I can second that it is probably the generator And a 4K generator does not have an off a lot of headroom to charge batteries as well as carry the loads in the house
Put a fast reacting meter on it and see what the voltage is as the generator goes up and down charging and not charging I have plenty of other ideas but not enough time to cover than all Bob Ellison > On Dec 15, 2020, at 3:01 PM, Roy Butler <r...@four-winds-energy.com> wrote: > > Dave, > > You're not far from me, so I know that the temperature at the site has been > well below freezing at night. > After running a series of cheap generators here for many years I can tell you > that there's likely water built up at the bottom of the fuel tank. > This freezes and constricts fuel flow which of course affects generator rpm > and thus voltage and frequency. > > So check for that but as everyone else has said so well, it's the generator. > Roy Butler > Four Winds Renewable Energy, LLC > 8902 Route 46, Arkport, NY 14807 > 607-324-9747 www.four-winds-energy.com > > Education is when you read the fine print; experience is what you get when > you don’t. > > Although no trees were killed in the sending of this message, > a large number of electrons were terribly inconvenienced. > > >> On 12/15/2020 2:17 PM, Dave Tedeyan wrote: >> From what I understand, they have had the system for a little over a year, >> and have not done any maintenance on the generator. >> I was also more suspicious of the generator, and was going to try turning >> down the charging amps to see if the generator will work better not being so >> loaded. >> >> Dave, do you know if the Conext will log an error if the relays have >> actually been damaged? I am hoping that there will be something in the error >> logs that will help identify whether there is an inverter issue now, or >> whether the issue lies with the generator input. >> >> Thanks! >> -Dave >> >> Dave Tedeyan, PE >> Senior Engineer | Taitem Engineering, PC >> >> 110 South Albany Street | Ithaca, NY 14850 >> o. 607.277.1118 x121 f. 607.277.2119 >> www.taitem.com >> >> Solar • Sustainability • Energy • Design >> Certified B-Corporation since 2013 >> >> >>> On Tue, Dec 15, 2020 at 2:01 PM jay <jay.pe...@gmail.com> wrote: >>> HI Dave, >>> >>> Have them turn down the AC input and see if that fixes it. >>> Sounds like a classic generator issue. >>> As to why? When did they last change the oil, air filter, fuel filter, >>> spark plug, adjust the valve or some electronic issue with the generator. >>> >>> >>> jay >>> >>> peltz power >>> >>>> On Dec 15, 2020, at 11:14 AM, Dave Tedeyan <dtede...@taitem.com> wrote: >>>> >>>> Hi All, >>>> >>>> I am going to service a system where the homeowner is telling me that >>>> their Conext SW4048 had been working fine for 14 >>>> months, and then all of a sudden recently stopped being able to charge the >>>> batteries from the generator. It is an off grid system. >>>> >>>> The inverter would start charging the batteries, but then about a minute >>>> later they would hear a relay click and the charging would stop. Then it >>>> would just keep cycling. If they turned everything off for a while, they >>>> could then turn it back on and charge for maybe 10 minutes before it would >>>> start cycling. They just have a crappy 4kw generator from Harbor Freight. >>>> >>>> I have not laid my own eyes on it yet, but will be there in the next day >>>> or two. Just wondering if anyone has experienced these symptoms and have a >>>> good idea of what to look for first. >>>> >>>> Thanks! >>>> -Dave >>>> >>>> Dave Tedeyan, PE >>>> Senior Engineer | Taitem Engineering, PC >>>> >>>> 110 South Albany Street | Ithaca, NY 14850 >>>> o. 607.277.1118 x121 f. 607.277.2119 >>>> www.taitem.com >>>> >>>> Solar • Sustainability • Energy • Design >>>> Certified B-Corporation since 2013 >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> List sponsored by Redwood Alliance >>>> >>>> List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org >>>> >>>> Change listserver email address & settings: >>>> http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org >>>> >>>> There are two list archives for searching. When one doesn't work, try the >>>> other: >>>> https://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/ >>>> http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org >>>> >>>> List rules & etiquette: >>>> http://www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm >>>> >>>> Check out or update participant bios: >>>> http://www.members.re-wrenches.org >>>> >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> List sponsored by Redwood Alliance >>> >>> List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org >>> >>> Change listserver email address & settings: >>> http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org >>> >>> There are two list archives for searching. When one doesn't work, try the >>> other: >>> https://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/ >>> http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org >>> >>> List rules & etiquette: >>> http://www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm >>> >>> Check out or update participant bios: >>> http://www.members.re-wrenches.org >>> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> List sponsored by Redwood Alliance >> >> List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org >> >> Change listserver email address & settings: >> http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org >> >> There are two list archives for searching. When one doesn't work, try the >> other: >> https://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/ >> http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org >> >> List rules & etiquette: >> http://www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm >> >> Check out or update participant bios: >> http://www.members.re-wrenches.org >> > > _______________________________________________ > List sponsored by Redwood Alliance > > List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org > > Change listserver email address & settings: > http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org > > There are two list archives for searching. When one doesn't work, try the > other: > https://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/ > http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org > > List rules & etiquette: > http://www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm > > Check out or update participant bios: > http://www.members.re-wrenches.org >
_______________________________________________ List sponsored by Redwood Alliance List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Change listserver email address & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org There are two list archives for searching. When one doesn't work, try the other: https://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/ http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: http://www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out or update participant bios: http://www.members.re-wrenches.org
