December 11, 201510 yr Hi All, If I monitor the Axpert's temperature from software it runs on average between 65 and 70 degrees. I think this is a little hot. What do you find if you have it and has anybody done something to cool it down more than the standard fans? Ed
December 11, 201510 yr 60-70 is not too bad. I heard a rumour that google discovered that their hardware operate perfectly fine at higher temperatures, and turned down the AC in their data centers to save power :-) From what I remember, the rule is pretty much to stay under boiling point. Above 100, you halve the life of the component for every 10 degrees centigrade. Most will be destroyed above 150. I've seen AMD processors run at 85-90 without a problem.
December 12, 201510 yr I had a look yesterday and in spite of an ambient room temperature of 30oC my PC was running at 45oC.
December 24, 201510 yr Hi All, If I monitor the Axpert's temperature from software it runs on average between 65 and 70 degrees. I think this is a little hot. I totally agree. They used to supply the fans drawing the air downwards, instead of blowing upwards. We had a discussion of this on AEVA, starting here: http://forums.aeva.asn.au/forum_posts.asp?TID=4332&PID=54762&title=pip4048ms-inverter#54762 Note that this was an older unit with older firmware. But it seems worth changing the air flow if it's upside down, and possibly replacing the fans with quieter ones. has anybody done something to cool it down more than the standard fans? We found that with quieter fans and blowing upwards, the temperature runs at only 35'C or so with a 2 kW load. But we don't run that unit all day; this was a "lab test". This will change in the next few weeks or months, when three of us will be running these inverters full time.
December 24, 201510 yr Does the Axpert have filters like the InfiniSolar? My InfiniSolar started to reach 80, but when I opened it, I found that the filters on the outlets were clogged. After clearing them we are back in the 30s and 40s. It does seem to reach its highest temps in the early morning and late afternoon when there is almost no sun and it seems to try make something out of it.
January 13, 201610 yr I totally agree. They used to supply the fans drawing the air downwards, instead of blowing upwards. We had a discussion of this on AEVA, starting here: http://forums.aeva.asn.au/forum_posts.asp?TID=4332&PID=54762&title=pip4048ms-inverter#54762 Note that this was an older unit with older firmware. But it seems worth changing the air flow if it's upside down, and possibly replacing the fans with quieter ones. We found that with quieter fans and blowing upwards, the temperature runs at only 35'C or so with a 2 kW load. But we don't run that unit all day; this was a "lab test". This will change in the next few weeks or months, when three of us will be running these inverters full time. After seeing another day of 30deg heat here and having had some 37deg days in the last few weeks I today decide to "flip the fans" on the Axpert 5kva 48V. Blow up and not down now! Have a look at my Extended Data on PVOutput: http://pvoutput.org/intraday.jsp?id=46042&sid=42110for more details but I have immediately seen the following: 9th Jan Max/Min Temps = 67/52 10th = 64/51 11th = 65/53 12th = 67/52 13th = 70/54 (before flip @ around 14:30) 13th = Min 38 @ (Inverter on @ 14:53) Max so far is 53 (Which is almost lower than my previous Min!!) RESULT! The flip was easy... you must take out the Serial Board... Regards Mark
January 13, 201610 yr Ahhh... Edmund has added some Extended values to the PVO feed to upload various bits from the Inverter and the BMV. Works great. Have a look. For the record. Edmunds SolarMon works very well. The beta version i have is really adding alot of value. Especially wrt Midpoint measurement etc.
January 13, 201610 yr The weather and inverter temps can't be muddled anyway. Weather from WUnderground and Inverter from SolarMon. M
January 13, 201610 yr After seeing another day of 30deg heat here and having had some 37deg days in the last few weeks I today decide to "flip the fans" on the Axpert 5kva 48V. Blow up and not down now! Have a look at my Extended Data on PVOutput: http://pvoutput.org/intraday.jsp?id=46042&sid=42110for more details but I have immediately seen the following: 9th Jan Max/Min Temps = 67/52 10th = 64/51 11th = 65/53 12th = 67/52 13th = 70/54 (before flip @ around 14:30) 13th = Min 38 @ (Inverter on @ 14:53) Max so far is 53 (Which is almost lower than my previous Min!!) RESULT! The flip was easy... you must take out the Serial Board... Regards Mark Some observations and thoughts on the temp drop. 1. Fluctuates far more than before the fan flip. Could be at least 2 reasons - Fans can now clear hot air in the unit more quickly and so things cool better (and stay cooler). - The temp sensor (would love to know where it is in the unit ) now sees the hot air clearing faster rather than an oven effect. Fans also don't therefore stay on for very long and hence the spikes in the graph. 2. My current temp is 40deg which is 11 deg lower than my previous min at this time of the evening. And its a hot humid evening here. My inside temp is still over 27 deg with 66% humidity. Regards M
January 14, 201610 yr - The temp sensor (would love to know where it is in the unit )... There are at least four, as shown in this AEVA post. Note that after turning the fans around, there is a chance your inverter's high frequency transformer may get 5-6
January 14, 201610 yr Thanks Mike Do you know if the inverter average the results from the 4 sensors or just take the highest? Regards Mark
January 14, 201610 yr Author So here is what I did eventually - I attached a 12 inch 12V fan to the top left vent to suck out hot air on the horizontal axis from right to left. The internal fans still blow downwards - no voiding of warranties. Bit noisy, but mine is in the garage - so doesn't bother me. Works a charm - temperature down between 15 to 20 degrees on average under all conditions. Unit cover also now cool to the touch for the first time ever.
January 14, 201610 yr Do you know if the inverter average the results from the 4 sensors or just take the highest? Regards Mark Yes, I do :-) Oh - it takes the highest. Seems sensible.
January 14, 201610 yr At low power levels is when you tend to measure the highest temperatures. I think it's because they slightly over-compensate for loads. But my friend and I joked that at low power levels, the low fan velocity was just enough to counteract the natural convection .
January 15, 201610 yr Works a charm - temperature down between 15 to 20 degrees on average under all conditions. Unit cover also now cool to the touch for the first time ever. Hi Ed What do you mean by cover the front face, sides or the heatsink at the top?
January 15, 201610 yr NO then you unit has issues. Mine has never got that warm. The heatsink warms up but not the face and sides.
January 28, 201610 yr After seeing another day of 30deg heat here and having had some 37deg days in the last few weeks I today decide to "flip the fans" on the Axpert 5kva 48V. Blow up and not down now! Have a look at my Extended Data on PVOutput: http://pvoutput.org/intraday.jsp?id=46042&sid=42110for more details but I have immediately seen the following: 9th Jan Max/Min Temps = 67/52 10th = 64/51 11th = 65/53 12th = 67/52 13th = 70/54 (before flip @ around 14:30) 13th = Min 38 @ (Inverter on @ 14:53) Max so far is 53 (Which is almost lower than my previous Min!!) RESULT! The flip was easy... you must take out the Serial Board... Regards Mark Since I "flipped the fans" I get the following graph. Spikes I think are due to fans coming on and off which is noticeable as they now clear the hot air very quickly as opposed to sucking it down through the bottom of the unit. An average decrease of around 15 degrees. From around 58deg to around 43 deg. Graphs is of daily average over the past few weeks. I think a result.
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