Generator and Schneider settings and features.
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- Опубліковано 21 січ 2023
- Insight home allows the generator settings to be fine-tuned with the XW PRO from Schneider. These settings allow you to use almost any sized generator off grid. Ideally, the solar array recharges the battery on it's own. However, winters in the North East United States are cloudy for long periods of time (weeks). This is where having a generator is important.
There is a new battery charger that can do 100 Amps from EG4. This charger, from Signature Solar, is an excellent choice instead of running a generator into the AC In terminals of any brand inverter: signaturesolar.com/eg4-charge...
(affiliate link)
Schneider XW PRO Commissioning Guide: solar.se.com/us/en/xw-pro-com...
Download the Operation Guide for the XW PRO inverter here: solar.se.com/us/en/product/xw...
Scroll down and click on "User Documentation" then you can download the "XW PRO Owners Guide_990-91227"
Video wiring the PDP (power distribution panel): • Wiring the transformer...
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Signature Solar Affiliate Links:
100 Amp battery charger: signaturesolar.com/eg4-charge...
Insight home: signaturesolar.com/schneider-...
Schneider XW PRO inverter: signaturesolar.com/schneider-...
Schneider PDP, Large: signaturesolar.com/schneider-...
Schneider PDP, Small: signaturesolar.com/schneider-...
Schneider kit with inverters, PDP, and charge controllers: signaturesolar.com/bndl-dc-co...
Complete Off grid kit: signaturesolar.com/complete-h...
Battery, 30.72 kWh, LiFePO4, EG4-LL, with cabinet and busbars: signaturesolar.com/eg4-ll-lit...
Schneider Bundle with Mini-PDP: signaturesolar.com/bndl-dc-co...
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Amazon Affiliate Links:
30 Amp, Generator Inlet Box: signaturesolar.com/eg4-charge...
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Tablet Wall Mount: amzn.to/3GHp2yf
Powerful Charger PD: amzn.to/3XfkjLp
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Cat 5e cable, 5 foot: amzn.to/3HuSMjU
Tape, Double Sided, 3M VHB 5952: amzn.to/3QHTmh1
“As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.”
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Disclaimer:
Products in video may have been provided to David Poz, LLC at no cost for the purpose of the review. All views and opinions expressed are that of David Poz, LLC.
My videos are in no way intended to be instructional "how-to" lessons. I am simply documenting my project for informational purposes. Property damage, personal injury, or death may result, even when following manufacturer's instructions. I cannot be held liable for such damage or injury. It is YOUR OBLIGATION to ensure that you are complying with any local and federal laws as well as code and permit requirements.
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I have an XW Pro, I hook up my 11kw welder generator to it for emergency backup when needed. Works good. I played with generator support, but my generator is already near the 60amp (14,400 watt) breaker output limit on the inverter anyway, so not much to gain in "surge". Where that feature really shines is when a smaller generator is hooked to the XW Pro, it will allow you to run heavier loads than your generator supports when needed.
The generator support amps setting sets the amps at which the XW Pro start helping the generators. If your Gen sags too much "making the XW trip it off", try setting the support amp level lower, so the XW start helping it sooner.
One of most impressive things, which you touched on, is the XW Pro ability to manage the power available from the generators. My XW can be charging at max output and if a heavy load kicks on in the house, it will pull the charger back to keep the generator from overloading.
Glad to see you using and making videos on the XW Pro. It's a beast of an inverter and feature rich, but advanced and requires some time to learn it's configuration.
For those living without access to the grid, your videos are very helpful. Thanks for saving me time and money!
I would very much enjoy a deep dive into the military generator!
Thanks for letting me know.
Yes, I would be interested in seeing more detail of how army generator is designed and has to offer.
Great job. I have the exact same configuration used in our off grid cabin. XWPro and Honda 6500. I do suggest that some of your tests be tried with discharged batteries. Then you can really see how poorly the inverter/charger handles changes in loads and generator support mode. I think Schneider assumes everyone will be using a 10kw or larger generator. In this way the generator handles the changes in load and not the XWPro doing generator support. I am getting ready to install a separate charger to decouple the generator from the inverter/charger. I’m not very happy with the XWPro in an off grid application. Really appreciate your hard work. So helpful!
Studying all of this over the past year and I am zeroing in on Schneider WX PRO. This is the answer I was searching the comments for. I have a couple of small generators that aren't particularly stable at varying loads. I see in the Schneider advanced settings I could open the voltage and frequency tolerances and make it work but I would rather have my output be a consistent 240volts at 60 Hz based on the inverter timing oscillator and not my inexpensive generator. Therefore I was looking at adding an EG4 chargeverter to the order in order to charge the batteries at a constant rate while the Schneider drew DC power from them at a varying rate.
