Xantrex Garbage

benjamin
benjamin Solar Expert Posts: 34 ✭
in General Solar Power Topics #1
Well I just got off the phone with Xantrex support. The guy on the other end couldn't get me off the phone fast enough. Anyway, I've got a Xantrex Prosine 2.5 which is throwing error code 206. Xantrex immediately stated that it was not fixable. $2,500 piece of junk now. I can say without doubt, I will never purchase anything made by Xantrex again.
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  • AntronX
    AntronX Solar Expert Posts: 462 ✭✭
    #2
    Re: Xantrex Garbage

    How long you had it? Did you ask them what error 206 means?
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  • vanman
    vanman Solar Expert Posts: 29 ✭
    #3
    Re: Xantrex Garbage

    got the manual and this is what it says

    http://www.xantrex.com/web/id/448/docserve.aspx


    included a picture
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  • Dave Angelini
    Dave Angelini Solar Expert Posts: 6,894 ✭✭✭✭✭✭
    #4
    Re: Xantrex Garbage

    Without sounding snooty because I try not to, the prosine line is not what one would use for renewable energy. It is not designed to be supported past the warranty. One would never compare the prosine with Outback,Apollo, Mangnum or the XW and it's cousins the TR,DR, or SW series.

    Have you tried just plain begging them to help?
    "we go where power lines don't" Sierra Nevada mountain area
       htps://offgridsolar1.com/
    E-mail offgridsolar@sti.net

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  • t00ls
    t00ls Solar Expert Posts: 250 ✭✭✭
    #5
    Re: Xantrex Garbage

    I dont know and I'm only guessing.....you didnt try to grid tie this did you?

    edit: I meant to say I know you can connect to an ac outlet from the shore power inlet......I hope you didnt try to connect the outlet to an ac outlet

    if so...it's not xantrex's fault
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  • AntronX
    AntronX Solar Expert Posts: 462 ✭✭
    #6
    Re: Xantrex Garbage
    benjamin wrote: »
    ...I've got a Xantrex Prosine 2.5 which is throwing error code 206...

    Try opening the inverter and brushing circuit boards and microchips using 2" wide paint brush. I think tin whiskers may be causing internal shorts. Disconnect inverter and let it sit 15 minutes for internal high voltage DC caps to discharge, there is about 200V DC inside. Use voltmeter to be sure. Don't kill yourself.

    I did that to the control panel of my ProSine 2.0 inverter. It was malfunctioning, showing all kinds of weird symbols on screen. Brushing the circuit board seemed to fix it temporarily, enough to use it for whatever setting changes I had to do.

    I had similar experience with calling Xantrex tech support. They could not tell me if that was common problem and suggested for me to buy new control panel.
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  • nvyseal
    nvyseal Solar Expert Posts: 108 ✭✭✭✭
    #7
    Re: Xantrex Garbage
    vanman wrote: »
    got the manual and this is what it says

    http://www.xantrex.com/web/id/448/docserve.aspx

    We should really start archiving these manuals in case of legacy support
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  • benjamin
    benjamin Solar Expert Posts: 34 ✭
    #8
    Re: Xantrex Garbage

    I haven't made any bonehead mistakes such as reversing input polarity or plugging the AC output into the Grid. I'm sure I would see some funny lights and smells if I did that. There are no induction loads. In fact there are no loads at all. The inverter works fine, this only happens when it's plugged into shorepower.

    It seems to happen more when it is humid. It was working last winter but here in Missouri it is very humid all summer. The only thing Xantrex could recommend is toggling the bypass switch, but if I do that the ACS panel looses communication.

    The Whisker's could be a possibility, or perhaps some debris of some sort. I guess I will need to pull it apart and see what I can find. If it isn't that, it could be a bad capacitor, resister, transformer or god knows what. If I knew anything about IC boards I could probably trace it down. I called a local electronics repair shop. They too said it would cost more to fix it than to buy another one. I'm not sure they realized this is a $2,500 unit.
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  • nsaspook
    nsaspook Solar Expert Posts: 396 ✭✭✭
    #9
    Re: Xantrex Garbage
    benjamin wrote: »
    I haven't made any bonehead mistakes such as reversing input polarity or plugging the AC output into the Grid. I'm sure I would see some funny lights and smells if I did that. There are no induction loads. In fact there are no loads at all. The inverter works fine, this only happens when it's plugged into shorepower.

    It seems to happen more when it is humid. It was working last winter but here in Missouri it is very humid all summer. The only thing Xantrex could recommend is toggling the bypass switch, but if I do that the ACS panel looses communication.

    The Whisker's could be a possibility, or perhaps some debris of some sort. I guess I will need to pull it apart and see what I can find. If it isn't that, it could be a bad capacitor, resister, transformer or god knows what. If I knew anything about IC boards I could probably trace it down. I called a local electronics repair shop. They too said it would cost more to fix it than to buy another one. I'm not sure they realized this is a $2,500 unit.



    If is just fungus or mold on the PCB you can give the unit a mild bake in a oven at about 100F for a hour then place it in a zip-lock bag with a desiccant pack to make it super dry. (dry rice also works as a desiccant )for a day. Then blow the unit out with a can of compressed air. A new toothbrush works well to loosen up the debris.
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  • JESSICA
    JESSICA Solar Expert Posts: 289 ✭✭
    #10
    Re: Xantrex Garbage

    I have said it here two or three times: Xantrex products may be (again: may be) great, but their customer service is close to none.

