roland, thanks for all your work. You have a great ability to explain things in a simple way

Very helpful indeed, thank you 😊

Hello from Virginia. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.

Hi Mr. Rolan! I wish if is possible to make a video with the step by step of conection of the dry contact to de ATS and show how is work every scenario

Hi have a GW 5000/48 volt off grid and need to use the Dry contact to send signal to auto start a back up generator. So if batteries get say 25% Soc start Gen and if 50% state of charge turn off Gen. Using settings 19/20. My generator starts by sending it 12 volts and stops by dropping the 12 volts How can I use the dry contact to make this happen? Ps I have a low amp 12 volt power supply ❤

@RolandW_DIYEnergyandMore

Жыл бұрын

Hi. Assuming that the table in your manual looks about like mine, you will need to use the NO/C contacts of your Dry Contact. Take + of your 12V power supply and connect it to the NO terminal of the Dry Contact. Take a wire from the C terminal of the Dry Contact and connect it to the + terminal of the generators start input. Connect the - terminal of the generators start input to the - of the 12V power supply. Then you will have to set voltages according to your required battery levels inside the inverter programs. Greetings, Roland

Hi, I manually bond after switching from USB to SBU, then disconnect mains. But when I unbond, and switch mains back on, I only sometimes trip the upstream TT system rcd. You seemed to touch on the reason this happens in this video. Any ideas? Thanks for helping

@RolandW_DIYEnergyandMore

Жыл бұрын

I always say that RCDs do not belong upstream of a power source. Power sources are part of the first "T" in the Earthing system naming. An RCD shall protect your home installation and the people living there. The inverter usually has all its protections built into the unit and will display a failure and shut down if it sees a leakage. Double pole MCBs at its AC-In would typically suffice as disconnects between the inverter and the grid.

Not totally related, but maybe you could help me understand something. Reading one of the Victron Inverter/Charger manuals, and it says "CASE ground" must be connected to central DC negative busbar. Um.. huh? DC? What would that accomplish? Are they assuming the DC system is already grounded somehow?

@RolandW_DIYEnergyandMore

Жыл бұрын

I think some of their equipment needs a sort of common ground to work with each other. Connecting all grounds together is typical in electronics. In PV unfortunately I totally dislike such a procedure as it is giving up DC isolation which usually is a good thing especially if a bond there can create a path for fault currents between AC and DC side or then you can as well shock yourself on PV power wires. But I guess Victron equipment is perfectly galvanically separated so they went on that path. Problems might only come up if you buy a non-Victron Inverter which might not be as perfectly designed and connect that one as well on the same battery... So, if all your equipment is from Victron you should just follow the instructions in the manual. Just be aware if you would add a different charge controller, inverter, monitoring stuff or whatsoever, that might cause some problems down the line.

Hey Roland, been watching all your videos and they are very informative! I am installing 2 MPP Solar LV6548 all-in one inverters (split phase 240v), a battery rack and a few solar panels. It will be an off-grid home back-up solar system that will power the house in the event of a power outage, basically treating it like a solar generator. In the main panel I have a mechanical interlock kit with a 60 amp circuit breaker (N+G bond) that feeds a sub-panel (with neutral and ground separate) which has another 60 amp circuit breaker to which the 2 inverters are connected. The system will not be connected to the grid input EVER. In this configuration do I need to remove the bonding screw in the 2 inverters? I am not clear on what I need to do in this specific configuration. Your opinion and advice for this configuration would be much appreciated. Thank you for all your videos!

@RolandW_DIYEnergyandMore

Жыл бұрын

Hi Andrew. In a grid setup, such nearby double bonds shall be avoided as they could render protective devices such as inline breakers useless due to the split current in the case of a ground fault. In a solar inverter setup like yours, where you create a parallel path for the fault current between the main panel and the sub panel, that wouldn't really matter as the solar inverters normally could never generate as much current for the required time to trip a 60A breaker. So, inverters typically rely on their built in electronic over current detection and would shut down before a main breaker could even blink. They will notice any current on L, N for that matter and GFCIs in your house wouldn't be affected anyways by this. As you are completely disconnected from the grid in case of inverter backup operation, I do not see the need to remove the internal bonding screw of the inverter. The system will work as safe as it can. Thanks for watching and enjoy your energy independence!

@andrewbennet9782

Жыл бұрын

@@RolandW_DIYEnergyandMore I am glad to hear that, as I was concerned that keeping those bonding screws, even in this type of configuration, would create a ground loop and current on ground, since I have that circuit breaker bonded at the main panel. So this is something that does not pertain to my configuration, am I right? What about an off-grid scenario where the load center is treated as the main panel with the n+g bond and there is no other panel? In that case would you recommend removing the bonding screws from the inverters? I really enjoy your videos and love where you live, I visited many years ago and have great memories about it!

@RolandW_DIYEnergyandMore

Жыл бұрын

@@andrewbennet9782 to avoid a closed loop of any kind, you should always disconnect both the Ls as well as the N at your transfer of power source. I don't know exactly if you have done this in your sub-panel. I think your US 2 pole breakers will only break the 2 Ls, right? Is there anything like a 3-pole breaker available in the US which can disconnect all active poles L1-N-L2? If you would use the off-grid inverter right next to a main panel and it would be connected directly in there, then I would actually recommend to remove the internal grounding screws as an external bond is just safer and does not create those high currents on a PCB trace inside the device.

@andrewbennet9782

Жыл бұрын

@@RolandW_DIYEnergyandMore Yes, I have separated the ground and the neutral in my sub panel. The only bond is at the main panel. That’s why I was wondering about the 2 screws present in each inverter, as I was under the impression that even in a configuration where there is no ac input whatsoever those screws are better off removed. And yes, in the US they sell 3 pole breakers, but I believe those are for 3 phases. I have 2-phase only.

@RolandW_DIYEnergyandMore

Жыл бұрын

@@andrewbennet9782 if removing the screws is an easy task then just go ahead and do it. How long in wire distance is the sub-panel away from the main panel?

What about permanently bonding the N-E in a TN system?

@RolandW_DIYEnergyandMore

Жыл бұрын

I do assume you mean a permanent bond at an inverter while there is another permanent bond at your supply input and your inverter uses a bypass feature?... You can do that but you need to be aware that between the original place of bonding from your grid supply and the place where you bond again at your inverter, fault currents will travel on two paths. This might render some protective devices which were supposed to maybe break fault circuits in those early stages of distribution ineffective or completely useless. So, you need to know exactly what your intentions are in those "grey areas". All bonding must be before your electrical panel and before the RCD there. The safety system within the electrical installation must still work as intended, no matter what the actual power source is at any given moment.