Xantrex Xanbus remote panel

[OperaHouse]

I've been looking at Xantrex converters and like the lost dryer sock the remote panels seem to get lost when they come up for sale.  The remote panels cost about as much as the inverters.  Looking for a generic $14.95 canbus solution just to get raw data fault codes.  This will have to work with multiple models. Anyone found a site with this data?

[SparWeb]

...The remote panels cost about as much as the inverters. [/quote]

If what you're looking for is a Xantrex remote panel, I got a spare panel with my SW4024 unit.  I'd be very happy to sell it to you , if you want to pay about as much as I paid for my inverter.  Or would you prefer the $14.95 option?

[ChrisOlson]

You're looking at what?  One of these?



Or one of these?



The former is for the XW.  The latter one is for the SW Plus.  But neither one costs as much as the inverter.  IIRC the SCP for our XW was about $250 bucks and the inverter was $4,000 bucks.  The one for the SW Plus is about the same price as the XW-SCP (if you can find one anymore).
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Chris

[dnix71]

I'm suprised they don't have an iPad or Android app for that. Our church's Roland mixer can be accessed by either in wireless networking.

[ChrisOlson]

You can put a Schneider Conext ComBox on it - works with SW, XW and GT systems:
http://www.schneider-electric.com/products/ww/en/7000-solar-off-grid-and-back-up/7030-monitoring/62089-conext-combox/
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Chris

[SparWeb]

... Or one of these:

[SparWeb]

Oh, I almost forgot the skill-testing quiz question:

What is printed in tiny letters at the bottom left?

(Hint: it's a name from a movie)

[ChrisOlson]

The SW Series II used to say HAL 9000 on the control panel



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Chris

[Frank S]

What are you doing Dave? Dave;I'm afraid, will I dream?

[ChrisOlson]

They don't even put control panels in inverters anymore.  All the XW has is an information panel on it that shows what mode it's in, and a LCD display that shows load or battery charging amps



The Xanbus cables look like ethernet, and they are ethernet cables.  But the Xanbus protocol is not ethernet.  And you have a network terminator at both ends of the Xanbus network.  This was our first setup:



Then we got a SW Plus 5548 and that went to North Carolina:





This new beast we got is heavier than all of them - and more efficient.  I've measured the power efficiency of the XW6048 at 97% at light loads of 300-500 watts.  The best the SW Plus could do at that loading was around 80% and it reached its peak efficiency of about 92% at 1,100-1,200 watts load


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Chris

[Frank S]

Chris it is amazing how busy a service panel gets when the system reaches the size you have.
 Are those 12 ga shells part of the system.

[ChrisOlson]

Yes.  They improve our ODDS (Obama Drone Defense System) by providing redundancy for quick reload of the Mossberg 500 in case we have to shoot down more than 7 drones to defend our powerplant.
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Chris

[OperaHouse]

Obviously, we don't shop at the same places.  Sounds like retail.

I was looking for some hack with a CAN-USB ltke the Lenox Powerdashboard.  Though from reading some forums this is a listen in and requires a remote panel.

[ChrisOlson]

We supported the local guy that's been a Xantrex dealer for 21 years and paid more for on-site service by an experienced dealer in the event we ever need it.  You can buy online for cheaper, but then you're stuck with handling any warranty issues (or even looking for a CAN-USB interface) online too, instead of being able to call up the dealer and say, "I want......"

I saw (at the local dealer) a beta Schneider ComBox in action.  It's pretty slick.  The XW Communications Gateway has been discontinued.  The ComBox will be coming out in July and we're getting one for our system.

What inverter you got?
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Chris

[OperaHouse]

I don't have any Xantrex inverters at this time.  Don't really have a practical need for one at this time but would like to go 24V in the future so a 24V Prosine 3.0 would be cost effective.  These are about the price of a control panel. In about two weeks I move to camp for the summer.  Given how busy I am right now purchasing a bunch of inverters is on the back burner.  After loonie posted his problems with the SW4024 I started researching inverter repair and it looks like it could be a little cottage industry for me.  Intend on buying a half dozen dead sine wave inverters and build up some documentation on them.  Harbor Freight type inverters can be fixed with your eyes closed.  They tend to have the same power related failures as the designs are marginal based on statistics that most will get out of warrantee.  Better designed electronics have as many random part failures as those power related.  They are as likely to think they have a problem as have a real power circuit problem.  So something to read fault codes would be nice.  Looks like I'll just have to buy a number of panels and decode them.  At least there is always a ready market for them when I'm finished.   CAN-USB adaptors are about $20.