Don Posted January 30, 2017 Share Posted January 30, 2017 Hi Manie, I am aware that to query a single inverter for the "Inverter Temperature" and display it in ICC is not a problem. As far as I know, with Axperts in parallel, it is possible to retrieve the first inverter's temperature, but not the second inverter's temperature. As a result, when running Axperts in parallel, no temperature is displayed on ICC, or rather displayed as 0 degrees. I would assume that if the inverters are installed in close proximity, the temperature of the two inverters would be pretty much the same. My inverters are installed in a cupboard with an extractor fan which I run manually. I still need to put it on a timer or something. At this stage I switch on the fan when I feel it gets a bit hot in the cupboard or when I am charging the batteries. I sit in my study and VNC to ICC running on my Pi and not always aware of how hot it is in there and I have no clue at what temperatures the inverters are running. I therefore request that you consider displaying the temperature of the first inverter on ICC. At least then I would have an idea at what temperatures the inverters are running at. I am aware that if something goes wrong with the second inverter, you will not pick it up on ICC, as it is only displaying the first inverter's temperature. But currently you will not even pick up if something goes wrong with the first inverter. I am not sure how other ICC users running inverters in parallel feel about it, but I would rather see the first inverter's temperature, than a temperature of 0 degrees . ibiza 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 30, 2017 Share Posted January 30, 2017 I agree Don and it is possible to do it. How does the other users feel about it ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 Don . I think the best is to connect temp sensors to each and every inverter and read the temperature with the Raspberry Pi and pull a relay and swich a fan on .Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidewinder Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 Hi Manie, I agree with Don on this. At least one Inv. temp would be usefull. Having just recovered from my Pi melting itself, I need to move to the next step. In my mind this would ideally be some MQTT info, coupled with Red Node logic and a ESP-8266 with relay. Been reading a lot, but all this takes a bit of time to grasp and sink in. I can think of a few projects I would like to add to my system. Don's auto fan would be usefull for me as well, but that can wait, as my battery room is sufficient with natural cooling, but not knowing the temps can lead me down the garden path. I would like to switch heavy loads off, eg 2kW geyser when load exceeds 4-4.5 kW. for x amount of minutes. That is paramount for me at this stage, due to several overloads, which can be prevented with simple but complicated setup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Posted January 31, 2017 Author Share Posted January 31, 2017 14 hours ago, Manie said: Don . I think the best is to connect temp sensors to each and every inverter and read the temperature with the Raspberry Pi and pull a relay and swich a fan on Thanks Manie. I thought about it for a while and think that should actually be the easiest way to do it. Monitor the inverter temperatures individually and activate the fan once they reach a certain temperature, then switch the fan off once they reach an acceptable temperature again. That can be done with the Pi gpoi pinout and relays. I am just not sure which temperature sensors to use for the installation. I see there are a few temperature sensors available. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
incagarcilaso Posted February 3, 2017 Share Posted February 3, 2017 On 30/1/2017 at 7:25 PM, Manie said: I agree Don and it is possible to do it. How does the other users feel about it ? I vote this up. Like @Don I have two Axperts and would find the temperature reading very useful, especially in the summer to step in if things start getting too hot. Maybe an e-mail alert in the future for this with a "high" and "low" temp threshold would be good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 3, 2017 Share Posted February 3, 2017 The best is to read all inverters. Buy some temp sensors, use Python script and send the data to emoncms . What if you have 6 inverter ?. Also it is very easy to use the GPIO header and connect a relay to it and start a fan base on that settings . