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nickb avatar image
nickb asked

SPS Light flicker

Hi guys,

I'm reaching out to see if anyone has experienced the issue I'm having on site. I have installed a Victron/ Pylontech off grid power system and when the customers water pump comes on I get a flicker in the LED lighting.

The site has a 10KVA Quattro, AC and DC coupled solar, 7X US3000 PylonTech batteries.

I suspected a possible issue on my battery DC side, maybe high resistance causing DC ripple. However when on site and logged into VE Config my DC ripple didn't fluctuate from .2V.

Any response from people experiencing this issue would be helpful or possible solutions appreciated.

Regards,

Nick

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2 Answers
Alexandra avatar image
Alexandra answered ·

@nickb

I have seen this on quite a few sites. We installed VSDs and it solved the issue. It was something to do with the interaction of the pump control with the LED driver design with the inductor in the inverter.

Happens with some fridges as well. And in one place a vaccum as well. But the vaccuum was not well it died a few weeks later.

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Meine_Energiewende avatar image Meine_Energiewende commented ·
Hi Alexandra !

do you have a link to such a working VSD ?

Thanks a lot !

Jens

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Alexandra avatar image Alexandra ♦ Meine_Energiewende commented ·

@Jens Rephöhler

Not sure where you are in the world, we have a few options here. There is DAB neat all in one idea, Aquatec and plenty 'local brands'.

For dedicated borehole pumps there are Delta VFDs. schneider also do some.

Some even do both DC and AC control. They are sized according to the pump.

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nickb avatar image
nickb answered ·

Thanks @Alexandra, A VSD could be a good solution to reducing the surge on the pump start up. I have also had the lights flicker on sites when large loads come on, so I was hoping to find a solution not only specific to pumps.

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Alexandra avatar image Alexandra ♦ commented ·
@nickb

On system with particularly suddenly demanding loads we always 'over size' the DC cabling. Sometimes even double the recommended size.

The big inductors in the Victron could be part of the reason since they create like a lag before the core is saturated and the amps pass through. So part of the reason they can handle bigger overloads for longer than other inverter types is also the reason why you get this behaviour.

So make it so the core can saturate faster and the problem is eased.

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