SW4048 Problem (generator related)

Frank

My father-in-law has trouble with his SW4048... when battery voltage gets low enough that it calls for his generator to start, it will - but shuts off after about 30 seconds. It will do this repeatedly. We had bad storms last night so after the batteries got low we started the generator manually (AC2 was not flashing), selected "On" from the gen. start menu (AC2 now flashes) but it will not connect. After a short period of time an error message occurs indicating a gen start error.

Does anyone have any advice what to do in this situation? Is there an internal relay that might need replacing?? Service recommendation?

Thoughts opinions, etc. appreciated!

Cariboocoot

Re: SW4048 Problem (generator related)

This seems familiar. If it was working as it should before it is most likely something has gone wrong with the inverter and it is no longer recognizing the generator output as valid (wrong Voltage and/or frequency).

Another familiar aspect is the request for service source. There are quite a few threads on the forum about the SW series, and most run along the lines of the fact they are getting old, failing, and are difficult to find repair sources for.

Not a very cheery prospect. Sorry.

Frank

Re: SW4048 Problem (generator related)

Yes, they're certainly not state-of-the-art any more! It was working correctly before and other than this problem seems to continue to do so.

Cariboocoot

Re: SW4048 Problem (generator related)

All you can do is check that the generator's output is within specs, then check that the SW's programming has changed. If both of those are as they should be, then the inverter is failing to recognize the generator's input as correct. Repair of the inverter could be difficult, costly, or even impossible. You can search the forum for SW threads and see others' experiences in this line. And look at the prices of replacement inverters. That will be in the neighbourhood of $2,000.

BB.

Re: SW4048 Problem (generator related)

I have read of a few inverters (xantrex? don't remember model) that where "fixed" by doing a factory reset, then re-entering the setup information again (and saving to memory for some models).

-Bill

SolaRevolution

Re: SW4048 Problem (generator related)

Try turning on the generator manually thern check the voltage at the inverters AC2 input with an AC volt meter. Make sure the "breaker" on the lower left of the SW is on. If you have good voltage and the AC2 LED is not flashing you probably have a trouble inverter.

If the AC2 LED is lit check the Meters menu (4). See what the incomming AC2 voltage and the frequency are (Hz). If your generator is running rough it may just be to far out of spec for the SW to connect.

-Alex

RCinFLA

Re: SW4048 Problem (generator related)

My first check would be generator frequency (rpm) setting. Many cheap DVM's now have freq counter mode accurate enough to check gen output.

fyi, the SW4048 freq readout only works when it has sync connect to source so it will not work in this case of not locking on gen.

Vic

Re: SW4048 Problem (generator related)

AND, sometimes, some load on the generator will help it do better at regulating voltage ... even an incandescent light bulb can help.

The SW and SW+ Inverters are great work-horses. There should be a menu that allows setting of the voltage and frequency range for qualification of the genset output. Changing these settings CAN help, BUT realize that the generator's power becomes the output of the inverter in most modes of operation. So, setting a high voltage or a low frequency to get the genset to qualify could possibly makes some of the loads unhappy, or even cause some harm to them.

If the frequency is a bit too high and out of range that can be set, it might be possible that an electric heater might help bring the frequency down a bit ... all depends on how large the genset happens to be. YMMV Good Luck, Vic.

Frank

Re: SW4048 Problem (generator related)

SolaRevolution wrote: »

Try turning on the generator manually thern check the voltage at the inverters AC2 input with an AC volt meter. Make sure the "breaker" on the lower left of the SW is on. If you have good voltage and the AC2 LED is not flashing you probably have a trouble inverter.

If the AC2 LED is lit check the Meters menu (4). See what the incomming AC2 voltage and the frequency are (Hz). If your generator is running rough it may just be to far out of spec for the SW to connect.

-Alex

I'm not sure which breaker you're referring to? What is its function?

Thanks everyone!

SolaRevolution

Re: SW4048 Problem (generator related)

Hi Frank,

The AC connections are made inside behind some removable cover plates on the lower left of the inverter. There is a circuit breaker just in front of these cover plates. On older models it is a red or black toggle switch. On newer models it is a button which pops out when it trips.

See page 12 of the SW series manual.

-Alex

Frank

Re: SW4048 Problem (generator related)

The circuit breaker was okay. As far as I can tell, it passes through, sells, charges, inverts correctly. I still have to check generator output voltage and frequency although I'm not hopeful. I think that I'll start a new thread on possible replacements.

GreenPowerManiac

Re: SW4048 Problem (generator related)

Is it possible that the genny is trying to charge the batteries while running the emg system? Or is the inverters potentiometer whacky? My inverters pot is off by almost one volt on the plus side and will error out thinking voltage is too high.

Frank

Re: SW4048 Problem (generator related)

I don't know, I'll verify generator output later today. I hope it's bad, lol.

GreenPowerManiac

Re: SW4048 Problem (generator related)

As an experiment, have a digital multi meter handy and connected to the batteries for comparison study. May have to recreate the problem to get timely results.

On a different note, my pot relay has a low/high setting dial and hysteresis dial % also. The % is above the lowest controlled voltage, say in my case, 12.5% of 12v which is about 13.5v before the relay closes the circuit again. This keeps the ATS from ping pong practice and ruining your electrical setup.

Frank

Re: SW4048 Problem (generator related)

Frank wrote: »

I don't know, I'll verify generator output later today. I hope it's bad, lol.

I measured generator voltage at the terminal strip as 0.2 VAC. DOH!

This is a relatively new Generac and always worked fine. Checking back towards the generator I saw the same reading. Something is obviously wrong and my father-in-law will arrange service after Christmas. Thanks everyone for your help!

inetdog

Re: SW4048 Problem (generator related)

Frank wrote: »

I measured generator voltage at the terminal strip as 0.2 VAC. DOH!

This is a relatively new Generac and always worked fine. Checking back towards the generator I saw the same reading. Something is obviously wrong and my father-in-law will arrange service after Christmas. Thanks everyone for your help!

If the generator has an economizer feature, it may just not be putting out power if it does not sense a load. Try turning off the economizer if you have one or just putting a 100 watt light bulb connected directly to the generator.

Frank

Re: SW4048 Problem (generator related)

I don't believe it has this feature and has always worked in the present configuration before. Thanks for the idea though.