Re: [RE-wrenches] Max charge for lithium batteries

[Chris Mason]

There's no benefit to charging to 100%. If the charging parameters are set
up correctly, you'll never really get to 100%.
If you look at most prismatic cells, the absolutely maximum voltage is
3.65V. My systems are set up to charge to 3.4V or 54.4V. I take that as
100%.



On Sun, Oct 31, 2021 at 12:19 PM 
wrote:

>
> I have a client that insists it is better not to charge lithium
> batteries to 100%. Is there any truth to this?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Drake
>
>
> Drake Chamberlin
> Athens Electric LLC
> Ohio Electrical Contractor’s License 44810
> CO Master Electrician’s License 4526
> NABCEP Certified PV Installation Professional
>
> --
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-- 
Chris Mason
Solar systems designer
Generac Generators Industrial technician

Comet Systems Ltd DBA Comet Solar
Anguilla Cell  264.235.5670
WhatsApp 264.235.5670
Skype: netconcepts
www.cometsolar.com 
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Re: [RE-wrenches] Max charge for lithium batteries

[frenergy]

Hey Folks,

            From the SimpliPHI/Outback integration guide download, 
using an Outback (I assume any brand of) charge controller (EG: FM80, 
FM60, FM100), their chart shows absorbtion voltage at 56.4 for 51.2 nom 
PHI batteries with time set at 6 minutes, page 18.  If using the 
inverter, they show 54.0 volts for 2 hrs, page 13.


            I found this at their website: 
https://simpliphipower.com/product-documentation/


then scroll down.  There may be a longevity advantage to not fully 
charging L-ion batteries but if you're only charging to 80% and not 
really supposed to go below 20% SOC then L-ion batteries aren't looking 
much better than FLA batteries in terms of capacity.


Bill

Feather River Solar Electric

On 11/1/2021 10:03 AM, Chris Mason wrote:
There's no benefit to charging to 100%. If the charging parameters are 
set up correctly, you'll never really get to 100%.
If you look at most prismatic cells, the absolutely maximum voltage is 
3.65V. My systems are set up to charge to 3.4V or 54.4V. I take that 
as 100%.



On Sun, Oct 31, 2021 at 12:19 PM 
 wrote:



I have a client that insists it is better not to charge lithium
batteries to 100%. Is there any truth to this?

Thanks,

Drake


Drake Chamberlin
Athens Electric LLC
Ohio Electrical Contractor’s License 44810
CO Master Electrician’s License 4526
NABCEP Certified PV Installation Professional

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--
Chris Mason
Solar systems designer
Generac Generators Industrial technician

Comet Systems Ltd DBA Comet Solar
Anguilla Cell  264.235.5670
WhatsApp 264.235.5670
Skype: netconcepts
www.cometsolar.com 

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Feather River Solar Electric
Bill Battagin, Owner
4291 Nelson St.
Taylorsville, CA 95983
530.284.7849
CA Lic 874049
www.frenergy.net


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[RE-wrenches] Disconnecting the negative lead on off-grip PV circuits. Battery disconnnects

[William Miller]

Friends:



I recently studied the implications of replacing a negative grounded
grid-interactive inverter with transformerless inverter or inverters.  I
had noticed language in 690.9(C)Informational note that indicates only the
positive PV lead needs to be disconnected.  August Goers kindly forwarded
to me an article by Bill Brooks that explored this subject and other
changes in the 2017 NEC regarding PV systems.  Here is a link
 to
that article.



Now I want to learn how to apply this information to stand-alone systems.
I asked one of the local AHJs about this and they appeared to have no
awareness of any change in bonding requirements.  I offered my preliminary
opinion (see below) and they immediately adopted it as policy!



Are those of you installing off-grid now disconnecting positive and
negative?



Here is my take on the subject:



For stand-alone systems:  For ground mount systems with not more than two
source circuits, ground fault protection is not required (690.41(B)
Exception).  This means the negative lead can be solidly grounded.  In such
cases only the positive lead needs to be switched. For all other systems
ground-fault protection is required.  To provide ground fault protection,
the negative cannot be solidly grounded.  Therefore the positive and
negative leads must be disconnected at the appropriately located
disconnecting means (690.9(C) Informational note).



Onto the subject of battery disconnects:  I am probably behind the times on
this one too.  Are you providing externally accessible battery system
disconnects?



Thanks in advance for any input on these questions.



William Miller



Miller Solar

17395 Oak Road, Atascadero, CA 93422

805-438-5600

www.millersolar.com

CA Lic. 773985
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Re: [RE-wrenches] Max charge for lithium batteries

[Chris Mason]

You can absolutely charge to 100% and you can discharge to 100%. Lithium is
in another world compared to Lead Acid. You don't see LA cars driving
around.
But you shouldn't leave Lithium at 100% for months on end, it can be
detrimental. That's not likely to be an issue for solar systems.
Your absorption voltages are only for non-485 inverters that don't know
about Lithium. The question was whether you can charge to 100% and yes, you
absolutely can, because 100% is no 100%, there is a recommended voltage and
a do-not-exceed voltage.


On Mon, Nov 1, 2021 at 2:43 PM frenergy  wrote:

> Hey Folks,
>
> From the SimpliPHI/Outback integration guide download, using
> an Outback (I assume any brand of) charge controller (EG: FM80, FM60,
> FM100), their chart shows absorbtion voltage at 56.4 for 51.2 nom PHI
> batteries with time set at 6 minutes, page 18.  If using the inverter, they
> show 54.0 volts for 2 hrs, page 13.
>
> I found this at their website:
> https://simpliphipower.com/product-documentation/
>
> then scroll down.  There may be a longevity advantage to not fully
> charging L-ion batteries but if you're only charging to 80% and not really
> supposed to go below 20% SOC then L-ion batteries aren't looking much
> better than FLA batteries in terms of capacity.
>
> Bill
>
> Feather River Solar Electric
> On 11/1/2021 10:03 AM, Chris Mason wrote:
>
> There's no benefit to charging to 100%. If the charging parameters are set
> up correctly, you'll never really get to 100%.
> If you look at most prismatic cells, the absolutely maximum voltage is
> 3.65V. My systems are set up to charge to 3.4V or 54.4V. I take that as
> 100%.
>
>
>
> On Sun, Oct 31, 2021 at 12:19 PM 
> wrote:
>
>>
>> I have a client that insists it is better not to charge lithium
>> batteries to 100%. Is there any truth to this?
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> Drake
>>
>>
>> Drake Chamberlin
>> Athens Electric LLC
>> Ohio Electrical Contractor’s License 44810
>> CO Master Electrician’s License 4526
>> NABCEP Certified PV Installation Professional
>>
>> --
>> ___
>> List sponsored by Redwood Alliance
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>> Pay optional member dues here: http://re-wrenches.org
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>>
>
> --
> Chris Mason
> Solar systems designer
> Generac Generators Industrial technician
>
> Comet Systems Ltd DBA Comet Solar
> Anguilla Cell  264.235.5670
> WhatsApp 264.235.5670
> Skype: netconcepts
> www.cometsolar.com 
>
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> --
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> Bill Battagin, Owner
> 4291 Nelson St.
> Taylorsville, CA 95983
> 530.284.7849
> CA Lic 874049www.frenergy.net
>
>
>
> 
>  Virus-free.
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-- 
Chris Mason
Solar systems designer
Generac Generators Industrial tech

