More than Half of my NanQue Non-Polarized DC-Breakers Failed after Six Months
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- Опубліковано 3 жов 2024
- Hi, in this video I have to complain about a product which unfortunately is very important for what we do. The NanQue Non-polarized DC-Breakers!
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Interesting video ,its good somenes reviewing dc non polarised breakers , theres been badicslly nothing on the subject on YT
Thanks for the heads up, I was considering buying Nanque DC breaker for my batteries, but now I will probably get Chint.
hi..just be careful. Chint as far as I saw only does have polarized DC MCBs. When going for a battery main breaker, you might have to go for a MCCB
@@RolandW_DIYEnergyandMore Thanks for the suggestion. What's your experience with the TOMZN DC Breaker? They seem to be the preferred option in my place and are cheap, but I don't really trust them. MCCBs are much more expensive. Should I just get a single pole MCCB for the battery or is it better to get a 2 pole one?
@@BlueSky-cy5nw Tomzn is polarized to. As battery main I would use a double pole. But you can use a single MCCB if you want to save a bit money
Roland, there are only two recommended DC non-polarized breaker brands that CEC certified solar installers use in Australia, that meet or exceed Australian Standard AS/NZ5033 and AS/NZS 60947-2 which are SAA Approved. The two brands that have an excellent reputation in Australia are "NOARK" and "ZJ BENY". Of the two brands, the best on the market seems to be from NOARK, as they do appear to be of a higher quality finish externally. CEC certified solar installers in Australia do not install or recommend any other brand of non-polarized DC breakers that I am aware of. NOARK non-polarized DC MCBs have the largest market share in Australia, found in the majority of new solar systems.
Yes. There is no question about it. The problem is only that a NOARK breaker would cost me about 50 dollars with shipping, so a full bank would cost several hundreds. If there is no other way, one would have to spend it of course.
@@RolandW_DIYEnergyandMore That is why I am broke. I spent many hundreds on the NOARK breakers. lol.
They heat with up to 14 Watts due to the inner resistance they have caused by the bimetall stripe. This heat combined with Thailands heat and humidity of caurse will damage the contacts if they are not silver or platin. If the switch contacts are only moving toghether without rubbing on each other (good switches will do that!) then frequently switching will not clean the contacts reasonable.
and a typical breaker you will only switch once. as long there is no over current they will usually never open...
If you get the chance, I'd be interested to see inside one of the failed breakers- what the failure mode is and if it just humidity driven corrosion. If it just the environment I wonder if there're things that could be done to harden it- but if you can find one you'd probably be better off with a different manufacturer.
I had the first two breakers failing a couple of month ago and I have opened the 1-pole breaker. That one was tripping with no reason and I couldn't find any trace why that would be happening.
I threw those 2 away already, so I can only open up this one. As it does have visible heat damage, it will have discolored parts inside.
I am definitely not going back to mechanical devices. No more brands, as i had now probably 4 different branded DC-breakers failing and if you then want a non-polarized, there are only 2 more, very expensive brands left.
I am switching to fuses, never had any issues with those ;)
@@RolandW_DIYEnergyandMore Fair- and I usually do have fuses somewhere in the mix because of paranoia, but I do like having circuit breakers for switchable isolation- though if you've got the right kind of fuse holder, they can do that too
Roland, two things that stand out for me. Firstly, the burnt area on top of the breaker terminal is where the primary arc extinguishing chamber SHOULD be, and these are always visible with DC breakers near the top orientation. So, I suspect the arc chamber is the cause of the overheating within where the internal electromagnetic plastic holder is of sub quality parts that are not rated for 48VDC heat. Additionally, the non-polaried breakers I use (from NOARK and BENY) all have large copper arc chambers, and all of mine have yet to fail. Secondly, soon as you said your breakers are rated for 250V my spider sense alarm went off. This rated value of 250V is what to expect for marketed AC breakers. I suspect your breakers are really AC breakers that have been rebadged to be DC non-polaried breakers. The DC non-polaried breakers I use has the following rated values: NOARK 360VDC; ZJ BENY 600VDC. The breakers I use do not even have any AC rating, not even a hint that they are marketed for AC systems, and hence the breakers I use seem to be specifically manufactured to be used in DC systems and not a rebadge. As you know, most single phase AC breakers have rated vaues between 230V to 250V, and most of them can not be used in DC systems where the expected voltage is higher than 24VDC to 48VDC. Therefore, if your breakers are indeed rebadged AC breakers disguised as a DC breaker, then it would be expected for them to fail within 24VDC to 48VDC voltages.
