Jump to content

Nuno

Members
  • Posts

    48
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by Nuno

  1. I'm pretty positive its the panels fault. Today I'm getting slightly more power than the 2 previous days. Around 200W more (not a full sun day), so I'm guessing its due to the other 2 panels now being connected and outputting some power. Not sure at what rate are they working now, since the voltage of this string will be always lower than of the other two strings...
  2. since I got down from 9 to 8 panels, I wonder if its worth to reconfigure my setup from: (3x300) + (3x300) + (3x300) to: (2x300) + (2x300) + (2x300) + (2x300) I need to get new cables for that and re-do some wiring... is it worth it?
  3. thanks. will take a look I did open the panel's box but found out the whole thing was immersed(for lack of a better word) in some kind of silicone. I guess thats to avoid people messing up with it They dont really have a brand.. some sort of generic
  4. Update! With only the bad string connected, I took out one of the panels and I think I got lucky right on the first one! I tried to connect the string with 2 panels to the inverter and it began charging! So i guess I found out the culprit. Is it worth to open the panel's "box" and look into some possible issues I can fix? Or is it good to replace? (its only 2 years old )
  5. Hi folks, Yesterday I noticed my production was 30% down from the usual. I have 3 strings of panels (3x330w each). Each string has the 3 panels in series, to get to around 110V, and then they all connect in parallel to my Axpert Inverter. After some quick diagnostics, I found out one of the strings was not giving any power to the inverter. (I realized this by disconnecting one by one, and noticing that this one did not make any difference being unplugged or not). I spent most of my day trying to check the cables (some of them underground), and making sure there was no connectivity issue. I tested connectivity with my multimeter and everything seemed to be ok (I did not want to dig the underground cables...) I checked the voltage of this particular string, and it was ok at around 110V. Today I tried something else, and this is when things begin to get weird. I disconnected completely the 2 good strings. I measured the voltage of the bad string before connecting to fuse box+inverter. 110V as expected. Once I plug things on, the voltage drops to about 50-60V, and the inverter is not able to "connect" the charge (it does this "click" sounds every couple of seconds). I'm lost trying to understand what this might be. Please let me know if you have any ideas. I really do miss those precious 30% now in winter time
  6. check my post with the drawing, I connected neutral directly to ground in the bus bar
  7. Ok guys, mystery solved! Kind of .... I was experimenting connecting just one battery at a time to check if maybe one of them was fault. Then I noticed something odd. Sometimes when I turned on the battery switch it went to 7V, other times it stayed off. I then tried the same thing with the 3 of them together and got the same result... no consistent behavior. Then it ocurred to me that maybe the fact that I'm switching them on one by one is somehow confusing the inverter<->battery, and by safety it shuts down. So I unplugged the inverter cables, turn them all on (getting 50.4V), and then plugged in the cables (getting the expected spark in the last connected terminal). The charge held up at 50.4. So I switched on the panels and finally the inverter came alive My bad for not having a proper DC breaker, this whole thing might have been avoided! Phew! thanks everyone
  8. the three of them read 50.4V when disconnected from the inverter
  9. here it goes. the first one is the right connection, the second one is highlighting the mistake. Again, the battery switch was OFF at the time, but the cables were connected to the inverter, thus closing the circuit.
  10. Thanks @Coulomb You are right about the conductivity. I held it longer than 10seconds and after a while the beep went off. Measuring the ohms, i got 3.3 MΩ, at the battery in and 0.3 MΩ, at AC out (no battery connected) About the batteries, these are lithium, so they have 2 + terminals, 2 - terminals, a small lcd and a switch to turn it on. When the battery is off, there is no voltage across the terminals (which was the case when I misconnected the cables by plugging both in the negative terminals) BUT, there is continuity between the 2 + terminals, or between the 2 - terminals. So I did close the circuit of the battery cables, even though the battery was off. If this is not clear maybe I can take a picture of it
  11. sorry, not sure the right term in english... I mean there is conductivity between the two ends
  12. Its not a Pylon, but very similar! I tried connecting just one and turning the battery switch on, it went back to 6..7V and no sign of life in the inverter
  13. Hi guys I may have not explained myself properly. I think the short was without battery interference... so probably a capacitor? the confusion was due to the terminals in the lithium batteries, I had connected the negatives, and then the positive cable got connected to ANOTHER negative terminal as well. With the batteries disconected I get 50.1 in each. Once I get them plugged in to the inveter, it imediately drops to 6..7V like I said above. I'm actually afraid to try it again in case I fry it even more You mean there is nothing strange in the multimeter reading continuity between the + and - terminals of battery In and also between + and - of AC out?? (also, how do I reset the inverter?the manual doesnt mention anything...)
  14. I was switching from lead-acid to new lithium batteries, prepared everything well in advance and rehearsed all the connections I had to undo and do. This morning, for some stupid reason, I had an epic failure for a few seconds, I pretty sure I short circuited the inverter battery IN terminals. It actually happened to me a couple of years back, at that time something blew up and smoke came out. This time, no noise, no smell.... but the inverter is pretty much dead. When I connected the batteries and tested voltage it read 7V and went up 0.1 every 5 seconds or so... stabilizing at round 30. Turning on the solar panels made no difference. I disconnected everything and with the multimeter I testes for continuity between the negative and positive terminals of Battery IN, and it beeped (which means there is a circuit). Same thing for - and + of AC out. So, am I right that this is messed up and needs repair? (Axpert Inverter)