[RE-wrenches] SolarEdge inverter blowing fuses

[Dave Tedeyan]

Hi All,

I am servicing a system that keeps blowing fuses on the AC side, although it
 appears that everything is sized correctly. It is a SolarEdge SE11400A-US
inverter.
 Max continuous output current is 47.5A x 1.25 = 59.4A. There is a GE
TG3222R
 60A AC disconnect, and it is wired up with #6 THHN wire. The terminals
were tight
 and there was no evidence of arcing or burning in the past. This is
indoors, and not
 exposed to sunlight. No extra conductors are in the conduit.

But they say that they need to replace a fuse roughly once per month. Has
anyone
 seen this before? Could there be some kind of fault in the inverter itself
that
 occasionally induces extra current? Is there any way to tweak the settings
so that it
 actually produces a bit more than 11.4kw? I appreciate your thoughts.

Cheers,
Dave

-- 
[image: Logo] 
Dave Tedeyan, P.E.
Owner | Sungineer Solar
p: he | him | his
a: 1653 Slaterville Rd. | Ithaca, NY 14850
w: www.sungineersolar.com 
c: (607) 288-2898
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Re: [RE-wrenches] SolarEdge inverter blowing fuses

[Lloyd Hoffstatter]

Dave,

My first thought would be a small nick in wire insulation going to ground, 
causing the fuse to fail over time.
We had a similar situation with a much larger system where the culprit was hard 
to notice…

Best regards,
Lloyd

Lloyd Hoffstatter
Sunstruck Consulting

Sent from Mail for Windows

From: Dave Tedeyan
Sent: Monday, November 1, 2021 4:26 PM
To: RE-wrenches
Subject: [RE-wrenches] SolarEdge inverter blowing fuses

Hi All,

I am servicing a system that keeps blowing fuses on the AC side, although it
 appears that everything is sized correctly. It is a SolarEdge SE11400A-US 
inverter.
 Max continuous output current is 47.5A x 1.25 = 59.4A. There is a GE TG3222R
 60A AC disconnect, and it is wired up with #6 THHN wire. The terminals were 
tight
 and there was no evidence of arcing or burning in the past. This is indoors, 
and not
 exposed to sunlight. No extra conductors are in the conduit.

But they say that they need to replace a fuse roughly once per month. Has anyone
 seen this before? Could there be some kind of fault in the inverter itself that
 occasionally induces extra current? Is there any way to tweak the settings so 
that it
 actually produces a bit more than 11.4kw? I appreciate your thoughts.

Cheers,
Dave

--
[Logo]
Dave Tedeyan, P.E.
Owner | Sungineer Solar
p: he | him | his
a: 1653 Slaterville Rd. | Ithaca, NY 14850
w: www.sungineersolar.com
c: (607) 288-2898


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Re: [RE-wrenches] SolarEdge inverter blowing fuses

[jay]

HI Dave,

Which exact fuses do they have installed?

I’m guessing they are blowing due to not being constant load rated fuses and 
summer higher temps.


jay

peltz power

> On Nov 1, 2021, at 2:26 PM, Dave Tedeyan  wrote:
> 
> Hi All,
> 
> I am servicing a system that keeps blowing fuses on the AC side, although it
>  appears that everything is sized correctly. It is a SolarEdge SE11400A-US 
> inverter.
>  Max continuous output current is 47.5A x 1.25 = 59.4A. There is a GE TG3222R
>  60A AC disconnect, and it is wired up with #6 THHN wire. The terminals were 
> tight
>  and there was no evidence of arcing or burning in the past. This is indoors, 
> and not
>  exposed to sunlight. No extra conductors are in the conduit.
> 
> But they say that they need to replace a fuse roughly once per month. Has 
> anyone
>  seen this before? Could there be some kind of fault in the inverter itself 
> that
>  occasionally induces extra current? Is there any way to tweak the settings 
> so that it
>  actually produces a bit more than 11.4kw? I appreciate your thoughts.
> 
> Cheers,
> Dave
> 
> -- 
>  
> Dave Tedeyan, P.E.
> Owner | Sungineer Solar
> p: he | him | his
> a: 1653 Slaterville Rd. | Ithaca, NY 14850
> w: www.sungineersolar.com 
> c: (607) 288-2898
> ___
> List sponsored by Redwood Alliance
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Re: [RE-wrenches] SolarEdge inverter blowing fuses

[Jerry Shafer]

Does this system have monitoring, what time of day is this happening, the
monitoring site should show output at time of failure, what leg is tripping
both or one side? You may want to look at the fuses they are using, rapid
blow, slow blow, rated for the duty these are being used for. You can also
use a data logger to get a better idea of what and when

Jerry

On Mon, Nov 1, 2021, 1:45 PM Lloyd Hoffstatter <
ll...@sunstruckconsulting.com> wrote:

> Dave,
>
>
>
> My first thought would be a small nick in wire insulation going to ground,
> causing the fuse to fail over time.
>
> We had a similar situation with a much larger system where the culprit was
> hard to notice…
>
>
>
> Best regards,
>
> Lloyd
>
>
>
> Lloyd Hoffstatter
>
> Sunstruck Consulting
>
>
>
> Sent from Mail  for
> Windows
>
>
>
> *From: *Dave Tedeyan 
> *Sent: *Monday, November 1, 2021 4:26 PM
> *To: *RE-wrenches 
> *Subject: *[RE-wrenches] SolarEdge inverter blowing fuses
>
>
>
> Hi All,
>
>
>
> I am servicing a system that keeps blowing fuses on the AC side, although
> it
>
>  appears that everything is sized correctly. It is a SolarEdge SE11400A-US
> inverter.
>
>  Max continuous output current is 47.5A x 1.25 = 59.4A. There is a GE
> TG3222R
>
>  60A AC disconnect, and it is wired up with #6 THHN wire. The terminals
> were tight
>
>  and there was no evidence of arcing or burning in the past. This is
> indoors, and not
>
>  exposed to sunlight. No extra conductors are in the conduit.
>
>
>
> But they say that they need to replace a fuse roughly once per month. Has
> anyone
>
>  seen this before? Could there be some kind of fault in the inverter
> itself that
>
>  occasionally induces extra current? Is there any way to tweak the
> settings so that it
>
>  actually produces a bit more than 11.4kw? I appreciate your thoughts.
>
>
>
> Cheers,
>
> Dave
>
>
>
> --
>
> [image: Logo] 
>
>
> *Dave Tedeyan, P.E. Owner | Sungineer Solar*
>
> *p: *he | him | his
> * a: *1653 Slaterville Rd. | Ithaca, NY 14850
> *w:* www.sungineersolar.com 
> *c:* (607) 288-2898
>
>
>
>
> ___
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[RE-wrenches] Strange Enphase IQ7A Failure Issue

