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Sol-Ark and generator issue/ suggestions please!

SCmountainman

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Aug 28, 2021
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Greater Appalachia
New to the Forum but long time reader of the message boards. I am looking for suggestions on my system. My current Crapsman 5kw 240v generator has too much THD to play along nicely with my Sol-Ark inverter. (Generator is also excessively loud even in an enclosure and is very thirsty) Went through troubleshooting with Sol-Ark engineers and generator is not going to work properly. I cannot get it to charge over 20 amps to my batteries before HZ starts walking out of range and even at lower charge amperages the inverter does not like the fluctuations of the generator and cycles off the grid input after 20-30 min. Generator is in tip top shape with only 20 hrs run time.

So I want to get an inverter generator and cannot afford the big Honda 240v 7kw inverter generator, and I prefer to go with a smaller 120v inverter style generator for sake of noise and fuel consumption. I don’t need huge power, just looking for around 30 amp charge capacity for batteries. My daily energy consumption is about 5kwh. Panels keep up very nicely. Just days upon days of clouds and rain force me to go to fossil fuel or if I’ve used a lot of power tools after peak sun hours.

My questions are;
Do I use an auto transformer to create 240v from a 120v generator?
Do I use a buck/boost industrial transformer to create 240v from a 120v generator?
Do I use 2x13amp IOTA brand battery chargers directly to the batteries? (Will the sol-ark be ok with this)?
Is there another creative option that I have overlooked? Just want to be 100% safe and keep the Sol-Ark happy.

Thanks in advance!

Specs, 8kw sol-ark,10kwh lifepo4 48v battery bank, 1725w array
 
The methods your looking at like the transformer will work but is very inefficient...
 
Do I use 2x13amp IOTA brand battery chargers directly to the batteries? (Will the sol-ark be ok with this)?
Is there another creative option that I have overlooked? Just want to be 100% safe and keep the Sol-Ark happy.

If there is a charger that excepts this noisy AC and converts it to good stable 55-56Vdc then you can charge the battery from generator.
Even can use more of this chargers like 2x 2kW unit with a 5kW generator to the LFP battery.
The only thing important is that they have to have at least CC charging (stop charging when battery reached 55V). (CV so absorption is not needed for LFP)
 
Thanks for the replies! The IOTA chargers have a turbo chip available that is designed for off grid applications, (basically it bulk/floats to 54.4vdc). The chargers pull 900w MAX each on the 120 side. I am thinking of stacking 2 together and powering from a Honda EU2200 generator. Then I would have around 1400 watts @54.4vdc. Chargers guarantee a clean DC charging current regardless of the AC input as long as voltage is in spec. Is this more efficient than using buck/boost transformer and having to use a larger wattage 120v generator? I will retire the 5kw generator to the storage shed just for running my welder or air compressor.
 
New to the Forum but long time reader of the message boards. I am looking for suggestions on my system. My current Crapsman 5kw 240v generator has too much THD to play along nicely with my Sol-Ark inverter. (Generator is also excessively loud even in an enclosure and is very thirsty) Went through troubleshooting with Sol-Ark engineers and generator is not going to work properly. I cannot get it to charge over 20 amps to my batteries before HZ starts walking out of range and even at lower charge amperages the inverter does not like the fluctuations of the generator and cycles off the grid input after 20-30 min. Generator is in tip top shape with only 20 hrs run time.

So I want to get an inverter generator and cannot afford the big Honda 240v 7kw inverter generator, and I prefer to go with a smaller 120v inverter style generator for sake of noise and fuel consumption. I don’t need huge power, just looking for around 30 amp charge capacity for batteries. My daily energy consumption is about 5kwh. Panels keep up very nicely. Just days upon days of clouds and rain force me to go to fossil fuel or if I’ve used a lot of power tools after peak sun hours.

My questions are;
Do I use an auto transformer to create 240v from a 120v generator?
Do I use a buck/boost industrial transformer to create 240v from a 120v generator?
Do I use 2x13amp IOTA brand battery chargers directly to the batteries? (Will the sol-ark be ok with this)?
Is there another creative option that I have overlooked? Just want to be 100% safe and keep the Sol-Ark happy.

Thanks in advance!

Specs, 8kw sol-ark,10kwh lifepo4 48v battery bank, 1725w array

Whoever imports a container of these, good ones is going to do allright.
 
Last edited:
New to the Forum but long time reader of the message boards. I am looking for suggestions on my system. My current Crapsman 5kw 240v generator has too much THD to play along nicely with my Sol-Ark inverter. (Generator is also excessively loud even in an enclosure and is very thirsty) Went through troubleshooting with Sol-Ark engineers and generator is not going to work properly. I cannot get it to charge over 20 amps to my batteries before HZ starts walking out of range and even at lower charge amperages the inverter does not like the fluctuations of the generator and cycles off the grid input after 20-30 min. Generator is in tip top shape with only 20 hrs run time.

