We have had this issue with a recent installation. It’s a new off-grid house
build, and so not many loads to speak of yet, except mainly power tools. The
Solark 12K will not start any of: portable air compressor, table saw, and
sometimes struggles with a miter saw, which are each 16amps or less at 120V,
but I have measured close to 50amps start up for the air compressor and table
saw. The air compressor and table saw are 1.5HP each. What helps is if the
motors are warmed up, or putting another load on the other leg to balance the
inverter’s output.
Was thinking we would install a couple of dedicated 120V outlets for
“high-current” 120V loads with a PSX-240, stepping down the inverter's 240 to
120. My understanding is this will solve the issue for starting these loads,
but not sure if we might run into issues with inbalance down the road... Would
be curious to know if there’s another way to balance all of the house loads
using the PSX-240?..
Amos Post
Integrity Energy
W 802.763.7023
C 802.291.2188
ienergyVT.com <http://www.ienergyvt.com/>
Facebook <https://www.facebook.com/integrityenergyllp?ref=hl>
> On Feb 3, 2021, at 2:41 PM, [email protected] wrote:
>
> If it turns out to be true, could you simply add the Outback PSX-240 to
> balance the loads?
>
> Larry Crutcher
> Starlight Solar Power Systems
>
>
>
>
> On Feb 3, 2021, at 10:52 AM, Nick A Lucchese <[email protected]
> <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
>
> Good morning Wrenches,
>
> I’ve strongly been considering using the SolArk 12K unit for awhile but have
> heard from a few folks that there can be somewhat frequent issues with the
> inverter shutting down from line to line imbalance. As little as 1400 watts?
> I could see where these instances would be minimized with attention to detail
> on balancing all the loads but if’s as little as a delta of 1400 watts that
> might occur with something as innocent as a toaster oven. Seems like it would
> also be less of an issue in a grid back up or AC coupled scenario but for off
> grid I’d be bummed to be getting calls every couple weeks from an off grid
> client that trusted me to offer the right equipment.
>
> How much of an issue is this? Is it getting exaggerated? Those that have NOT
> had this happening was it on a full time off grid site?
>
> Has it happened less on sites using the "Limited to Home” mode? I have an
> upcoming project that was going to be setup with a couple Radians in HBX mode
> and my thought was perhaps it might be an ideal solution there but if the
> continuity of electrical service was going to be provided mainly through
> batteries and inverting and not through the pass through relays the majority
> of the time then the site might likely experience this issue with imbalance
> shutdowns.
>
> There are many attractive features of the SolArk and I really like the
> thought of taking advantage of the 185 amp DC charger versus the Radian’s 115
> but I’m kind of thinking the risks may outweigh the benefits if these
> shutdowns occur even once every couple of months. Any of you have a long
> enough history with them to chime in with your observations? Are they most
> reliable for AC coupled with backup rather than off grid or the “Limited to
> Home” mode?
>
> Thanks for your time,
> Nick A Lucchese
>
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