Yes, please! Make more videos about the generator working with the inverter, a lot of people are in the same situation as you are! So that would be useful!
Thanks.
army generator mechanic here, make sure you check the fuel tank adaptors (from the front left door down on the bottom) they like to rot out and drain the tank onto the floor
FYI try to buy off road fuel for your generator. No need to pay for road tax. If you store diesel, just know it can grow allergy. And you need to put in a fuel additive to keep it in check. Thanks for your update.
And buy it in Canada if possible. They have no 1 which is rarely available in the states.
Always love little "helpers" lol
Keep up the great work on these XW Pro videos! Would love to see a more in-depth walk-thru on configuration settings with the dual XW’s. This generator video would be a great idea as there is not much out there discussing control options and voltage configurations that are sometimes available on these army generators.
Thanks for letting me know there is some interest
I just bought a new pulley driven Genset head need to find a good engine setup - multi fuel and remote turn on and potentially large DC output DC high current like a portable welder wired directly to a lithium DC to DC charger setup run off some types of gasses or biodiesel
Thank you for digging into the minutia of the Schneider inverter chargers regarding generator load support. In my research into the SW 4048 I went a little further into the weeds. I have found claims that you can input from a 120 volt genny and the SW (and XW) will output 240 volt. Half the gennie's output will be sent to each leg of the 240 volt output and supplemented by the batteries to run the load.
from their user's manual
Split-phase output during invert mode and AC bypass The Conext SW always
yields a split-phase output when inverting and during AC bypass.
• A split-phase input through L1 and L2 yields a split-phase output of L1
and L2.
• Single-phase input through L1 yields a split-phase output of L1 and L2.
• A single-phase input through L2 does not produce any output. Only the
input in Line 1 is capable of qualifying the AC coming from the power
source
From their brochure
Conext SW inverter/charger features
•
The integrated auto-transformer allows the use of an on-site single phase (120Vac) generator to provide input power to the Conext SW inverter and create a split phase output power (120/240Vac North America only).
I think this means the most I can put out of the SW 4048 plus a 120 volt 3000 watt genny is 3800 watts(inverter) plus 1500 wats from the genny at 240 volts equals 5300 watts.
I have an off grid 40 and when I move over there I would like to run a small stick welder off the inverter plus genny. Right now the welder runs great on 20 amp 240 volt. That's a 4800 watt load.
Please try the 110 volt genny hooked to the Schneider and see what the result is.
Thanks,
I would like to see a video over the Military Generator. They seem to be very heavily "overbuilt" units. Being diesel is nice, as the fuel will store much longer than any gas unit. Curious on how efficient it is, that probably would matter a lot for your application, using it off-grid when needed, versus just a backup genset for when the power goes out.
Thanks for letting me know you would like to see more on the military generator. I plan to do a dedicated efficiency test, but my rough observations so far, it's about twice as efficient compared to my Honda.
Morning Dave, nice and sunny here. Even in weather no snow here.
Hi,David, take look at the video I just watched from terraform together on his Signiture Solar. I was down for 30 days with out solar inverter 12kw. The Tech Support are the worst I’ve ever seen. Signiture Solar I have come to find out is there nothing but a bunch of used car sales men. I have watched you and Will on a lot of videos. I came to a conclusion is that they go through all the inverter and batteries before they send it out for review so they get good reviews. Just at the video I just watched how the batteries were shipped to the customer with broken terminals lug. I gave Signiture Solar inverter way and bought Schneider xwpro . I don’t know how much you now about Schneider electric. But they bought out Trace the work horse of inverter back in the day and many people are still running them with no problems. I have my original 3048 in the barn hook up and running like a charm.
Would be interesting to get a bit more data on the Army Generator...
Those MEP 802A generators are great!. There are a few valuable to do retrofits with adding a fuse and a piece of electronics. Super handy to have around for power outages and ran my 1700 sq ft house with some load selecting.
Yes. My unit came with the fuse mod, but I still need to add the Varistor.
Hello David, finally ! I found a guy able to explain how to use the Schneider inverter/charger to charge a battery bank. have had to disable the inverter and then enable he charger to then Force Charge the battery bank upstate NY hunting/fishing cabin.With the snow covered panels, cloudy and rainy weather and the very cold temps our battery bank which is outdoors drops below 10 V and the system shuts down. We cannot get it up unless we charge the battery bank up to 12 V or more then the system comes bank up and I can through the use of a generator charge the batteries up to hold the system and power the cabin. We have a 6K eco gen and a 450AH battery bank of 24V with a Schneider 2425 XW inverter/charger and a midnight solar 150 classic charge controller, the charger in the inverter /charger is 150 Amps. I'm still learning this system and trying to figure out how we can keep the battery bank from getting so cold that it cannot recover enough to keep the system from shutting down. Because we are in a gorge with no utilities whatsoever and icing conditions in deep winter the cabin goes without use for sometimes a month or more. Any ideas would be helpful, thanks David, Ray .
