Neutral Problem?

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JoeNorm

Senior Member
Location
WA
Larry- Thank you for the offer, much appreciated. With a little more time and less pressure I think i'll be able to gather a lot more information and likely diagnose the problem. If I am wrong about that and it's still a mystery I'll be reaching out. Either way I'll report back here.
 
LarryFine

LarryFine

Master Electrician Electric Contractor Richmond VA
Location
Henrico County, VA
Occupation
Electrical Contractor
You're welcome.

Food for thought: When testing for a bad switch or fuse, I test from line to load across the device. A good fuse or switch should never show voltage across it, appearing as a solid conductor.

I'm suggesting that, for the high/low voltages caused by a break in the neutral pathway, you need to locate that break. An easy way to do that is measure across points in that pathway.

Let's call the neutral input terminal Point A, and the output terminal Point E. If you see voltage between Points A and E, then narrow it down by checking between A and B, B and C, etc.
 
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JoeNorm

Senior Member
Location
WA
UPDATE:

We mentioned this problem to the manufacture of the battery and as soon as we said lights flickering/buzzing they had a tech on plane, no more questions asked.

I found it odd they didn't want us on the phone first, making sure it wasn't our connections. I think they just need to be crystal clear it is not their issue, might save them money in the long run.

Anyway, he showed up and went through and re-torqued everything(unit is still fully bypassed). The neutral lug was a little suspicious, there is a small set screw that bonds two lugs together, that was loose.

Turned it back on and everything so far is working properly to our knowledge. He's on a plane back home.
 
G

ggunn

PE (Electrical), NABCEP certified
Location
Austin, TX, USA
Occupation
Electrical Engineer - Photovoltaic Systems
JoeNorm said:
UPDATE:

We mentioned this problem to the manufacture of the battery and as soon as we said lights flickering/buzzing they had a tech on plane, no more questions asked.

I found it odd they didn't want us on the phone first, making sure it wasn't our connections. I think they just need to be crystal clear it is not their issue, might save them money in the long run.

Anyway, he showed up and went through and re-torqued everything(unit is still fully bypassed). The neutral lug was a little suspicious, there is a small set screw that bonds two lugs together, that was loose.

Turned it back on and everything so far is working properly to our knowledge. He's on a plane back home.
Click to expand...
They flew a guy in to tighten a set screw? Wow.
 
J

JoeNorm

Senior Member
Location
WA
I could have done any of this. But as soon as they hear the words "arc" or "lights flickering" I think for liability they just get a guy on a plane.
 
growler

growler

Senior Member
Location
Atlanta,GA
JoeNorm said:
I could have done any of this. But as soon as they hear the words "arc" or "lights flickering" I think for liability they just get a guy on a plane.
Click to expand...

I think it's great they sent a technician out to deal with the problem. If they use the information gained they may have a little better quality control for their product.
 
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