Very new to solar but started purchasing items, not sure of the final specs of the whole system.

[Hedges]

Is it Safe or could it Fail ... I guess you say yes. And I can agree with that.

What would be a better way to accomplish this idea?

I had the thought you might wire grid to lower element, inverter to upper (or vice versa.)
Possibly both 120V source, possibly grid 240V.

The idea being a DPDT relay could enable one or the other, without every connecting both together.
You would need to make sure thermostat and over-temperature switches controlled both.

 

[MrM1]

I had the thought you might wire grid to lower element, inverter to upper (or vice versa.)
Possibly both 120V source, possibly grid 240V.

The idea being a DPDT relay could enable one or the other, without every connecting both together.
You would need to make sure thermostat and over-temperature switches controlled both.

I'm running it either 240v grid both upper and lower OR 120v inverter both upper and lower. The control point that switches 240v or 120v in my DPDT.

 

[kromc5]

Took sometime this morning to get started, since inveter 1 has been off since the water heater failure.

 

[kromc5]

Homedepot called and stated they cannot get me a replacement for my Rheem due to supply issues. They say rheem refused the order for my replacement. Been on hold for some time now with Rheem, lowes stated min 35 day lead time on hybrid water heaters.

Called dropped at 53 mins : (

 

[Supervstech]

Homedepot called and stated they cannot get me a replacement for my Rheem due to supply issues. They say rheem refused the order for my replacement. Been on hold for some time now with Rheem, lowes stated min 35 day lead time on hybrid water heaters.

Called dropped at 53 mins : (

Two are in stock at the Home Depot by me…

 

[kromc5]

Two are in stock at the Home Depot by me…

Does yours have the 80 gallon? Seems 50's are everywhere but that is to small for us.

 

[kromc5]

After another hour I hung up on rheem as they lady on support kept calling me a liar. Rheem even had the homedepot managers contact information I asked them why they are telling me Rheem is canceling my order with them. Rheem said they never did so and 3 times she stated I was lying. What a disaster, two employees with homedepot tried for a week to get a replacement and they gave up and refunded me stating rheem would not allow an order to be placed.

 

[MrM1]

Does yours have the 80 gallon? Seems 50's are everywhere but that is to small for us.

What about buy 2. Although that would kinda defeat the purpose.

 

[kromc5]

What about buy 2. Although that would kinda defeat the purpose.

They may be the only option at this point and would provide so redundancy.

 

[MrM1]

I saw recently (some where) that early in 2022 (if it hasn't happened yet) that Rheem is going to release a 120v version. Not sure of the size, but it caught my attention... Well until I'm seeing all your woes

 

[kromc5]

I saw recently (some where) that early in 2022 (if it hasn't happened yet) that Rheem is going to release a 120v version. Not sure of the size, but it caught my attention... Well until I'm seeing all your woes

I'm just hoping it was a lemon but but the support has been terrible so I'm not sure which unit to try next.

 

[kromc5]

Closed to setting up the sbu settings for charging from the grid and hit a problem. Want to make sure I'm reading this correctly but I want to set option 12 to 51.5v to start charging when it drops below that. But it only allows 46v soon as I enter to moved to the next option it defaults back to 46v.

Update: talked with Eric at signaturesolar and he was very helpful. Option 21 has to be set first which I moved to 48 max. Then I could change option 12 to 51v.

 

[kromc5]

Connected the grid to the inverter and no issues so far, wish I could turn the charge to 52v range but 51.2 is the max. I talked to Eric about the eg4 chargers. They are not adjustable but could be a backup solution since they would run fine on the generator.

 

[kromc5]

Moved one small 15 amp over but wanted to double check with everyone before testing. So the n/g screw was removed, ground connected. Neutral from the inveter is connected to the sub panel. The 15 amp only powers the the bathroom light and fan.

 

[kromc5]

I held on a testing as I remeber reading lontime ago the 12k needed n/g bond but have not found that in the manual. Still reseaching if this is correct or not.

 

[MrM1]

I held on a testing as I remeber reading lontime ago the 12k needed n/g bond but have not found that in the manual. Still reseaching if this is correct or not.

I'm speculating, but seems If you were using the 12k as a stand alone off grid inverter you'd bring in the L1/L2 G and N into a main panel and bond N/G there.

But if was part of a grid support set up where grid was connected on the input side for pass thru, internal charger operation and grid / inverter "blending" I'm not sure where the bonds would be.

 

[TEV]

Moved one small 15 amp over but wanted to double check with everyone before testing. So the n/g screw was removed, ground connected. Neutral from the inveter is connected to the sub panel. The 15 amp only powers the the bathroom light and fan.

That white wire on the neutral output must be the same size as the other wires (6 AWG for your 12KW model), while on the input it's just a ground wire, on the output it's the Neutral wire, and all your 120V loads will use it.

 

[kromc5]

I'm speculating, but seems If you were using the 12k as a stand alone off grid inverter you'd bring in the L1/L2 G and N into a main panel and bond N/G there.

But if was part of a grid support set up where grid was connected on the input side for pass thru, internal charger operation and grid / inverter "blending" I'm not sure where the bonds would be.

That white wire on the neutral output must be the same size as the other wires (6 AWG for your 12KW model), while on the input it's just a ground wire, on the output it's the Neutral wire, and all your 120V loads will use it.

I have been trying to further research but not really found anything, I may give it a try. One of the inveters out the box had a neutral issue and sent 240v on to one leg. Board replacement fixed that, but I always want to try do everything correctly before testing. I will change out the N wire as well. I'm out of 6awg again and had to order more. I also found some decently priced 6 awg in white also and ordered.

 

[TEV]

eg4 chargers. They are not adjustable but could be a backup solution since they would run fine on the generator.

The ones that they have right now, are only 17A (900W) instead of 25A that's on the label, you will need a lot of them considering your consumption
See this thread: https://diysolarforum.com/threads/eg4-48-volt-battery-charger.30896/

 

[Zwy]

I held on a testing as I remeber reading lontime ago the 12k needed n/g bond but have not found that in the manual. Still reseaching if this is correct or not.

You install the N-G bond ahead of the inverter in a main panel. This is the first disconnect device after the meter. The inverter will pass thru ground not bonded to neutral when in grid bypass mode.

The inverter will automatically bond N-G when under inverter power. It is the source and where N-G needs to be.