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Forum Index : Electronics : grid tie inverters
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| brucedownunder2 Guru  Joined: 14/09/2005 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1548 |
Hi crew. This probably is more Solar related ,but ???. Grid-tie house mounted inverters ,the ones that are big and mounted next to your electricity metering box on your house. I'm after a BIG torodial transformer. Some of these grid-tie inverters have them inside . Do any of you know if all,most, or only certain types have them --,? I see a few 1.5Kw on e-bay for fairly cheap prices .. I'm modifing an inverter . Thanks Bruce Bushboy |
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Downwind Guru Joined: 09/09/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2333 |
Most of the cheap GTI on todays market dont have transformers at all in them, they are transformerless. Pete. Sometimes it just works |
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| brucedownunder2 Guru Joined: 14/09/2005 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1548 |
Thanks pete, thought so --I might have bought another boat-anchor ,lol. I'm trying Ozzies retrofit of a toridal transformer in a chinese power hugry inverter --he got it down from 250watt consumption to around 25 watts.. anyhow . I have a grid tie inverter arriving from a seller in syd -- 1.5Kw delivered for $80 ,,so I'll know when i remove the cover --The guy in syd knows jack sh*tte about them , but he did say it looked pretty,lol. Thanks bruce Bushboy |
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| Downwind Guru Joined: 09/09/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2333 |
Bruce, The weight of the inverter will tell you before you open the box, heavy = transformer. Pete. Sometimes it just works |
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| brucedownunder2 Guru Joined: 14/09/2005 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1548 |
Good morning Pete and Crew . Well, the "boat anchor" did not happen, the transformer is a beauty,very heavy ,weighing in at 14 Kg . I had some fun,(not) , getting the manufacturers epoxy core plug out , but nothing is free , as they say..Thats part of it sitting on the transformer. I've been following Oztules (john) instructions and as he said it is fairly straight forward. I have to buy a ferrite "H" section choke ,,fairly large , if anyone knows of a chinese link ..or aus. I've taken the old outer winding off ,2mm wire, and am ready to wind the 30mm square wire winding of 30 turns. Thats big wire.. 
Cheers, Bruce Bushboy |
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| VK4AYQ Guru Joined: 02/12/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2539 |
Hi Bruce Sounds like a major contract, is the end product worth the effort, or is it just a fun project. All the best Bob Foolin Around |
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| brucedownunder2 Guru Joined: 14/09/2005 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1548 |
Hello Bob, A fun project for sure , but when you see 235 watts of your solar being wasted on the inverter, you start wondering what can I do ???. John,(ostules), a long time forum member ,and very intelligent, has my exact same inverter ,,,So, who better an engineer to show us how to do it ??. and by the way , I really miss your jokes .. Anyhow, it's my hobby ,got my electricity bill yesterday , another $36 off my account --- what a joke ,, I was one of the first of "Captain Bligh's" to get the Govt. handout .. 1 Kw ,,I thought that will do for the time being ,, but was wrong ,,should have taken the max at that time. So Bob ,as you can see , it's a hobby for me and I'm loving the "going to the scrap metal dealers,, the tip , scrounging all the bits .. Like a kid in a candy shop.. Hope you are well ,,we go back a long time . Cheers Bruce 
Bushboy |
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| VK4AYQ Guru Joined: 02/12/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2539 |
Hi Bruce I too was caught with a 1000 Watt unit on introduction of the scheme, but have left it as is as it has generated according to the meter 4500000 watts over the four years but same as yours the solar credit side a bit over 100000 watts so in the greater scheme of things it's not much $600 credit about $36 a bill but an replacement KW value $1350 so it is better than nothing. The biggest loss I find is the high voltage set up as the panels set in series limit the current to the pass value of the weakest cell in my case 1200 watt of cells yield 850 watts, not too efficient at all. But i am working on that! No More Jokes as it is against management policy, a shame as the present government situation is a doosey. We do it for fun as it isn't really for profit, but it can be with a bit of imagination. I love scrap yards too but present health is limiting my exploring a bit. All the best Bob Foolin Around |
