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Small heater blankets don’t work

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Posts: 5
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(@woody350)
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Joined: 2 months ago

About a month ago I installed a 12000xp with 2 indoor 14.6 wall batteries. The system is grid tied and the 12000xp powers a separate sub panel that powers most of the house. At peak load the largest demand on the system is under 5000 watts. The majority of the time the output is only about 2200 watts. Everything has been working fine except when I went to use a small throw heater blanket. The outlets that are fed from the 12000xp won’t turn on the blankets. I can plug the blankets into an outlet powered by the grid and they work perfectly. I get the same results with every outlet and circuit coming off the 12000xp. Everything else works fine when plugged in just not the blankets.Why?

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EG4 Eric
Posts: 566
(@eg4eric)
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Joined: 10 months ago

Does the heater blanket have a timer on it?

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(@woody350)
Joined: 2 months ago

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Posts: 5

 

image

@eg4eric 

They both have digital auto off timers. The one on the left will turn on for a few seconds then the lights start flashing. The one on the right won’t turn on at all.

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EG4 Eric
(@eg4eric)
Joined: 10 months ago

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@woody350 
I apologize for the delayed response. Which firmware version is your inverter currently running on?

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(@woody350)
Joined: 2 months ago

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Posts: 5

@eg4eric 

I was on 405 but just updated to the the June release and that seems to have resolved the issue. 

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EG4 Eric
(@eg4eric)
Joined: 10 months ago

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Posts: 566

@woody350 
Glad to hear! If you run into any other issues, please let me know!

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(@woody350)
Joined: 2 months ago

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Posts: 5

@eg4eric 

I think I spoke too soon. After applying the June update the blankets now turn on and will warm up but then after a few minutes they turn off and the leds on the controller start blinking. I verified again that this only happens on outlets fed from the 12000xp. 

Now that it partially works I can add some additional details. If I turn the blanket on low it goes in fault mode pretty quickly. If I turn the blanket on high it takes longer to go into fault mode. It seems like the blanket will reach its desired temperature at which point the controller will reduce current to maintain temperature and it’s at that point the blanket goes into fault mode.

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EG4 Eric
(@eg4eric)
Joined: 10 months ago

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Posts: 566

@woody350 

After further review, it appears that heating blankets can create distortion in the AC waveform due to the controllers used to regulate temperature. These controllers rapidly switch power on and off, which may cause the issue you’re experiencing. There may be other contributing factors as well, but I can’t say with complete certainty.

Do you have these connected to Leg 1 or Leg 2 on the inverter?

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(@woody350)
Joined: 2 months ago

Active Member
Posts: 5

@eg4eric 

Normally they would be on L1 but I get the same results with L2.

Is there a setting that can be adjusted to compensate for this or a device that can be used in line? The use of a heater blanket is significantly more energy efficient than using a space heater, so I’m hoping we can come up with some kind of solution.

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