Hi Ray, Thanks for checking out my video. I did a lot of experimenting with the charging feature of the Schneider. Personally, I decided not to use it going forward. I ended up buying a dedicated battery charger:
signaturesolar.com/eg4-chargeverter-gc-48v-100a-battery-charger-5120w-output-240-120v-input-pre-order/?ref=4_rHcgZ9x-TiF-
This is an affiliate link.
This charger can be adjusted to match your generator. This is a brand new version that includes a dry contact too. I made a video on the earlier version without the dry contact you might want to check out: ua-cam.com/video/DEpKq_Fg1rw/v-deo.htmlsi=6Bg295jnXMLWcI2p
Nice work! My wife and I would love to see more on that Army Generator; and....that little darling that like to interfere with what you are doing ;-)
Good to know, thanks.
From what I know the best solution would be the second dedicated inverter for charging seems that is what a lot of users do. Thanks for the video.
Yeah, it's a nice option
I am certainly interested in that Army genset
Good to know. Thank you.
Great Job as always, love to see new videos from you in my feed. Thumbs up all the way. Nice 2nd XW! Can't wait till you get a MPPT 600 100!😀
Thank you. Yes, I have a Schneider charge controller that I'll be installing soon. So much to do and so little time.
Yes, I’d be interested in seeing more information on the army generator
David. My place is totally sustainable and off grid. I switch all my panels to bi-facials witch is awesome in cloudy and snowy days. The sun reflects to the panels and get easy 30 amps. They are awesome.
Thanks David, regards from México City
Hey you got it working! Nice job. Awesome features built in to that Schneider gear. YES on the Army genny overview. Ambition Strikes has one similar. You can shift the frequency etc. Thanks for sharing
More on how to get a stable functioning system from the XW Pros please :)
I need to set up an off-grid system for a relative who cannot program a microwave clock.
I like the Growatt assist that you mentioned at the end of this video.
Work-arounds like that are gold.. tell us all the problems, and your solutions. Thank you.
nice experiements - learning my XW Pro as well, generator in my future so this helps, thanks
I love your videos. Please give us some more information on the generator, specs, where you got it and how you're using it. Thanks keep up the good work.
hell yeah i wanna see a video about the army genarator lol
Great, thanks.
I’d enjoy a video on that generator!
Awesome! I didn't know if the audience was interested, but clearly you are. Thanks.
Yes please do an additional video for the generator. When did you install a 2nd Schneider investor? I’m a little confused. How can you charge your batteries without the Schneider charge controller? Thanks for the great videos
Thanks for letting me know you would like to see a video on the generator.
I just hung the second inverter this week. No video on it yet.
Currently, my solar array is tied to the Growatt charge controllers
I really appreciate the experimental nature of the channel, making mistakes so I don’t have to.! The military generator will never meet the frequency demands of the Schneider household inverter, so will just keep dropping out. My money would be on a newish 6-7 KW inverter generator, these have rock solid voltage and frequency outputs a can withstand a big current startup. I have a 6.6KW inverter generator. I tested it running on Autothrottle with no load so on tickover, I then switched on a 6KW resistive load. The output was 100% stable, it must have some huge capacitors in its inverter, to cover the period the engine is revving up to match the load. I don’t know if your Honda is happy under these circumstances. But it seems to be the solution to match your system requirements.
Which generator are you running?
Yes, I'm interested in the army generator video. I have an XWPro and a 7.2kw Champion generator but I experience the same glitches that you did in this video with the generator disconnecting. In talking with SE support, I think we're concluding that the generator is bogging down as the load increases causing the hertz to momentarily fall out of acceptable range. I'm wondering if a more powerful generator like a 15kw army generator would solve that problem. Like you, I live in a northern state, Michigan, and am fighting the mid winter cloudiness.
Thanks for letting me know you are interested in more on the generator. Yes, a larger generator would do better, but I still don't think as good as the inverter. Generators still have to adjust mechanically (fuel) to the load. The generator is always going to be slower to react than the inverter is. So, I prefer just using the XW PRO directly.
The 15kW army generator (MEP-804A) is a 3-phase only. If you only hook up 2 phases (120/208V) then it's only a 10kW.
