Sorry the PDF images done want to paste into this page?

In addition to Float and bulk values does anyone know how this inverter determines when to carry our an equalization phase and where to set these values?

 

The Axpert inverters cannot do an equalize charge.

Sorry the PDF images done want to paste into this page?

 

Re-type it or post a link to the PDF.

Hi, sorry for the delay (Super DIY), I have included the Specs from the battery manufacturer, a lot of data is given per cell (so I guess it's a case of cell x battery x  series).

In addition to Float and bulk values does anyone know how this inverter determines when to carry our an equalization phase and where to set these values?

 

Excuse the scrappy paste.

 

Solar Batter Specs AF

Hi. If I run the inverters in parralel can I have 6 panels on the one and 6 on the other and go to one battery bank ?

Should not be a problem. Obvious the battery bank needs to be large enough to accept charge from two inverters

Hi all.

 

I am almost done with my inverter setup. I still need to do the AC wireing. I see it has a live / nutral and earth connection. Where do I connect the earth if there is only a live / nutural at my changeover switch that brings the power from my main board ?

 

 

 

Looks very neat! you should have a Earth coming from the Main DB as well. There is currently still a conversation regarding the Earth connection and Neutral Earth bonding etc. etc. At this stage I cannot really tell you what the correct way of connecting all of that is.

 

The most promising option looks like this:

1) Live and Neutral inputs on the inverter(s) need to be connected before the main ELR

2) All Earth connections on all inverters and inside all DBs needs to be bonded.

3) ELR must be connected on inverter(s) output.

4) To ensure that ELR on inverter output will protect against leakage currents the following needs to be done:

  4.1) The Main Switch in the Main DB (from where the inverter is fed, must not break the Neutral. The other option is to connect the inverter input Neutral to before the Main Switch in the Main DB to ensure that the Neutral Earth bond before then Main switch is always in circuit.

  4.2) The Neutral input and Neutral output on the inverter(s) need to be bonded.

 

 According to me this is the most fool-proof method which will ensure that you will never have a floating Earth and it will also ensure that the ELR on the inverter output will always react to leakage currents. For more reading on this, see the thread on mybroadband: http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php/700558-Axpert-invertors/page41 from post 614...  Happy reading 

Hi jdp,

 

Nice install.

In your DB it looks like there is an earth bar top right. That is the one to use.

Have you got any PV connected yet?

How is the units working?

I did not install the changeover switch. That was done 3 years ago by an electritian. You can see the generator in the lower right corner of the image. They pulled a L an N wire from the DB main switch to the changeover switch and another set back to the board. This is before the EL. So what i want to do is just wire the inverters in that same line before the EL. Do I still need the earth on the Inverters as the generator does not have. If so can I pull a wire from the closes plug for earth ?

 

OK, you actually have a very simple installation - no split circuits.

 

You can technically connect the inverters' Earth connections to a Earth from the closest plug circuit (although the best method would be to take it all the way to the DB and connect it to the Earth Bar inside the DB) and then you have to bond the Neutrals on the inverter outputs to the Earth connections (from the plug outlet or DB) as well. Just make sure that the plug outlet's Earth goes all the way back to the DB and house earth rod. By doing the Neutral Earth bond on the inverter you will prevent a floating earth and ensure that the ELR will trip in case of a leakage current.

Thanks all.

 

So I can take the earth in the welder plug for the tumble dryer just below the Inverters.

Can I use the same ground for in and out power into and out of the inverters ?

 

@Wetkit, nope no PV yet. I will install panels in November.

 

Yes, as long as that earth is properly connected to the main earth connection of the house. Yes all grounds are connected together.

Thank you.

I did not install the changeover switch. That was done 3 years ago by an electritian. You can see the generator in the lower right corner of the image. They pulled a L an N wire from the DB main switch to the changeover switch and another set back to the board. This is before the EL. So what i want to do is just wire the inverters in that same line before the EL. Do I still need the earth on the Inverters as the generator does not have. If so can I pull a wire from the closes plug for earth ?

Looks like everything will be fed from the inverters - Range +/- 6Kw, HWC 3Kw, the Inverters = 2 x 5Kva (4Kw) = 42A Resistive load and 35A Inductive.

My preferred installation:

60A DP main switch feeding mcb's for Range and HWC (ELR not required) and 2 x 30A (or 35A) SP mcb's feeding inverters.

Isolators at inverters with outputs paralleled and feeding rest of installation via existing ELR.

 

Depending on the length, should be fairly easy to install a 4mm2 earth wire to the DB, pull in a draw wire (6mm2) using one of the existing cables, once out, tie on the earth wire and pull/feed back.

The communication boards enable the 2 inverters to share the load, also to keep the outputs in phase when on battery.

 

Looks like your entire DB is fed from the inverters, Range and HWC */- 6Kw, inverters are 10Kva (8Kw) ?.

I've had similar results with replacing fridges and freezers. I had two ancient combo units (fridge on top, freezer in the bottom). Together they used 6kwh a day. I replaced them with an A-rated Defy chest freezer, and a Bosch A++ rated fridge. Both have 90w compressors, and together they use around 2kwh a day. Fridges and Freezers are often overlooked because they don't use much peak power (250w compressors usually), but people don't realise they run 12-15 hours a day, especially the cheaper ones.

plongster those old fridges are probably auto defrost which are really bad for energy usage and the new one are frost free.

I have a auto defrost fridge and it uses about 3 kwh a day.

 

I don't know if the new type of fridges have such a bad spike as the old units.I had a 220 v camping fridge which had a 100w compressor in it and when we tested it on an oscilloscope it spiked to 1000 w for one second.