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| Downwind Guru Joined: 09/09/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2333 |
Bruce i dont intend to derail your thread. Bob i miss your jokes too, on the days one logs onto the forum for a look, and only sees Maximie discussions and the usual google links to other sites to answer a question, the only worthwhile thread was to read your jokes and leave the forum with a smile and the feeling it was worth logging on for, as it has often made my day brighter for doing so. We must be a twisted few us guys. Pete. Sometimes it just works |
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fillm Guru Joined: 10/02/2007 Location: AustraliaPosts: 730 |
Yea , I too was nearly going to down the same path with the cheape $700 / 18000W Chinese inverter of ebay and do the conversion , it has been done by quite a few people and well documented if you Google it and do some searching , but in one discussion from some one who had to buy the correct Toriodal and all the other parts then had to then have it Die. The conclusion then was that he probably didn't need the upper power rating and for basicly what the conversion and repairs costed could have bought a decent inverter like Latronics or Setectronic that does not have the high stand by-power usage and backed up with good warranty, service and built to Last. Hey , whatever floats your Boat though, but I decided to wait and put the money to a decent inverter because the way to go will be houses in suburbia that are OFF/ON Grid with their own Battery Bank that fill that first and then feed back to the grid the float difference ... This is all due to the states/ Govt diminishing solar Rebate. PhillM ...Oz Wind Engineering..Wind Turbine Kits 500W - 5000W ~ F&P Dual Kits ~ GOE222Blades- Voltage Control Parts ------- Tower kits |
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| VK4AYQ Guru Joined: 02/12/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2539 |
Hi phill That is what I am working on slowly unfortunately, with the 6 cent feed in now offered it wouldn't cover depreciation on the equipment, I think that if they want to do scrooge they should at least pay half retail price to the solar generator that would allow both parties to make a bit. Still haven't been up to fix mast on the mill, but it is chugging away at it's weird angle and still making amps. All the best Bob Foolin Around |
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| VK4AYQ Guru Joined: 02/12/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2539 |
Hi Pete Things have been a bit dead on the forum if you are not interested in mini computers, it seems to be morphing in that direction at the moment, Jokes are out and Hi Tech politically correct is in. The farm animals at bradfield have been excited the last week and I will be glad to get some peace and quiet next week, A white pig wandered in to join the fray and i think she is having pups in the kids old cubby house, crazy next door wants to shoot it or dog it, kill the pig that lays the golden pups, but so far she has alluded him. All the best Bob Foolin Around |
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| Downwind Guru Joined: 09/09/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2333 |
Bob.. And i thought you only had a few loose sheep in the top padock up there, more like a zoo or a circus, without a ring master. Pete. Sometimes it just works |
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norcold Guru Joined: 06/02/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 670 |
We would have had a ball, what with all the new lot of galahs. Would have really tied up the grid inverter. We come from the land downunder. Vic |
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Gizmo Admin Group  Joined: 05/06/2004 Location: AustraliaPosts: 5078 |
The jokes and open discussion had to go because I was sick and tired of the complaints, and been asked to remove copyright content. If you remember I did ask many many times to tone it down, but it didn't work. Trust me, I would love to share my views of the current political situation in this country, but I don't in line with the forums policies. The microcontroller section interests me, and is well used by those who share that interest, plus it has helped towards the popularity of the Maximite, which is a great little Ozy invention. If you don't like microcontrollers, then don't read that section of the forum, but don't knock it, its the only thing keeping this forum on line. Glenn The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time is right now. JAQ |
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| VK4AYQ Guru Joined: 02/12/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2539 |