@@DavidPozEnergy Thanks for the heads up on the 15kw generator only being capable of 10kw in a split phase setup. Still, 10kw is still way better than the 4.3kw I'm getting now... and I'd bet that the diesel engine in that thing wouldn't bog down (due to better torque curve) as much as my gas/propane generator does. Also, thanks for your next video on the EG4 Chargeverter. I'm thinking that looks like a great 'backup' strategy to have on hand if some of the primary charging elements of the system fail -- given it's ability to charge from generators with a wide range of volts/amps/hertz. Cheers and thanks!
1.22.23 Yes please talk about the army generator. Where did you get it and the cost? Seems as time goes on the all in one inverters are getting better.
Hi David, I'm interested in hearing more about the military generator. I'm also curious about why you picked that size vs a larger kW unit. (BTW - When I saw your first video on it - I did an online search of them.)
This size generator (5kW) is pretty darn efficient. There is a size larger that I also was looking for (10kW) but the price on it was more than I was willing to spend.
@@DavidPozEnergy, My thinking is, If I'm going to buy something this big and pay to have it transported, I am leaning towards more kW. That way I could run the entire house load, or close to it, with fewer restrictions what can be on for days, and still charge batteries too. But then again, maybe 5kW is enough. I look forward to a video about more on the military generator. All the Best, Tony
god bless brother hope all is well im glad to see your back
Hello and thanks much for your informative videos. I would like to see a video on that Army generator. It has so many bells an whistles 😄
Thanks for letting me know.
Thanks for your videos. Good luck from Ukraine🇺🇦
Which my xw+ I had to widen the AC2 (gen) voltage and frequency settings quite a bit to get the inverter to sync up well and not did qualify the generator.
It showed me how bad generator power was.
I used a 2.2 kw gen and load support was a great feature!! Set it to 9 A from generator and any load above that got powered from the battery’s , I set mine to recharge at the same time, so the generator just rant at 80% load which is it’s sweet spot. The Schnider will split the power to load/ battery as needed.
Great set up feature to have. If you get the auto gen start modular you can set it to auto start and stop the generator as needed based on battery SOC.
Why the second xw pro? Need 2 for your home?
I don't need 2 for my home. I've been running my home on one XW for half a year without ever having it overload. I got the second one so that I can add an EV charger. I don't have an EV yet, but hope to soon.
@@DavidPozEnergy I would like to see your try it on one xw pro…. If you set the ev charger to only about 24A 240v I think it will do it
I have no doubt a single XW inverter can handle a single EV charger. But, that wouldn't leave enough room left for powering my house. That's why I'll use two XW's.
As far as I know, Schneider bought Xantrex, which bought Trace Engineering, which had a very nice synchronous inverter/charger in their SW series. I have an SW4024 and it truly is a wonderful machine. It looks like some of that knowledge has been lost! That definitely did not work as it should.
Hi David, keep up the good work, I too have a Conect XW, they are the nuts, its a real shame more people dont know how good they really are, they blow ANY Victron out the water.
They are awesome!. I'd haven't tested a Victron, so I can't speak to Schneider vs. Victron. However, I have tested a Sol-Ark, and the Schneider did far better in my testing.
@@DavidPozEnergy from my understanding regarding the generator input, how it works (and I could be wrong) is the schneider control cuts the generator input if the inverter output is greater than the gen input settings, think of it like this, if the inverter cuts the gen input if the load is greater than the gen can handle, the gen does NOT trip, when the load lessens, the gen is still running and producing power, hey presto the Schneider says, lets use the gen and not waist batteries, it can only use the gen as the schneider has saved it from tripping and needing manual resetting
Hi David, would not be more efficient to rectify generator output and use it via MPPT input separated from PV array be shotky diodes? That would power the load without that glitches… 😊
Heck yea, lets hear more about that sweet military generator!! :)
Sounds good!
Really good youtube - thank you for experimenting / sharing Schnieder info. Charging + Load + Battery can be complex in an AIO. Because of this, I'm setting up 10 x 48v@15 independent chargers to the battery buss. The idea is I can turn on 1 thru 10 for up to 150a @ 48v charging (~7500w max charging) to adjust the load on the generator for max or efficiency. This makes it a straight "generator -> charger(s) -> battery" that is independent of the off-grid PV -> Charge Controller -> Battery -> Inverter. Since I'm lithium-ion, the voltage range is a sufficient (simple) data point to determine remote generator start if I want to go that way. My point - AIO is perfectly OK but I think it's also plausible to setup an independent charging method.
That's going to be a lot of charging. Sounds good.
