Hi, help required please. 

I have a Sunsynk 5kw inverter with 10 x 460 watt Canadian Solar panels and a 5.12kwh Bslb battery. Everything was working fine until last night when the inverter decided to use grid power instead of the battery. No settings were changed. If I turn the mains to inverter circuit breaker off the inverter draws from the battery, turn it back on it draws from the grid. If I leave the mains to inverter feed off I presume that we will have no power on solar circuit when the battery runs out? 

Any ideas on what may have changed to cause the problem?

Thanks in advance for any advice. 

Craig 

 

Need some more info.Please post some pictures of your system mode and flow diagram.

Hi, photos are with the inverter to mains breaker off. 

What is it you want the system to be doing ? As it is there you are limiting power to the essentials,if you want to be supplying power from PV/battery to non essentials you need to untick 'limit to load'. 

I will untick it, also the installer did not install the CT coil, not sure if it makes any difference. 

ohhhh yes it does its the most important part lol , Edit leave it ticked limit to load if you dont have ct installed.

Edited June 23, 20215 yr by Nexuss

5 minutes ago, CR Fourways said:

I will untick it, also the installer did not install the CT coil, not sure if it makes any difference. 

Hi CR 

Please get your installer to install the CT coil correctly. It’s one of the most important parts of the inverter. 

Photos as requested. I will turn the system off tomorrow and see if it resets 

6 minutes ago, Leshen said:

Hi CR 

Please get your installer to install the CT coil correctly. It’s one of the most important parts of the inverter. 

Hi, I don't think he is as familiar with this inverter as he made out to be, unfortunately. 

1 minute ago, CR Fourways said:

Photos as requested. I will turn the system off tomorrow and see if it resets 

I’m assuming you have a geyser and an oven etc. Your installer should have wired all these loads on the grid side of the inverter between the inverter and the CT. This is how the inverter is designed so that excess PV can supply these items. 
 

Seeing that you have no CT, with limit to load ticked, the PV and battery will only supply the essential/load side of the inverter which is really not the way the inverter is designed to be used. 

The recommend charging current of that battery is 25 amp with 50 as max i think? ,You dont have grid charge enabled so it should no matter for now but it would be good to make sure the charge and discharge rates are right for your battery in the battery settings. 

3 minutes ago, Vassen said:

Any reason he chose not to install it? This should be installed. 
 

do you not have any non-essential loads?  

As far as I can tell he did not know how to. 

The main DB has been split so yes we have non essential loads. 

4 minutes ago, Vassen said:

Any reason he chose not to install it? This should be installed. 
 

do you not have any non-essential loads?  

I have a feeling most installers have no idea how this inverter works haha, i mean it took most of us all a while to figure it out as well. But if you are an installer you should be researching how to set it up correctly.

1 minute ago, Vassen said:

It needs to be connected around the main municipal feed coming in as in the attached photo. If the reading is negative when you are drawing from the grid, it means you need to swap it around. 
 

Please don’t disconnect the ct wires from the inverter side while under load. 

Hi, the coil is sitting on my bench in the garage. 🤔

1 minute ago, Nexuss said:

I have a feeling most installers have no idea how this inverter works haha, i mean it took most of us all a while to figure it out as well. But if you are an installer you should be researching how to set it up correctly.

I am the client, unfortunately, is there any one I can contact to come and get the unit running properly. Thanks. 

6 minutes ago, Vassen said:

Where about in fourways are you… assuming you are in fourways from your alias. How far away from the main dB is the inverter. 
 

did the installer provide a CoC? Maybe post some pictures of your install in case other mandatory parts were also not included. 

We are in Fourways, off Uranium Rd, and have a CoC for the install of the solar. 

2 minutes ago, CR Fourways said:

We are in Fourways, off Uranium Rd, and have a CoC for the install of the solar. 

I noticed you don’t have and earth neutral bridge. Did your installer check the voltage between earth and neutral on the load side of the inverter when the grid is disconnected? 

