Hi All,

I have a Sunsynk inverter that started behaving funny after 2 months of flawless operation.

System: 

12kW 3hp inverter

2x 5kWh FreedomWon e-towers (I know this is not enough to supply amps at full power, not using more than 8kW at the moment, and will upgrade in future.

16x 545W Canadian Solar panels, split between 2 strings of 8 panels each.

 

2 days ago the inverter tripped around 14:00. Grid was present, battery full and PV present. Inverter would shut down and after resetting, immediately trip again. No alarm was indicated.

The only way to get the inverter to run was to isolate it from the grid. I left the grid isolated for a couple of hours, and when re-connecting after a few hours, it seemed normal.

22:00 that night we had load shedding. As Eskom went off, the inverter tripped again, but re-started fine after about a minute. (the reset time set on inverter)

Yesterday we had the same thing, inverter tripped around 17:00, and again the night when load shedding started. At some point during normal operation, I switched off the grid, and instead of seamlessly taking over as ups, the inverter tripped, and came on fine after the reset time.

Also worth noting, yesterday afternoon while the fault condition was present, the inverter made an abnormal fizzing sound, almost like some high frequency arcing inside.

 

Does any of this sound familiar to anyone?

Any ideas of what I can check to ensure it is not a wiring or setup fault?

P

 

 

 

 

2 hours ago, PieterLR said:

made an abnormal fizzing sound, almost like some high frequency arcing inside.

It will be worth your while to check for  loose connection to the inverter(mains, battery cables) otherwise contact your installer to check it out. Worst-case scenario he will have to remove the inverter and have it checked out.

 

2 hours ago, PieterLR said:

2 months of flawless operation

Don't think it will be set-up fault

My motto remains. If any equipment makes a new unknown sound start investigating. Too many switch ons when something switches off can just make the problem worse. 

Installer can check readings of all inputs and outputs and may be come to the best arrangement. 

Thank you for the replies. I installed the inverter myself and took no shortcuts with connections. I will however re-check all connections.

The buzz came from inside of the inverter and was definitely not arcing at the terminal block junction.

Will report back after checks.

I checked everything again and can see no problem with wiring.

This morning 0800 it tripped again without a change in loadshedding state. I noticed that when grid is isolated from the inverter, the AC light remains on and one of the phases indicate as 132v on the inverter display. Measuring with a multimeter however, show 0v between phase in and neutral.