@@DavidPozEnergyI know that you're open but also an independent thinker. I'll be interested over time, to see if you integrate you're generator(s) into the Schneider or pursue a more straight-forward / independent charging strategy via GroWatt (as you hinted in the vid) or somewhere in the middle. One thing about generators - they aren't quite as easy as wire up and turn on/off at will (like a battery bank or grid) as they sit outside, need maintenance/fuel, regular startups to keep battery/engine OK, etc. Also they're pretty noisy. I'm struggling get a proper view of them (in the context of off-grid solar) in my head - e.g. should they be automatically started by the solar control system (is this realistic) or something one does more manually to bolster the battery bank because they need regular, physical attention.
I have a lot of thoughts about generators, and might need to make a video on them. My goal, is to design my whole solar system to handle 98% of my energy demands. That last 2% represents about one week per year that I would need to run a generator. This is spread out a little at a time over the course of a winter.
Different generators do better sitting around then others. Diesels can go long periods of time without being run.
IDK I'll have to make a video.
I'm using the older XW+ inverter model not the Pro and had exactly the same results. If a large load is added suddenly the inverter will disqualify the generator power and disconnect leaving the inverter to pickup the whole thing until the generator stabilizes and then it reconnects. I haven't tried setting AC2 voltage and frequency limits to wider values. Watching your video reminded me I need to do that. The time to find out if your backup generator is compatible with your inverter should be BEFORE there is an emergency and you need them to work properly.
I'm not alone! Cool. Thanks for your comment. I've spoken to Schneider support, and they said "don't be afraid to max out the settings". I could try that too, but I'm just going to move the generator to a dedicated battery charger.
Looking forward to Growatt setup as a stand alone charger. Please clarify neutral ground bonding requirements in that situation as i was told by a geowatt dealer that it needs bonded as my honda eu7000 inverter generator has a floating neutral. Thanks
I have enjoyed watching your progress and the info has been helpful as I build my system. Have you looked into wind power add with the solar setup you have?
My location is not very windy. But, if I had a windy site I would install a small wind turbine.
I would love to learn more about the army generator.
Thanks.
Third Order Harmonic distortion at or below 5%.. . how clean is the output power from the generator & invertors? any idea what the power waveforms look like??? love the content of your channel... 👍😎👍
Brother why you not try wind generator ?
Thank you very much for always the best and very informative videos
Best regards from Philippines 🇵🇭
It might not be windy there
I love to watch your videos
Thank you.
My Victron has the same feature, any big surges will come out of the battery for a few moments and it will slowly transfer the load to the generator eliminating the voltage sag and the switching back-and-forth
Could it be the phasing output of the 60.4 hz generator against the 60 + or - hz output of the Schnieghder inverter that maybe they couldn’t be synchronized while under load is why it’s shutting down ?🤔May the solar be with you .😉
Does your mini split heat the garage in the winter?
Do you have plans for a whole house heat pump?
Would the winter panels power it effectively?
The garage is heated with 2 sources. Yes, part of the heat is from the mini-split. But, I also have a solar hydronic system I installed. That heats my radiant floor. I designed that into the original design when I built the garage. I also have a mini-split in the house that heats my whole house.
Please do a video on the Army Generator !
I know this is old, but I’ve been watching the other videos and can do you one on everything you need to know? Like, do I need a special inverter to run solar and a generator? And what protections do you need with your DIY battery pack doing so. I want to build a system for a van - but don’t quite understand all the components necessary and how to size them… could be an interesting video to get new people to the channel too and speak the same language
Thanks for the video. Just what I needed to hook up my generator. I do have a question though. My inverter was charging my batteries at 58V but that seems high for a 48V system as my charge controller absorb is only set at 56V. Have you figured out how to change the max charge voltage? Thanks
heck yea, do an army generator video!
Thanks. I'm working on it.
I would like more info on the generator. Please include your purchasing experience.
It looked like on the first part of the video (not gen support) that when generator started charging the batteries, the inverter stopped supplying the loads, is that correct? Meaning XW can either charge battery or supply loads but not both at the same time? You mentioned it would supply loads and figure out the remaining to charge battery with, just didn’t see it in the insight screen.
The inverter can only be an inverter or a charger at any one moment. This is true of all brands in this category. While the inverter is charging the battery, the generator is powering loads. This is called "pass-through", and is common for all inverters to my knowledge.
@@DavidPozEnergy Got it, thank you for the reply. Assume AC1 if tied to grid would do the same, AC1 would power all loads and any surplus would go to charge batteries. I’m looking for worst case scenario where AC1 can’t pass through(grid down), batteries are getting low and need a generator to power both loads and charge. Seems like this will work with XW.
My question is, how long does it take to fully charge your batteries from 20% with the generator?
I'm aiming at 5kW charging. I have a 30kWh battery bank. 30kWh×0.8/5kW=4.8 hours.