    Nevertheless, don't be too hard on yourself. Just be HAPPY you did not buy a GO POWER inverter! Now, that's garbage.
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  • mike95490
    mike95490 Solar Expert Posts: 9,583 ✭✭✭✭✭
    #11
    Re: Xantrex Garbage
    benjamin wrote: »
    ....

    It seems to happen more when it is humid. It was working last winter but here in Missouri it is very humid all summer. The only thing Xantrex could recommend is toggling the bypass switch, but if I do that the ACS panel looses communication....

    Open it up, and swab /scrub the boards and areas between traces, clean the printed circuit boards up real nice (100% alcohol is good, 70% rubbing would work) You may just have stuff sucking up moisture and causing leakage.

    don't scrub off any white heat sink grease off the power parts, don't bend any leads, or cause a short. Let dry for a day in the hot sun, to get moisture out, then close back up.

    And all the warnings about high voltage caps inside.... your own risk.... can stop your heart..... make you jump into a lane of traffic thru your plate glass window....
    Powerfab top of pole PV mount | Listeroid 6/1 w/st5 gen head | XW6048 inverter/chgr | Iota 48V/15A charger | Morningstar 60A MPPT | 48V, 800A NiFe Battery (in series)| 15, Evergreen 205w "12V" PV array on pole | Midnight ePanel | Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV ||
    || Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
    || VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A

    solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
    gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister ,

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  • Photowhit
    Photowhit Solar Expert Posts: 6,006 ✭✭✭✭✭
    #12
    Re: Xantrex Garbage

    I recall that the Prosine is designed for marine use. Is there a possibility that this might scape off a protective layer/coating?

    I have one(1800watt), and believe it to be more tolerant of heat and moisture than other inverters, It lives in an uncontrolled space (under roof, walls but little else)

    Since it's only effected by shore power, perhaps it's bypass ciruitry thats faulty. Also might be worth checking with sunelec.com as their core business was solar with third world countries and they are always advertising rebuilt/refurbished inverters. Perhaps they can suggest a repair shop. (mods welcome to edit this, I don't think NAWS deals in this end of things)
    Home system 4000 watt (Evergreen) array standing, with 2 Midnite Classic Lites,  Midnite E-panel, Magnum MS4024, Prosine 1800(now backup) and Exeltech 1100(former backup...lol), 660 ah 24v Forklift battery(now 10 years old). Off grid for 20 years (if I include 8 months on a bicycle).
    - Assorted other systems, pieces and to many panels in the closet to not do more projects.
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  • mike95490
    mike95490 Solar Expert Posts: 9,583 ✭✭✭✭✭
    #13
    Re: Xantrex Garbage
    Photowhit wrote: »
    I recall that the Prosine is designed for marine use. Is there a possibility that this might scape off a protective layer/coating?

    possibly, alcohol is a pretty mild solvent, unless it's Shellac you are working on.

    If it's not working now, hard to get worse. Don't scrub like a mad demon, just enough to clean off surface crud, if any. Use a cotton swab
    Powerfab top of pole PV mount | Listeroid 6/1 w/st5 gen head | XW6048 inverter/chgr | Iota 48V/15A charger | Morningstar 60A MPPT | 48V, 800A NiFe Battery (in series)| 15, Evergreen 205w "12V" PV array on pole | Midnight ePanel | Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV ||
    || Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
    || VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A

    solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
    gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister ,

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  • n3qik
    n3qik Solar Expert Posts: 741 ✭✭
    #14
    Re: Xantrex Garbage

    Reading out load here:

    1. AC voltage too high
    2. Fails only on shore power

    Wild guess here. Check the neutral/ground bonding.
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  • benjamin
    benjamin Solar Expert Posts: 34 ✭
    #15
    Re: Xantrex Garbage
    n3qik wrote: »
    Reading out load here:

    1. AC voltage too high
    2. Fails only on shore power

    Wild guess here. Check the neutral/ground bonding.

    How would that cause this?
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  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,613 admin
    #16
    Re: Xantrex Garbage

    In North America, we typically us split phase 120/240 VAC 60 Hz power.

    The "neutral" is the center tap of a 240 VAC transformer. Sometimes, the "center tap/Neutral" wire corrodes/fails somewhere between the transformer and the load point and becomes intermittent or fails.

    If that happens, you can have Neutral power flowing through your safety ground (not a good thing--should not have multiple Earth/Neutral ground points) or you can see anywhere from 0 to 240 VAC on your Line to Neutral 120 VAC connection (depending on how loads are distributed on the rest of the circuits). Your 240 VAC Line to Line voltage may look perfectly fine with an open neutral.

    Obviously--if you have 0-240 VAC on your power from the Dock--Your equipment is at risk for over voltage failure.

    Not saying that is what happened to your system--just explaining what an open neutral will look like/do.

    -Bill
    Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset
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  • t00ls
    t00ls Solar Expert Posts: 250 ✭✭✭
    #17
    Re: Xantrex Garbage

    bill I second that....since he didnt make a "bonehead" mistake.

    I seem to recall when I messed up my firmware on the xw, it gave me <ac output voltage too high> .....the firmware that had mistakenly been put in was 120 volt version of the 4548, which means that it thought one of the 120v legs was supposed to be the neutral

    yes Benjamin, I make bonehead mistakes from time to time....:D
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