schneider xw pro air filter service?

[pvdude]

Not sure if I am supposed to clean the air filter in the inverters on any type of schedule.
User guide only says to change the filter if the inverter overheats and shuts down due to the filter being clogged.
Any XW-Pro owners here ever seen a filter so dirty it blocked airflow?

 

[Philip53]

Yep. I don't have a Pro, but rather an 11 year old XW6048. I originally added a Midnite Solar E panel under my XW, so the filter screen was blocked from causual view. As I am now adding a 3rd MPPT along with another array, I was back inside doing the necessary additional wiring, and saw that the filter was completely blocked. Like duh!, eleven years of constant operation would do that. After cleaning, I had much better airflow and a cooler running unit. I also placed a dual blower, variable speed computer fan on top of the cabinet to help exhaust the hot air. I set this up on a timer so that it will run only during the solar hours. With the additional array, I expect output now to run at max for most of the day, I thought the dual fans would be a good idea.

 

[romangeek]

It all depends on the environment, if it is dusty or not. Mine is in the basement and that is relatively dust free so I imagine I will only have to clean it once per year at the most. If you have the mini-pdp then that is no fun to get at! I was thinking that if it is dirty after a year, I may add my own filter to the slits at the bottom of the mini-pdp and have easy access.

 

[pvdude]

Cleaned the filters on the XW Pro's for the first time today.
Inverters have been in service for about 3 years, installed in a shed.
Did not look plugged up, just dirty.

High temperature here will be 96°f in a few days,
so cleaning should provide all the air flow possible.

I used compressed air first, then washed them in a sink.
Probably not going to wait 3 years until the next cleaning!