Hi Glenn I fully understand your point on the Jokes and have no problem with that as you are the owner director you have the authority to have what you see fit on the site. On the Maximite I have no problems with it as a direction but i am afraid it is above my head so do not follow it from a Tech point of view, but see it as a useful innovation for those that love that sort of thing and as it promotes Australian I applaud the effort, one day when it can be purchased in working condition with a string of working accessories I would gladly purchase it to include in my monitor system which is stone age tech at the moment. By the way top marks for keeping the forum alive and kicking. All the best Bob Foolin Around |
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| Downwind Guru Joined: 09/09/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2333 |
My comment was not intended negative to Maximite, as its the only active topic on the forum, but thats the part that upsets me, it was once a great forum of the things we built and told others about, from our time spent in our "Backsheds" Now its how clever you are at writing a program on a computer or teaching others how to. All good there! I do electronics to. Just i find the forum a little boring now that no one seems to build projects that involve actual handy skills, with welders, grinders, lathes, saws, screws, nuts and bolts and metal or wood, and what ever junk you had lying around to build something to solve a problem. I miss the old forum when it involved what we done in our backshed compared to what we do in our backroom nowdays. I understand new subjects keep the forum on line and pays the bill, its just sad not to see the content of threads that past years had. Sorry Bruce for the hijack of the thread, as your project is a real "backshed" interesting project, so im interested in your results and your progress. Pete. Sometimes it just works |
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| brucedownunder2 Guru Joined: 14/09/2005 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1548 |
OK, sort of back to my work,,,. I removed the 2mm outer winding (old Secondary) and now have the new Primary to source and then wind -thats going to be a tight fit ,30mm square wire is around the thickness of a pencil or even more,30 turns of that .. I ordered the E55 size ferrite choke halves yesterday ,so only have the 30mm X 10meters of winding cable to source ,wnat to get the thin covered cable if possible ,for ease of winding. The other pic is my resident carpet python who has been with us for a few years , living in our roof space. He/She , is around 2.5 mtrs now and around 75mm girth.. OK, back to the workshop,brazing on some lugs I made for my battery connections. used copper sewer pipe slit lengthwise ,,just the thing ,especially when you are using 50mm square battery cable ,thats big stuff.. Bruce Bushboy |
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| Gizmo Admin Group Joined: 05/06/2004 Location: AustraliaPosts: 5078 |
Well post stuff!!!! I post every little project I do, and I'm exhausted, I've not got the time to build anything new. I'm in survival mode, trying to get the house finished and certified with little cash income, so have no time or funds for any new projects. So I have nothing to contribute apart from the occasional update. I like the nuts and bolts stuff, the professionally built and poorly built windmill, the vawt and hawt, the newbie. But I cant make people post stuff. Bruce's post about his inverter is great, cause people learn from it and find it interesting, but I do know forum members only share idea's and projects between themselves, and don't share it on the forum, which is a shame but understandable. In summary, there is nothing I can do, its up to forum members to post stuff. I'll keep the site going so members have a place to share, but I cant contribute anywhere near as much as I once did. I cant make people post stuff, its up to them. I'm not supposed to discuss earnings from advertising, but the forum itself makes about $10 per week, which is why when people start complaining I consider if its worth having it active. I consider the forum a service, not revenue, its only here because some people find it useful and learn from it. I could stop new posts, effectively shutting it down, and it will still earn $10 a week because it would still rank in Google as a information source, so I gain nothing by keeping it running other than knowing its helping others. Edit: Nice python Bruce The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time is right now. JAQ |
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| brucedownunder2 Guru Joined: 14/09/2005 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1548 |
OK ,, I've got the 25mm square earth cable now ,,11 meters of it ,, so the question is ,,how do you guys reckon I should wind it on the Toridal.. She's pretty thick and stiff cable ,by the way. Now 11 meters is around 40 feet in old ,( my terms) mesurements , so pulling that through a small,(100mm,4 inch) hole is not so easy. Question is , could I double the length and pull,(wind) the two lengths ??. Still the same amount of work ,, but half the pulling through ,if you can see my idea??. What do you reckon ?? Bruce. Bushboy |
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