Hi Drake: I was recently troubleshooting a system with Sanyo 210s and an SB-4000US inverter. The installation worked most of the time, but would blow the 1A GFCI fuse when it rained, due to humiidity. Replacing the fuse would resolve the issue, until it rained again. Finding the fault was difficult, but with a megger tester, I was able to isolate the issue to the SB combiner box. When I connected the megger inside the combiner box, the test revealed a visible arc occuring on the surface of the SMA combiner box circuit board. The circuitboard had been damaged by the tip of a screw driver during installation. I had been called in to service the project after the original installer went out of business.
Nick Soleil Project Manager Advanced Alternative Energy Solutions, LLC PO Box 657 Petaluma, CA 94953 Cell: 707-321-2937 Office: 707-789-9537 Fax: 707-769-9037 ________________________________ From: Drake <drake.chamber...@redwoodalliance.org> To: gilliga...@gmail.com; RE-wrenches <re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org> Sent: Sun, November 7, 2010 5:19:12 PM Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] SB Power during countdown Gilligan, Below is the data you asked for: A) Measure and Record DC Voltage between Positive and Negative (VOC). 0.0 to 0.1 B) Measure and Record DC Voltage between Positive and Ground. 0.0 to 0.1 C) Measure and Record DC Voltage between Negative and Ground. 503 VDC No sign of rain. No evidence of a ground fault. If a fault exists, it is intermittent. The system worked fine for a week with the new inverter. Since it went down, I've done repeated checks and found no evidence of a fault. Fortunately the system is close by. There is one string of 10, Sanyo 210s. The installation is 9 months old. The only J-Box is in the attic and is dry and wired very cleanly. The system worked great until a few weeks ago. I will check the rotation of wheel on the meter again, when we get the GFP fuses in. I think the inverter was producing power. No Spark on the DC wires. Note: The first inverter did NOT blow the GFP fuse. I worked intermittently. Has anyone had problems with Sanyo modules faulting? Thanks, Drake
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