[Jason Szumlanski]

We have a site with 34 microinverters at two orientations. It's a couple of
months old. After about a month a couple of microinverters started acting
up and dropping power production for no apparent reason, then finally
started throwing Device Produced No Power issues and totally sopped
producing but continued communicating. Slowly but surely additional units
have dropped off. Now a few weeks later we have 24 of the 34 units with the
same issue. Ten random units are completely fine. These are on various
branch circuits and both orientations. There is no rhyme or reason to this
issue that I can see.

I have never seen such a widespread failure on a single site (since the
M190) and we are not seeing failures of the IQ7A at higher than usual rates
on any other site. It seems almost impossible that we got a bad batch and
haven't seen a bunch of failures at at least one more site (it's more than
a box full of quantity 18 but less than 36).

Enphase Tier 2 tech support was no help at all (many many hours on the
phone, on hold, etc, no real answers). It was supposedly escalated to a
higher level, but I never heard back. I finally gave up and just demanded
that they replace them all. I'm concerned that there is something else
wrong here and might be wasting my time replacing 2 dozen units. We
replaced two today and for the last half of the day they seemed to work
flawlessly, but for how long they will continue to work is anyone's guess.

Needless to say, the client is quite concerned.

If you have had any similar experiences I would love to hear the resolution.


Jason Szumlanski
Florida Solar Design Group
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Re: [RE-wrenches] SolarEdge inverter blowing fuses

[Dave Tedeyan]

The fuses are Ferraz Shawmut Trionic TR60R. 60A, 250V. I looked them up to
find that they are time delay, RK5 type.

I would imagine that there is monitoring, but not being my installation, I
don't have access to it. That's a good idea though to get access to see
when this is happening.

I am also waiting to hear back as to whether it is both legs, or only one.
I've been to the site only once so far, to initially diagnose the bad fuse.
At the time, I was hoping that it was just a bad fuse since everything else
looked okay.

Lloyd, thanks for the insulation tip. Next time I head out there, I should
pull out the wires and take a closer look. Unfortunately it's a line side
tap, so I'm not excited about removing the tap, but may be worth it if I
can't find anything else. Although come to think of it, I did find a ground
fault in the wires for another system at the same site, so the original
installers' wire pulling technique is certainly suspect.

Cheers,
Dave

On Mon, Nov 1, 2021, 6:05 PM Jerry Shafer  wrote:

> Does this system have monitoring, what time of day is this happening, the
> monitoring site should show output at time of failure, what leg is tripping
> both or one side? You may want to look at the fuses they are using, rapid
> blow, slow blow, rated for the duty these are being used for. You can also
> use a data logger to get a better idea of what and when
>
> Jerry
>
> On Mon, Nov 1, 2021, 1:45 PM Lloyd Hoffstatter <
> ll...@sunstruckconsulting.com> wrote:
>
>> Dave,
>>
>>
>>
>> My first thought would be a small nick in wire insulation going to
>> ground, causing the fuse to fail over time.
>>
>> We had a similar situation with a much larger system where the culprit
>> was hard to notice…
>>
>>
>>
>> Best regards,
>>
>> Lloyd
>>
>>
>>
>> Lloyd Hoffstatter
>>
>> Sunstruck Consulting
>>
>>
>>
>> Sent from Mail  for
>> Windows
>>
>>
>>
>> *From: *Dave Tedeyan 
>> *Sent: *Monday, November 1, 2021 4:26 PM
>> *To: *RE-wrenches 
>> *Subject: *[RE-wrenches] SolarEdge inverter blowing fuses
>>
>>
>>
>> Hi All,
>>
>>
>>
>> I am servicing a system that keeps blowing fuses on the AC side, although
>> it
>>
>>  appears that everything is sized correctly. It is a SolarEdge
>> SE11400A-US inverter.
>>
>>  Max continuous output current is 47.5A x 1.25 = 59.4A. There is a GE
>> TG3222R
>>
>>  60A AC disconnect, and it is wired up with #6 THHN wire. The terminals
>> were tight
>>
>>  and there was no evidence of arcing or burning in the past. This is
>> indoors, and not
>>
>>  exposed to sunlight. No extra conductors are in the conduit.
>>
>>
>>
>> But they say that they need to replace a fuse roughly once per month. Has
>> anyone
>>
>>  seen this before? Could there be some kind of fault in the inverter
>> itself that
>>
>>  occasionally induces extra current? Is there any way to tweak the
>> settings so that it
>>
>>  actually produces a bit more than 11.4kw? I appreciate your thoughts.
>>
>>
>>
>> Cheers,
>>
>> Dave
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>>
>> [image: Logo] 
>>
>>
>> *Dave Tedeyan, P.E. Owner | Sungineer Solar*
>>
>> *p: *he | him | his
>> * a: *1653 Slaterville Rd. | Ithaca, NY 14850
>> *w:* www.sungineersolar.com 
>> *c:* (607) 288-2898
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> ___
>> List sponsored by Redwood Alliance
>>
>> Pay optional member dues here: http://re-wrenches.org
>>
>> List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org
>>
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Re: [RE-wrenches] Strange Enphase IQ7A Failure Issue

[jay]

HI Jason,

I had a neighbor replace his old units under the exchange program.  less than 1 
month later 1 appeared to die.  Tech support said without hesitation it was the 
panel that died.  I got called in and the unit was producing power but comm’s 
were out.  These were the 190’s.

More haggling later ( on my neighbors part) and they got sent a new inverter.  
Photo with clamp on meter wasn’t good enough, he had to switch a number around 
to somehow convince enphase.  Fortunately they are a tilted on a flat roof, so 
it was kinda easy, but a total waste of time.  I don’t blame the tech support 
person, I blame the higher ups who tell them what to say, and how to trouble 
shoot. Muppets

Please let us know which versions and I presume that you tested them for output?