We have a dual inverter setup with the XW Pro 6848. I noticed you have two inverters but one didn't look like it was hooked up. I was never able to get the two inverters to properly function. It worked but I'd often get configuration issues, tech support couldn't figure it out either. Eventually I disconnected one of the inverters and am using it as a backup should the first fail.
My questions is that in your video you stated that you're going to use your Growatt with the generator solely to as a battery charger. How is that wired? I've often wondered if instead of running the generator power through the XW Pro if I could simply run a 48V battery charger from the generator directly to the batteries. I haven't because I wasn't sure if that would create some kind of feed back with power coming and going from two locations.
You are correct, that I have a second inverter on the wall, but not wired up yet. And, still to this day, that's how it sits. Life kinda gets busy.
I used the Growatt last winter as my charger, and no problems. But, since this video, I got a "Chargeverter" which is a dedicated charger. It's the way to go. Here is my video on it: ua-cam.com/video/DEpKq_Fg1rw/v-deo.htmlsi=7SxEQBIrQMZpOkDO
I see you have the same exact issue running a generator as I do with two 12K’s. I just turn off any heavy loads beforehand. I have not had to run mine as I have lots of pv and battery.
I live in South Florida
I would like to know more about that military generator as well.
Great, thanks for letting me know.
I am trying to power my box trailer with about a 2000 ish continuous load. Is there a way to call for the generator to charge the batteries as needed as the battery drains and shut off the generator once the battery is fully charged
Assuming you run your furnace heat pump with current weather, have you had problems during defrosting mode your electric coils overpower your inverter? For example I use a furnace heat pump system and during time of defrosting the condenser it switches to coils and will pull 20kw. I was able to unplug one of them to reduce it to 10kw. Thoughts?
I am heating my home with this: signaturesolar.com/eg4-hybrid-ac-dc-solar-air-conditioner-1-ton/ There are no electric coils. During defrost it switches to AC mode for about 10 minutes.
@@DavidPozEnergy I thought in a previous video you mentioned running a central heater/ac. I also have 2 minisplits but its not enough to handle whole house. I would also think I would have problems circulating enough air with just minisplits.
My home is very small, so the single mini-split is all I need. I've never had a traditional whole house HVAC system. If I mentioned a whole-house AC, it may have been in the context of starting Amps. A whole-house AC can have a huge inrush of Amps to get the compressor running. The Schneider inverter has a transformer built-in that is known for handling inrush current well.
Victron power assist ftw
i noticed that when you set the circuit breaker size, you didn't click "apply" so the setting stayed at 25 amps instead of 21. It looks like the schnieder inverter/charger has the filter from the battery which should stop electronic "noise" on the lines from the battery, but does it have the generator input with an inverter or filter? when you showed the output of the generator watts it was on
the DC output, not AC output. Some people say that generators without inverters put out noise or whatever that is not good for computers, tvs, etc.
There are different types of generator heads, so it's not as simple as inverter vs. non-inverter. Generally, the cheapest generators will have more electrical noise. Some manufacturers will advertise the "THD" total harmonic distortion. The lower the distortion the better.
Please make an video of the Army generator when you have time , all the speck age and price too if that is ok.. be well and be safe..!!
Sneaky sneaky! Were we not supposed to notice the second inverter?!
I don't mind. I just got it this past week.
I'm looking at a Schneider XW Pro based solar system for an off-grid solution for running my AG water pumps. I'm in Calif and can't add to my solar present system because of MEM-2 power company agreements. So this new off grid system will allow me to expand my solar by taking over a large part of my high amperage water pumping uses. And it appears the Schnieder is suited to electric motor starting surges.
Question, could I input Grid-Power, at say 20 AMPs using the AC2 input, to recharge the batteries if I am lacking sufficient solar power to recharge and keep up with life in general? I cannot feed power from this system back into the grid, but am interested in occasionally charging from the grid, if necessary.
I just logged into my insight home and checked. Yes, you can do that. Once in the insight home, open the inverter settings (advanced). There are several settings you can expand, open the one called "AC settings" In that you can adjust the "AC1 (grid) input breaker size". It is default to 60A. If you are only feeding this with a 20A breaker, then adjust it down to 20A. Remember, it's still at 240V. If the load is bigger than 20A, the inverter will handle the load using battery power. If the load is less than 20A, the inverter will allow the grid to pass-through, and any remaining will go to charging the battery.
