Step Up transformer

Probably not much over the GS inverter standard 120v charge input...which for practical mathematical purposes should be limited to 1/2 the total wattage (i.e. 6kw / 2 = 3kw, so same).  I expect the bulk of the inverter's charge limit to be the FETs and heat dissipation there.

How do I move the jumper/hardware between 120v in and 240v in?  I might need to change the current factory setting from 240V to 120V to save on gas with my smaller generator.

actually 240v uses not as much amprage as running one 120v.  If your useing 240v to charge your battery bank with a GS inverter, it take less time to charge your bank then running at 120v.

Has your inverter been shipped?  If not, contact Sean and ask to change it on the order.

Otherwise, you will need to open the inverter up (voiding the warranty)...

1. move the AC Input N/L2 wire from I-L2 (240v) to I-N (120v)
2. reconfigure the solder jumper at the top of the board from 240v to 120v (it's marked pretty clearly)
3. from the WiFi board, void the software warranty...
4. ...then enter into the System Setup page, and change the AC input voltage from 240v to 120v.  (This page can't be accessed without voiding the software warranty)

This is a warranty-voiding process because if it isn't done right, the inverter could blow itself up when switching to AC Mains.

EDIT: saw your YT comment from a few days ago that your inverter had been shipped 😉.  Please note that any modification is at your own risk.

Fully aware, and thanks for your fair warning and expertise Sid!  I figured that's why Sean seemed hesitant to discuss (rightly so).  I hadn't decided yet whether to open up this unit, but since I've got three and a YT channel I'll probably end up doing so for one of them!  Any other fun features I can jailbreak if I decide to void it?  Speaking, your void software is actually pretty ingenious!  Nice work there!

I had been telling Sean, I am interested in a double generator setup - the big generator for my automatic start, but a small generator for my gas-sipping 120V battery charger to "top off" the battery.  I know that Gyll makes really big battery chargers which would suffice if I put a mechanical ATS breaker protector on my main box and power the circuit with the generator and with the inverter off or disconnected from the circuit, but I would surely prefer to be able to toggle between 120v/240V on the AC in side of the inverter and choose my generator based upon the circumstance.  That would be optimal.

Another suggestion:  You have max amperage blocked and I assume I have to turn it down with the max amperage % instead and guess a bit.  In the spirit of not breaking my warranty, it would be nice if I could turn DOWN the charging amperage (not up) so I can maximize the little generator's output of only 1800W.  I get that the block is in place to keep from turning UP the amperage, but you are keeping me from turning it DOWN!

5 hours ago, CHG_Coin said:

Another suggestion:  You have max amperage blocked and I assume I have to turn it down with the max amperage % instead and guess a bit.

There's a simpler reason: I haven't implemented that bit of the code yet, that's why it won't change...

Sorry.

The idea there is to have the charge current auto-limit based on the output loads being drawn from the inverter.  Some inverters go a step further (which I likely will get to at some point!), and if output loads exceed the input amperage setting, it will actually reverse from "charge" mode to "grid-tie inverter" mode to prevent overloading the input.

5 hours ago, CHG_Coin said:

Any other fun features I can jailbreak if I decide to void it?

You can disable the output current limit.  At your own risk, of course...but that's why it's a warranty-voiding feature.

We will probably be locking a few other features down for the "jailbreaking"...I mean, I really like to provide customization to customers (pardon the pun), but modification of certain settings carry the risk of blowing up the inverter, which is why they should be locked behind a warranty voiding procedure.

6 hours ago, CHG_Coin said:

Speaking, your void software is actually pretty ingenious!  Nice work there!

Thanks 😉.  I wanted to make it very clear, and also moderately difficult--this is not something that is going to happen by accident.

6 hours ago, CHG_Coin said:

but I would surely prefer to be able to toggle between 120v/240V on the AC in side of the inverter and choose my generator based upon the circumstance.  That would be optimal.

You're roughly the 4th person to ask about that.

It's 100% possible...on the yet-to-be-finalized (or tested) Rev. B.1 control board.  This will require the addition of yet another relay to the input AC circuit (from 1 on the current units to 3 on this one!), but the inverter could auto-detect the input AC voltage, and switch the transformer appropriately.  I don't think any other inverter on the market has this capability.

If this is a serious use-case, then I certainly could add it.  Sean would like it, it reduces the number of assembly steps for him 😉.

6 hours ago, CHG_Coin said:

I assume I have to turn it down with the max amperage % instead and guess a bit.

Unfortunately yes 😉.  "Max Amperage %" is the charge current; the CPU knows the rough AC current, but the battery current is directly dependent on the transformer configuration/specification.  I plan to make a sort of internal table to roughly guess the battery charge current, so this can be scaled to a user-friendly value.

Does the CPU see the output Wattage or the input Wattage? I see a big difference at low readings between my meters and the WiFi reading. Looks more like what I would expect on the DC input side as a 220 Watt load shows on my meters and 280 on the WiFi board.

WiFi board registers output power.  There is no DC-side current monitoring as of yet.

I'm not terribly surprised to learn that the WiFi board readout is not perfectly linear; I thought I had a genius idea to use optoisolators for truly isolated voltage feedback...only to find that they aren't necessarily the most linear devices.  The next revision GS control boards will use small voltage isolation transformers, which hopefully will resolve this.