Yes mate. You cannot be sure about anything these days anymore, especially what comes from China even if they say its a factory outlet. I am done with them now anyways. Just the fuses that I have ordered now are more expensive then those MCBs, are rated to 1000V DC and will do their job in any climate :)
I won't be here when they arrive, but we will then see it in autumn.
@@RolandW_DIYEnergyandMore Fuses are always best for reliability in all conditions. My understanding is, all external breakers (regardless if AC or DC) should be installed within a weatherproof enclosure for the very reason you have raised (that is, the moisture and dust can and does degrade the breakers). When I say "weatherproof", I literally mean within a gasket sealed enclosure to minimize ingress of moisture and dust. Your breakers that are used in the external installation are technically not installed within a weatherproof enclosure, but rather a "splash proof" enclosure to shelter from direct rain exposure.
@@Matthew_Australia yes, that is correct. Here the breakers should even be airconditioned ;))
Thanks for the video Rowland. Do you think the more reputable Chinese brants like Chint, Delixi etc would have faired better? Talking about fuses, would using them alongside the DC breakers be of any advantage compared to using each alone?
NanQue is the only one Chinese brand manufacturing non-polarized DC-breakers. Any other brand, even the most reputable Chinese like Chint, do not have non-polarized, only polarized so they are not universally usable on the battery side with bi-directional currents. And there are only less then a handful international manufacturers for non-polarized DC, mostly Australian.
Using a breaker in series with a fuse has no safety advantage, it might just have a comfort advantage if you want to use the breaker as a switch. But this cylindrical fuses with holder can disconnect a circuit easily as well. The mechanical breaker will always be the weak point compared to the fuse.
@@RolandW_DIYEnergyandMore I have a Delixi DZ47sZ two-pole MCB rated at 63A, 500V DC. I haven't used it yet but I noticed it has - and + signs top and bottom but on opposite sides. E.g looking at the MCB head on, the top left pole is negative and the bottom left pole is +. The top right pole is labeled positive while the bottom right pole is labeled negative. Does this mean this can be used in cases where currents flow either way like in batteries?
@@adon8672 no, this is a classic polarized DC-breaker. You can choose which side is IN, but you need to follow the markings for polarity. I fit would be used in a bi-directional battery circuit, then during charging or discharging, at on time the polarity would be wrong as you would either feed in with positive at the neg marking, vice versa... You can use such a breaker on the PV side, where polarity and flow doesn't change.
have you measured temperature and humidity inside the box?
@@rm6857 temperature is around 45 deg Celsius and humidity might be around 60 percent
That's a power outlet in a power box. That's stupid. Fuses take time to blow and don't provide any ground fault circuit interrupt protection, or GFCI. But you wont ask for help of pick up an electrical code from the country that invented, refined, and nearly perfected power distribution over a century ago.
Sorry man, I do not have any idea of what you are talking about.
This is a 48VDC power distribution. There is no ground, so there is no leakage protection. None of your GFCIs would work there or would have any other purpose.
Every breaker there is installed for the purpose of short-circuit protection to prevent cable fires only as overload is taken care of all the equipment itself.
A fuse blows within a blink of an eye when exposed to hundreds of amps which would flow there in case of a fault. Similar to a breaker, but if the DC breaker is poled the wrong way it would start burning.