Need help with my inverter! ( SunGoldPower, TP6048 )

[massSolar]

Hi everyone, I am new to this forum and solar energy in general.

I sure could use help in figuring out what to do about my SunGoldPower inverter. At this point, I feel like SunGoldpower is going to leave me high and dry.

I received my TP6048 inverter about a month ago and cannot get it to output anything close to rated power. I have a 4kw shop heater rated to run off 240 VAC. Every time I try to operate it, the inverter disconnects the output. It does not report any fault codes, it just turns off the output and makes a beeping noise. After about 20 seconds, it will restart, then the whole process starts over again.

I have contacted SunGoldPower, and they have asked me to make several videos of the issue. They have jumped on the fact that my battery is DIY. I have shown them over and over that my VDC is holding during all my testing. I used my voltmeter with minimum hold function which shows the voltage never drops below ~52 VDC. I have gone as far as using an oscilloscope showing the VDC in and the VAC output.

They were very helpful at first but appear to be ignoring me at this point. If they get back to me, I will update this post.

Video:

(This video show voltmeter testing.)

System Setup:
- SunGoldpower TP6048 inverter.
- 16 EVE LF280K Grade A
- JK-B2A24S20P (I tried testing with this totally bypassed/removed which did not help.)
- No solar panels at this point
- Heater: "HotOne" "Cadet" Model: RCP402S (Connected to L1 and L2 of the inviter.)

 

[houseofancients]

Seems your shop vac might have a very high startup load..
Consider a smart start for it

 

[sunshine_eggo]

Is that battery voltage measured at the battery terminals or the inverter battery terminals.

 

[massSolar]

Battery voltage is measured at the inverter. Also, the load is a resistive 4 kw heater.

 

[seneysolar]

What are your wire sizes for battery and AC?

 

[sunshine_eggo]

Guessing a guy with an oscope probably has his shit together, but had to ask. Sounds like the inverter's crapping out.

 

[massSolar]

Battery cable is six feet of 2 AWG. (Appears to be ok for 48-volt system. My voltmeter testing includes this drop/loss.)

Wire to heater is 3 feet of 14 AWG. (May get a little warm but should not cause a problem for testing.)

I understand that the 14 AWG is a little small but is only used for testing.

 

[seneysolar]

Battery cable is six feet of 2 AWG. (Appears to be ok for 48-volt system. My voltmeter testing includes this drop/loss.)

Wire to heater is 3 feet of 14 AWG. (May get a little worm but should not cause a problem for testing.)

I understand that the 14 AWG is a little small but is only used for testing.

Amp clamp for the ac side to verify? Measure voltage on ac side each line in reference to neutral?

Otherwise yes it seems faulty inverter.

 

[42OhmsPA]

Interesting, I ran one of them for about a year before upgrading.
I had no issues running each leg up to 3kW and overloaded it a handful of times, it would just restart and keep working.

Your sure all the settings are good? (Low voltage disconnect mainly, setting 19 only goes up to 48V so I think I answered my own question).
Do you have setting 27 enabled to record faults?
The fact there are no fault codes has me intrigued.

I know at least 2 other members have gotten great support from SGP after getting the cc company involved.

 

[massSolar]

Input Current = 83 amps DC

Output Current = 16 amps AC

Load % given by inverter = L1 = L2 = 61 %

L1 to N = ~119 VAC
L2 to N = ~119 VAC
L1 to L2 = ~239 VAC

 

[massSolar]

Setting 27 is enabled. No fault is recorded. An event is recorded as a "Communication Restore".

See attached.

 

[42OhmsPA]

Setting 27 is enabled. No fault is recorded. An event is recorded as a "Communication Restore".

See attached.

That's more than likely from the restart.
Are you still in the window of credit card protection?
https://diysolarforum.com/threads/s...start-up-red-light-on-board.72937/post-927048

 

[Mattb4]

Doubtful they will get back to you unless you push them. Your AIO is faulty and should be repaired or replaced. Incidentally it was BS they wanting you to make videos of operation. Once they were told you have sufficient battery and cabling it should be obvious that a problem with inverter existed.

 

[massSolar]

Looks like they stopped responding to my emails at the 30-day mark. Very dirty business practice!

Looks like PayPal has a 180-day dispute period. Does anyone have any experience with PayPal disputes?

 

[seneysolar]

Looks like they stopped responding to my emails at the 30-day mark. Very dirty business practice!

Looks like PayPal has a 180-day dispute period. Does anyone have any experience with PayPal disputes?

Wow, thats terrible.

Back in the day, that was PayPals claim to fame was buyer protection. Give it a try!

 

[Quattrohead]

Yeah PayPal are good in these situations, you are going to have to lean on everyone as hard as you can at this point. SGP have dirty business practices and I will never use them again.

 

[42OhmsPA]

I'd leave a 'nice' review here and anywhere else you can. I'd also open a dispute through PayPal and your credit card if you used one. If you use social media find any of there pages and share your experience.
You'll get attention from them again.

 

[massSolar]

I sent an email SunGoldPower informing them that PayPal was going to get notified of the problems with my inverter. SunGoldPower emailed me back within about 30 minutes informing me that their engineers were out and could not get back with me. They requested me to get my inverter connected to the internet, so they could remotely connect to it. Strange that they ignored my four previous emails and did not inform me of their engineer being gone. At this point anything is good news.

 

[#40Fan]

If you really think the inverter is at fault, hit them hard now. Don't let them string you along. Especially since it took the threat to make them respond.

 

[sunshine_eggo]

I sent an email SunGoldPower informing them that PayPal was going to get notified of the problems with my inverter. SunGoldPower emailed me back within about 30 minutes informing me that their engineers were out and could not get back with me. They requested me to get my inverter connected to the internet, so they could remotely connect to it. Strange that they ignored my four previous emails and did not inform me of their engineer being gone. At this point anything is good news.

sounds like progress, but give them deadline to get it sorted - like 10 days to prohibit them from stringing you along.