S
Scott Willing
Hey group,
After many moons of torturing myself with details, I finally acquired
and installed a complete replacement for my previous power room
equipment set.
The main components of the old system were "inherited" as a result of
buying the house or picked up piecemeal over the last five years:
Trace 2012 modified square wave inverter (no battery charger option)
Samlex 600W sine wave inverter (occasional use for specific purposes)
Todd 75A variable-voltage "battery charger"
Trace C40 PV charge controller w/battery temp sensor and DVM
Trace DC250 disconnect
Trimetric Meter
This has now been replaced by:
OutBack PS2 mounting plate, AC and DC breaker boxes
VFX3524 inverter/charger
MX60 PV charge controller
Mate remote control
Hub4 communications hub
Actually I had cobbled the MX60 into the old system and rewired my
array for 72V in the fall, but that was the easy part.
I hesitated to buy the PS2 backplane and breaker boxes since I already
had a suitable DC disconnect, and a brand-new AC breaker box on hand.
However I would recommend it heartily to anyone considering the
installation of an OutBack system. Whether you're installing it
yourself or paying someone else to do it, it will save a lot of time.
Unlike my garden-variety breaker box, the PS2AC box ships complete
with the bypass breaker assembly that will connect the grid or
generator to downstream AC loads in the total absence of the inverter.
This is a code requirement and also a convenience. My house will
probably never be subject to an inspection, but codes tend to be
written for good reasons. I try to bring my place a little closer to
compliance every time I touch something. Once I looked into the cost
of an external transfer switch, the PS2AC started to look relatively
cheap.
Couple nice touches: it comes with a package of pre-sized and
pre-stripped wires to get one or two inverters hooked up, and a
punch-out on the side for a GFCI outlet.
Sidebar: I thought I would probably never have to use the bypass.
However, a week after the bulk of the installation was in place, a
situation arose with a non-OutBack piece of hardware (long story,
another post) that forced me to shut off power to the inverter and use
my generator briefly for AC loads, without the benefit of the transfer
switch in the inverter, so... you never know.
The MX60 charge controller is a wonderful thing, and I've sung its
praises at length here before, so 'nuff said.
One of the things I was most concerned with was generator charging. I
have a couple of typical portable gas generators - a 4000W Generac
that came with the house, and a 3500W Honda that came with me. These
are a little under-sized for the task, but the worst thing about my
charging arrangement was the Todd charger. Todds are big switch-mode
regulating power supplies with terrible power factor. They have a
reputation for blowing up under badly-behaved input (like a generator
starting up) and the company is now defunct.
Driving one of these, the Generac can't even regulate its output
properly. The Honda, at least, can regulate OK, but with either
generator I could get more current out the Todd charger by swamping
the effect of its ugly load on the generator using a portable heater.
(Two elements, three settings. Harder to find than the normal
two-setting units, I wanted three load options for tuning.)
With my modest little battery bank (4 x L16) wired in series-parallel
for 12V, the Todd would start out around 60A and quickly roll off to
about 50A, then drop more slowly during the bulk charging phase for
three hours or more until absorb voltage was reached. Current at that
point would typically be 40A or so.
I was very curious to see how the OutBack inverter/charger would fare.
It's reasonably-well power-factor corrected, so I had high hopes, and
I wasn't dissappointed.
I couldn't try the Generac as it's in need of a tune-up at the moment.
I hooked up the Honda which has a maximum continuous current rating of
25A when the output is switched to 120V only.
Through the Mate I programmed the VFX to draw a total maximum of 25A
from the generator (including downstream loads) and a maximum of 20A
for the charger. Under these conditions I was able to get 67A, rock
steady, into the same four batteries now reconfigured for 24V. That
would be like 134A in the old arrangement(!)
I was just thinking of giving the charger the last 5A available from
the Honda when we hit absorption voltage and it began to back off. To
reach that point it had taken an hour, instead of 3.5 hours with the
Todd starting from a similar depth of discharge. And without the
stupid heater plugged in! And fully automated! Ahhh....
I love the programmability and flexibility of this gear and the amount
of information you can get out of the little Mate interface. I love
the integration of the components. I can hardly wait until OutBack
introduces their smart shunt; the only thing left from my original
setup is the Trimetric meter, and the smart shunt concept would almost
surely retire it.
This bunch of gear uses more quiescent power than the old bunch did,
and the inverter driving a single load such as a CF bulb or our little
B&W TV is not as efficient. These changes were expected, but my
impression is that they are more than compensated for by the vastly
improved PV and generator charging that has come with the deal.
That's the quick first impression. One happy guy.
Oh- the sine wave is nice too.
I was using the little Samlex for
occasional hum-free audio work; it's nice not to have to mess with
that any more.
I just wish they also made some smaller stuff, since this is way OTT
for most of the potential users I happen to know.
