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Sunsynk 8kw Inverter

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On 2021/01/15 at 1:20 PM, Vassen said:

it always helps knowing what installers are doing so they dont end up taking you for a ride. I've heard so many horror stories recently that gives installers a bad name. 

I installed my system by myself so have learnt a lot along the way. Hope you come right. 

My installer did the same, as per Sunsynk manual.

 

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  • For those of you who doubt the Sunsynk 8.8kw inverter, here are some figures of what I produced today.  This outclasses Victron by far!  

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Had the firmware / software updated to e415-MCU:3870

I reaaly hoped it was going to fix the Li Bms reading but it did not.

I think I might have mixed up the yellow can cable as Ive had a few laying around on my table. Could I ask a kind soul to post a picture of his can pin layout so I can compare.

But overall the Sunsynk is performing well - it does not make a sound when my borehole pump starts off at 35a. The previous 4kw inverter was pushed into alarm mode at 128% by it. 
Is it possible to get the Sunsynk to give an alarm when losing municipal power? I need it as I still need to isolate the borehole pump as I really would not like it to run from the batteries. A suitable timer for it is in the future. Just not right now. Has someone invented a better way to control loads like this?

On 2021/01/15 at 2:34 PM, Vassen said:

Hi Imraan 

 

There seems to be some confusion with some of the suppliers saying it’s not needed and even some users saying they don’t have it installed. however, sunsynk training manuals and videos say that it’s needed. 
 

it’s basically just a 220v relay with a 220v coil, that is used to connect the earth and the neutral together when the inverter is running without grid. Under normal operation, earth and neutral is bonded by the municipality/ eskom but when the grid is down, this bond is no longer there. So you end up with what is called the floating neutral which is why your plugs may be giving you errors. 
 

You can get the relay from AC/DC or other electrical shops. The AC/DC one is around R80.  Whether you can install yourself or not depends on your capabilities  and experience working on 220v. 
 

what you need to do is connect the coil of the relay to the ats240 pins on the inverter. Then the common terminal of relay can go to earth and the normally open terminal to the neutral on the LOAD SIDE of the inverter. 

If you are not comfortable, get the installer or electrician to install. The 8kw unit has enough space inside to install. I have the 5kw and installed it in the essential loads dB. 

Just an update. The installer came out and installed an earth bond relay to solve the problem as you suggested. He tried installing first on the inverter, but it did not work and eventually installed it directly on the DB. The relay is not connected to any of the ATS 240 pins on the inverter. Since then with the load shedding over the weekend, the system works perfectly with no issues with the plugs. It seems that the earthing issue has been solved. I must indicate that when the grid goes out, it takes approximately a minute when the relay kicks in to provide the earth. I’m not sure if this is normal, maybe you can confirm. 

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17 hours ago, Vassen said:

Hi. Glad that you are sorted. Just wondering if you are not using the ats240 then how is it connected. What’s controlling the coil. 
 

when using here ats240, you need to configure the id landing mode on the GUI as well  

the 1 minute is is normal as the inverter takes a minute to wait for the grid to stabilize being switching over 

Hi. Now that you mention it, I believe the installer did not tick the island mode when he initially tried to install the earth bond relay which did not work as intended. From the pictures attached, you can see that there is nothing connected to the ATS 240. On  the other picture, he seems to have connected it directly to the db switch powering the inverter (you can see the thin red and black wires from the relay going to the switch & the blue + yellow wire going to the board). Hope the above makes sense. 

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  • Author

Another installation done today. 5.5kw Sunsynk, 8 x 105ah Lead acid batteries and 10 x 455w JA Solar panels. 
 

No earth neutral bridge box fitted, no floating voltage between earth and neutral and earth leakeage on essential load tests normal when grid is offline. 

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Hey guys, where are you sourcing your sun synch inverters and batteries? and any good installers recommended for JHB on these brands?

 

On 2021/01/19 at 9:21 PM, HawkI said:

Hey guys, where are you sourcing your sun synch inverters and batteries? and any good installers recommended for JHB on these brands?

 

I sourced mine from The Powerforum Store (PFS). They can also make recommendations on installers, I had mine done by Werner Heydenrych from Elec Delite (083 417 8157) ([email protected]) on their recommendation, and I am still very happy with the install.

Gents, I’m trying to reset to factory specs with pw 9999 but is not doing what I want. 
Currently I’m using the inverter as a ups. When I set it up the first time I’ve put in the time, soc etc in but now I need to clear it. I want to set it up according to the newest booklets sent out by Keith.
The reset does not do it. I clears the alarms only and leave all the setup stuff in  

When a heavy load starts up (borehole pump) the inverter uses the batteries and it trips. 
Any advice will be appreciated. 

  • Author
7 minutes ago, Johandup said:

Gents, I’m trying to reset to factory specs with pw 9999 but is not doing what I want. 
Currently I’m using the inverter as a ups. When I set it up the first time I’ve put in the time, soc etc in but now I need to clear it. I want to set it up according to the newest booklets sent out by Keith.
The reset does not do it. I clears the alarms only and leave all the setup stuff in  

When a heavy load starts up (borehole pump) the inverter uses the batteries and it trips. 
Any advice will be appreciated. 

Hi Johan. 
 

What batteries are you using?

