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billk avatar image
billk asked

Quattro 5000s in parallel, split phase config. No output from slave inverter

Everything looks great, 120v from both inverters present at service panel and 240v shows up when L1 and L2 are checked together. Clamp meter shows amps coming in from Master and no amps coming in from Slave at the panel. Have I missed a setting somewhere or am I dealing with the dread "out-of-balance" dilemma? All input and output cables are the same length to within 1.25cm

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solardude avatar image
solardude answered ·

Do you have 240V appliances running? Are you getting power to L2 circuits? If you have 120V to each leg, you should show amps when powering loads on it’s respective line. Maybe you only have L1 loads being powered?

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billk avatar image
billk answered ·

I'm very good at following instructions and being meticulous on connecting and installing electrical components. That said, what I understand about how it all works can be writ on the nail of my thumb. A friend of mine back in my Coast Guard days used to explain much electrical theory to me as PFM (Pure F*uckin' Magic) and I'm pretty content to stick with that.

Guess I thought the output of the two inverters would be equal and if I had 1000w load I would see 500w from both L1 and L2. That it may not work that way really doesn't surprise me but I would like to understand enough to know if and when I have a problem.

My wife and I are very rapidly getting spoiled with our new system after living on a 12 V, 2400w inverter output for 13 years and I want to make sure I don't allow anything to fail on this new system due to my lack of understanding normal from abnormal behaviour.

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solardude avatar image solardude commented ·

Another simple test would be to switch the L1 and L2 hots and see if you get the opposite result of what you have now.

In a nutshell, split phase uses (2) separate 120V legs that are phased 180 degrees opposite of each other. From there, if you aren’t using any 240V appliances, amps will only be drawn from whichever line is powering that particular circuit. If you don’t have any 240V appliances, then you don’t really need split phase.

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Rob Fijn avatar image
Rob Fijn answered ·

A simple check to find out if they work proper as Master and Slave is by switching OFF the Master or Slave... the other one should then also go OFF and the LEDs bink an error.

Regards,Rob

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Rob Fijn avatar image
Rob Fijn answered ·

Hello BillK, did you solve the problem ?

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billk avatar image billk commented ·

They are definitely hooked up properly, the Victron utilities show them hooked up in the proper configuration. Don't know, after looking at a number of pictures of CCGX screens I'm not sure if I have a problem. There doesn't seem to be an equal load on each leg in all of the pictures I've seen. I can't find anything in the literature that discusses the issue.

I am delighted with my system's performance, It's everything I'd hoped it would be. That said I have a number of questions about the system that I can't find answers to in the documentation. I'm old school from the days of RTFM so I hate to ask for help until I've done my research to the best of my ability.

Here's an example of something I can't find an answer to, "What is the expected energy overhead of a pair of Quattro 5000/120's hooked up in parallel and in split phase when there is no load on them?"

I've got plenty more questions but I should probably put them up one at at time.

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