I have recently installed a 6000XP and two powerprop inddor batteries on an off-grid home with a newly installed generac 16kW standby generator. When the system completes a charge of the batteries ( I set it to only charge to 50% SOC ) I lose house power briefly while switching over. Is this normal operation?
@simply-efficient I Don't know if it is "normal" but mine does it as well. It is very brief but enough to disrupt some electronic devices. The only setting I have found that might be of use is AC Input Range. I set mine to UPS mode. Which should switch the inverter in less than 20ms. I am not sure if this has had any meaningful effect (I still get "bumps"). I ended up buying a half dozen UPS and putting them on key devices like Starklink etc.
JB
Are you two connecting your generator on the grid input or the gen input? FWIW, my 18K switches over from grid to battery fast enough that nothing in the house is disrupted. All electronics continue on as normal - computers, datacomm, TV, etc. We might see a very brief flicker of lights at the switchover.
The 18K switching spec is 20ms. It looks like the 6000 is less at 15ms?
@jlankford I am connected at the Gen inputs. My reasoning is(was):
If at some point EG4 comes out with some additional features such as -
Run Sense (test to see if gen even started and or stopped)
Warm up and cool down timing controls that would work best with run sense.
then I would really want the gen to be on the gen ports.
If the Gen can be on the Grid side and still operate correctly (and sounds like it does and is better) then perhaps I will swap over and try it out.
Thank you very much for the suggestion.
Just as an aside I have always wondered why there needs to be any switch involved at all on a UPS system. Why not just run everything from the battery always? I am NOT an electrical or electronics engineer so I am guessing that there are good reasons, but I have always wondered about it.
@Jared - Is there anything special that should be done (settings wise or cabling wise) if I switch the gen from the gen ports to the grid ports?
Thanks,
JB
If the Gen can be on the Grid side and still operate correctly (and sounds like it does and is better) then perhaps I will swap over and try it out.
To be clear, I'm not using a gen on the grid input of my 18K. I have a regular grid input there. My gen runs through a chargeverter.
My question is just that I'm wondering if you might get a faster EPS switchover if you use the grid input, if you're off-grid and that input is unused. It's a suggestion for a test you could try... not a certainty to be an improvement.
The same thing happens to me when the generator shuts off after charging the batteries. I placed a small UPS on my Internet gear to avoid the blip.
I wonder if the problem isn't the switching speed but the range in which the switching occurs?
Assumptions based on mentoring center (and a healthy guess as to what I think these values do):
In APL mode it will switch window appears to be 90V to 280V
In UPS mode it will switch window appears to be 170V to 280V
So, what I am wondering is:
1 - As the Gen winds down are we getting a kind of brown out before it hits the 170V and the inverter switches?
2 - Does the inverter handle the gen ports any differently than the Grid ports in regard to this?
3 - If this is the case, is there any way to tighten up that switching window?
4 - If the switching window can be tightened up, what are the repercussions of doing so? (higher idle consumption?)
Thanks,
JB
Additional thinking:
If the above is true, then I think this would imply that the gen is getting a shutdown signal prior to switching the inverter.
Could this be resolved if that was reversed? Switch the inverter and then open the dry contacts for the gen?
JB
I think this would imply that the gen is getting a shutdown signal prior to switching the inverter.
I would hope that's not the case. Seems like the software engineers made a mistake if it is. Sounds like this would need a test with a 2-channel oscilloscope to observe the timing of this to prove it.