Jay

peltz power



> On Nov 1, 2021, at 4:30 PM, Jason Szumlanski 
>  wrote:
> 
> We have a site with 34 microinverters at two orientations. It's a couple of 
> months old. After about a month a couple of microinverters started acting up 
> and dropping power production for no apparent reason, then finally started 
> throwing Device Produced No Power issues and totally sopped producing but 
> continued communicating. Slowly but surely additional units have dropped off. 
> Now a few weeks later we have 24 of the 34 units with the same issue. Ten 
> random units are completely fine. These are on various branch circuits and 
> both orientations. There is no rhyme or reason to this issue that I can see. 
> 
> I have never seen such a widespread failure on a single site (since the M190) 
> and we are not seeing failures of the IQ7A at higher than usual rates on any 
> other site. It seems almost impossible that we got a bad batch and haven't 
> seen a bunch of failures at at least one more site (it's more than a box full 
> of quantity 18 but less than 36). 
> 
> Enphase Tier 2 tech support was no help at all (many many hours on the phone, 
> on hold, etc, no real answers). It was supposedly escalated to a higher 
> level, but I never heard back. I finally gave up and just demanded that they 
> replace them all. I'm concerned that there is something else wrong here and 
> might be wasting my time replacing 2 dozen units. We replaced two today and 
> for the last half of the day they seemed to work flawlessly, but for how long 
> they will continue to work is anyone's guess.
> 
> Needless to say, the client is quite concerned.
> 
> If you have had any similar experiences I would love to hear the resolution.
> 
> 
> Jason Szumlanski
> Florida Solar Design Group
> 
> 
> ___
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Re: [RE-wrenches] Strange Enphase IQ7A Failure Issue

[Dave Tedeyan]

Hi Jason,
I recently did a microinverter swap of the old D380's to 54 of the IQ7
190's. Once it was commissioned I started seeing random MI's drop out, but
not always the same ones. I am pretty sure that this was due to
overvoltage. I measured the line voltage at 255v with the system turned
off.

Not being my original install, I am not sure if this was an issue before. I
wonder if somehow the IQ series could be more sensitive to overvoltage? But
anyway, try checking voltage...

Cheers,
Dave

On Mon, Nov 1, 2021, 6:31 PM Jason Szumlanski <
ja...@floridasolardesigngroup.com> wrote:

> We have a site with 34 microinverters at two orientations. It's a couple
> of months old. After about a month a couple of microinverters started
> acting up and dropping power production for no apparent reason, then
> finally started throwing Device Produced No Power issues and totally sopped
> producing but continued communicating. Slowly but surely additional units
> have dropped off. Now a few weeks later we have 24 of the 34 units with the
> same issue. Ten random units are completely fine. These are on various
> branch circuits and both orientations. There is no rhyme or reason to this
> issue that I can see.
>
> I have never seen such a widespread failure on a single site (since the
> M190) and we are not seeing failures of the IQ7A at higher than usual rates
> on any other site. It seems almost impossible that we got a bad batch and
> haven't seen a bunch of failures at at least one more site (it's more than
> a box full of quantity 18 but less than 36).
>
> Enphase Tier 2 tech support was no help at all (many many hours on the
> phone, on hold, etc, no real answers). It was supposedly escalated to a
> higher level, but I never heard back. I finally gave up and just demanded
> that they replace them all. I'm concerned that there is something else
> wrong here and might be wasting my time replacing 2 dozen units. We
> replaced two today and for the last half of the day they seemed to work
> flawlessly, but for how long they will continue to work is anyone's guess.
>
> Needless to say, the client is quite concerned.
>
> If you have had any similar experiences I would love to hear the
> resolution.
>
>
> Jason Szumlanski
> Florida Solar Design Group
>
> ___
> List sponsored by Redwood Alliance
>
> Pay optional member dues here: http://re-wrenches.org
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Re: [RE-wrenches] SolarEdge inverter blowing fuses

[August Goers]

I would definitely check the insulation on the AC-side wiring as Lloyd
mentioned. Sometimes small faults don't show up until there is moisture in
the air (or conduit) or until max current conditions. As long as you have
time delay fuses property sized, it would be rare for them to blow more
than once or twice over a period of many years. You could try checking the
insulation with a megger, but pulling it out and replacing it might be a
more sure fire bet. If it still faults after that, at least you know the
wire is good.

August


On Mon, Nov 1, 2021 at 3:50 PM Dave Tedeyan  wrote:

> The fuses are Ferraz Shawmut Trionic TR60R. 60A, 250V. I looked them up to
> find that they are time delay, RK5 type.
>
> I would imagine that there is monitoring, but not being my installation, I
> don't have access to it. That's a good idea though to get access to see
> when this is happening.
>
> I am also waiting to hear back as to whether it is both legs, or only one.
> I've been to the site only once so far, to initially diagnose the bad fuse.
> At the time, I was hoping that it was just a bad fuse since everything else
> looked okay.
>
> Lloyd, thanks for the insulation tip. Next time I head out there, I should
> pull out the wires and take a closer look. Unfortunately it's a line side
> tap, so I'm not excited about removing the tap, but may be worth it if I
> can't find anything else. Although come to think of it, I did find a ground
> fault in the wires for another system at the same site, so the original
> installers' wire pulling technique is certainly suspect.
>
> Cheers,
> Dave
>
> On Mon, Nov 1, 2021, 6:05 PM Jerry Shafer 
> wrote:
>
>> Does this system have monitoring, what time of day is this happening, the
>> monitoring site should show output at time of failure, what leg is tripping
>> both or one side? You may want to look at the fuses they are using, rapid
>> blow, slow blow, rated for the duty these are being used for. You can also
>> use a data logger to get a better idea of what and when
>>
>> Jerry
>>
>> On Mon, Nov 1, 2021, 1:45 PM Lloyd Hoffstatter <
>> ll...@sunstruckconsulting.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Dave,
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> My first thought would be a small nick in wire insulation going to
>>> ground, causing the fuse to fail over time.
>>>
>>> We had a similar situation with a much larger system where the culprit
>>> was hard to notice…
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Best regards,
>>>
>>> Lloyd
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Lloyd Hoffstatter
>>>
>>> Sunstruck Consulting
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Sent from Mail  for
>>> Windows
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> *From: *Dave Tedeyan 
>>> *Sent: *Monday, November 1, 2021 4:26 PM
>>> *To: *RE-wrenches 
>>> *Subject: *[RE-wrenches] SolarEdge inverter blowing fuses
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Hi All,
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> I am servicing a system that keeps blowing fuses on the AC side,
>>> although it
>>>
>>>  appears that everything is sized correctly. It is a SolarEdge
>>> SE11400A-US inverter.
>>>
>>>  Max continuous output current is 47.5A x 1.25 = 59.4A. There is a GE
>>> TG3222R
>>>
>>>  60A AC disconnect, and it is wired up with #6 THHN wire. The terminals
>>> were tight
>>>
>>>  and there was no evidence of arcing or burning in the past. This is
>>> indoors, and not
>>>
>>>  exposed to sunlight. No extra conductors are in the conduit.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> But they say that they need to replace a fuse roughly once per month.
>>> Has anyone
>>>
>>>  seen this before? Could there be some kind of fault in the inverter
>>> itself that
>>>
>>>  occasionally induces extra current? Is there any way to tweak the
>>> settings so that it
>>>
>>>  actually produces a bit more than 11.4kw? I appreciate your thoughts.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Cheers,
>>>
>>> Dave
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>>
>>> [image: Logo] 
>>>
>>>
>>> *Dave Tedeyan, P.E. Owner | Sungineer Solar*
>>>
>>> *p: *he | him | his
>>> * a: *1653 Slaterville Rd. | Ithaca, NY 14850
>>> *w:* www.sungineersolar.com 
>>> *c:* (607) 288-2898
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> ___
>>> List sponsored by Redwood Alliance
>>>
>>> Pay optional member dues here: http://re-wrenches.org
>>>
>>> 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/
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>>>
>>> List rules & etiquette:
>>> http://www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm
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>>> Check out or update participant bios:
>>> http://www.members.re-wrenches.org
>>>
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>>
>> Pay optional member dues here: http://re-wrenches.org
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>> Change li

