Outback inverters having nervous break down

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Jehda
Jehda Registered Users Posts: 4
I have two outback inverters, 1000 watts solar, whisper 500 2500 watts wind power, 7 kw generator. We are off the grid.
WHen generator goes off recently it wont switch to inverter but shuts generator off automatically.
THen it switches back and forth from inverting to charging instantaneously.
Any help appreciated,
Debi:confused:

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  • inetdog
    inetdog Solar Expert Posts: 3,123 ✭✭✭✭
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    Re: Outback inverters having nervous break down
    Jehda wrote: »
    I have two outback inverters, 1000 watts solar, whisper 500 2500 watts wind power, 7 kw generator. We are off the grid.
    WHen generator goes off recently it wont switch to inverter but shuts generator off automatically.
    THen it switches back and forth from inverting to charging instantaneously.
    Any help appreciated,
    Debi:confused:

    Have you checked the health of your batteries? Worn out batteries with high internal resistance could cause at least some of the symptoms you are seeing.
    If temporarily lowering the LowVoltageCutOff and GeneratorStart voltages improves the situation, then it would also point to the batteries.
    SMA SB 3000, old BP panels.
  • Cariboocoot
    Cariboocoot Banned Posts: 17,615 ✭✭✭
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    Re: Outback inverters having nervous break down
    Jehda wrote: »
    I have two outback inverters, 1000 watts solar, whisper 500 2500 watts wind power, 7 kw generator. We are off the grid.
    WHen generator goes off recently it wont switch to inverter but shuts generator off automatically.
    THen it switches back and forth from inverting to charging instantaneously.
    Any help appreciated,
    Debi:confused:

    Welcome to the forum.

    We need to clarify what is happening.
    When the generator is running it power AC IN on the inverters, takes over the loads connected to AC OUT, and causes the inverter to switch to charger mode.
    When the generator is not running there is no power at AC IN, all loads run off the inverter from the batteries.

    You say "shuts the generator off automatically"; does this system have automatic generator control installed? Is that shutting down the generator but then the inverter is not activating? Does this cause a restart from the AGS?

    Some additional details of the system would be helpful: which inverters, how they are configured (independent, stacked parallel for double current capacity, or stacked serial for 240 VAC output), and what Voltage set points are for charging (Absorb, Float) and AGS (if equipped).

    Outback systems can be highly complex and it isn't right to speculate without knowing the details.
  • Jehda
    Jehda Registered Users Posts: 4
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    Re: Outback inverters having nervous break down

    :-)Think we found problem out of 24 batteries 12 are bad.
    Thanks for your interest and help
  • inetdog
    inetdog Solar Expert Posts: 3,123 ✭✭✭✭
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    Re: Outback inverters having nervous break down
    Jehda wrote: »
    :-)Think we found problem out of 24 batteries 12 are bad.
    Thanks for your interest and help

    You are quite welcome. If you are interested in exploring alternatives for your new battery system before you spend too much money on it, or are looking for tips on how to get the longest life out of your batteries we will be happy to discuss that too. :-)
    SMA SB 3000, old BP panels.
  • westbranch
    westbranch Solar Expert Posts: 5,183 ✭✭✭✭
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    Re: Outback inverters having nervous break down

    how bad is BAD? there may also be another charging problem that caused a 50% failure... what are the charging parameters?
     
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