Jay:
You are exactly right. The Radian has a fault timer settable between 5 and 30 minutes. If the Radian fails to receive acceptable generator power after that time it generators a fault, and presumably opens the contact closure. The SW inverters had more settings such as pre-crank delay, post crank delay, etc. The reason I ask is I am setting up a circuit to automatically start the backup generator if the main generator fails to start. We have one of the Kohler RDT transfer switches that will follow the AC source. Thanks again. William Miller Solar 17395 Oak Road, Atascadero, CA 93422 805-438-5600 www.millersolar.com CA Lic. 773985 *From:* Jay [mailto:[email protected]] *Sent:* Monday, September 8, 2025 4:42 PM *To:* [email protected]; RE-wrenches *Subject:* Re: [RE-wrenches] Envy Gen starting Hi william This is exactly the same type of ags the radian has It’s supposed to work with a generator that has the auto start function in it. So the inverter just sends a start signal to it. The radian had a default of around 15 minutes if memory serves. IE if the genny doesn’t start in that amount of time the inverter ags would fault Most generators have some number of start attempts afterwards it will usually fault. Requiring a human to clear the generator fault. The inverter start signal isn’t connected to the starter so the generator won’t continue to crank. I don’t think the envy inverter goes into a fault mode. I think the printed responses from fortress are clueless There is another part that is problematic. If you have the ags start say 20% -80%. And you want to turn the generator on to charge batteries at 40% it won’t charge. It will pass through to the loads. I have talked to them that remote manual start generator should just charge up to the upper limit thats set. Yeah didn’t get anywhere. So you have to set the ags start % to where it is and then start the generator. That all said. I have a 3 stack that has been without any issues at all. Fully off grid, ags. Works Jay On Sep 8, 2025, at 5:16 PM, William Miller via RE-wrenches < [email protected]> wrote: Friends: I am trying to understand the Envy 12. Here is the question of the day: If the Envy calls for a Gen start and the Gen fails to start, what happens? Does the contact closure open after a preset time to protect the starter? Will the Envy try more than once to start the generator? Tech support says the contact closure stays closed until either the SOC goes above the Gen stop setting or the inverter shuts off due to low SOC. This sounds lame to me and disregards years of off-grid best-practice. Also, tech support says I should size PV for full autonomy for the shortest, darkest, rainiest days of the year. I think this is too much solar and that is why to have a generator. Do any of you size that way? Thanks in advance. William Miller Miller Solar.com 805-438-5600 www.millersolar.com _______________________________________________ List sponsored by Redwood Alliance Pay optional member dues here: http://re-wrenches.org List Address: [email protected] 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/[email protected]/ 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
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