I had reported a problem with an SMA inverter messing with a customer's heater programming. SMA and/or SunPower (it was a SunPower leased system) very kindly allowed replacement of the SB5000US with a newer unit that has the suffix -12 after the model number. Apparently the design upgrade includes initial charging up of the transformer from the DC rather than AC side, which greatly reduces EMI on startup. That, plus whatever other improvements are included, absolutely worked. The customer's heater has worked flawlessly since the change. Thanks Steve!
Bruce Erickson Mendocino Solar Service PO Box 1252 Mendocino, CA 95460 707-937-1701 707-937-1741 fax br...@mendocinosolar.com On Apr 16, 2013, at 11:36 AM, Bruce Erickson wrote: > I'm having a similar issue with a GRID-TIE inverter just now. SMA 5000US > which, when it wakes up every morning, removes the date and time from the > programming in the customers' Monitor brand kerosene heater. They have to > re-enter it daily, which is annoying enough, but when they go out of town, > they have to leave the inverter off to avoid coming home to a cold house. > > So far SMA has had us move the breaker as far as possible from the heater > breaker, to no avail. They had no other suggestions. I used a Panamax plug-in > power conditioner with 50 dB of EMI filtering on the heater outlet, which has > reduced the frequency of the problem to once a day, when it wakes up, from a > few times a day. Trying a different heater is out of the question due to > cost, so I'm stumped as how to avoid an unhappy customer, unless the answer > is experimenting with more robust power conditioners. > > Bruce Erickson > Mendocino Solar Service > PO Box 1252 > Mendocino, CA 95460 > 707-937-1701 > 707-937-1741 fax > br...@mendocinosolar.com > > > > > On Apr 16, 2013, at 11:12 AM, Dave Palumbo wrote: > >> Jeremy, >> >> << What to look for? >> >> >> Unfortunately, probably a different coffee maker. >> I've gone through this with several different appliances over the years on >> sine wave inverter output. Washing machines, refrigerators, dishwashers it >> could be anything with electronics. Specific manufacturers typically cannot >> be avoided in order to solve this issue. Year to year manufacturers may >> change the design of their appliances, so blanket statements on what works >> and what doesn't are unreliable. All appliances (excepting a few) are >> designed to operate on utility power, not inverter power. Inverter power >> (excepting Exeltech and possibly others) typically has more distortion than >> utility power. Some appliances cannot tolerate the simulated inverter sine >> wave power. I always council my inverter customers that I cannot guarantee >> that all appliances with work flawlessly and that some may not work at all. >> I advise off-grid clients to buy appliances where there is a liberal return >> policy. >> >> David Palumbo >> Independent Power LLC >> 462 Solar Way Drive >> Hyde Park, VT 05655 >> www.independentpowerllc.com >> Vermont Solar Partner >> 25 Years Experience, (802) 888-7194 >> >> >> >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org >> [mailto:re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org] On Behalf Of All Solar >> Sent: Tuesday, April 16, 2013 12:47 PM >> To: re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org >> Subject: [RE-wrenches] Outback wave form >> >> Have a client with a new coffee maker that will not run from their new dual >> outback setup. Has anyone heard of this lately. We have had no problems with >> appliances and sine wave inverters. What to look for? >> >> Sent from Jeremy's IPhone. Sorry for typos and shorthand! >> _______________________________________________ >> List sponsored by Home Power magazine >> >> List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org >> >> Change email address & settings: >> http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org >> >> List-Archive: >> http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org >> >> List rules & etiquette: >> www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm >> >> Check out participant bios: >> www.members.re-wrenches.org >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> List sponsored by Home Power magazine >> >> List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org >> >> Change email address & settings: >> http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org >> >> List-Archive: >> http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org >> >> List rules & etiquette: >> www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm >> >> Check out participant bios: >> www.members.re-wrenches.org >> > > _______________________________________________ > List sponsored by Home Power magazine > > List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org > > Change email address & settings: > http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org > > List-Archive: > http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org > > List rules & etiquette: > www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm > > Check out participant bios: > www.members.re-wrenches.org > _______________________________________________ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Change email address & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
