February 17, 20251 yr I would like to know from your experience: What kills inverters (mainly all-in-ones) the most, and what can we to do to prolong thier lifespan? I am mainly asking this, as more and more cheap units are available (Voltronic clones and the like) in the market. I mean if we all could afford the high-end stuff (Victron, Schneider, or even genuine Voltronic, etc...) I guess we wouldn't be asking this... Now I know that you get what you pay for and sometimes buying cheap will cost you more in the long-run. But again the up-front costs for these high quality units is sometimes out of reach. Sometimes we want to start small (cheap) and simple and upgrade in the future. I assume the main problem with some cheaper units is simply low quality components (capacitors, FETS and IGBTs). Or maybe components that don't give much headroom or aren't sufficient for the specs of the inverter. But how can we get around this and still enjoy our units for years to come? So any tips would be appreciated... Thanks. Edited February 17, 20251 yr by meetyg
February 17, 20251 yr - low quality caps - heat - overload One can have his Axpert proactively recaped with Nichicon, but the question is whether it makes sense. Given how much Axpert units is being sold every year, the failure rates are amazingly low. Personally, I would just take care of heat. Once the Axpert dies then it can be repaired and recaped, together with new FETs and other semiconductors.
February 18, 20251 yr 13 hours ago, Youda said: - low quality caps - heat - overload One can have his Axpert proactively recaped with Nichicon, but the question is whether it makes sense. Given how much Axpert units is being sold every year, the failure rates are amazingly low. Personally, I would just take care of heat. Once the Axpert dies then it can be repaired and recaped, together with new FETs and other semiconductors. This is a recommendation for going Axpert. There's people who can fix them! My Goodwe is working perfectly well, but at some point something should be done proactively or something will go pop and force the issue. And who is going to do that?
February 18, 20251 yr Author Yeah, of course Axpert/Voltronic are better known and can be repaired. But I'm asking what we can do to prevent the need for repair in the first place.
February 18, 20251 yr 11 minutes ago, meetyg said: Yeah, of course Axpert/Voltronic are better known and can be repaired. But I'm asking what we can do to prevent the need for repair in the first place. Most obvious, for any brand I think, would be the electrolytic caps which will dry out with age. I could probably do that job myself on the Goodwe if I can get the right bits. I couldn't trouble shoot it.
February 18, 20251 yr 1 hour ago, meetyg said: But I'm asking what we can do to prevent the need for repair in the first place. Keep the inverter in a cool and ventilated place. Also, protect it from collecting excessive amounts of dust. Do not put high inductive loads on it. (IE: do not put 5kVA motor on a 5kVA inverter) Follow installation instructions, especially when comes to proper grounding, SPDs, input voltages. IMHO, there's not much you can do proactively, if you don't want to crack the box open and replace one third of the components in advance. Which, to be honest, nullifies advantage of a cheap box.
February 18, 20251 yr @meetyg I did this preventive maintenance on my Axpert 5 years ago and sofar so good .
February 18, 20251 yr Vacuum the dust out. Allow plenty of ventilation. Don't let the battery get so low the inverter heats up during charging
February 20, 20251 yr My expert MKS 2 plus 3kw has being going for 8 years was first running my flat and later the main house now is running the flat my daughter is staying in on the property . It runs from solar day and Eskom night . I have never blown the dust out of it but it is installed all the years in a well ventilated spot so guess heat is a bigger killer than dust .
February 20, 20251 yr Like mentioned above by various people, the main killer of inverters is ventilation. Bad ventilation = overheat and dust build-up. Dust kills capacitors! Over/under volt is also a contributor, as is prolonged max loads - don't run the revs in the red all the time 🤣
February 21, 20251 yr 10 hours ago, Demo said: Like mentioned above by various people, the main killer of inverters is ventilation. Bad ventilation = overheat and dust build-up. Dust kills capacitors! Over/under volt is also a contributor, as is prolonged max loads - don't run the revs in the red all the time 🤣 I agree with you out of my own experience. On christmas morning as my wife was preparing the leg of lamb in the air fryer, my meanwell 3000w inverter let out a "gunshot" and a funny smell, no smoke and the power remained on. the following day I removed the inverter and opened it up the first time since it was manufactured in 2012. On the inside it was a horror show of dust and gunk(gunk probably from a can of coke that was opened near the inverter a couple of years ago that was shaken and the coke sprayed all over the inverter and now I saw that the fans did suck some of it in" any way... I blow the dust away and the main board is in very good condition, very well made but there is 3 450v 330uf rubicon caps and one of them that is in a corner next to a heatsink and big inductor is completely covered in dust and sticky gunk, cleaned the dirt and grime off and sure as day, the cap popped its top. Rush to a local electronics store and they only have one in stock but is is 35mm instead of 25mm. Got home replaced the cap and off we go... Now I still have to order 3 caps and replace the whole squad together, just to give me peace of mind. The inverter remained functional, If I were not home to hear it pop, I would not have known that there was a looming failure waiting to happen. so that is my story about dust and caps.
February 23, 20251 yr Author On 2025/02/20 at 10:34 PM, GMAC said: My expert MKS 2 plus 3kw has being going for 8 years was first running my flat and later the main house now is running the flat my daughter is staying in on the property . It runs from solar day and Eskom night . I have never blown the dust out of it but it is installed all the years in a well ventilated spot so guess heat is a bigger killer than dust . Wow, 8 years, that's impressive! Thank you all for for the helpful information. My MUST inverter has been running reliably for the past two years approximately. But I know it's full of dust (has no filters). While it's placed indoors, it has a tendency to collect alot of dust. I recently took it down, but haven't opened it yet. I looking for a worthy replacement that has filters and SUB mode working properly (preferably with low PV voltage ~ 150v max). But have yet to find one (3kw / 24v). I am currently testing a Powmr unit with dust filters and SUB mode (150v PV MPPT max), but SUB mode isn't working as expected, but that's for a different post. I was asking because I'm somewhat liking these POWMR units, but am afraid that they will fail prematurely. So your comments are very helpful.
February 23, 20251 yr Dust and heat are slow killers. Improper installation and maintenance has damaged or killed all the inverters I know of.
February 23, 20251 yr 1 hour ago, frivan said: Improper installation and maintenance What would you classify as improper installation and what type of maintenance are you referring to?
February 23, 20251 yr Installation errors such as getting PV wires nicked where they exit a roof, having an MC4 connector pull out of the crimp with the inverter not switched off, causing a short on a display screen while fiddling inside the inverter. This last one could be seen as maintenance. I would classify any fault that leads to malfunction that was introduced with the initial installation or expansion of the installation as improper. Maintenance in my mind could be working on communication, control, cooling, making cables look pretty, checking for hot connections.
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