Help! My SW4048 is deceiving itself

TMorrison
TMorrison Registered Users Posts: 1 ✭
in Solar Beginners Corner #1
Hi. I have a perplexing situation with my SW4048 which came about from a nearby lightning strike. After the lightning hit maybe 100 ft away, the inverter had all its lights on with the fan running at full speed. I disconnected it from the batteries and restarted it  and it seemed all right until it started shutting itself off. It turns out that the "actual battery voltage" is somehow reset at about 12 volts higher than what it actually is! So whenever the panels are charging and they bring the inverter's voltage up to 54 volts, the inverter "thinks" it is at 66 volts (the highest setting for high cutout) and the high cut out cuts out. Has anyone ever heard of anything like this? I'm getting tired of running up and down the stairs to disconnect the input just to get some power usage!
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  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,642 admin
    #2
    You might need to call Schneider about this... Assuming you have gone through all of the inverter settings and saved them, it is possible that this is lightning damage.

    -Bill
    Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset
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  • littleharbor2
    littleharbor2 Solar Expert Posts: 2,113 ✭✭✭✭✭
    #3
    Is this a Trace/Xantrex SW 4048 ? If so there are a few Inverter repair shops that cary parts and repair these older inverters.

    2.1 Kw Suntech 175 mono, Classic 200, Trace SW 4024 ( 15 years old  but brand new out of sealed factory box Jan. 2015), Bogart Tri-metric,  460 Ah. 24 volt LiFePo4 battery bank. Plenty of Baja Sea of Cortez sunshine.

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  • Dave Angelini
    Dave Angelini Solar Expert Posts: 6,917 ✭✭✭✭✭✭
    #4
    Try shutting it down again. Let it sit for 10 minutes with the DC on the battery and charge controller disconnected. Make sure the inverter really goes all the way off! 
    There is not a standard for what happens during lightning damage. It usually is always bad.
    Calling Schneider will not do any good unless this is a Conext SW which it does not sound like. They are way out of support life BTW.
    "we go where power lines don't" Sierra Nevada mountain area
       htps://offgridsolar1.com/
    E-mail offgridsolar@sti.net

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