Re: [RE-wrenches] SolarEdge inverter blowing fuses

[Howie Michaelson]

I would think that if there is an internet connection that a call to tech
support would make things quicker, since they have access to internal error
codes which usually give a pretty good indication of what the problem is,
or at least usually help direct where your troubleshooting efforts are best
directed...

Howie Michaelson
Sun Catcher
NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer™
Solar Electric & Heat Pumps Systems Sales & Service
802-272-0004

On Mon, Nov 1, 2021, 6:50 PM Dave Tedeyan  wrote:

> The fuses are Ferraz Shawmut Trionic TR60R. 60A, 250V. I looked them up to
> find that they are time delay, RK5 type.
>
> I would imagine that there is monitoring, but not being my installation, I
> don't have access to it. That's a good idea though to get access to see
> when this is happening.
>
> I am also waiting to hear back as to whether it is both legs, or only one.
> I've been to the site only once so far, to initially diagnose the bad fuse.
> At the time, I was hoping that it was just a bad fuse since everything else
> looked okay.
>
> Lloyd, thanks for the insulation tip. Next time I head out there, I should
> pull out the wires and take a closer look. Unfortunately it's a line side
> tap, so I'm not excited about removing the tap, but may be worth it if I
> can't find anything else. Although come to think of it, I did find a ground
> fault in the wires for another system at the same site, so the original
> installers' wire pulling technique is certainly suspect.
>
> Cheers,
> Dave
>
> On Mon, Nov 1, 2021, 6:05 PM Jerry Shafer 
> wrote:
>
>> Does this system have monitoring, what time of day is this happening, the
>> monitoring site should show output at time of failure, what leg is tripping
>> both or one side? You may want to look at the fuses they are using, rapid
>> blow, slow blow, rated for the duty these are being used for. You can also
>> use a data logger to get a better idea of what and when
>>
>> Jerry
>>
>> On Mon, Nov 1, 2021, 1:45 PM Lloyd Hoffstatter <
>> ll...@sunstruckconsulting.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Dave,
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> My first thought would be a small nick in wire insulation going to
>>> ground, causing the fuse to fail over time.
>>>
>>> We had a similar situation with a much larger system where the culprit
>>> was hard to notice…
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Best regards,
>>>
>>> Lloyd
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Lloyd Hoffstatter
>>>
>>> Sunstruck Consulting
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Sent from Mail  for
>>> Windows
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> *From: *Dave Tedeyan 
>>> *Sent: *Monday, November 1, 2021 4:26 PM
>>> *To: *RE-wrenches 
>>> *Subject: *[RE-wrenches] SolarEdge inverter blowing fuses
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Hi All,
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> I am servicing a system that keeps blowing fuses on the AC side,
>>> although it
>>>
>>>  appears that everything is sized correctly. It is a SolarEdge
>>> SE11400A-US inverter.
>>>
>>>  Max continuous output current is 47.5A x 1.25 = 59.4A. There is a GE
>>> TG3222R
>>>
>>>  60A AC disconnect, and it is wired up with #6 THHN wire. The terminals
>>> were tight
>>>
>>>  and there was no evidence of arcing or burning in the past. This is
>>> indoors, and not
>>>
>>>  exposed to sunlight. No extra conductors are in the conduit.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> But they say that they need to replace a fuse roughly once per month.
>>> Has anyone
>>>
>>>  seen this before? Could there be some kind of fault in the inverter
>>> itself that
>>>
>>>  occasionally induces extra current? Is there any way to tweak the
>>> settings so that it
>>>
>>>  actually produces a bit more than 11.4kw? I appreciate your thoughts.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Cheers,
>>>
>>> Dave
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>>
>>> [image: Logo] 
>>>
>>>
>>> *Dave Tedeyan, P.E. Owner | Sungineer Solar*
>>>
>>> *p: *he | him | his
>>> * a: *1653 Slaterville Rd. | Ithaca, NY 14850
>>> *w:* www.sungineersolar.com 
>>> *c:* (607) 288-2898
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> ___
>>> List sponsored by Redwood Alliance
>>>
>>> Pay optional member dues here: http://re-wrenches.org
>>>
>>> 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:
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>>>
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Re: [RE-wrenches] Strange Enphase IQ7A Failure Issue

[Jerry Shafer]

It may be the modules not the inverters, in the past with good comms but
little to no production l had blown diode bridges, actually melted the
plastic box and exposed the straps that were connected to the jboxes. What
modules did you use? Can you view them up close
Jerry

On Mon, Nov 1, 2021, 3:31 PM Jason Szumlanski <
ja...@floridasolardesigngroup.com> wrote:

> We have a site with 34 microinverters at two orientations. It's a couple
> of months old. After about a month a couple of microinverters started
> acting up and dropping power production for no apparent reason, then
> finally started throwing Device Produced No Power issues and totally sopped
> producing but continued communicating. Slowly but surely additional units
> have dropped off. Now a few weeks later we have 24 of the 34 units with the
> same issue. Ten random units are completely fine. These are on various
> branch circuits and both orientations. There is no rhyme or reason to this
> issue that I can see.
>
> I have never seen such a widespread failure on a single site (since the
> M190) and we are not seeing failures of the IQ7A at higher than usual rates
> on any other site. It seems almost impossible that we got a bad batch and
> haven't seen a bunch of failures at at least one more site (it's more than
> a box full of quantity 18 but less than 36).
>
> Enphase Tier 2 tech support was no help at all (many many hours on the
> phone, on hold, etc, no real answers). It was supposedly escalated to a
> higher level, but I never heard back. I finally gave up and just demanded
> that they replace them all. I'm concerned that there is something else
> wrong here and might be wasting my time replacing 2 dozen units. We
> replaced two today and for the last half of the day they seemed to work
> flawlessly, but for how long they will continue to work is anyone's guess.
>
> Needless to say, the client is quite concerned.
>
> If you have had any similar experiences I would love to hear the
> resolution.
>
>
> Jason Szumlanski
> Florida Solar Design Group
>
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Re: [RE-wrenches] Strange Enphase IQ7A Failure Issue

[Jason Szumlanski]

It's not the modules. Mission Solar 420s. I have swapped panels between
working and non-working micros to eliminate this possibility.

