens but I have been monitoring the grid with an oscilloscope and the grid seems to be stable at 250 volts. Just seems strange that it moves from inverter to inverter. I have a similar two inverter system that has been running the same inverters for 6 months with no issues. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[traymor]

Over the course of the last 10 months my friends and I have installed three 3 inverters systems using the H6 inverters. We have kept the DC input at less than 5000 watts per inverter and followed proper grounding. Over the last 8 weeks four of the 9 have gone out. Two actually blew chips apart and two just keep throwing faults. Mine are being replaced with Schnieder XW Pro's. One array is going to keep using the H6's until we blow them all and the third array will go to Sunny Boy. As far as the H6 goes, I guess we know why the company went out of business. Hopefully those of you who bought through Ebay got the warranty. Sorry no solutions from our experience but please update if you find anything out, we have lots of spare parts!

 

[lukehyde]

May I access the video? I’m having an annoying arc fault on one of my delta h6. I’d like to know what the afci looks like and modify it.

 

[lukehyde]

I have been getting a persistent ARC Fault trip on one of my Delta H6 inverters. Signature Solar has a you tube video out showing a possible work around for this problem. The comments on YouTube are off so I'm looking for some feedback on doing this. Seems like wrapping the sensor ring in electrical tape would be a good idea before closing the cover back up. Any other tips or warnings would be greatly appreciated. I replaced the problematic inverter with a new spare, and it has been working fine. The fault code showed up on the first day of a new install and tripped every few hours. This install has three inverters each receiving a max of 5200 watts and 6 evenly matched strings of panels.
Here is the YouTube video with the work around.

Thanks!

I can’t see the video, can you please share a picture of what to do to the sensor. What does the sensor look like?

 

[lukehyde]

I just finished a 4 each Delta H6 inverter system with 10 each 445w inverters with two strings connected to each inverter. I had the same arc fault issue on 2 of the inverters and swapped the strings from the other inverters with the same issue. Did the mod and it took care of the problem. However I am having issues with all four of the inverters stayed on-grid. I seem to be able to keep 3 on-grid all the time but not four. The problem moves from inverter to inverter although two of them seem to go off grid more than the other two. Looking for suggestions. They seem to be throwing a grid overvoltage error when it happens but I have been monitoring the grid with an oscilloscope and the grid seems to be stable at 250 volts. Just seems strange that it moves from inverter to inverter. I have a similar two inverter system that has been running the same inverters for 6 months with no issues. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Please share a pic of what or how you covered the afci. I’ve looked online for a while and can’t find any information, as well as the video is unable to be viewed.

 

[Drprez]