  15. Ok, I got everything connected and working.... kind of! I need some extra advice with the hopes that I didnt buy a terrible generator The AC breaker in the gen was tripping after a minute or so. Being a 2300W gen I configured max AC In current to 10A. But upon checking the manual, I discovered the max current output is actually 9.2A. So it seems the inverter is pulling too much current and eventually the gen disconnects AC output. Unfortunately for me, the only setting lower than 10A is 2A... which is extremely low I tried playing up a bit with the inverter settings, changing the priority to SOL, but still it eventually disconnects when it needs more power from the gen. Any advice on how I can use all these settings to reach the best possible setup for this?
  16. Hi folks! Due to some unexpected problems with my Axpert Inverter, I got myself a small (2kva) generator for backup power, as I'm living offgrid. It's fine for emergency usage, but now that my inverter is back up, I was wondering if its ok to connect this generator to the inverter to use it as a backup charge for the batteries. In this way I can have my house fully powered instead of using cords from the generator. I never did this before, so bare with my with some basic questions My generator doesn't have any AC output terminals (no idea if its common or not), just two typical AC outlets to plug cords. So I was planning to do as follows Plug in an extension cord to the generator, cut the other end, and connect the wires to the AC IN terminals of the inverter (including ground wire) Switch the generator AC switch off Power the generator and leave it running for a few minutes (as per instructions) Switch the generator AC switch on Is this ok and safe, or can I blow up my inverter? thanks in advance!
  17. Alright folks, I thought it would be nice to share the development of this story, in case anyone else in the future finds itself in the same spot. Thanks again to all and especially @Coulomb for the advice! So I changed setting 27 (float voltage) to 56.9v and logged the voltage of the batteries as reported by the inverter twice a day. One at night, before bed, and one early morning (without PV power or very little power ~30w). First night: 49.9v Morning: 46.9v (inverter alarm beeping with error 04) Second night: 50.4v Morning: 47.8v (no alarm) Third night: 49.9v Morning: 50.0v Fourth night: 51.4v Morning: 50.3v So in general it seems to be improving. The big change was on the third night, there was absolutely no loss of voltage during the whole night (with around 1000w of consumption) I think tomorrow I'll change setting 27 back to its default and see if it holds the same way or not. One thing I noticed is that it only reaches 56.9v if there is a good amount of power coming in (>600w or so). Otherwise it drops to 54v 53v...52v.... and usually holds around 52 with low sun. (no loads) I do wonder why it drops so much (from ~52v to 50v), in just a few hours (say, from 17h to 22h), and no further drop during the whole night. The consumption is about the same. If anyone has any further insights/tips/advice, please do share thanks again everyone!
  18. Thanks @Coulomb Actually I'm in the northern hemisphere, so the weather is cooling down! I'll set the float close to 57 and see if it makes a difference for a few days. Luckily we have some sunny days ahead!
  19. sorry, do you mean to change the float voltage to the BULK voltage? Right now this is what I have 02 - 40A 26 (bulk) - 58.4V 27 (float) - 54.5V 31(eq voltage) - 57.6V (I dont seem to have a setting for the absorption voltage) PS - I found a copy of my manual online. This one seems to have the exact settings I have available: https://slideshare.net/dennyhonen/voltronic-axpert-v-user-manual
  20. Hi @Coulomb thanks very much for the detailed answer. I'll look more closely to see if the float bug is an issue or not. I recall clouds passing by lowering the input power, but as soon as the cloud is out of the way, the power goes up again. (Side note, actually I dont have Setting 31 either, it goes from 30 to 33.) I just changed the Equalization voltage to 57.6 (it was set at 58.4). The reported voltage jumps from the floating voltage (53.7 at the time), to 57.x in just 5 seconds or so, even with just 500w of PV input. Of course, if I stop the equalization process, it comes down equally fast. Is this expected?
  21. The inverter is set to do an equalization charge every 60 days or so... should I do that more often? I checked the temperatures a few time, didn't see anything different. The only difference was only the ~0.1v in a particular battery. But I guess thats not a significant number...
  22. Just one more question... I understand, by the numbers, that I may have not enough panels and the batteries never get fully charged... BUT, how then can we explain that almost every sunny day the inverter stops charging the batteries? Usually by 1-2pm, the PV power drops to 150w and keeps it at that level, unless there is a load. So, if I turn a 1000w pump on, the PV power goes back to 1000w and then as soon as I turn it off (or some minutes mores) it drops back again to 150w. I always understood this to be a sign of having the batteries at full charge
  23. Yes I already did this today morning I'm not sure of the model because they are all so similar to each other! It does have settings 30, 31, 33, 34, 35, 36. Doesnt have 32 and doesnt have 04 either. Does that give a clue? (I attach a photo of it, maybe it helps to identify the right model). Oh, it also has a USB and Ethernet port, no serial. The only significant change was the float voltage, that I had set up higher (not sure if 54 or 54.4). The batteries are around 1yr old, but only 2months of more intense use. Before that they were mostly used for tools once in a while. Now I'm living fulltime off-grid, so thats the big difference thanks!
×
×
  • Create New...