On Mon, Nov 1, 2021, 7:04 PM Jerry Shafer  wrote:

> It may be the modules not the inverters, in the past with good comms but
> little to no production l had blown diode bridges, actually melted the
> plastic box and exposed the straps that were connected to the jboxes. What
> modules did you use? Can you view them up close
> Jerry
>
> On Mon, Nov 1, 2021, 3:31 PM Jason Szumlanski <
> ja...@floridasolardesigngroup.com> wrote:
>
>> We have a site with 34 microinverters at two orientations. It's a couple
>> of months old. After about a month a couple of microinverters started
>> acting up and dropping power production for no apparent reason, then
>> finally started throwing Device Produced No Power issues and totally sopped
>> producing but continued communicating. Slowly but surely additional units
>> have dropped off. Now a few weeks later we have 24 of the 34 units with the
>> same issue. Ten random units are completely fine. These are on various
>> branch circuits and both orientations. There is no rhyme or reason to this
>> issue that I can see.
>>
>> I have never seen such a widespread failure on a single site (since the
>> M190) and we are not seeing failures of the IQ7A at higher than usual rates
>> on any other site. It seems almost impossible that we got a bad batch and
>> haven't seen a bunch of failures at at least one more site (it's more than
>> a box full of quantity 18 but less than 36).
>>
>> Enphase Tier 2 tech support was no help at all (many many hours on the
>> phone, on hold, etc, no real answers). It was supposedly escalated to a
>> higher level, but I never heard back. I finally gave up and just demanded
>> that they replace them all. I'm concerned that there is something else
>> wrong here and might be wasting my time replacing 2 dozen units. We
>> replaced two today and for the last half of the day they seemed to work
>> flawlessly, but for how long they will continue to work is anyone's guess.
>>
>> Needless to say, the client is quite concerned.
>>
>> If you have had any similar experiences I would love to hear the
>> resolution.
>>
>>
>> Jason Szumlanski
>> Florida Solar Design Group
>>
>> ___
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Re: [RE-wrenches] Strange Enphase IQ7A Failure Issue

[Jason Szumlanski]

I considered the AC voltage but it's a stable 245V or so. Enphase couldn't
see anything wrong with AC voltage on their end. I suggested a grid profile
change, but they didn't see that as a necessary diagnostic step.




On Mon, Nov 1, 2021, 6:56 PM Dave Tedeyan  wrote:

> Hi Jason,
> I recently did a microinverter swap of the old D380's to 54 of the IQ7
> 190's. Once it was commissioned I started seeing random MI's drop out, but
> not always the same ones. I am pretty sure that this was due to
> overvoltage. I measured the line voltage at 255v with the system turned
> off.
>
> Not being my original install, I am not sure if this was an issue before.
> I wonder if somehow the IQ series could be more sensitive to overvoltage?
> But anyway, try checking voltage...
>
> Cheers,
> Dave
>
> On Mon, Nov 1, 2021, 6:31 PM Jason Szumlanski <
> ja...@floridasolardesigngroup.com> wrote:
>
>> We have a site with 34 microinverters at two orientations. It's a couple
>> of months old. After about a month a couple of microinverters started
>> acting up and dropping power production for no apparent reason, then
>> finally started throwing Device Produced No Power issues and totally sopped
>> producing but continued communicating. Slowly but surely additional units
>> have dropped off. Now a few weeks later we have 24 of the 34 units with the
>> same issue. Ten random units are completely fine. These are on various
>> branch circuits and both orientations. There is no rhyme or reason to this
>> issue that I can see.
>>
>> I have never seen such a widespread failure on a single site (since the
>> M190) and we are not seeing failures of the IQ7A at higher than usual rates
>> on any other site. It seems almost impossible that we got a bad batch and
>> haven't seen a bunch of failures at at least one more site (it's more than
>> a box full of quantity 18 but less than 36).
>>
>> Enphase Tier 2 tech support was no help at all (many many hours on the
>> phone, on hold, etc, no real answers). It was supposedly escalated to a
>> higher level, but I never heard back. I finally gave up and just demanded
>> that they replace them all. I'm concerned that there is something else
>> wrong here and might be wasting my time replacing 2 dozen units. We
>> replaced two today and for the last half of the day they seemed to work
>> flawlessly, but for how long they will continue to work is anyone's guess.
>>
>> Needless to say, the client is quite concerned.
>>
>> If you have had any similar experiences I would love to hear the
>> resolution.
>>
>>
>> Jason Szumlanski
>> Florida Solar Design Group
>>
>> ___
>> List sponsored by Redwood Alliance
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Re: [RE-wrenches] Strange Enphase IQ7A Failure Issue

[Jason Szumlanski]

Ah, tech support's dreaded "blaming it on the comms." Enphase sent me down
that rabbit hole for a few hours of wasted time.

Yes, this site has terrible interference issues, but that doesn't stop the
micros from eventually getting good comms and reporting data regularly, if
not slightly delayed. It doesn't explain power production dropping off.

I was able to prove definitely that it wasn't a comms issue because the
production CT reading and sum of the  microinverter measurements were the
same.

