javadog

Thanks for the diagram. Because I am an absolute novice with this. On your other diagram the earth seems to be its own circuit connecting only to Eskom power source. what closes the loop? I really appreciate all the help. I will head off tomorrow to start getting the needed switches etc. Thanks

Hi Every one Thank you for the feedback!!! so from what I understand. Outgoing: I will need to add a CB into the DB board connect that the Inverter ( take a connection from earth to 'power; that and then remove the other connections to lights and plugs) Incoming: I will need a CB which runs into an earth connection and from there powers the various other CB (Lights + Plugs) Batteries: I will need to buy a place a fuse box between batteries and inverter to protect that connection. Manual override switch ultimately is optional but would be between the outgoing connection between DB and inverter and incoming. If I understand this correctly, I will basically be creating a loop from DB -> outbound -> Switch -> Inbound as opposed to DB -Outbound - -> Inverter -> inbound. And now lets hope it all fits, below is an image of my db board. The first breaker to the right of earth is the geyser, the rest are lights and plugs, stove is gas and oven has its own breaker not on the board.

Hi, I have an Axpert 5KVA inverter that I want to connect to the DB board to run the lights and plugs. It was installed at my previous place and was pretty straight forward (Output and Input of 220 volt and then DB board connections, nothing was connected in between, this is how I inherited it and worked flawlessly for 3 years.) , however I have requested several quotes from various electicians and its nearly more to install than to actually buy the system. (pricing is around the 8 - 10K for the installation and parts ) My question revolves around the connectivity of the Inverter to the grid and also the batteries. It seems all electricians build in manual cut over switches between in the inverter and the grid, which they argue is to protect the inverter or grid connection as well as surge protectors The other is a fuse box between the batteries and in the inverter for the same reason, but I am not sure how there can be an overload/short between the batteries if they are connected correctly in series. (4 x 90ah deep cycle lead/acid). Ultimately however if this is the correct way, then I will head that advice, or the advice of the forum as I am not an electrician and get the parts from Communica or similar and potential build that system myself as I have a bit of an issue paying huge labour and parts costs for a pretty straight forward process. As always, thanks for the advice in advance.

Thanks for the responses. Earthed the invertor and it is now working properly. Appreciate the help.

Hi I need a bit of assistance. I have an Axpert inverter set up as a battery back up solution. I only run the lights and the plugs off the system and ignore the geyser and the stove. It runs off the system constantly for the fail over, so no manually switching. I have attached the wiring from the invertor alone. So have not included the 'normal' grid power circuit. The issue I have is that when on the grid and earth is triggered the invertor kicks in automatically and power is restored to the plugs and lights. Obviously I need it to stay earthed and not restore power in this scenario, when load shedding kicks in, different story. The key also is to ensure that the stove and the geyser stay off as it is only a 5KVA system and so cannot handle everything at once. Any advice on how best to wire this so that there is earth? Thanks

Thanks Coulomb. No panels just yet, will tackle that one later in the year where I would ideally like to run everything off the panels during the day and then batteries in the evening. First however have to get approval from body corporate and all that and then the final hurdle; the finance manager, aka the wife...

Thanks, appreciate the feedback and advice, will dive into the programming this evening and check where I can set the charge voltage to the 56.4V. While I am at it, what should the cut off be? Again thanks.

Hi, I inherited an Apex 5KVA system and am running 4 x 95AH 12V batteries on it. The system charges via eskom and goes up to 54V 'float' I assume, I pretty much left everything on default. I have tried to search on the forum for a similar issue but with no luck. The query I have is when I test the system or load shedding kicks in the voltage drops straight down to 49,5 volts, then stabilises and runs smoothly for a good couple of hours till eskom feels I can have power again. When the power comes back up it charges itself up to 54V rather quickly. I generally pull 350 Watts on it as it is lights, PC and the TV. Any advice would be great. Thanks