  • Author
1 hour ago, Johandup said:

Four Pylontech us2400

The inverter is tripping because the Pylontechs cannot supply the load when solely on battery power. This is because the BMS limits ur battery bank to a total of 4.8kw 

21 minutes ago, Leshen said:

The inverter is tripping because the Pylontechs cannot supply the load when solely on battery power. This is because the BMS limits ur battery bank to a total of 4.8kw 

I know, the alarm showed it. 
But I need to wipe all the info I’ve put into the System Mode. I’m not getting it done on the touch screen. 
Think I’ll mail support. 

  • Author
20 minutes ago, Johandup said:

I know, the alarm showed it. 
But I need to wipe all the info I’ve put into the System Mode. I’m not getting it done on the touch screen. 
Think I’ll mail support. 

Not sure why you want to wipe out the info. You can just change it to operate differently. 

Gents,

I am busy connecting the pv side up. 
But I’m gobsmacked on figuring out how the pv connectors inside the 8kW inverter works. 
I’m afraid I’ll break it when I force it open to clamp a 6mm cable. 
Please assist. 

1 hour ago, Johandup said:

Gents,

I am busy connecting the pv side up. 
But I’m gobsmacked on figuring out how the pv connectors inside the 8kW inverter works. 
I’m afraid I’ll break it when I force it open to clamp a 6mm cable. 
Please assist. 

These clips just lift up. I can't recall how much force i needed when I did mine. 

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7 minutes ago, Johandup said:

How far did you open it? 90 degrees?

Not sure. It's 6 months ago and only did it once. I do recall exposing a lot of the wie before inserting in. 

@Leshen

 

Wanted to check with you - the panels you have exceed the MPPT 18A limit - does the inverter clip ok?

Are these the panels you have?  JAM72S09 -390/PR

Thinking to do the same - 8 x 3 strings for 24 panels total (on the Sunsynk 8KW)

  • Author
On 2021/02/03 at 9:25 AM, shanghailoz said:

@Leshen

 

Wanted to check with you - the panels you have exceed the MPPT 18A limit - does the inverter clip ok?

Are these the panels you have?  JAM72S09 -390/PR

Thinking to do the same - 8 x 3 strings for 24 panels total (on the Sunsynk 8KW)

Hi there.

I have seen 19amps at times on the 1 MPPT. But that only happens on cloudy days when the panels are cool and then the sun peaks through for a moment taking the wattage from the array to 9650w from 9360w of panels.

The panels are the JA Solar JAM72S09 -390/PR. I like 8 in series to keep the voltage high. My panels are approx 35m from the inverter and I have 4mm2 cable and its perfectly fine. No need to always overspec as cost vs benefit doesn't always make financial sense.

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On 2021/02/10 at 11:20 AM, Leshen said:

Hi there.

I have seen 19amps at times on the 1 MPPT. But that only happens on cloudy days when the panels are cool and then the sun peaks through for a moment taking the wattage from the array to 9650w from 9360w of panels.

The panels are the JA Solar JAM72S09 -390/PR. I like 8 in series to keep the voltage high. My panels are approx 35m from the inverter and I have 4mm2 cable and its perfectly fine. No need to always overspec as cost vs benefit doesn't always make financial sense.

IMG_52103EFCAA85-1.jpeg

Thanks.

 

I've already run 4 pairs of 6mm cable to the roof area in prep, (roof finally arrives tomorrow, after 3 months of waiting...)

Finances a bit tight to do the panels at the moment, but has to be done, so will make a plan..

  • 1 month later...
  • 2 weeks later...

SunSynk 8kW AC Wiring

Morning all,

This morning I was going to post a question pertaining to the AC wiring of the 8kW Sunsynk but decided to rather contact one of the Master Installers listed on the SunSynk website to clear up my concern. It does not sound serious, but after having chatted to Shane (Solar Electric Wise), he confirmed the confusion is real... 

Attached is a photo of my AC wiring for GRID & LOAD on the terminal blocks. Take note of the markings on the PCB as N, L1 , L2 (suggesting two phases?) whereas underneath the terminal block it is marked as N, L. Now this would not have been an issue if the Neutral markings corresponded, but they don't... The N underneath the terminal block lines up with the L1 on the PCB??? 

While this may sound trivial, for me I was not comfortable to power on until I had clarity. Shane (who i don't know i just found his contact details on SunSynk's website) confirmed that you need to wire according to the N & L markings beneath the terminal blocks. Shane thinks that the inverter is also intended for other countries where there are two phases supplying a house which doesn't happen in South Africa as we have single- or three- phase only... SunSynk have not done a great job in masking the labels  on the PCB which should really be addressed! 

Has anyone else also been in this uncertain situation?

Thanks

Trevor

SunSynk 8kW AC Wiring.jpg

52 minutes ago, Trev said:

lines up with the L1 on the PCB??? 

Meant to say that 'N underneath the terminal block lines up with L2 on the PCB...'

Note: I now know that the markings on the PCB's are supposed to be blocked out, but this is exactly the point of my comment that has not been done sufficiently. Looking at my photo one can see that they  have tried to blank it out, but its not so evident when you are actually looking at it... 

Keith Gough covers this in this video at the 40 second point:

 

There is another video where he talks more about this and the reason, I will try and find it.

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