Had a close call today. Was supposed to be on business trip but due to public holiday on Wednesday it was cancelled. Wife was out and I was busy outside when the domestic comes running and saying the "box is on fire". Domestic only comes twice a week btw.

Ran inside and there are flames coming out the bottom of the one Schneider. I flip the breaker on the DB board and run for the fire extinguisher. As I got back to the unit the flame was just going out.

Unit was commissioned 10 days ago. Phoned the installer and they rush somebody out who says there was a short inside the unit. They are shipping a new unit and when that goes in they will send this unit to the suppliers.

If I was on business trip and domestic was not in I am sure I could have lost my house in a fire.

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wowza, you were sure lucky. someone was looking after you and yours. I have seen that once when a neutral was not tightened to the max....

All my solar stuff is installed outside the house. If it wants to have a braai it can do so on its own.

Eish - Haibo... The boss mashein making flames...
Sorry about your close call, I don't know anything about the product, so can't comment about it one way or the other, but that is really a scary thought.

Thanks for posting and sharing this with the forum. 

Could you tell us a bit more information as to the conditions at the time of the event? Do you have any logs or graphs? 

Am wondering if your V_OC may have been exceeded on the PV input to the inverter? If the inverter was under load at the time then V_OC not a factor.

Any significant differences between the 2 inverter's performance?  

@Carl - unfortunately the install is only 10 days old. I have not connected any data collection device to it. It was a sunny day and from the previous day's I remember the 20 panels putting out between 2800 - 3100 watt around that time for my DC1 and the same for my DC2. They are 5kw units each. I can not imagine there being much of a load that time of the day.

Schneider SA phoned me last night and asked loads of questions and will do autopsy once the unit is back with them. I can then report again.

What is interesting is that my installer had a fuse on each incoming cable but there is no breaker. There is no way to kill power from an solar bank. The fuse in this instance did not blow.

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I think if you can afford it rather install DC circuit breakers instead of fuses for switching and isolation purposes.

Something to try and remember in an emergency is to switch off the AC side first. Think i am going to signpost my installation to that effect.  

Not sure what the SA law is on disconnect devices but here are some NEC requirements:

1) Each piece of equipment in a PV system (inverter, batteries, charge controller etc.) must be able to be disconnected from all sources of power.

2) Disconnects can be switches or circuit breakers.

3) They must plainly indicate whether they are in the opened or closed position.

4) They must be rated for the nominal system voltage and available current.

5) Fuses are not considered disconnects unless they are switched fuses.

6) The maximum number of disconnecting devices a PV system can have is 6.

7) These disconnects must be grouped together.

 

Thanks Carl, puts our conversation yesterday in a new perspective,,!!!

DC disconnect is essential. Dicey installer?

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I think a fuse and a breaker combo might be even better. That way you know the maximum current the breaker will ever have to break: it will be the fuse rating.

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Agreed Plonkie, then you also have the visual circuit break of the fuse. 

And that is where my hope comes in that we can buy the right standards from the Power Forum store. 

That is off course after we all had our say and then decided on what part range is the best, for we are not just 5 Afrikaans speaking males here, but rather a well spread mix of languages, cultures and sexes, so it will be 10 times easier to come to an agreement than between those 5 Afrikaners.

Ps. For those who do not know.
If you have 5 Afrikaans speaking males around a table, you will have 6 political parties and 7 churches in no time at all, for us buggers never agree on anything.