Author Topic: Trace Inverter acting up  (Read 3565 times)

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SparWeb

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Trace Inverter acting up
« on: November 24, 2016, 01:05:27 AM »
I came home from a long business trip to find my inverter acting strangely.
(Trace/Xantrex 4024, built 1996, not stacked)

About 1 minute after flicking the lights on (bringing it out of Standby mode) it started flashing an error.
Investigating the error through the display menu I eventually found that it had a generator under/overspeed error.
Looking quickly left and right, I quickly confirmed that nobody had installed a generator while I was away!

Further investigation on the panel found that Generator AC2 Volts AC was reading "9".  Strange, since those terminals are empty.
I need to poke it with a multimeter tomorrow.

This inverter may be starting to feel its age, and the recent drop in temperatures has made the problem appear.
It has also been uncommonly humid this fall, but I have never seen frost on any of my equipment, which is outdoors but in closed/insulated buildings.

This weekend I want to bring the inverter into the house for some cleaning and maintenance, possibly test the old capacitors.

Any other suggestions, things to look for?
No one believes the theory except the one who developed it. Everyone believes the experiment except the one who ran it.
System spec: 135w BP multicrystalline panels, Xantrex C40, DIY 10ft (3m) diameter wind turbine, Tri-Star TS60, 800AH x 24V AGM Battery, Xantrex SW4024
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DamonHD

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Re: Trace Inverter acting up
« Reply #1 on: November 24, 2016, 02:07:00 AM »
Look for something having crawled in the the equipment and having nested somewhere sensitive or shorted out.  I had a fright with some insect killing itself across a 240V feed in some equipment I put together many many years ago.

Rgds

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OperaHouse

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Re: Trace Inverter acting up
« Reply #2 on: November 24, 2016, 07:01:39 AM »
I had a small tree frog crawl into my equipment.  Suppose he thought it was warm and cozy till being fried over some terminals.  Insect residue can conduct in high humidity even though not condensing.

dbcollen

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Re: Trace Inverter acting up
« Reply #3 on: November 24, 2016, 10:13:12 AM »
I lost an FM80 from a tree frog crawling through about 100ft of conduit from my combiner box that I left open, he made it into the charge controller and got between the control board and the case and fried himself and the control board. It appeared to have arced for quite some time before he was dry enough to be non conductive. I still have that cooked frog somewhere as a reminder to close up equipment.

SparWeb

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Re: Trace Inverter acting up
« Reply #4 on: November 24, 2016, 06:29:23 PM »
Y'all could be right, now.
I'll keep a souvenir for the animal lovers to see.
No one believes the theory except the one who developed it. Everyone believes the experiment except the one who ran it.
System spec: 135w BP multicrystalline panels, Xantrex C40, DIY 10ft (3m) diameter wind turbine, Tri-Star TS60, 800AH x 24V AGM Battery, Xantrex SW4024
www.sparweb.ca

SparWeb

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Re: Trace Inverter acting up - Filthy Vermin!
« Reply #5 on: November 28, 2016, 05:59:16 PM »
Some filthy F'ing vermin built a nest in it!





There doesn't seem to be any mouse droppings, so I assume this was built quickly one day and then abandoned.
Thankfully the mouse didn't stay long enough to have babies, but it did stay long enough to try snacking on the wire insulation.
I will do a more thorough inspection before taping up the bare wires.
No one believes the theory except the one who developed it. Everyone believes the experiment except the one who ran it.
System spec: 135w BP multicrystalline panels, Xantrex C40, DIY 10ft (3m) diameter wind turbine, Tri-Star TS60, 800AH x 24V AGM Battery, Xantrex SW4024
www.sparweb.ca

OperaHouse

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Re: Trace Inverter acting up
« Reply #6 on: November 28, 2016, 09:08:48 PM »
Get some heat shrink tubing, slit it end to end and apply a little hot melt glue inside.

Nice place to live, but probably couldn't stand the constant drone.

dbcollen

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Re: Trace Inverter acting up
« Reply #7 on: November 29, 2016, 09:39:43 AM »
were the  :) on the caps factory applied or aftermarket?

kitestrings

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Re: Trace Inverter acting up
« Reply #8 on: November 29, 2016, 12:17:01 PM »
I'm continually amazed where these critters will manage to get into.  I suspect the heat is draw.  Good find.  At least you have something to attribute it too (and hopefully a fix.  ~ks

SparWeb

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Re: Trace Inverter acting up
« Reply #9 on: November 29, 2016, 10:39:08 PM »
The smiley's were there when I got the inverter (used, 2007, so it was already 10 years old then).  Every Trace device I've opened had a smiley inside it, one place or another.  If you look inside a Trace/Xantrex C40 charge controller, you can even find "have a nice day" printed right on the board.

I should be blamed for leaving one of the cover panels off the terminal block, which allowed the mouse to sneak in.  I've closed up all of the openings, including an open/unused cable knock-out.  There should be no way for the mice to get in any more.  I'm glad I found the problem before running a heavy current - all that paper and wool could have caught fire!
No one believes the theory except the one who developed it. Everyone believes the experiment except the one who ran it.
System spec: 135w BP multicrystalline panels, Xantrex C40, DIY 10ft (3m) diameter wind turbine, Tri-Star TS60, 800AH x 24V AGM Battery, Xantrex SW4024
www.sparweb.ca