On Jul 21, 2023, at 5:12 AM, Mac Lewis via RE-wrenches <re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org> wrote:
To avoid power relay, how about adding a voltage sensing coil on the AC input and have an NC contactor that opens on voltage in series with the inverter shutdown circuit. This should interrupt the inverter shutdown any time the generator is on.
I've done the AC relay idea as well, on Schneider that didn't
have the easy off switching like the Outbacks. The problems are:
1) Much bigger relay, much higher current on the control side as
well. It required a relay for the relay.
2) If there's a malfunction, you are messing with the main feeders
for the home.
3) The inverters are still on with their no load draw, a pair of
VFX inverters, would be 45 to 50 watts, so you could still shut
the batteries down.
I think in your case without AGS, the trick might be to add a
bypass control switch parallel to the relay, so they can manually
turn the inverters back on.
Ray
On 7/20/2023 5:15 PM, Jay wrote:
Hi Ray
This house won’t have an AGS, manual start only.
And your comments exactly, having to wait until the
next day when hopefully there is enough sun to charge the
battery is iffy.
Or they could do the inverter bypass switch.
Again I’m back to why is it a worse idea to install
a relay on the AC?
Thx
Jay
As to the sol ark which I never thought about it
being in a sense an AC coupled system. IE if the inverter is off
it won’t charge.
I guess you’ll have to install an external battery
charger?
The aux off is only if the generator doesn't start. You
need to set the gen start voltage higher. Aux off is last
ditch shut down, set for 44v for lead acid, or 47 to 49v,
depending on the battery and inverter. Hopefully DC
coupled PV will raise the voltage enough to turn the
inverters back on the next day.
This is my concern on Solark installs, I just noticed that
the inverter won't pass through PV, if it hits its LVD set
point.
On 7/20/2023 3:04 PM, jay via
RE-wrenches wrote:
HI All,
I wanted to revisit this thread for one
reason.
If you turn off the inverter at the remote
on/off with the AUX relay, then starting the generator
won’t have any impact as the inverter is off.
So someone will have to go and reset the AUX
relay.
Vs
If you do a relay on the AC output, when you
start the generator, it will start charging, raising the
battery volts, causing the AUX relay to close AC output
relay and you’ll have power in the house.
Am I missing something?
thanks
jay
Here is the last email I think:
Mac,
I think you've got an elegant solution to the
problem. All you need is an inexpensive
relay and to program the Aux output for loadshed. I believe
shutting down the inverter with the remote on/off
contacts is actually less stressful on the inverter
than opening a relay or contactor on the
load side.
Kent Osterberg
Blue Mountain Solar
On 7/11/2023 5:19 PM, Mac Lewis via RE-wrenches wrote:
Hello Wrenches,
I'm trying to solve an issue with an older
Outback FX system. It's a quad stack of
Outback 3648 FX inverters and he has a couple of Fortress eVault and an unreliable generator.
The LBCO setting can't go high enough to
cut out before the eVaults cut out so he occasionally will have to direct charge the
eVault to get things running again.I'd like to use a 12V Aux relay logic to trip
the primary inverter on/off contacts
before we go into battery shutdown so the solar has a chance to recover the system. Pretty simple
overall but I wanted to see if there are
any known ill effects of doing this with substantial load on the system. Of course, I can use a
power relay but this may be better.
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