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Czauto Posted February 3, 2017 Share Posted February 3, 2017 I've got an suggestion. About two years ago my whirly bird's (tornado thingy on the roof) bearings started to seize. The noise was unbearable and seeing that I live down in the lovely Karoo, I could not find any replacement bearings. I cabletied the thing so it could just for the live of God, stop squeking. Not long after I installed my solar panels (Oct 2016) I discovered an old 10" universal 12v radiator fan. I mounted that in the whirly bird (which is also about 10" in diameter). I connected it to a 20w solar panel which was a bit small but also free seeing that it was laying in my garage. To get to the point, when the sun is shining and heating up my roof, the fan is powered by the solar panel and extracting the hot air. My house is noticably cooler since I've done this.Why don't you do the same to cool down your inverters? This would uncomplicate things a lot and a new fan and solar panel would cost less than R1000 new.Except for when running big loads from your batteries, the inverter needs cooling the most when the sun is shining? Am I correct?The Pi with sensor seems like a great idea but IMO it's still a bit untrustworthy. I want something I can install and forget about.....Sent from my S60 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 3, 2017 Share Posted February 3, 2017 1 hour ago, Czauto said: I want something I can install and forget about..... Amen. Me myself and I, we would not install a inverter in a enclosed environment either, never no matter what. I think the manuals would lean towards my thinking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Posted February 4, 2017 Author Share Posted February 4, 2017 10 hours ago, The Terrible Triplett said: Me myself and I, we would not install a inverter in a enclosed environment either, never no matter what. Why not TTT, it is not like they give off gasses? Mine is in a cupboard in my passage with a 500 mm dia. fan installed in the ceiling about 600 mm above my inverters. I get a nice velocity over my inverters getting rid of any heat. Compare that to installing them on a wall in my double garage. No airflow over them except for the little airflow caused by convection due to the heat given off by the inverters. They would run a lot hotter in my garage than in the cupboard. 10 hours ago, The Terrible Triplett said: I think the manuals would lean towards my thinking. Which manuals are you referring to? Hopefully not written by the same guys that designed the Axpert and installed the cooling fans blowing in the wrong direction, haha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 4, 2017 Share Posted February 4, 2017 Manuals tend to say: Do not install in a closed space or Must be installed in a well ventilated space. Cannot help if the designers forgot it or did not know how to translate it for if it goes for say SMA, Morningstar, UPS'es, Victron etc. it must apply to all things Voltronic. As a matter of fact my first install was in a cupboard with ventilation holes and fan. The whole caboot. After a while I sat the one day and thought, this is just looking for trouble after feeling the heat, with the fan, radiating off the controller and the inverter on a very hot summers day, week. Installing in a garage as some do, yes, another type of heat issue and not only for electronic equipment, but the batteries also IF the garage gets really hot in summer en very cold in winter. Heat is a real issue affecting the lifespan of batteries and electronic equipment. Cold not so much unless it goes below the temps the batteries can handle. Adding fans to keep things cool adds more complexity and I don't like complexity. Installing in a cupboard is adding complexity. Bottom line: Two ways of doing the same thing. You have inverters installed successfully in a cupboard with fans and maybe a Arduino or some later to handle the fans. Or more simpler like Czauto did, which is a very cool way of doing it. I have tried same and decided not to due to more things that needs checked. The problems we are facing where to install to keep things cool is the same all over the world. There are limitations or you do it right and make it happen ... but that just costs more and more so where does one stop and say: Enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Posted February 4, 2017 Author Share Posted February 4, 2017 3 hours ago, The Terrible Triplett said: Manuals tend to say: Do not install in a closed space or Must be installed in a well ventilated space. I agree TTT, unless they give definitions for all the terms they throw around, i.e. what is well ventilated? An inverter sitting on the back wall of a garage, according to me is unventilated and definitively not well ventilated and if you close the garage doors are also in a confined or closed space. I wanted my inverters as close as possible to my solar panels. The garage was not an option as it is on the other side of the house. It was either build a little battery and inverter room onto the house or use the linen cupboard in the passage. When my wife went to visit the kids in New Zealand for 3 months, I stuffed all the linen in the spare room cupboard and installed my batteries and inverters in the linen cupboard. Mark and ___ 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 4, 2017 Share Posted February 4, 2017 1 hour ago, Don said: When my wife went to visit the kids in New Zealand for 3 months ... Clever!!! You obviously survived. Was the stay in the hospital comfortable? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Posted February 4, 2017 Author Share Posted February 4, 2017 On 2/4/2017 at 1:35 PM, The Terrible Triplett said: You obviously survived. Was the stay in the hospital comfortable? Yes, every time the is a bit of an argument in the house, I get reminded of how selfish and unconsidered I am. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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