Posted by lovingit69 on November 12, 2006, 6:41 pm
I bought a second hand solar outfit comprising of the following.
Trace SW3024 Inverter
24v Battery Bank 769 amp hour
My question is this.
I'm attempting to charge the battery bank with a small 1.1kva
generator. The generator sits at a steady 254v but the charger(within
the inverter) doesn't pull anything from it. I've set all the settings
correctly and specifically the MAX AC AMPs from the generator at 4amps.
The AC power good light comes on the inverter (indicating a stable,
syncronised power source) but the generator sits completely unloaded.
This is what currently happens. Generator AC good light comes on. The
'bulk' light comes on momentarily on the inverter and then then goes
off after about 1 second. During this time the generator is never under
any load what so ever.
I called the guy that I bought it off and the first question he asked
me is what size is the generator. When I told him he said 'that's
nowhere big enough' and said that he had exactly the same issue when
his big generator ran out and he attempted to use a 1.1kva generator
also.
I believe he's being absolutely kosher about it, but I just wondered if
it sounded kosher to you blokes with plenty of experience. I'm suprised
that it wouldn't draw 'anything' from the generator.
Does anyone have any experience with Trace/Xantrex inverters with small
generators which would back this up?
Cheers
Steve
Posted by wmbjk on November 12, 2006, 7:42 pm
On 12 Nov 2006 15:41:23 -0800, lovingit69@gmail.com wrote:
>I bought a second hand solar outfit comprising of the following.
>Trace SW3024 Inverter
>24v Battery Bank 769 amp hour
>My question is this.
>I'm attempting to charge the battery bank with a small 1.1kva
>generator. The generator sits at a steady 254v but the charger(within
>the inverter) doesn't pull anything from it. I've set all the settings
>correctly and specifically the MAX AC AMPs from the generator at 4amps.
>The AC power good light comes on the inverter (indicating a stable,
>syncronised power source) but the generator sits completely unloaded.
>This is what currently happens. Generator AC good light comes on. The
>'bulk' light comes on momentarily on the inverter and then then goes
>off after about 1 second. During this time the generator is never under
>any load what so ever.
>I called the guy that I bought it off and the first question he asked
>me is what size is the generator. When I told him he said 'that's
>nowhere big enough' and said that he had exactly the same issue when
>his big generator ran out and he attempted to use a 1.1kva generator
>also.
>I believe he's being absolutely kosher about it, but I just wondered if
>it sounded kosher to you blokes with plenty of experience. I'm suprised
>that it wouldn't draw 'anything' from the generator.
>Does anyone have any experience with Trace/Xantrex inverters with small
>generators which would back this up?
>Cheers
>Steve
I have a pair of 4024s, and can set them to take as little from the
generator as I want. The lower limit is zero IIRC. On mine (8 year old
software revision, yours may be different) it works like this - the
gen2 good light flashes until the inverter syncs with the generator
(and the warm up timer expires I think), then turns solid when the
inverter switches over, then the bulk light comes on, and the charger
gradually loads down the generator to either the combination of loads
and AC charge limits, or the AC2 max amps limit, whichever is less.
Does your AC2good light start blinking again when the bulk light goes
out? If so, the allowable voltage limits may need to be tweaked for
your generator, or the generator rpm (frequency) may need adjustment.
Also, the inverter will only go into bulk mode if the battery voltage
is lower than the bulk voltage setting. Do you have loads running when
the generator is started? Have you measured the generator voltage and
frequency to see if they vary when the inverter goes into bulk
temporarily?
Wayne
Posted by lovingit69 on November 12, 2006, 9:46 pm
Thanks for the reply Wayne.
I checked the voltage of the generator on the inverter and it sits
steady at 254. The AC voltage parameters for the AC2 source (generator)
is set between 220v (min) and 260v (max) There are no loads connected
what-so-ever. Generator voltage doesn't change at all when it
momentarily goes into bulk mode. I haven't looked at the frequency but
i don't get any errors when this occurs.
The exact actual sequence goes like this.
Ac 2 good light steadily lit
Inverting light lights up for about 2 seconds
Bulk Charge light comes on for about 1 second and then audible 'click'
is heard as it switches back off.
Rinse, repeat.
I have the AC AMPs Max set to 4.0 amps (240x4–0w) for 1100kva
generator although it doesn't seem to matter what I set it at.
I thought that because the default Max AC AMPs figure for the inverter
is 15amps that perhaps it was way under powered. But like you said, the
setting can be set right down to zero which would indicate to me that
you should be able to put a 4amps in ok. Some charge has got to be
better than no charge at all.
The bulk volts setting is set at 28.8 from memory.
Obviously in the future I'll need a larger generator anyway but I want
to ensure that there isn't something wrong. I had a look on the web and
I found a document that indicated that a 5.5kva generator is the
minimum for a similar model
> On 12 Nov 2006 15:41:23 -0800, lovingi...@gmail.com wrote:
> >I bought a second hand solar outfit comprising of the following.
> >Trace SW3024 Inverter
> >24v Battery Bank 769 amp hour
> >My question is this.
> >I'm attempting to charge the battery bank with a small 1.1kva
> >generator. The generator sits at a steady 254v but the charger(within
> >the inverter) doesn't pull anything from it. I've set all the settings
> >correctly and specifically the MAX AC AMPs from the generator at 4amps.
> >The AC power good light comes on the inverter (indicating a stable,
> >syncronised power source) but the generator sits completely unloaded.