Jason



On Mon, Nov 1, 2021, 6:53 PM jay  wrote:

> HI Jason,
>
> I had a neighbor replace his old units under the exchange program.  less
> than 1 month later 1 appeared to die.  Tech support said without hesitation
> it was the panel that died.  I got called in and the unit was producing
> power but comm’s were out.  These were the 190’s.
>
> More haggling later ( on my neighbors part) and they got sent a new
> inverter.
> Photo with clamp on meter wasn’t good enough, he had to switch a number
> around to somehow convince enphase.  Fortunately they are a tilted on a
> flat roof, so it was kinda easy, but a total waste of time.  I don’t blame
> the tech support person, I blame the higher ups who tell them what to say,
> and how to trouble shoot. Muppets
>
> Please let us know which versions and I presume that you tested them for
> output?
>
> Jay
>
> peltz power
>
>
>
> On Nov 1, 2021, at 4:30 PM, Jason Szumlanski <
> ja...@floridasolardesigngroup.com> wrote:
>
> We have a site with 34 microinverters at two orientations. It's a couple
> of months old. After about a month a couple of microinverters started
> acting up and dropping power production for no apparent reason, then
> finally started throwing Device Produced No Power issues and totally sopped
> producing but continued communicating. Slowly but surely additional units
> have dropped off. Now a few weeks later we have 24 of the 34 units with the
> same issue. Ten random units are completely fine. These are on various
> branch circuits and both orientations. There is no rhyme or reason to this
> issue that I can see.
>
> I have never seen such a widespread failure on a single site (since the
> M190) and we are not seeing failures of the IQ7A at higher than usual rates
> on any other site. It seems almost impossible that we got a bad batch and
> haven't seen a bunch of failures at at least one more site (it's more than
> a box full of quantity 18 but less than 36).
>
> Enphase Tier 2 tech support was no help at all (many many hours on the
> phone, on hold, etc, no real answers). It was supposedly escalated to a
> higher level, but I never heard back. I finally gave up and just demanded
> that they replace them all. I'm concerned that there is something else
> wrong here and might be wasting my time replacing 2 dozen units. We
> replaced two today and for the last half of the day they seemed to work
> flawlessly, but for how long they will continue to work is anyone's guess.
>
> Needless to say, the client is quite concerned.
>
> If you have had any similar experiences I would love to hear the
> resolution.
>
>
> Jason Szumlanski
> Florida Solar Design Group
>
> ___
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htt

Re: [RE-wrenches] SolarEdge inverter blowing fuses

[Jerry Shafer]

I have had wire issues also but to take a month l would be surprised. If it
does it in the early Am the inverter is acting up. GF or ArcFault should
only be on the DC side

On Mon, Nov 1, 2021, 3:50 PM Dave Tedeyan  wrote:

> The fuses are Ferraz Shawmut Trionic TR60R. 60A, 250V. I looked them up to
> find that they are time delay, RK5 type.
>
> I would imagine that there is monitoring, but not being my installation, I
> don't have access to it. That's a good idea though to get access to see
> when this is happening.
>
> I am also waiting to hear back as to whether it is both legs, or only one.
> I've been to the site only once so far, to initially diagnose the bad fuse.
> At the time, I was hoping that it was just a bad fuse since everything else
> looked okay.
>
> Lloyd, thanks for the insulation tip. Next time I head out there, I should
> pull out the wires and take a closer look. Unfortunately it's a line side
> tap, so I'm not excited about removing the tap, but may be worth it if I
> can't find anything else. Although come to think of it, I did find a ground
> fault in the wires for another system at the same site, so the original
> installers' wire pulling technique is certainly suspect.
>
> Cheers,
> Dave
>
> On Mon, Nov 1, 2021, 6:05 PM Jerry Shafer 
> wrote:
>
>> Does this system have monitoring, what time of day is this happening, the
>> monitoring site should show output at time of failure, what leg is tripping
>> both or one side? You may want to look at the fuses they are using, rapid
>> blow, slow blow, rated for the duty these are being used for. You can also
>> use a data logger to get a better idea of what and when
>>
>> Jerry
>>
>> On Mon, Nov 1, 2021, 1:45 PM Lloyd Hoffstatter <
>> ll...@sunstruckconsulting.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Dave,
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> My first thought would be a small nick in wire insulation going to
>>> ground, causing the fuse to fail over time.
>>>
>>> We had a similar situation with a much larger system where the culprit
>>> was hard to notice…
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Best regards,
>>>
>>> Lloyd
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Lloyd Hoffstatter
>>>
>>> Sunstruck Consulting
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Sent from Mail  for
>>> Windows
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> *From: *Dave Tedeyan 
>>> *Sent: *Monday, November 1, 2021 4:26 PM
>>> *To: *RE-wrenches 
>>> *Subject: *[RE-wrenches] SolarEdge inverter blowing fuses
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Hi All,
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> I am servicing a system that keeps blowing fuses on the AC side,
>>> although it
>>>
>>>  appears that everything is sized correctly. It is a SolarEdge
>>> SE11400A-US inverter.
>>>
>>>  Max continuous output current is 47.5A x 1.25 = 59.4A. There is a GE
>>> TG3222R
>>>
>>>  60A AC disconnect, and it is wired up with #6 THHN wire. The terminals
>>> were tight
>>>
>>>  and there was no evidence of arcing or burning in the past. This is
>>> indoors, and not
>>>
>>>  exposed to sunlight. No extra conductors are in the conduit.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> But they say that they need to replace a fuse roughly once per month.
>>> Has anyone
>>>
>>>  seen this before? Could there be some kind of fault in the inverter
>>> itself that
>>>
>>>  occasionally induces extra current? Is there any way to tweak the
>>> settings so that it
>>>
>>>  actually produces a bit more than 11.4kw? I appreciate your thoughts.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Cheers,
>>>
>>> Dave
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>>
>>> [image: Logo] 
>>>
>>>
>>> *Dave Tedeyan, P.E. Owner | Sungineer Solar*
>>>
>>> *p: *he | him | his
>>> * a: *1653 Slaterville Rd. | Ithaca, NY 14850
>>> *w:* www.sungineersolar.com 
>>> *c:* (607) 288-2898
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> ___
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Re: [RE-wrenches] SolarEdge inverter blowing fuses

[Jason Szumlanski]

It's the disconnect. We had dozens of this subpar disconnect design fail on
Enphase systems. The 2 Pole has the same issue.

GE gave us some nonsense answer that it's General Duty and not designed for
continuous high power. Even 40A combined Enphase systems will blow a 60A
fuse.

What you will find is the fuse will blow on one side and then replacements
will blow at decreasing intervals until it blows daily. Our experience is
the left side (of the 2-pole)  is far more problematic for some odd reason.
It's not the fuse brand either.

I believe the design fault is how the blades only hit a single contact on
one side when they close. The Square D alternative has the blade slipping
between two contacts.

Sadly we have had to replace so many of these and most are supply side
interconnections, which make it tricky and expensive.

