William - yes, waiting is usually waiting for grid to come back within spec or 
for DC voltage to get to start.  260 should be plenty.  208V with neutral 
should be fine without adjusting the jumpers.  Have you measured the AC voltage 
at the inverter terminals?

May want to contact service for this one.  1-877-697-6283.

Best regards –
Mike

From: William Miller <will...@millersolar.com>
Sent: Tuesday, April 23, 2019 12:40 PM
To: Harry Mahon <michael.ma...@sma-america.com>
Cc: RE-wrenches <re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org>
Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] SMA Micro-grid

Mike:

Thanks for the reply. Good information.

The AC system is 208. The data sheet indicates that for 208 the PV startup is 
220. Today we have 260 VDC. That should be enough!?

I checked EMT he AC frequency in case it was on shift mode. It is right at 
60.00.

Still in waiting mode. I had always thought “waiting” was for grid reconnect 
timeout...

William

On Apr 23, 2019, at 8:47 AM, Harry Mahon 
<michael.ma...@sma-america.com<mailto:michael.ma...@sma-america.com>> wrote:
William –
Waiting mode means the DC voltage is below the inverter start.  For SB 4000-12, 
that would be 285 VDC (and will work to 250VDC once that is hit).

If you knock on the inverter lid, the display will cycle and you will see the 
DC voltage displayed.

If the yellow LED is not on, this should not be an AC side issue.

I do not think the “Backup Mode” parameter would be the cause, but if the 
voltage check shows well above PVstart, it would be worth a call to service.  
If the inverter was left in on grid mode, then it will work when the SI is 
creating a micro-grid with frequency within UL1741 limits.  If the system is 
off-grid, I would think the SB would have been set to off-grid mode rather than 
enabling Backup Mode to “on all” that allows switching from on-grid to off-grid 
parameter sets by RS485 command.

Best-
Mike

From: RE-wrenches 
<re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org<mailto:re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org>>
 On Behalf Of William Miller
Sent: Monday, April 22, 2019 6:54 PM
To: RE-wrenches 
<re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org<mailto:re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org>>
Subject: [RE-wrenches] SMA Micro-grid

Friends:

I am working on an AC coupled SMA system in an off-grid setting.  We have an 
SB4000-12 that was disconnected for a number of years and we reconnected it.  
The inverter is stuck in the waiting mode and  will not generate power.  The 
Sunny Islands and Sunny Boys are connected via an RS485 communication system.

I suspect there is a programming step I have not yet accomplished.  I recall 
some years ago I programmed the other Sunny Boys for off-grid operation.  I 
can’t find anything in any of the manuals about how to check the programming.  
I also suspect SAM tech support talked me through this and the information may 
not be published.

Does this ring a bell with any of you?  Any advice?

Thanks in advance.

William Miller

Miller Solar
17395 Oak Road, Atascadero, CA 93422
805-438-5600
www.millersolar.com<https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.millersolar.com%2F&data=02%7C01%7CMichael.Mahon%40sma-america.com%7C814937113e444889a87208d6c81b26b0%7Ca059b96c28294d1188374cc1ff84735d%7C0%7C0%7C636916416278614333&sdata=ccnu0LEvaiSaHYhls5v3ClRB4xQMDA8jpy5RIevjkcs%3D&reserved=0>
CA Lic. 773985

Quote of the day:  “If there is a job you hate, get really,
really good at it. Maybe you will hate it less.“ W. Miller

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