I would use a sealed relay.
The SS one should work. Or a 12v cube relay like in cars. Super cheap and reliable
Jay
On Feb 9, 2024, at 12:55 PM, William Miller via RE-wrenches <[email protected]> wrote:
Dan: I think a solid state relay is indicated here. There are many out there. Here is a link to one at Digikey: https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/wago-corporation/859-739/15520805 The datasheet (attached) shows operating limits of -25 to 70 degree C. There are other options at Digikey that work down to -40 degrees C. Good luck, William Miller Solar 17395 Oak Road, Atascadero, CA 93422 805-438-5600 www.millersolar.com CA Lic. 773985 From: RE-wrenches [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Dan Fink via RE-wrenches
Sent: Friday, February 9, 2024 9:28 AM
To: RE-wrenches
Cc: Dan Fink
Subject: [RE-wrenches] In search of better generator start relay for Outback system Esteemed Wrenches - Finally successfully troubleshot an intermittent AGS problem that has been nagging one of my remote-grid clients for 1.5 winters now. Of course it's a 4-hour drive from my office. During winter snowstorms (when they need the AGS the most of course) the generator had only about 50:50 chance of starting. So I'd travel to the site (sometimes just the client would do it and I'd guide him by phone), pull up the Gen menu on the Mate 3S, hit ON and it wouldn't start. No bueno. Walk up to the generator (propane with Honda engine) and verify it's on Auto. Start it with the main switch to ON, starts right up, so not a gen battery problem. Run it for an hour or so, stop it with the switch on the gen, put it back to Auto, and everything works perfectly from Mate 3S AGS for 1-2 days, including remote start from OpticsRE. Then the problem (sometimes) comes up again when nobody is there. I just happened to hit the site at exactly the right time last week right as a big snowstorm was moving in, and was finally able to figure it out with really good raingear and a multimeter: The Outback Flexware remote gen start relay OBR-16-DIN was icing up internally, I had added it in the gen compartment when we upgraded the client from an old Trace SW to an Outback (SW had a big AGS relay, Outback sent a 12VDC signal to trigger the external relay we added). DIAG - new Outback OBR-16-DIN relay would get frosty internally when high humidity snowstorms would move in, that's why it sometimes didn't work from the Mate 3S or OpticsRE. Run the gen for an hour, the internal gen compartment warms up, the frost melts off of the relay, then all the AGS from Mate 3S and OpticsRE works fine. Have any of all y'all run into this problem, and is there a more reliable relay to use that won't ice up? not outside exposed to weather, but inside the outside gen enclosure. I have zero space available in the VFX MNDC enclosure in the house to put in the Flexware AGS relay, it would need a separate enclosure. The easiest solution I can see is just find a relay to fit into the gen compartment that does the same as the Outback version, but doesn't ice up. Thanks in advance for any and all suggestions. Owner, Buckville Energy Consulting LLC IREC Certified Instructor for PV and Small Wind Installation NABCEP Certified PV System Inspector
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