Out of warrenty Fronius IG 3000 What to replace it with?

[latitude500]

Hello everyone so glad I found this forum. I have a 7 year and 2 month old fronius IG 3000 inverter that was giving me a state 101 error and now giving me a state 104 error. I’ve called out the local Austin energy company to check the power levels to the house. And they have state that it is within range. My understanding is that the errors I am getting from the system state that the level of electricity from the grid is NOT with in the normal operational range of the inverter. So I called up Fronius to see if the 7 year warranty can still be used and they turned down that idea completely. They did however state that I could get a credit if I get it repaired. But really why would I want to use the same inverter that only lasted 7 years. So do I have any other options, what inverter would use if you were going to move away from fronius.

Thank you for your time,

[danboy]

google best high efficient inverters.
some inverters are at 98.5% now so u can gain an extra 2%+ in output.
i think it should cost no more then 1500.00 as i can get the power one 5000 TL for 2k.

[Mike90250]

you might want to get a volt meter and check the voltages yourself, before assuming the inverter is bad. I don't know what the error codes mean.

[Naptown]

Also call tech support it may not be a bad inverter but many are programable for the voltage of the grid.
If for some reason the programming was changed this may be causing the error.
(had this happen once)

[peakbagger]

If the voltage is out of range it could be the utility. Local grid conditions can lead to higher or lower utility voltage or something as simple as someone ran into a light pole down the road and they tapped the wrong tap on a replacement light pole. The voltages can and do change during the day depending on grid loads. My friend had issues like these and Fronius gave him the super secret code to change his voltage range a little wider. He complained to the power company and they ended up installing a recording volt meter and it proved that their system was at fault and eventually fixed it.

[latitude500]

I've had the Austin Energy company come out and check the electrical amount, and they said it was in the correct range. And the Solar Panel company that came out and checked the inverter also stated it was bad. So I'm at a lost on what to do.

peakbagger I didn't know you could change the electric range of the system. Can you tell me more of that? I've called Fronius and because it is 2 MONTHS out of warranty they couldn't care less. The help desk support guy Dan even stated that I would be better off with another inverter. What a joke. But I'm hoping that I don't have to replace this one because paying out for another one is going to be hard.

[nrsilva]

If the voltage is out of range it could be the utility. Local grid conditions can lead to higher or lower utility voltage or something as simple as someone ran into a light pole down the road and they tapped the wrong tap on a replacement light pole. The voltages can and do change during the day depending on grid loads. My friend had issues like these and Fronius gave him the super secret code to change his voltage range a little wider. He complained to the power company and they ended up installing a recording volt meter and it proved that their system was at fault and eventually fixed it.

Hi there,
I have a fronius IG20 that shutdown with 250Vca.
I would like to raise this Value to 260Vca. Have you any idea how to do this?
Is there a secret password or menu to do this?
Regards,
Silva

[latitude500]

I'm sorry I really don't know, You could always give Fronius a call, but the tech support isn't very helpful. I ended up junking mine, and swapping it out with a SMA inverter.
Good luck,

Hi there,
I have a fronius IG20 that shutdown with 250Vca.
I would like to raise this Value to 260Vca. Have you any idea how to do this?
Is there a secret password or menu to do this?
Regards,
Silva

[bcroe]

Programming

Hi there,
I have a fronius IG20 that shutdown with 250Vca.
I would like to raise this Value to 260Vca. Have you any idea how to do this?
Is there a secret password or menu to do this? Regards, Silva

My Fronius converters definitely have a programmable voltage limit, as well
as an absolute design limit. And there is a password. Since i am running 240VAC
into a pretty long loop (only slightly over gauge), they were programmed to much
higher than the default limit. No problem, as the inverters could also feed 277VAC.

Bruce Roe

[Naptown]

Call tech support I have found them to be very helpful and quick with an answer.
The inverter you have is limited in max voltage and is for a European application. The IG+ UNI can be field programmed for varying voltages (208 240 277)
Not sure about the one you have.

[bcroe]

Over Voltage

Forgot to mention, I had one of my inverters tripping with a high line voltage code. In
time it turned out to be a failing 40A circuit breaker into the 240VAC line. Replaced
that and had no more trouble. Bruce Roe

[inetdog]

Forgot to mention, I had one of my inverters tripping with a high line voltage code. In
time it turned out to be a failing 40A circuit breaker into the 240VAC line. Replaced
that and had no more trouble. Bruce Roe

AHA! Yes, one of the things often forgotten is that high resistance in the connection between POCO and GTI can cause the GTI output to go too high.
But if the resistance were that high, I would also expect some other part of the anti-islanding circuitry to have tripped too.
Was the problem just on one side of the 240 circuit, causing a trip based on L1-N to L2-N imbalance?

[bcroe]

Inverter trip

AHA! Yes, one of the things often forgotten is that high resistance in the connection between POCO and GTI can cause the GTI output to go too high.
But if the resistance were that high, I would also expect some other part of the anti-islanding circuitry to have tripped too.
Was the problem just on one side of the 240 circuit, causing a trip based on L1-N to L2-N imbalance?

I believe the trip code was a little vague, but caused by excessive voltage. With 60A into a
600' loop of 4 gauge, drop is higher than ideal. But that extra percent loss only occurs in the
limited time the inverters peak; I won't be digging up all that wire installed decades ago.

At first the inverter would trip at high power, I thought it was programmed wrong since its twin
never tripped. Then the 40A breaker started tripping (the other breaker never tripped). A close
exam revealed one wire from the inverter was discolored from heat at the breaker terminal.
Maybe it was one of those counterfeit Squ*re D breakers from Asia. I replaced the breaker and
had no more problems. Bruce Roe

[inetdog]

A close
exam revealed one wire from the inverter was discolored from heat at the breaker terminal.
Maybe it was one of those counterfeit Squ*re D breakers from Asia. I replaced the breaker and
had no more problems. Bruce Roe

It is also possible that the connection was never correctly torqued or just loosened up from thermal cycling.
Once the breaker has spend too much time with a hot terminal or has gone through a few trips from that heat source it may be permanently damaged and its set point effectively lowered.

[bcroe]

Loose Terminal

It is also possible that the connection was never correctly torqued or just loosened up from thermal cycling.
Once the breaker has spend too much time with a hot terminal or has gone through a few trips from that heat source it may be permanently damaged and its set point effectively lowered.

Yea, yea, I know. I rewired the breakers myself, using 6 ga where 10 ga would have worked.
I torque things pretty well, but perhaps rechecking them a few times the first year is good.
Although, I believe the first trips were observed before the smaller wire was replaced. Guess
I'd have to prove a bad breaker, to defend my honor. Later, Bruce