PLEASE NOTE: If you had an account with the previous forum, it has been ported to the new Genetry website!
You will need to reset the password to access the new forum. Click Log In → Forgot Password → enter your username or forum email address → click Email Reset Link.
It looks like my charger board has failed. I am without power for the time being, resulting. Can somebody tell me how I can rig the inverter without the charger board until the new charger board arrives?
Also a bit of a naughty topic 😇 but unofficially, how do I backfeed my generator into my battery through the "AC out" of the inverter? You know, for educational purposes? 😈
Also, what usually fails on those charger boards? Is it the relay probably?
One more thing! I'm pretty sure the ATS / Charger board need better protection from the generator. When the generator runs out of gas, things start to cook. Any suggestions here?
these boards typically dont burn out. Can you post some pictures?
Also a bit of a naughty topic 😇 but unofficially, how do I backfeed my generator into my battery through the "AC out" of the inverter? You know, for educational purposes?
This is not possible to do with anything but a grid-tie inverter. You can connect a grid-tie inverter to the AC OUT of a standard PJ inverter; however, since the inverter has never heard of this technique, it will promptly overcharge your batteries and/or damage itself.
I am working on this feature for the GS inverters; they will detect the reverse power flow and automatically switch into "Grid-Tie Master" mode. Again, it will only be possible to connect a grid-tie inverter to the AC OUT of the inverter; the GS inverter will linearly "throttle back" the grid-tie inverter via the UL 1741 frequency shift specification (60-62Hz) to regulate the output power. Makes converting an existing grid-tie system to a off-grid system quite easy: you just need to add a GS inverter and a battery bank.
Obviously, you can connect a generator (or AC grid) to the AC IN side of the GS inverter, which will allow for ATS/UPS, grid-tie slave, sync, 3-phase and battery charge.
The issue with your idea is that the generator is (most likely) not designed to synchronize to an input AC wave. Two masters tied together will pretty much fight to the death ;-). One device has to run in "master" mode, and the other device in "slave" mode.
One more thing! I'm pretty sure the ATS / Charger board need better protection from the generator. When the generator runs out of gas, things start to cook. Any suggestions here?
Again, like Sean said, we need more details. Can you explain exactly what you mean by "start to cook"? There really isn't much on the "charger" board other than an AC input choke (not present on GS inverters), and a 30A relay.
It looks like my charger board has failed. I am without power for the time being, resulting. Can somebody tell me how I can rig the inverter without the charger board until the new charger board arrives?
Details, please! We need to know exactly what was going on (at the time), what happened, and what is going on now. Does the inverter even power on? If it does power on (and produce AC output?), is it just ignoring the generator input?
The issue with your idea is that the generator is (most likely) not designed to synchronize to an input AC wave. Two masters tied together will pretty much fight to the death ;-). One device has to run in "master" mode, and the other device in "slave" mode.
That was true of ours at work. One was set as "Master" and the other as "Slave". Once synced together, you could turn the switch to "Off" on the one that had been "Master" and the other would just hum along as as soon as you put the first switch in "Off", it would open the breaker on it. It was fun when I went to Detroit Diesel school in 1987 and the instructor said that they had just started putting electronic governors on the Gensets instead of the normally found mechanical ones. And then I gave him the specs of ours. And the fact that his company was the one that sold the Gensets to the Army Corps of Engineers. Those units had been installed and were operational in 1979. In theory, if I had been brave enough ( or dumb enough ) to try it, I could have synced one or both of them to the grid in the "Slave" mode. But that would have required bypassing the safety systems which could have been a firing offense.