question

krugerij avatar image
krugerij asked

MPPT 150/ 70 caught fire

Good evening,

One of my 3 chargers caught fire on 24 Jan 2020 about 14:45.

If my wife did not smell something burning the entire solar set up would have gone up in flames.

Question: Is there a component failure danger with these devices. It is clear that the fire originated from behind the display board.

I received no warning email or alarm. The input (PV) fuses as well as out put fuses to battery were still working. The white powder is from the fire extinguisher.

charger
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2 Answers
Rob Duthie avatar image
Rob Duthie answered ·

Hi

You are very lucky there you caught it in time, High voltage DC will do this once a arch starts. Just a note on fusing, fuses will not blow on a arcing fault, only a short circuit fault current, so it is important to have the correct size rating and type to activate quickly in a fault situation.

The only ones to do full investigation to why it happened will be Victron them selves.

To find a cause can be difficult to were it started as due to the fire damaged etc.

Note i have seen other inverters and UPS with similar burn ups with the fuses still in tack. There is now some requirements to have arc detection sensors fitted to give a warning and shut the power off in enclosed areas and switch boards etc.

Regards

Rob D

NZ

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Johannes Boonstra (Victron Energy Staff) avatar image
Johannes Boonstra (Victron Energy Staff) answered ·

Hello krugerij , I am very sorry to read this has happened. It must have been a scary event. Would it be possible you write me a direct email (jboonstra@victronenergy.com) as i do have some further questions on this. Also i would like to discuss how to get the faulty unit back for investigation.

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