Loosing My Hair due to Schneider Context SW Charging Problem

JohnyMac · January 10

I have an unusual problem with my Context SW 4048 inverter/charger. I am pulling out the hair on my already balding dome over this issue and lack of support from Schneider.

The Issue,
When the charger is enabled and using the household 110/120 v outlet or 2200W Honda generator, I can only get the batteries after charging to 50.3 v. When I have sun (not often this time of year in NE Pennsylvania) the sun charges the batteries to 52.2 v with no issues.

I have reached out to Schneider, however, they have been absolutely worthless with their help. They did work with me to gather current settings and they told me they were all set correctly for my system and batteries. They felt that disconnecting the battery thermometer from the system which, would solve the issue, so I did. Still 50.3 v when I enable the charger and we have no solar activity. I followed back up with them but crickets as of this writing.

My questions are,
1) Has anybody had a similar issue with their SE inverter/charger? What was the fix?
2) Taking the manufacture (Schneider) out of the equation, has anybody had a similar issue? If so
what was the fix?
3) For you Schneider inverter/charger owners, have you had a challenge getting help from
Schneider? If so, what was your workaround or contact?

Thanks in advance for any help.

73 & God Bless
JohnyMac KC1FWU

Dave Angelini · January 13

You have something very wrong! I do not suppose there is an installer involved? Hard to see without Listing all your set-points. What are your set-points?
If you have loads while charging, it is going to eat up the charge current as with a 120v genset you only get 1/2 the charge of the CSW 4048.

JohnyMac · January 13

Thank you Dave. It is very frustrating for sure.

I reached out to Midnite as I am using their solar controller in hopes they might have a suggestion or two as Schneider has been poor at best. They checked all my setting's and had me change one minorly and still no charger joy.

A month ago, Schneider did call and the lady took down all my settings and then emailed back to me that they were all set correctly. Yet no suggestion other than to disconnect the temperature gauge that monitors the temp of the batteries. It is frustration.

I have even suggested to Schneider that I would pay for a Schneider trained technician to come and look at the system which too, has fallen on deaf ears.

I am thinking of buying an external 48v charger to charge the batteries and bypass the Scheider SW 4048 charger which is a shame after all the money I have spent on this system. I purchased the whole system through Alte out of Massachusetts however, they where acquired by a company in California.

I use to run a $160-Million division for a North America retailer. Our customer service was considered A+ and we even had customers of competitors call us for help because they knew we would help. Never batted an eye and we helped everyone. Oh well.

Again, thank you Dave for reaching out.

73 & God Bless
JohnyMac KC1FWU
Susquehanna, PA.

Dave Angelini · January 15

You have something wrong with your programming, a defective CSW, or a bad genset.
You need to isolate and give details of AC amps in to CSW. Your battery type and model. Your voltages in first post all seem very low. How do you know Soc? Post what you sent to Schneider.

The external charger is a good way to eliminate the internal charger and it's configuration. Do it ASAP.

The more info and effort you put into your post, the better the response!

I reached out but you really did not respond to my questions...

Schneider XW & CSW never has had service other than replacement under warranty. Never !

BB. · January 15

Getting a nice AC/DC current clamp type DMM (digital multi-meter) can be really helpful for debugging. Here are a couple examples ($69 and $130 rough pricing for below):

https://www.amazon.com/UNI-T-Multimeter-Voltmeter-Continuity-Capacitor/dp/B0BBMKLL5H (inexpensive, good enough for most of our needs)
https://www.amazon.com/Auto-Ranging-Resistance-Klein-Tools-CL800/dp/B019CY4FB4 (mid-priced AC+DC current clamp meter)

Note there are AC only clamp meters, and they are great for AC power--But for DC current, need to get a DC version (usually are AC+DC meters).

-Bill

Loosing My Hair due to Schneider Context SW Charging Problem

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