Thanks for this video! I am considering how to DIY a whole house battery backup system. Phase 1 won't include solar panels, but I want to leave that option open. I live in a rural area with unreliable power. Currently have EU7000i generator I wheel out of my shop and hook up to house jack and switch over to using an interlock on the breaker panel. Generator doesn't have enough capacity for all daily situations and sometimes we trip the generator. I wish to supplement the generator output with a rack of batts. The eu7000i has a wired remote start ability. I have the plug and the pinout, so that isn't a concern. The EG4 6500EX-48 has a contact that appears able to start the generator, although I am not yet clear under what conditions this contact closes/opens. What I really want is the ability to manually, via breaker interlock, switch to batts when the power goes out. Then manually connect my generator at some point after and have the generator kick on and recharge batts when they reach, say 20%, and turn back off when they reach, say 80%. This way I can power the entire house without concern for load and also run the generator only at max efficiency at, say, 5kw. The combo should allow 1) Far more house capacity 2) Much better fuel efficiency 3) Extend the window that I can backup the house on a tank of gas.
Your plan is sounding great. No need to rush on the solar panels if you don't want to. Your generator is the updated version of mine, and I love that they made the auto-start so much simpler. If your loads are sometimes causing the generator to trip, then you will need to make sure you have an inverter more powerful. I've been running my whole house on the Schneider and it has never tripped out on me. The Schneider also has a relay built in that can be programmed to close/open based on battery Voltage, or battery SOC. Your choice.
@@DavidPozEnergy Thank you for the reply! Because of this video I am looking at the Schneider options. Tankless hot water aside (29kw!!), I think I can get by with something in the 12kw range. Loads are 24,000 BTU mini split, variable speed 1.5hp well pump, 250w of network/cams/IoT madness, 1100w microwave, and a coffee maker ;) Cheers!
Nice 👌 i
David are there issues charging lithium batteries with Schneider charge controllers?
None that I'm aware of. The manual says it works fine with Lithium. I have not yet hooked up my Schneider brand charge controller, so I can't say from personal experience yet. But, I'm very confident that it works and used my own money to purchase a 100A, 600V, charge controller.
I got a question can the growatt 3000 48v do ac coupling??
dang se equipment
yeah, interesting to get some more views of that crazy army generator. i'd be curious about it's fuel efficiency in comparison to the other smaller one. also maybe the range of feasible load when given a min. efficiency. from my armchair reasoning here i'd expect the smaller/modern engines to have a wider load range at same efficiency target, whereas i'd expect the bigger engine to achieve a higher max. efficiency but only at a smaller range. if that is true, that would also explain to me why you got this bulky thing in the first place! ;)
Hi David I will like more information on the Army Generator. How you ger it ?
Sometimes you find them on Craigslist sold by an individual. You can also purchase from an online auction site, but you need to be cautious. I've been burned before on those. The one you see in this video, I purchased from a middle-man. My friend, Chris, buys them at auction. Then he fixes any issues, load tests it to confirm everything is working, then sells them. I think it's worth buying from someone like that, even if it costs a bit more.
GO ARMY
I wonder what would happen if you set Generator Support Amps to a really low value, or even zero. In that case, the inverter might be handling the full load but still using the generator for charging. At a less extreme level, if you lowered Generator Support Amps to 15, or 10, perhaps it would handle surges better. If you test this, I'd really like to know what happens. The Schneider manual refers to Active vs Reactive load. Essentially, I think it is doing nothing to support generator below the threshold, so if generator gets slammed hard it can't "react" fast enough and XW Pro won't help until the threshold is crossed. It may never get crossed because generator can't handle the slam. I have a 20 year old Xantrex/Trace that WILL step in at any level. As I understand, Victron will also cushion a reactive load. I am about to pull the trigger on an XW Pro, so I'm trying to figure out workarounds. Thanks for your very helpful video!
Can you programe two wire start for your generator? with winchester module or deep sea.
Some generators allow for 2-wire start and some don't. Mine doesn't right now, but I'm working on adding it.
@@DavidPozEnergy You can use a external module like a winchester generator controller or deep sea generator controller.
Have you ever considered a DC Genorator for charging ur batteries?
Yes, but I haven't found a DC generator to test. Do you know of one?
@@DavidPozEnergy polar power comes up when i search Direct current Gen Set I think you have to contact them for pricing diesel units look like they start at 5.5kw units
dude, I had to look you up manually thinking you have not uploaded in a while. How was I unsubscribed is beyond me. Perhaps I accidentally unsubscribed?
yes info on the army generator
More about the army generator please. It is massive, I assume it can do much more than the 30 amps. I think using the generator to charge your batteries directly would be the best way to go. But I have not done any of this, so no expert here.
Thanks for your interest. The army generator is overbuilt, but is actually a 5kW. It can do quite a bit more, but the army rates it as a 5kW.