So I want to get an inverter generator and cannot afford the big Honda 240v 7kw inverter generator, and I prefer to go with a smaller 120v inverter style generator for sake of noise and fuel consumption. I don’t need huge power, just looking for around 30 amp charge capacity for batteries. My daily energy consumption is about 5kwh. Panels keep up very nicely. Just days upon days of clouds and rain force me to go to fossil fuel or if I’ve used a lot of power tools after peak sun hours.

My questions are;
Do I use an auto transformer to create 240v from a 120v generator?
Do I use a buck/boost industrial transformer to create 240v from a 120v generator?
Do I use 2x13amp IOTA brand battery chargers directly to the batteries? (Will the sol-ark be ok with this)?
Is there another creative option that I have overlooked? Just want to be 100% safe and keep the Sol-Ark happy.

Thanks in advance!

Specs, 8kw sol-ark,10kwh lifepo4 48v battery bank, 1725w array
did you get a solution to your problem? I have the exact same goal so I was wondering if you got sorted out and don't mind sharing what you did to make it work. THanks
 
did you get a solution to your problem? I have the exact same goal so I was wondering if you got sorted out and don't mind sharing what you did to make it work. THanks
Honda EU3000 and 2-Iota DLS 54-13 converter/chargers wired in parallel. Chargers are connected when needed through an Anderson SB150 connector to my terminal block.
I have added batteries and panels since I originally posted. Up to 5600 watts of panel now and 36kWh of LiFePo4. Hope this helps.
 
$2300 for the gen...ouch! was hoping to spend less. Any reason why you didn't go with a much cheaper option such as this one, which, according to manufacturer, stays under 3% THD: iGen4500DFc Inverter Generator
3% THD should work without any other filtering equipment...I think?
 
$2300 for the gen...ouch! was hoping to spend less. Any reason why you didn't go with a much cheaper option such as this one, which, according to manufacturer, stays under 3% THD: iGen4500DFc Inverter Generator
3% THD should work without any other filtering equipment...I think?
Buy once, cry once. Honda generators are the quietest, most fuel efficient and longest lasting. I’ve dealt with my share of chinese junk generators and finally got tired of it. No comparison to Honda products. Generator is not a place to cut cost IMHO. If it rains/snows for a week and your generator goes down, you’ll have a bad time. It happened to me during a multi day snow storm with my old 2kW champion generator, the ignition went out. Then my 5kW craftsman generator had to pick up the slack and it’s co sensor went out. That was the final straw. I bought the Honda as soon as I could make it to the store.

Anyhow, if you’re using chargers from a 120v generator instead of trying a 240v generator straight to the sol ark THD will not matter. The IOTA chargers don’t care about dirty incoming power, they have a wide voltage working range. The DC output is very clean and regulated, regardless of AC input. No AC power filtering required.

My 2 chargers pull 1500-1700 watts from the generator (depending on temps and battery voltage) so I could run it on a smaller generator. EU3000 is just my choice. Runs around 1/2 loaded. That’s the sweet spot for fuel efficiency, longevity and low noise. Still have headroom on the generator to be able to add another charger down the road if I need to.
 
The problem isn't your generator, the problem is the cheaply made over-priced Sol-Ark.

I have a crappy 2004 Coleman 5500 watt unit with a brigs engine and my Sunny Islands work just fine with it. All standard (non-inverter) generators put out noisy waveform power and fluctuate frequency when loaded and unloaded. A properly designed and robust battery inverter should be able to handle almost any generator input regardless of how sloppy it is.

If the sol-ark inverter can handle some slop, you can fix your generator's sagging frequency problem by adjusting the governor on the throttle. There should be a screw there. Plug in a frequency meter (any good multimeter should give you a Hz setting), load the generator down to where you want it, and adjust that screw so the engine holds it at the correct frequency. (better to adjust to the low side of the acceptable range because its going to speed up when you unload it)

You could probably also install a capacitor on the generator to help attenuate noise, as well as some Ferrite rings to knock out the smaller high frequency stuff. In fact, you might want to check the small capacitor on your generator to make sure its not blown.
 
based on Sol-Ark manual: "THD of less than 15% is preferred but not required". To be fair to Sol-Ark, this is good advice for any electronics, not only their inverters.
So unless the gen is very old, out of wack or has a blown cap like MurphyGuy just mentioned, the Sol-Ark should be able to handle it. I was starting to look into a low THD gen (<5%) but they do cost a lot more than the standard <15% THD gen. I'm thinking of getting a slightly bigger gen so I can run it at 50% of max load which should give me a good enough THD without burning too much gas.
Thanks to MurphyGuy for the technical pointers on how to fix a gen sagging frequency. Very good to know.
 
Thanks to MurphyGuy for the technical pointers on how to fix a gen sagging frequency. Very good to know.