> >This is what currently happens. Generator AC good light comes on. The
> >'bulk' light comes on momentarily on the inverter and then then goes
> >off after about 1 second. During this time the generator is never under
> >any load what so ever.
> >I called the guy that I bought it off and the first question he asked
> >me is what size is the generator. When I told him he said 'that's
> >nowhere big enough' and said that he had exactly the same issue when
> >his big generator ran out and he attempted to use a 1.1kva generator
> >also.
> >I believe he's being absolutely kosher about it, but I just wondered if
> >it sounded kosher to you blokes with plenty of experience. I'm suprised
> >that it wouldn't draw 'anything' from the generator.
> >Does anyone have any experience with Trace/Xantrex inverters with small
> >generators which would back this up?
> >Cheers
> >SteveI have a pair of 4024s, and can set them to take as little from the
> generator as I want. The lower limit is zero IIRC. On mine (8 year old
> software revision, yours may be different) it works like this - the
> gen2 good light flashes until the inverter syncs with the generator
> (and the warm up timer expires I think), then turns solid when the
> inverter switches over, then the bulk light comes on, and the charger
> gradually loads down the generator to either the combination of loads
> and AC charge limits, or the AC2 max amps limit, whichever is less.
> Does your AC2good light start blinking again when the bulk light goes
> out? If so, the allowable voltage limits may need to be tweaked for
> your generator, or the generator rpm (frequency) may need adjustment.
> Also, the inverter will only go into bulk mode if the battery voltage
> is lower than the bulk voltage setting. Do you have loads running when
> the generator is started? Have you measured the generator voltage and
> frequency to see if they vary when the inverter goes into bulk
> temporarily?
>
> Wayne- Hide quoted text -- Show quoted text -
Posted by wmbjk on November 13, 2006, 10:05 am
On 12 Nov 2006 18:46:31 -0800, lovingit69@gmail.com wrote:
>Thanks for the reply Wayne.
>I checked the voltage of the generator on the inverter and it sits
>steady at 254. The AC voltage parameters for the AC2 source (generator)
>is set between 220v (min) and 260v (max) There are no loads connected
>what-so-ever. Generator voltage doesn't change at all when it
>momentarily goes into bulk mode. I haven't looked at the frequency but
>i don't get any errors when this occurs.
>The exact actual sequence goes like this.
>Ac 2 good light steadily lit
Does it flash for a time while the inverter syncs to the generator?
>Inverting light lights up for about 2 seconds
Is the inverter in inv/chg mode (ON) or charge-only (CHG)? Whatever it
is, you might try changing to the other. You could also try connecting
some small loads to both the inverter and the generator. For
comparison, mine are in inv/chg mode all the time, there are always
loads, and the inv light is always on.
>Bulk Charge light comes on for about 1 second and then audible 'click'
>is heard as it switches back off.
>Rinse, repeat.
>I have the AC AMPs Max set to 4.0 amps (240x4–0w) for 1100kva
>generator although it doesn't seem to matter what I set it at.
>I thought that because the default Max AC AMPs figure for the inverter
>is 15amps that perhaps it was way under powered. But like you said, the
>setting can be set right down to zero which would indicate to me that
>you should be able to put a 4amps in ok. Some charge has got to be
>better than no charge at all.
>The bulk volts setting is set at 28.8 from memory.
>Obviously in the future I'll need a larger generator anyway but I want
>to ensure that there isn't something wrong. I had a look on the web and
>I found a document that indicated that a 5.5kva generator is the
>minimum for a similar model
Got a link? That doc doesn't make sense to me since I've had a 2.5kW
generator connected to mine without trouble. The inverter hasn't any
way to tell how big a generator is connected, only whether it can
supply the allowable voltage and frequency specified.
Wayne
Posted by lovingit69 on November 13, 2006, 5:03 pm
Thanks everyone...
I had another good look last night and realised that I had one of the
settings wrong. Pretty embarressing actually The set max charge amps
was set to zero, hence the problem. I'm new to all this so it's a bit
of a steep learning curve.
I manage to get the generator to spin up last night and some useful
charge went in. Will obviously need to get another generator at some
point but at least it's working.
Your time and effort are much appreciated.
That doc doesn't make sense to me since I've had a 2.5kW
> generator connected to mine without trouble. The inverter hasn't any
> way to tell how big a generator is connected, only whether it can
> supply the allowable voltage and frequency specified.
>
> Wayne- Hide quoted text -- Show quoted text -
XML site map
>Trace SW3024 Inverter
>24v Battery Bank 769 amp hour
>My question is this.
>I'm attempting to charge the battery bank with a small 1.1kva
>generator. The generator sits at a steady 254v but the charger(within
>the inverter) doesn't pull anything from it. I've set all the settings
>correctly and specifically the MAX AC AMPs from the generator at 4amps.
>The AC power good light comes on the inverter (indicating a stable,
>syncronised power source) but the generator sits completely unloaded.
>This is what currently happens. Generator AC good light comes on. The
>'bulk' light comes on momentarily on the inverter and then then goes
>off after about 1 second. During this time the generator is never under
>any load what so ever.
>I called the guy that I bought it off and the first question he asked
>me is what size is the generator. When I told him he said 'that's
>nowhere big enough' and said that he had exactly the same issue when
>his big generator ran out and he attempted to use a 1.1kva generator
>also.
>I believe he's being absolutely kosher about it, but I just wondered if
>it sounded kosher to you blokes with plenty of experience. I'm suprised
>that it wouldn't draw 'anything' from the generator.
>Does anyone have any experience with Trace/Xantrex inverters with small
>generators which would back this up?
>Cheers
>Steve