Sir,
I am a subscriber and watched your video “GENERATOR AND SCHNEIDER SETTING AND FEATURES”. I worked for the Army and a Power Generation Tech Rep for almost 40 years and recognize an MEP-802 anywhere.
I happen to have all the Military TMs (Technical Manuals) for that generator on digits if you are interested. I would be glad to send them to you for your future reference.
v/r
Dave Chapman
Hi Dave Chapman, Thank you. I've been able to download them from a forum called Steel Soldiers. But, I really appreciate the offer. I'm currently looking for a govenor linkage for an MEP-831A. It's a threaded rod about 6" long, with a type of ball joint at the end. Would you happen to know where I could source one? Thanks.
@@DavidPozEnergy I'm currently in the Philippines but going home to Texas in a couple of days. I still have contacts with some guys that might be able to help with the governor linkage. I'll let you know after I get back.
By the way the MEP802 has a real problem burning out the Quad windings. The fix was to put a fuse in the circuit. I don't know if your generator was modified with that fix but if it wasn't I would highly recommend it. If you want more information on that let me know.
Thank you for looking out. Yes, when my generator went through reset, they installed the fuse. I also purchased the variable resistor to add, but haven't done that yet.
Hi David Chapman, If you haven't visited the Steel Solders forum before it would be great to have you drop by. There is a good community there dedicated to keeping these machines going.
I would like to see a video for the military generator. Also where can I look for one?
Thanks for letting me know. Are you in new england?
@@DavidPozEnergy I’m in SC.
Down there, I'd suggest contacting my friend in NC. He buys generators at auction, fixes any problems, then he load tests them before selling. Here is his e-mail: mepgenerators@pm.me
@@DavidPozEnergy Thanks.
You might find the system less glitchy if you play with the advanced settings a little.
Absolutely. For me, I'm just going to use one of the Growatts as a dedicated battery charger.
Can you test XW Pro charging off 120v gen?
You can't connect the inverter to a 120v generator if its configured for 240v. It will not recognize the a 120v input.
Is the Army generator 3 phase? 3 phase is great for power tools. Good luck
It can do 3 phase. I have it setup for 120/240V
Hi David question can I use my gas generator with the 40 24 and the SCP to charge my batteries I think the settings would be in the SCP I don't think I need the device that you have is this correct and thank you for what you do
I have the insight home, which replaced the SCP. Yes, the SW inverter can also charge the battery from a generator. But I don't know the settings for it because I don't own the SW inverter.
Can you share where you get that generator from I'm looking to buy one
Go to GovPlanet, it's an online auction. I know there are some in Florida.
When did i miss you adding the second 6048 ?
Just got it hung on the wall this past week. No video on it yet.
@@DavidPozEnergy Makes sense . I thought i may have missed a notification. Also with your generator settings . You only changed the settings for the breaker that only keeps it from drawing to much power and shutting it down . Look in the Ac2 settings and gen support and adjust settings those accordingly to your generator. That should solve it disconnecting problem it was doing in the vid .
Would like to see the video on the Army generator
Great, thanks for letting me know.
I thought the gen support was for the inverter to start the gen to help. That is what Andy is using to have his victron run a nother inverter to help
Terms might be mixed up on conversation. I'm showing what Schneider calls generator support in the software. I don't know "Andy".
Did you add a second Schneider inverter?
Yes, just this past week I got it hung, but not wired yet.
@@DavidPozEnergy Just to increase available power? I guess you could use the second one as a battery charger only instead of the Growatt.
I'm still debating on a replacement inverter for my old Trace SW5548 that's still plugging away.
I ordered a second inverter because I want to add an EV charger to my garage. I don't yet have an EV, but hope to this year. Just the one XW PRO has been handling my whole house for 6 months (about).
@@DavidPozEnergy Sounds good! I charge my EV with my old Trace SW5548, but only single phase. I set the car for 12A charge rate.Plans are to add another inverter for split phase to handle the EV. However, 7.5kW for four to six hours is asking a lot for an inverter.
i thoght you would have it run from battery then the genset assist with higher loads and or when the bettery drops below a set level that solar can not recharge it kicks in to recharge the battery
SPF 3000TL LVM
Do you have a source for the military generator?
Do you live in New England?
@@DavidPozEnergy No afraid not. Close. House is in Nova Scotia.
I don't know rules on importing. There is a website called govplanet, where you can bid on the auctions. If you want to talk about it more, send me a message on facebook@davidpozenergy
@@DavidPozEnergy Thanks for taking the time to reply David. Enjoy your excursions. Would probably benefit from some comparison of diesel vs small vs larger generator similar to what you published previously with the two generators. Was very helpful in properly sizing for different situations.