May 10, 20233 yr My Main DB is 30m from where my inverter is planned to be. I have read that the max length of the CT cable from the Main DB to the inverter should not exceed 15m. I have a normal prepaid meter. What can I do to ensure the signal from the CT reaches the inverter correctly?
May 10, 20233 yr 1 hour ago, Espee said: My Main DB is 30m from where my inverter is planned to be. I have read that the max length of the CT cable from the Main DB to the inverter should not exceed 15m. I have a normal prepaid meter. What can I do to ensure the signal from the CT reaches the inverter correctly? You can use an RS485 CHNT / EASTRON Meter (or similar) - it can do longer distances. See documentation https://www.sunsynk.org/post/eastron-meters-do-you-need-one https://youtu.be/ifR80jE5pdI Edited May 10, 20233 yr by system32
May 10, 20233 yr In the UK there is a company that sells Sunsynk CT Coil extensions up to 50metres! (At one heck of a price). They are made from Cat5e cable which is relatively cheap. I assume that at the price they are asking, 50metres must work. https://www.dragonsbreathsolar.co.uk/product/sunsynk-ct-coil-extension/ Sunsynk themselves talk about a max of 20metres but that is using the same or similar cable (twisted pair) which is susceptible to emf interference especially if running close to the other cabling. I also read that one can use shielded microphone cable as an option to get long lengths.. Personally I extended mine from the 3metres on the original coil to about 11 metres using Cat5e cable and using 3 wires in the Cat5e cable to each strand of the CT Coil cable and do not see any issues.
May 10, 20233 yr Author 3 minutes ago, Thunderdolt said: In the UK there is a company that sells Sunsynk CT Coil extensions up to 50metres! (At one heck of a price). They are made from Cat5e cable which is relatively cheap. I assume that at the price they are asking, 50metres must work. https://www.dragonsbreathsolar.co.uk/product/sunsynk-ct-coil-extension/ Sunsynk themselves talk about a max of 20metres but that is using the same or similar cable (twisted pair) which is susceptible to emf interference especially if running close to the other cabling. I also read that one can use shielded microphone cable as an option to get long lengths.. Personally I extended mine from the 3metres on the original coil to about 11 metres using Cat5e cable and using 3 wires in the Cat5e cable to each strand of the CT Coil cable and do not see any issues. That is what I plan on doing. I have a Cat6 cable pulled in from the Main DB to the Inverter. It is shielded and I plan to use 4 wires per strand, so then using all the available cables in the Cat6. I hope that will do the trick, otherwise I will have to what @system32 recommended.
May 10, 20233 yr 1 minute ago, Espee said: That is what I plan on doing. I have a Cat6 cable pulled in from the Main DB to the Inverter. It is shielded and I plan to use 4 wires per strand, so then using all the available cables in the Cat6. I hope that will do the trick, otherwise I will have to what @system32 recommended. I'm getting old, I should have said I did 4 wires per strand not 3.
May 10, 20233 yr Some Sunsynk CTs are rated for mA output and some for mV. In my mind replacing the accompanying wire with a 2.5mm² twinflex will sort out volt drop. Ideally it should have been twisted... perhaps use Surfix.
May 10, 20233 yr 13 minutes ago, Espee said: That is what I plan on doing. I have a Cat6 cable pulled in from the Main DB to the Inverter. It is shielded and I plan to use 4 wires per strand, so then using all the available cables in the Cat6. I hope that will do the trick, otherwise I will have to what @system32 recommended. In this thread 42 metres is running on Cat5e
May 10, 20233 yr 7 hours ago, Espee said: That is what I plan on doing. I have a Cat6 cable pulled in from the Main DB to the Inverter. It is shielded and I plan to use 4 wires per strand, so then using all the available cables in the Cat6. I hope that will do the trick, otherwise I will have to what @system32 recommended. The CHNT DDSU666 and EASTRON are digital meters (similar to the Victron Energy Meter ET112) that communicates via RS485 modbus protocol to the inverter. Not sure if the Victron Energy Meter ET112 is compatible - it costs about R1,500.
May 11, 20233 yr At this time only Eastron & Chint meters work & they must be programmed with a Modbus number smaller than 16. All Sunsynks can only register Modbus numbers at 16 & below...Or use Cat5e or CAT6 shielded cable. It works beautifully.
May 11, 20233 yr I saw this proposed solution on youtube a while ago. Maybe someone more knowledgeable can comment... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=johXd5gL2R0
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