1 minute ago, Leshen said:

I noticed you don’t have and earth neutral bridge. Did your installer check the voltage between earth and neutral on the load side of the inverter when the grid is disconnected? 

No idea, sorry. 

18 minutes ago, CR Fourways said:

No idea, sorry. 

Ok for an electrician to give you a COC, he would have needed to check for an elevated voltage between neutral and earth. Normally the Sunsynks, when in islanding mode, have an elevated voltage of around 80V to 100V which is against SANS 10142. 
 

AC and DC cables should not be in the same trunking. Also against SANS 
 

 

10 hours ago, Leshen said:

Ok for an electrician to give you a COC, he would have needed to check for an elevated voltage between neutral and earth. Normally the Sunsynks, when in islanding mode, have an elevated voltage of around 80V to 100V which is against SANS 10142. 
 

AC and DC cables should not be in the same trunking. Also against SANS 
 

 

Good morning, would you be able to come and advise on what needs to be done to get the system to work properly and to code. It was installed 2 months ago. I will pay for your time. 

What is the forum's policy on naming and shaming? Surely we do not want others to suffer the same fate. I for one, would not know whether my installer had done the job to spec, even if issued with a CoC.

 

E.g. I have never heard of a CT Coil until this thread, and I'll be sure to add that to my checklist when my installer pitches

I encounter some really bad installations  ... not only solar/inverters ... also fires which resulted from bad electrical practice.

I was called out to a site where an installer had left out a few things (like lightning protection) and not installed the wiring as per code.

My first reaction was to go all out and drop him in the shyte ... properly ... with reports ... photos and all the stuff we do when we encounter these installations.

But instead  I changed my approach ... rather than go balls to wall to drop him in the shyte ... I arranged a meeting with the installer and the customer ... I pointed out the code violations and the installer responded in a positive manner ... I told him I was there to investigate his installation ... we discussed how he would make it right ... not only has he fixed the problems ... but has also since gone for more training ... in fact I am so impressed with the manner in which he has handled the problem ... we are discussing a few new installation i want him to do for me.  

My point ... maybe we should change the manner in which we address these issues ... and rather focus on education ... I am a master electrician ... I work on everything from domestic to large industrial installations and hospitals etc ... I am learning new things every day.

I believe this industry has a long  way to go before we will all understand how it works and even then it will change as technology improves.

If the installers doesnt feel he needs to sort it out ... then go the whole report ... photos and name and shame. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By the way I have the draft for the new regulations ... so just when you thought your installation was by the book  ... things are going to change. 

32 minutes ago, isetech said:

By the way I have the draft for the new regulations ... so just when you thought your installation was by the book  ... things are going to change. 

Hi. Yes. Currently SANS is in the process of finalizing the Small Scale Embedded Generation. 
 

Not sure how long it will take though. It’s anyone’s guess 

38 minutes ago, isetech said:

I encounter some really bad installations  ... not only solar/inverters ... also fires which resulted from bad electrical practice.

I was called out to a site where an installer had left out a few things (like lightning protection) and not installed the wiring as per code.

My first reaction was to go all out and drop him in the shyte ... properly ... with reports ... photos and all the stuff we do when we encounter these installations.

But instead  I changed my approach ... rather than go balls to wall to drop him in the shyte ... I arranged a meeting with the installer and the customer ... I pointed out the code violations and the installer responded in a positive manner ... I told him I was there to investigate his installation ... we discussed how he would make it right ... not only has he fixed the problems ... but has also since gone for more training ... in fact I am so impressed with the manner in which he has handled the problem ... we are discussing a few new installation i want him to do for me.  

My point ... maybe we should change the manner in which we address these issues ... and rather focus on education ... I am a master electrician ... I work on everything from domestic to large industrial installations and hospitals etc ... I am learning new things every day.

I believe this industry has a long  way to go before we will all understand how it works and even then it will change as technology improves.

If the installers doesnt feel he needs to sort it out ... then go the whole report ... photos and name and shame. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Very well said. Nothing good will ever come out of conflict. That was an excellent approach