First of all, I purchased this unit in 2014 but it sat in a corner up until a few months ago.
The Setup..
7kw of solar panels (120v).
External charger
48v Flooded cell Ni-cad battery pack (1.2v per cell) which require 64v for boost, 60v equalization, 58v float).
My main goal for this unit is to make it bullet proof.
Problem 1.
Main power board blew.
Problem 2.
Inverter trips out when the voltage goes over 59v.
Problem 3.
Wanting to make a balance charger to correctly charge each cell.
Solution 1.
Rebuilding the power board. Replacing the 80v caps with 100v and adding 2 more because there is room on the board.
Replacing the IRFB4310 FET's(100v 140a 5.6m?) with IRFP4568 (150v 171a 4.8m?) and adding 4 more, again there are extra slots on the board.
Replacing the controller board. As I wasn't using the unit as a charger, there may be something faulty with the controller board. There is nothing obvious but I'd rather be sure.
The
EBAY Seller jungleislandpower sells the new control boards. Don't know if they are any better than the older control boards but the new ones are modular, ie: there are separate daughter boards for the FET drivers, CPU, charger, a/c input and output detect, etc....
Purchased the whole set for $100 delivered.
Solution 2.
As I will be using the newer controller board, locating the new position for "R14" and apply the appropriate zener will be first on the list.
Solution 3.
Work in progress..
Modifications.Apart from the fets and caps,
Reducing idle currentViewed a post by
oztules on how to reduce the idle current when using toroidal transformers.
Had an old 600va UPS with a large EI core transformer. Stripped it down so it's ready to go..
Extra fans.May transplant the guts into a different case to allow for better cooling.
Heatsink Insulation.Noticed the inadequate insulation between the power board and the heatsinks. Plan on putting some thick plastic there instead of the heatsink mat.
PCB track improvement.Will be running some 1mm dia copper wire from the Source and Drain to their respective inputs/outputs.
Any and all suggestions gratefully accepted.
Cheers.