OBiTALK Community

General Support => Day-to-Day Use => Topic started by: Alex65 on July 05, 2014, 05:19:11 AM

Title: power problem due to solar pv panels
Post by: Alex65 on July 05, 2014, 05:19:11 AM
Since I installed a pv-solar system (with enphase micro inverters) my Obi110 has stopped working properly.  Almost daily the power led blinks red/green and I have to unplug the Obi110 for about 20 minutes before it works again.  None of my other electronic devices seem to be impacted by the pv system.  Is the Obi110 very sensitive to voltage fluctuations or what else could cause this problem? Is there a filter that I could install?
Alex
Title: Re: power problem due to solar pv panels
Post by: BigJim_McD on July 05, 2014, 09:32:38 AM
Alex65,  If you have one available, try connecting to a "APC Back-UPS" Battery Backup box.

APC states the following advantages.

"The Back-UPS provides abundant battery backup power, so you can work through medium length power outages. It safeguards your equipment against damaging surges and spikes that travel along utility and data lines. The Back-UPS also features automatic voltage regulation (AVR), which instantly adjusts high and low voltages to safe levels, so you can work indefinitely during brownouts and over voltages."

I have 3 APC Back-UPS.  I use the Back-UPS to protect my OBi devices, Cable Modem, Router, Switches and our HDTV in addition to my Desktop and Laptop.  I also have my Portable phone base and one clock connected to one of the APC Back-UPS.

I consider my APC Back-UPS a good investment as well as insurance against equipment failure in addition to protection during a power failure.
Title: Re: power problem due to solar pv panels
Post by: Alex65 on July 07, 2014, 10:58:58 AM
I have an old ups and will try it.
Title: Re: power problem due to solar pv panels
Post by: Jackson on July 09, 2014, 10:41:24 AM
Check your UPS' specs, not all have AVR.  My old Eaton 3105 doesn't, nor my APC BE350G.
Title: Re: power problem due to solar pv panels
Post by: sailing on July 10, 2014, 05:33:00 AM
While the inverters are grid tied, I doubt they could affect the line voltage. The output of the microinverters are designed to follow the utilities voltage and pump current into the line. This assumes all the inverters are operating properly. (I also assume that if the utilities go down, the PV system disconnects.)

Other possible issues are the phone connections. Do you have an outside line coming into the house and does the 110 drive phone lines throughout the house? If the ac and phone lines run next to each other, there may be noise coupling into the phone lines that cause the 110 to hang.

If you can let me know about the phone lines, I can offer suggestions to try an isolate the problem. If you do try a ups and it solves the problem, it may be fixing the problem indirectly. Another words, it isn't the line voltage that is the problem but you probably don't care at that point.

I usually check the forum every couple of days but I'll try to check more often in case I could be of some help.