Jason Szumlanski
Florida Solar Design Group




On Mon, Nov 1, 2021, 4:26 PM Dave Tedeyan  wrote:

> Hi All,
>
> I am servicing a system that keeps blowing fuses on the AC side, although
> it
>  appears that everything is sized correctly. It is a SolarEdge SE11400A-US
> inverter.
>  Max continuous output current is 47.5A x 1.25 = 59.4A. There is a GE
> TG3222R
>  60A AC disconnect, and it is wired up with #6 THHN wire. The terminals
> were tight
>  and there was no evidence of arcing or burning in the past. This is
> indoors, and not
>  exposed to sunlight. No extra conductors are in the conduit.
>
> But they say that they need to replace a fuse roughly once per month. Has
> anyone
>  seen this before? Could there be some kind of fault in the inverter
> itself that
>  occasionally induces extra current? Is there any way to tweak the
> settings so that it
>  actually produces a bit more than 11.4kw? I appreciate your thoughts.
>
> Cheers,
> Dave
>
> --
> [image: Logo] 
> Dave Tedeyan, P.E.
> Owner | Sungineer Solar
> p: he | him | his
> a: 1653 Slaterville Rd. | Ithaca, NY 14850
> w: www.sungineersolar.com 
> c: (607) 288-2898
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Re: [RE-wrenches] SolarEdge inverter blowing fuses

[Jason Szumlanski]

I should also mention that it has nothing to do with ambient heat. This has
occured in all seasons and with disconnects in direct sunlight on a south
wall and disconnects in air conditioned garages.

It's just a garbage product. We switched to Square D for 60A D222NRB
fusible disconnects and are also using their 100A circuit breaker
enclosures which are cost effective. The D223NRB is also a good fusible
disconnect, but pricey.

Jason


On Mon, Nov 1, 2021, 8:24 PM Jason Szumlanski <
ja...@floridasolardesigngroup.com> wrote:

> It's the disconnect. We had dozens of this subpar disconnect design fail
> on Enphase systems. The 2 Pole has the same issue.
>
> GE gave us some nonsense answer that it's General Duty and not designed
> for continuous high power. Even 40A combined Enphase systems will blow a
> 60A fuse.
>
> What you will find is the fuse will blow on one side and then replacements
> will blow at decreasing intervals until it blows daily. Our experience is
> the left side (of the 2-pole)  is far more problematic for some odd reason.
> It's not the fuse brand either.
>
> I believe the design fault is how the blades only hit a single contact on
> one side when they close. The Square D alternative has the blade slipping
> between two contacts.
>
> Sadly we have had to replace so many of these and most are supply side
> interconnections, which make it tricky and expensive.
>
> Jason Szumlanski
> Florida Solar Design Group
>
>
>
>
> On Mon, Nov 1, 2021, 4:26 PM Dave Tedeyan  wrote:
>
>> Hi All,
>>
>> I am servicing a system that keeps blowing fuses on the AC side, although
>> it
>>  appears that everything is sized correctly. It is a SolarEdge
>> SE11400A-US inverter.
>>  Max continuous output current is 47.5A x 1.25 = 59.4A. There is a GE
>> TG3222R
>>  60A AC disconnect, and it is wired up with #6 THHN wire. The terminals
>> were tight
>>  and there was no evidence of arcing or burning in the past. This is
>> indoors, and not
>>  exposed to sunlight. No extra conductors are in the conduit.
>>
>> But they say that they need to replace a fuse roughly once per month. Has
>> anyone
>>  seen this before? Could there be some kind of fault in the inverter
>> itself that
>>  occasionally induces extra current? Is there any way to tweak the
>> settings so that it
>>  actually produces a bit more than 11.4kw? I appreciate your thoughts.
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Dave
>>
>> --
>> [image: Logo] 
>> Dave Tedeyan, P.E.
>> Owner | Sungineer Solar
>> p: he | him | his
>> a: 1653 Slaterville Rd. | Ithaca, NY 14850
>> w: www.sungineersolar.com 
>> c: (607) 288-2898
>> ___
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Re: [RE-wrenches] SolarEdge inverter blowing fuses

[Jerry Shafer]

Bad switch


On Mon, Nov 1, 2021 at 5:44 PM Jason Szumlanski <
ja...@floridasolardesigngroup.com> wrote:

> See attached image. Notice the discoloration on the top of the left fuse.
> It's always the same thing, same place.
>
> Jason
>
> On Mon, Nov 1, 2021, 8:30 PM Jason Szumlanski <
> ja...@floridasolardesigngroup.com> wrote:
>
>> I should also mention that it has nothing to do with ambient heat. This
>> has occured in all seasons and with disconnects in direct sunlight on a
>> south wall and disconnects in air conditioned garages.
>>
>> It's just a garbage product. We switched to Square D for 60A D222NRB
>> fusible disconnects and are also using their 100A circuit breaker
>> enclosures which are cost effective. The D223NRB is also a good fusible
>> disconnect, but pricey.
>>
>> Jason
>>
>>
>> On Mon, Nov 1, 2021, 8:24 PM Jason Szumlanski <
>> ja...@floridasolardesigngroup.com> wrote:
>>
>>> It's the disconnect. We had dozens of this subpar disconnect design fail
>>> on Enphase systems. The 2 Pole has the same issue.
>>>
>>> GE gave us some nonsense answer that it's General Duty and not designed
>>> for continuous high power. Even 40A combined Enphase systems will blow a
>>> 60A fuse.
>>>
>>> What you will find is the fuse will blow on one side and then
>>> replacements will blow at decreasing intervals until it blows daily. Our
>>> experience is the left side (of the 2-pole)  is far more problematic for
>>> some odd reason. It's not the fuse brand either.
>>>
>>> I believe the design fault is how the blades only hit a single contact
>>> on one side when they close. The Square D alternative has the blade
>>> slipping between two contacts.
>>>
>>> Sadly we have had to replace so many of these and most are supply side
>>> interconnections, which make it tricky and expensive.
>>>
>>> Jason Szumlanski
>>> Florida Solar Design Group
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Mon, Nov 1, 2021, 4:26 PM Dave Tedeyan 
>>> wrote:
>>>
 Hi All,

 I am servicing a system that keeps blowing fuses on the AC side,
 although it
  appears that everything is sized correctly. It is a SolarEdge
 SE11400A-US inverter.
  Max continuous output current is 47.5A x 1.25 = 59.4A. There is a GE
 TG3222R
  60A AC disconnect, and it is wired up with #6 THHN wire. The terminals
 were tight
  and there was no evidence of arcing or burning in the past. This is
 indoors, and not
  exposed to sunlight. No extra conductors are in the conduit.

 But they say that they need to replace a fuse roughly once per month.
 Has anyone
  seen this before? Could there be some kind of fault in the inverter
 itself that
  occasionally induces extra current? Is there any way to tweak the
 settings so that it
  actually produces a bit more than 11.4kw? I appreciate your thoughts.

 Cheers,
 Dave

 --
 [image: Logo] 
 Dave Tedeyan, P.E.
 Owner | Sungineer Solar
 p: he | him | his
 a: 1653 Slaterville Rd. | Ithaca, NY 14850
 w: www.sungineersolar.com 
 c: (607) 288-2898
 ___
 List sponsored by Redwood Alliance

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