No no no.. they were both cheapies with no features :-) One was a KIC that came from my student days. The other was a FridgeMaster that came from my sister's student days. They had 250W compressors and they were running 12 hours a day. Now the interesting thing is that the new Defy chest freezer also run around 12 hours a day, but since it only has a 90w compressor the result is much better :-)

 

Re that spike: That's perfectly normal. Any electrical motor has that spike when it starts up, rule of thumb says 5 times the normal running current, so a 250w compressor would need 1.25kw peak. So that is another good reason to go for the energy-efficient appliance is that you need a smaller inverter to start them.

The new one uses about 110 watt and 2 times per day about 200 watts and can store all the items the other 3 did.

 

Hi jdp, was wondering what you meant by the above statement. I understand that the new fridge uses 110 Watts of power but please explain what you mean by the 2 times per day about 200 watts statement?

 

Is it only running for 2 hours per day and therefore consuming 220 watthours / day?

 

I like your approach to first monitoring your consumption and understanding your energy use - well done.

Nice chart:

5 - 6 = Shower

8 - 9 = Breakfast

10:30 - 12 = ?

12:30 - 1 = Lunch

5 - 6 = Supper

 

Some fridge/freezer combos have two compressors, one for each side. Perhaps that has something to do with it using 200W at times?

Interestingly, I have an 20-25year old upright freezer which we also wanted to replace with something new. Then I checked the consumption and it only draws about 100W. Our year old A++ combi fridge also draws about 100W. So, no need to replace the dinosaur! But I did see quite an improvement by replacing the light bulbs. The 6 foot tube light in the garage used 200W!! Replaced it with 3x 5W LED bulbs, which give sufficient light and my battery bank is much happier

Looks very neat! you should have a Earth coming from the Main DB as well. There is currently still a conversation regarding the Earth connection and Neutral Earth bonding etc. etc. At this stage I cannot really tell you what the correct way of connecting all of that is.

 

The most promising option looks like this:

1) Live and Neutral inputs on the inverter(s) need to be connected before the main ELR

2) All Earth connections on all inverters and inside all DBs needs to be bonded.

3) ELR must be connected on inverter(s) output.

4) To ensure that ELR on inverter output will protect against leakage currents the following needs to be done:

  4.1) The Main Switch in the Main DB (from where the inverter is fed, must not break the Neutral. The other option is to connect the inverter input Neutral to before the Main Switch in the Main DB to ensure that the Neutral Earth bond before then Main switch is always in circuit.

  4.2) The Neutral input and Neutral output on the inverter(s) need to be bonded.

 

 According to me this is the most fool-proof method which will ensure that you will never have a floating Earth and it will also ensure that the ELR on the inverter output will always react to leakage currents. For more reading on this, see the thread on mybroadband: http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php/700558-Axpert-invertors/page41 from post 614...  Happy reading 

Hi all,

 

I did a DIY install and I have 1 x Axpert 5KVA on it. I decided to install a sub DB for the inverter output. I have a few questions:

1. The inverter is powered from mains via a dual pole circuit breaker connected before the ELR on the main board. If it is to respect the advice in the above post can I just bridge the neutral on the circuit breaker or I have to disconnect the neutral wire from the circuit breaker and use a ferrule to connect it?

2. The input and output on the inverter are very closed, can I join the neutrals there?

3. Until now the sub DB had a separate neutral bar from the main DB. If I do all this mods then I will have the same neutral in the sub DB and will it be necessary to move in the new  DB neutrals for each circuit?

 

 

Cheers

Virgil

The above is still not clear.  It would be great if someone can shed some light on the proper (legal) way to do this. 

Hi SuperDIY,

 

Legal or not it seems safer for me if I get rid of the floating Neutral. Will the Axpert suffer if I bridge the input and output neutrals together? 

As far as I understood it is not legal to earth the neutral after the main DB if you are on grid and legal to do it before the main sw. in the main DB.

 

Cheers

Virgil

Hi SuperDIY,

 

Legal or not it seems safer for me if I get rid of the floating Neutral. Will the Axpert suffer if I bridge the input and output neutrals together? 

As far as I understood it is not legal to earth the neutral after the main DB if you are on grid and legal to do it before the main sw. in the main DB.

 

Cheers

Virgil

 

You have to get rid of the floating Earth on the inverter output in order for the ELR on the inverter output to work as intended in case of leakage current.

 

The Axpert should be fine if you bond the Input Neutral to the Output Neutral, but if you have a double pole isolator as a Main switch or a double pole isolator in the supply line to the inverter, which disconnects the Neutral, the N-E bond before the Main switch will not be in place if any of those double pole switches trips or are switched to the open position and then you will have a floating Earth again.

Ok, it gets complicated. I have a double pole CB in the main DB  and then a double pole isolator on the supply to the inverter. But what f I take a neutral cable from the main DB just before ELR to the neutral bar or ELR of the sub DB and I bypass all these issues?

In this case I will not even have to bridge the neutral in and out from the inverter because they are bridged anyway.

On 22 June 2015 at 0:04 PM, Mart-Mari said:

Hi Noel, it was R100K in total and everything in my whole 450m2 house plus my irrigation system and borehole pump work on my system. No problem at all. I can really recommend the system. When we have bad weather, I "borrow" from Eskom and this costs me R3/day.

Hi Noel, after ten months I need to report back to you. My solar system was not functional and after a nightmare experience that eventually became R157K, it was established that the installer made no less than 42 mistakes. The installer paid all my money back and removed the system last week. Biggest disappointment of my life.