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werner-2 avatar image
werner-2 asked

VE Multiplus II 5kVa, House Earth leakage trip when grid is restored

VE Multiplus II 5kVa installed with a cerbo GX, GX Touch 50, 2x Smart Solar 150/35 MPPT's, 6x 455Watt PV Panels and a Hubble AM2 48V 5.5kWh LiFePo4 battery

System was originally setup as a battery back-up (UPS) with an auto changeover switch before solar panels where added is now setup with ESS. The changeover switch is set to manual operation and inverter remains on

Previously auto changeover fluctuated between grid or inverter depending on grid availability. The changeover switch now remains on inverter feed.

My challenge is the house earth leakage trips when the grid is restored following a loadshedding. This did not happen in the past while on UPS mode with the auto change over switch fluctuating between inverter and grid when grids available


Any advice what may be the cause and how I can try resolve the issue


Thank you for your willingness to assist

Multiplus-II
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4 Answers
nickdb avatar image
nickdb answered ·

This can be caused by multiplugs which have surge protection, so unplug any you have and see if that helps.

Also, do you have surge protection in your db? Hager units have been found to be too sensitive and swapping with schneider has alleviated the issue for some installs.

Is the inverter logging any error codes or is this purely an earth leakage trip?


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Rheinhardt Esau avatar image Rheinhardt Esau commented ·
Good advice, this definitely did the trick for me, I had 1x Surge Protector extension cord/plug which I removed and did not trip after. I also have a surge protector fitter to DB board... so it was not it.
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daza avatar image
daza answered ·

cancel that it’s only when grid is resorted, unplug items and see if it still trips have you bought anything new that plugs in?

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werner-2 avatar image
werner-2 answered ·

Hi

This is purely an earth leakage trip. It happens most of the time when the grid is restored, but there are sometimes that it does not trip


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werner-2 avatar image werner-2 commented ·
Also no error on the inverter side
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zoza avatar image
zoza answered ·

Hi Werner, I'm am not an expert on this, and is currently exploring the solar world. However, friends of mine has done extensive research and testing in this field, and what I heard is that the the tripping of the earth leakage when grid power is restored is caused when the inverter does not have it's own earth ie, should not be connected to the Eskom Db earth, but have its own. Hope this makes sense, but having its own earth sorted out their problem.

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