EDIT: That only affects voltage feedback.  Amperage feedback may be slightly off, though as it's a current transformer, it should be very linear.  Maybe check calibration on both?

2 hours ago, Sid Genetry Solar said:

WiFi board registers output power.  There is no DC-side current monitoring as of yet.

I'm not terribly surprised to learn that the WiFi board readout is not perfectly linear; I thought I had a genius idea to use optoisolators for truly isolated voltage feedback...only to find that they aren't necessarily the most linear devices.  The next revision GS control boards will use small voltage isolation transformers, which hopefully will resolve this.

EDIT: That only affects voltage feedback.  Amperage feedback may be slightly off, though as it's a current transformer, it should be very linear.  Maybe check calibration on both?

Could it also be a case of the power factor affecting the reading? One of mine does show that and the refrigerator is at a .65 power factor.  I'll try some other tests after I go to the doctor in the morning. I can put a calibrated 1000 Watt load on it and see what it says. I also can calibrate at 100 Watts and 200 Watts within 1%.

6 hours ago, Waterman said:

Could it also be a case of the power factor affecting the reading? One of mine does show that and the refrigerator is at a .65 power factor.  I'll try some other tests after I go to the doctor in the morning. I can put a calibrated 1000 Watt load on it and see what it says. I also can calibrate at 100 Watts and 200 Watts within 1%.

Shouldn't be.  The power monitor chip is designed for use in grid power meters--so it is extremely accurate.  It's a CS5463, same chip used in the PJ LCD boards...at least for now.  Seems to be getting quite difficult to find (and extremely expensive)...I may need to switch to a similar chip.

It has 7 different wattage readouts...I might be using the wrong one.  (It also calculates power factor and AC frequency; for some time, I had Power Factor displayed, but bumped it off the screen due to lack of room.)

• Active (Real) Power -> this one doesn't seem to register full output power
• Average Reactive Power
• Reactive Power calculated from Power Triangle
• Apparent Power -> this is the one I'm currently using
• Harmonic Active Power
• Fundamental Active Power
• Fundamental Reactive Power

Maybe you can see what's amiss from this?

In my case, it looks like the Active ( Real ) Power is closer to what my meters are reading. I checked the current draw on Line 1. The meter in the breaker panel said it was drawing 2.51 Amps at 119 Volts. The clamp on meter showed 2.50 Amps at 119 Volts.  Line 2 was at 120 Volts and .05 Amps as all it is seeing right now is the meter current draw. The WiFi panel showed 236 Volts and 287 Watts. The meter in the panel showed 210 Watts. So it seems that my panel meters and the clamp on meter are showing Wattage based Volts X Amps X PF.  Clamp on in Voltage test mode for DC shows the matching Voltages of what the Charge Controller shows and what the Inverter shows so in DC input, everything agrees.

Sorry, I'm not quite following that...what's your conclusion?  Should I be reading the "Active (Real) Power" register?

I am not using Power Factor in calculating the true output power...is that something I should adjust?

You're probably aware that the amperage registered on the WiFi board will be the sum of the AC amperage on both phases.  (As a result of this, single-phase loads will register 1/2 the amperage you would expect.)  This is because the wattage is calculated from 240vAC, and also because it is not possible to distinguish between 1 identical single-phase load on each phase...vs a single-phase 240v load.

You may need to calibrate the WiFi board's output voltage meter...if it's reading a couple volts low, that'll throw the wattage calculations off by quite a bit.

1 hour ago, Sid Genetry Solar said:

Sorry, I'm not quite following that...what's your conclusion?  Should I be reading the "Active (Real) Power" register?

I am not using Power Factor in calculating the true output power...is that something I should adjust?

You're probably aware that the amperage registered on the WiFi board will be the sum of the AC amperage on both phases.  (As a result of this, single-phase loads will register 1/2 the amperage you would expect.)  This is because the wattage is calculated from 240vAC, and also because it is not possible to distinguish between 1 identical single-phase load on each phase...vs a single-phase 240v load.

 

You may need to calibrate the WiFi board's output voltage meter...if it's reading a couple volts low, that'll throw the wattage calculations off by quite a bit.

That was more of an FYI. Depending on how other people's meters read, it might be something you want to change in the future. I'll do some further testing under greater loads as it is going to be a warm one here today so the extra A/C unit can be put on as a load also. Also, there is no Amperage display on the unit I have. Just Volts and Wattsso I can't compare that reading to what the others show.. Are other things visible if the WiFi is used or is it less? I did check the Voltage on all three meters on the output vs what the display says and compared to my clamp on meter. All three are reading the same right now at 122 Volts with my meter also reading 122 Volts. The display says 238 Volts so it off by 6 vs the others. Wouldn't correcting it up to what the other meters say cause it to read an even higher Wattage?

1 hour ago, Waterman said:

The display says 238 Volts so it off by 6 vs the others. Wouldn't correcting it up to what the other meters say cause it to read an even higher Wattage?

Yes.

1 hour ago, Waterman said:

Just Volts and Wattsso I can't compare that reading to what the others show.. Are other things visible if the WiFi is used or is it less?

So I probably need to put some more output stats on the "Stats" screen, just so we can figure some of these things out.

If you set Cfg -> Appearance -> Show Load Percent to OFF, it'll display Amps, with Watts in the big characters on the OUT screen.