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Ralph2k6 Senior Member Joined: 24/09/2017 Location: AustraliaPosts: 129
Posted: 10:11am 23 Sep 2019
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Thanks poida, I've got a commercial toroid out of an upsonic ups from years ago now, and a madinverter kit I'd like to get off the ground some day. Also I've got one of those cheap little jye-tech scopes, so should be able to pick up a small signal sine wave. It's been great to follow your progress. Ralph
renewableMark Guru Joined: 09/12/2017 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1678
Posted: 10:11pm 23 Sep 2019
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How do you know what frequency it's putting out?Cheers Caveman Mark Off grid eastern Melb
Ralph2k6 Senior Member Joined: 24/09/2017 Location: AustraliaPosts: 129
Posted: 01:06am 24 Sep 2019
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Hi Mark
I'd attach the 'scope to the function generator output first to observe the output, and then use my DMM which can monitor frequency, can always move leads back and forth..Ralph
poida Guru Joined: 02/02/2017 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1418
Posted: 08:56am 03 Oct 2019
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Well, it was all working quite nicely. I was provoking Murphy in an outrageous fashion. I was putting The Mozz on it with reckless abandon. These two things are the final test.
I ran the nanoverter and Madness big power board under idle loads for 2 weeks. No problem. It took a week to find the balls to hook it up to the house. And so its ran the house for 3 weeks or so. But today...
I saw the monitor system data and it was "oh no, not again."
That little Orange blip at 7am? That's yer problem right there. The Orange is inverter DC current. From my vantage point at work, I thought it's gorn.
Time to find the parts, I have about 70 Hy4008 at hand now, but the other parts. Thanks to Ben & Amber I have a spare Mad big power board.
I got home with some excellent beer I just bought and saw that the room wan not filled with the Smell Of Success. hmmm. what failed.
I tried to start the inverter by hand and saw it start a little then stop. Got to 20V AC then signed off.
Is there DC at the inverter DC terminals? NO! You beauty. No busted inverter, for once. Instead it's a busted DC switch. One of these:
Here is what's inside:
Not so much a win as a bullet dodged. You might have seen the Orange curve start up around 18:15 which was when I removed the switch and connected the spare #1 inverter that does not die.
Time for more beer. Edited 2019-10-03 19:03 by poidawronger than a phone book full of wrong phone numbers
johnmc Senior Member Joined: 21/01/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 282
Posted: 11:53am 03 Oct 2019
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Good Day All
Poida check that you do not have a problem with your solar controller the moment that they first start in the morning .
I find that one of my inspire solar controller's, will randomly( may be a month between tripping) internally short on initial start in the morning, this trips the battery circuit breaker and the solar panel input circuit breaker. Which means a cold start on the mad inverter.
I only found this problem by chance because of a buzzing noise in the solar controller one earlier morning what a PITA.
Cheers johnjohnmc
renewableMark Guru Joined: 09/12/2017 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1678
Posted: 09:55pm 03 Oct 2019
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I was using a 63A DC breaker for my disconnect, then last summer it was getting too hot from the current flow and it failed.
It now has a 125A breaker on it.
Were you charging the caps via a resistor or going splat with the switch?Cheers Caveman Mark Off grid eastern Melb
poida Guru Joined: 02/02/2017 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1418
Posted: 10:43pm 03 Oct 2019
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Mark, I was charging with a resistor first. But certainly the switch had a good number of splat events under it's belt. Maybe 20, but for the past couple of years I always used a resistor to pre charge.wronger than a phone book full of wrong phone numbers
poida Guru Joined: 02/02/2017 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1418
Posted: 10:45pm 03 Oct 2019
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John, the switch was only controlling DC+ line into the inverter. But I get your drift.wronger than a phone book full of wrong phone numbers
I have a problem with my Victron Quattro 10kva. The temp sensor inside the transformer creates High-temperature Warnings, but the transformer is cold. Do you know what type of sensor is inside ? is it PTC, NTC, or LM335?
Best Regards
Godoh Guru Joined: 26/09/2020 Location: AustraliaPosts: 458
Posted: 08:43pm 18 Oct 2022
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Hi Poida, I have a couple of those sort of battery switches in my shed, they sit on a shelf now doing nothing. I too had problems with them, so now I use main battery fuses and a 125 amp DC circuit breaker on the inverter input. Had no problems since then. I believe the voltage drop over the switches caused the demise of some of the Powerjacks I had blow up. Since extracting the transformers from the powerjacks and using 8010 boards, I have had no problems at all. Cheers Pete
poida Guru Joined: 02/02/2017 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1418
Posted: 07:14am 19 Oct 2022
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If I recall they are NTCs, maybe not 10K types.
You can measure one of them (I think you have two transformers in the unit) and see resistance.wronger than a phone book full of wrong phone numbers
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