The Tale of Two Inverters

Blackcherry04

I have up-grading my Inverter systems year. I have a Xantrex SW 3000 TSW that was carrying all the loads and charging. I bought a Outback GFX to try to take advantage of " Generator Support ", so I split the Busses so they could share the loads. At the same time I decided to buy 18 LED bulbs ( $200 + ) to change set of recessed lights that had a 600 + watt draw. It remained on the Xantrex TWS Inverter. After I changed the bulbs I tested it in the Invert mode, all they did was blink, I think it the crappy dimmer, buy a $22.00 new dimmer, same thing. The lights would never burn steady and had a rhythmic pulse to them. So today I change them to the Outback buss, Steady as a rock, never a blink. So if you think all TSW Inverters as same , you'd be wrong.

BB.

Re: The Tale of Two Inverters

Did they blink at ~1 second rate? Was the inverter set to "search mode" looking for >6-10+ watts (typical one AC cycle "pulse" every second)?

I agree that with all of this "new" lighting stuff (CFL, LED, dimmer or not dimmer compatible, new CFL/LED compatible dimmers that still need compatible LED/CFL lamps, etc.)--That there will be problems found along the way.

-Bill

Blackcherry04

Re: The Tale of Two Inverters

BB. wrote: »

Did they blink at ~1 second rate? Was the inverter set to "search mode" looking for >6-10+ watts (typical one AC cycle "pulse" every second)?

I agree that with all of this "new" lighting stuff (CFL, LED, dimmer or not dimmer compatible, new CFL/LED compatible dimmers that still need compatible LED/CFL lamps, etc.)--That there will be problems found along the way.

-Bill

I don't think they could be in standby, too much load and it's not even set on them. I think it the output on the Xantrex, next trip to the service center, I'll take it in. Thats what I got a LED/CFL dimmer, $22.00.

NorthGuy

Re: The Tale of Two Inverters

Did they blink without a dimmer?

I have XW6048, and I can see that my dimmed lights change level a little bit when load on the inverter changes (something comes on or off). But I haven't seen that with non-dimmed lights of with dimmers at 100%.

Blackcherry04

Re: The Tale of Two Inverters

NorthGuy wrote: »

Did they blink without a dimmer?

I have XW6048, and I can see that my dimmed lights change level a little bit when load on the inverter changes (something comes on or off). But I haven't seen that with non-dimmed lights of with dimmers at 100%.

No way to Know, because they always had a dimmer. It was a old rotary type , 15 years old. The new is a slider.

Cariboocoot

Re: The Tale of Two Inverters

Blackcherry04 wrote: »

No way to Know, because they always had a dimmer. It was a old rotary type , 15 years old. The new is a slider.

For testing purposes you could bypass the dimmer and run them full-on. If they still blink on and off something is definitely wrong with the inverter.

Blackcherry04

Re: The Tale of Two Inverters

Cariboocoot wrote: »

For testing purposes you could bypass the dimmer and run them full-on. If they still blink on and off something is definitely wrong with the inverter.

That would work, but I have to switch the buss's back. If the old dimmer blinked with the Xantrex and the new one blinked with the Xantrex and I switched it to the Outback and there is no blink, I can pretty much assume it's the Xantrex that they don't like for some reason. I'll let them scope it, must be something wrong.

waynefromnscanada

Re: The Tale of Two Inverters

And the Xantrex works fine on everything else? If it does, don't be surprised if they find nothing wrong with it.