-=s
After many moons of torturing myself with details, I finally acquired
and installed a complete replacement for my previous power room
equipment set.
The main components of the old system were "inherited" as a result of
buying the house or picked up piecemeal over the last five years:
Trace 2012 modified square wave inverter (no battery charger option)
Samlex 600W sine wave inverter (occasional use for specific purposes)
Todd 75A variable-voltage "battery charger"
Trace C40 PV charge controller w/battery temp sensor and DVM
Trace DC250 disconnect
Trimetric Meter
This has now been replaced by:
OutBack PS2 mounting plate, AC and DC breaker boxes
VFX3524 inverter/charger
MX60 PV charge controller
Mate remote control
Hub4 communications hub
Actually I had cobbled the MX60 into the old system and rewired my
array for 72V in the fall, but that was the easy part.
I hesitated to buy the PS2 backplane and breaker boxes since I already
had a suitable DC disconnect, and a brand-new AC breaker box on hand.
However I would recommend it heartily to anyone considering the
installation of an OutBack system. Whether you're installing it
yourself or paying someone else to do it, it will save a lot of time.
Unlike my garden-variety breaker box, the PS2AC box ships complete
with the bypass breaker assembly that will connect the grid or
generator to downstream AC loads in the total absence of the inverter.
This is a code requirement and also a convenience. My house will
probably never be subject to an inspection, but codes tend to be
written for good reasons. I try to bring my place a little closer to
compliance every time I touch something. Once I looked into the cost
of an external transfer switch, the PS2AC started to look relatively
cheap.
Couple nice touches: it comes with a package of pre-sized and
pre-stripped wires to get one or two inverters hooked up, and a
punch-out on the side for a GFCI outlet.
Sidebar: I thought I would probably never have to use the bypass.
However, a week after the bulk of the installation was in place, a
situation arose with a non-OutBack piece of hardware (long story,
another post) that forced me to shut off power to the inverter and use
my generator briefly for AC loads, without the benefit of the transfer
switch in the inverter, so... you never know.
The MX60 charge controller is a wonderful thing, and I've sung its
praises at length here before, so 'nuff said.
One of the things I was most concerned with was generator charging. I
have a couple of typical portable gas generators - a 4000W Generac
that came with the house, and a 3500W Honda that came with me. These
are a little under-sized for the task, but the worst thing about my
charging arrangement was the Todd charger. Todds are big switch-mode
regulating power supplies with terrible power factor. They have a
reputation for blowing up under badly-behaved input (like a generator
starting up) and the company is now defunct.
Driving one of these, the Generac can't even regulate its output
properly. The Honda, at least, can regulate OK, but with either
generator I could get more current out the Todd charger by swamping
the effect of its ugly load on the generator using a portable heater.
(Two elements, three settings. Harder to find than the normal
two-setting units, I wanted three load options for tuning.)
With my modest little battery bank (4 x L16) wired in series-parallel
for 12V, the Todd would start out around 60A and quickly roll off to
about 50A, then drop more slowly during the bulk charging phase for
three hours or more until absorb voltage was reached. Current at that
point would typically be 40A or so.
I was very curious to see how the OutBack inverter/charger would fare.
It's reasonably-well power-factor corrected, so I had high hopes, and
I wasn't dissappointed.
I couldn't try the Generac as it's in need of a tune-up at the moment.
I hooked up the Honda which has a maximum continuous current rating of
25A when the output is switched to 120V only.
Through the Mate I programmed the VFX to draw a total maximum of 25A
from the generator (including downstream loads) and a maximum of 20A
for the charger. Under these conditions I was able to get 67A, rock
steady, into the same four batteries now reconfigured for 24V. That
would be like 134A in the old arrangement(!)
I was just thinking of giving the charger the last 5A available from
the Honda when we hit absorption voltage and it began to back off. To
reach that point it had taken an hour, instead of 3.5 hours with the
Todd starting from a similar depth of discharge. And without the
stupid heater plugged in! And fully automated! Ahhh....
I love the programmability and flexibility of this gear and the amount
of information you can get out of the little Mate interface. I love
the integration of the components. I can hardly wait until OutBack
introduces their smart shunt; the only thing left from my original
setup is the Trimetric meter, and the smart shunt concept would almost
surely retire it.
This bunch of gear uses more quiescent power than the old bunch did,
and the inverter driving a single load such as a CF bulb or our little
B&W TV is not as efficient. These changes were expected, but my
impression is that they are more than compensated for by the vastly
improved PV and generator charging that has come with the deal.
That's the quick first impression. One happy guy.
Oh- the sine wave is nice too.
I was using the little Samlex foroccasional hum-free audio work; it's nice not to have to mess with
that any more.
I just wish they also made some smaller stuff, since this is way OTT
for most of the potential users I happen to know.
-=s