You're welcome.. Just make sure you're adjusting the governor screw and not the carb's idle screw. Two different screws, two different functions.
 
My generator wouldn’t clean up no matter what I did to the governer screw. It was almost new at the time. Would stay at 60hz until I loaded it up past 25 amps on the DC side. Set the HZ with it loaded to 40 amps on the DC side and worked for 5-10 minutes until the engine and generator head start warming up and HZ goes all over the place again. A 2019 model generator. So probably less resilient than older models.

Anyhow I figured out a method that works splendidly. Y’all have fun screwing around with junk generators. Peace!

BTW when on a 240v generator that dirty power passes through the sol ark to your appliances. And you can’t set the HZ as easy because a large appliance or hvac load may start and change the load on generator. Which screws everything up and sol ark will drop the generator input. Not as simple as setting HZ for a constant load level.
 
My generator wouldn’t clean up no matter what I did to the governer screw. It was almost new at the time. Would stay at 60hz until I loaded it up past 25 amps on the DC side. Set the HZ with it loaded to 40 amps on the DC side and worked for 5-10 minutes until the engine and generator head start warming up and HZ goes all over the place again. A 2019 model generator. So probably less resilient than older models.

Anyhow I figured out a method that works splendidly. Y’all have fun screwing around with junk generators. Peace!

BTW when on a 240v generator that dirty power passes through the sol ark to your appliances. And you can’t set the HZ as easy because a large appliance or hvac load may start and change the load on generator. Which screws everything up and sol ark will drop the generator input. Not as simple as setting HZ for a constant load level.
Well, my goal is to use the generator only to charge the batteries when they are below a certain charge not to run anything with it. Still looking into it though, not sure if that's possible. In any case, nothing is set in stone at this point which is why I'm here. Everyone has different needs and way of solving a problem and it not a bad idea to listen to everyone. It's not about screwing around with junk generators. I live in south florida so I don't need to pay more to get the best of the best (Honda is really good I give you that) like you do. My generator might run once maybe twice a year if a hurricane strikes or the grid goes out for another reason. Worst case scenario, the generator stops working, well, not a huge deal. It's not like I'll be stuck in two feet of snow with no heating and blocked roads everywhere.
I do appreciate your feedback and everyone else's.
 
My generator wouldn’t clean up no matter what I did to the governer screw. It was almost new at the time. Would stay at 60hz until I loaded it up past 25 amps on the DC side. Set the HZ with it loaded to 40 amps on the DC side and worked for 5-10 minutes until the engine and generator head start warming up and HZ goes all over the place again. A 2019 model generator. So probably less resilient than older models.
If generator acts poorly when its warmed up, it means you either have a choke problem, or your carb is dirty.
You should run non-ethanol gas in them, or convert to run on natural gas like I did.
 
Well, my goal is to use the generator only to charge the batteries when they are below a certain charge not to run anything with it. Still looking into it though, not sure if that's possible. In any case, nothing is set in stone at this point which is why I'm here. Everyone has different needs and way of solving a problem and it not a bad idea to listen to everyone. It's not about screwing around with junk generators. I live in south florida so I don't need to pay more to get the best of the best (Honda is really good I give you that) like you do. My generator might run once maybe twice a year if a hurricane strikes or the grid goes out for another reason. Worst case scenario, the generator stops working, well, not a huge deal. It's not like I'll be stuck in two feet of snow with no heating and blocked roads everywhere.
I do appreciate your feedback and everyone else's.
I’m 100% off grid. My situation is completely different. My generator gets used anywhere from 20-100 hours per month, weather depending.
If you go through the sol-ark with a 240 v generator the generator is running the load and charging.
As I posted above any generator will work to charge batteries through a charger.

I thought you were running a generator through the sol-ark generator/grid input and that you were off grid. My apologies.
 
I’m 100% off grid. My situation is completely different. My generator gets used anywhere from 20-100 hours per month, weather depending.
If you go through the sol-ark with a 240 v generator the generator is running the load and charging.
As I posted above any generator will work to charge batteries through a charger.

I thought you were running a generator through the sol-ark generator/grid input and that you were off grid. My apologies.
no need to apologize. Appreciate the info and suggestions
 
If generator acts poorly when its warmed up, it means you either have a choke problem, or your carb is dirty.
You should run non-ethanol gas in them, or convert to run on natural gas like I did.
Glad you’re so intelligent, what would we do without you.
Generator head power gets dirty as the windings heat up. No engine issues. Steady RPM just a junky cheap winding/stator. Even whipped out the oscilloscope and tach to check everything when I was trying to get the generator to behave. Some junk can’t be fixed.

No small engines get ethanol around here. Unless they’re tuned and designed to run on 100% ethanol. Like my race chainsaw.

Thanks for the helpful tip anyhow.
 
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