Trouble with Conext SW 4048 inverters?

bfitzgerald

In the past 5 years I have been involved in specifying the SW 4048 for 5 off grid installations.  Two have failed (so far).  The first one to fail started to fry the users appliances and stereo equipment.  Schneider replaced that with a new unit.  The cause for the most recent failure (last night) has not been determined but the user is questioning whether or not to replace it with the same model.  

The purpose of this post is try to determine if this is just bad luck or is there a pattern here?  I'd appreciate your commentary.

Dave Angelini

What kind of surge protection and where?  Genset quality is always and issue with any make of inverter. I have lost a few Outback Radians. I do not think there is a recent pattern as I would have heard of it . There were issues with CSW early on when they were stacked. They do not support that now.

I use XW because it is built so much better and over 2 times the warranty period of CSW reflects that. XW is convection cooled has 60 amp input relays compared to 30 amp on CSW.

I often use CSW 4048 as a spare here for my clients. It is light and easy to replace whatever has failed. It is a decent 45a/48v battery charger and is easy for them to wire until they replace whatever failed.

The only XW that has failed for me was hit by lightning directly. Been using them offgrid since 2006, and hundreds of them.

bfitzgerald

Hi Dave, thanks for your response.  I also use the the XW (4548) without problems.  The first SW to fail, the one that caused the appliance  and equipment damage, failed on a clear blue morning.  The radio started buzzing and then quit (never to work again).  Later it was discovered that the microwave was also fried.  The inverter was putting out low voltages, like 20v on L1 and 35v on L2.  It showed no faults and appeared from the panel to be inverting normally.  We shut it down several times and restarted it and finally for no apparent reason it began to produce normal power.  Schneider replaced the unit with a new one.   The system has Delta AC and DC lightning suppressors but I think those old Delta products should be replaced. 

From pictures of the second failed unit, it shows that it had some sort of internal heat, maybe fire, with external smoke stains showing up around the AC wiring "in" vent and a lot smoke stain showing up around the top fan vent.  The user had just shut down his generator and he could hear "a lot of banging" coming from his utility room where the inverter is located.  I'm not sure what generator he is using. The installation has been operating without problems for 4.5 years.  Same Delta surge protection as above.       

Dave Angelini

Yes replace Delta, it is ok for certain types of protection but the Midnight is far superior.  FAR SUPERIOR ! You need 3 of them roger?
A power bridge failure in any make/model inverter is to be avoided as it could do anything! 

Gensets are often too small and unknown brands are the worst! Only use the best offgrid and your clients will be happy!