Netonix & Eltek Charge Controller

[colinhowlin]

Hi

We've run into a strange issue on one of our sites.
Initial setup was Netonix WS-12-250-DC hooked up to a Meanwell SD-200C-48 which was receiving power from Eltek controller providing -48V.
This was working fine and is still working fine on some of our other sites.

On Monday we lost access to the site.
Once we got there, Eltek was still up and sending power to the Meanwell but the Meanwell wasn't powering up the Netonix.
Swapped the Meanwell and Netonix came back up.
However, as the ports were coming back up, the Meanwell stopped again.
Disconnected everything and both MW PSU's are still working.
We believe there must be a failsafe mechanism in the MW PSU which was causing it to cut-out.

At this stage we put in a WS-26-400-IDC.
This has been operational with zero issues since Monday.

Could anyone shed some light on what may have been happening with the MW PSU and the WS-12-250-DC?
Insufficient/incorrect grounding?
Faulty unit?
Something else?

We've have this exact setup at a number of other sites with no problems so far.
We're a bit nervous now though and have ordered a few WS-26-400-IDC!

If you need anymore info please let me know.

Colin

[sirhc]

Well our SMART DC units are meant to hook directly to the battery banks for a reason as they need sufficient power. The Meanwell is 4.2A MAX and the WS-12-250-DC is rated at 250 watts but can demand more during inrush events. So if you have 48V 4.2A Meanwell that is 48V x 4.2A = 201.2W MAX trying to serve 250+ watts device. Could be that the Meanwell detects more than 4.2A and it has an over current protection that shuts it down?

If you were going to power the switch with a power supply that is constant 48v output why not use the unit designed for the task which would be the WS-12-DC which is also cheaper?

You can power our SMART DC units with a power supply but it should be LARGER rating than the switch power supply. Besides you never want to run a power supply at near capacity all the time. We under rate all our power supplies which means our 250W will do more than 250W so keep that in mind.

I have had people try to power the WS-12-250-DC with a 1A power supply then wonder why they are having problems. Or try and use 12AWG at distance to power the WS-12-250-DC (Dangerous).

Same thing with our grounding suggestions. Some people think that if they read our grounding posts and maybe implement 1 of the many things we say to do that should be fine then complain when they lose equipment.

GROUNDING:
Always add 2 new ground rods to existing older services.
Always bond tower ground rods to service ground rods with #2 or heavier wire.
If you lose any equipment on that tower add more service ground rods until the issue stops.

With our SMART DC models - WS-8-150-DC / WS-12-250-DC / WS-26-500-DC / WS-26-400-IDC hook directly to battery banks or make sure power supply is SUFFICIENTLY LARGER than the rating of the switch power supply.

If your going to power with a power supply that is constant 48V-53V why not used the product designed for that which is the WS-12-DC and WS-26-DC ?

Always remember RED is positive and BLACK is negative else POOF.

DO NOT USE ANY DC MODEL WITH NEGATIVE DC EXCEPT THE WS-26-400-IDC ELSE POOF.