Understanding a Sunsynk inverter

[Isetech]

Boy have we had a few challenges setting up and maintaining these units. If you know of advanced training courses which are Sunsynk specific, please share.

Most of the challenges have been due to a lack of installer knowledge. There are tons of videos on Sunsynk on WWW to watch if you have a few days spare.

A few very basic tips which could save you a lot of time on the phone trying to get technical support ( unless you have a direct number) you going to redirected via the UK and to somewhere in the world. Sunsynk support will NOT call you back.

If you email support, make sure you check your spam inbox.

[Isetech]

Tip:

It is very important to start the battery first, then switch on the inverter.

Make sure the "on" light in the top left corner of the display indicates ON.

Do not switch on the AC until you have setup the unit and the normal light is on (green).

[Isetech]

Tip:

Battery settings are important, and you need to make sure the battery is communicating.

A very expensive lesson I learnt, your grid settings are very important. The battery will not charge if the grid settings are not correct. You can change the frequency from 60 to 50 hz (as per SA) but the inverter will not automatically reset the upper and lower limits. You have to manually reset the upper and lower limits.

Make sure you understand how to initialize the battery, the 5.3 kwh battery for example you must first switch on the rocker switch, then press the button and hold for 3 seconds. The new IP 65 battery 5.1 kwh battery there is no rocker switch and no delay to switch on.

[Isetech]

Tip

We had a battery go into shutdown and we couldn't get it to start charging.

The reason it went into shutdown, when it reaches 80% DOD or 20 % SOC, it doesn't switch off and stop discharging, in fact it drops rather quickly, unless you pull the fuse or switch off the battery, it will just keep dropping.

Hopefully the battery doesn't drop to zero % DOD. The IP 65 manual indicates that you shouldn't recharge the battery in less than 12 hours, however the technical support will tell you to increase the charge amps. Maybe I need to re check the manual.

You will notice a red fault light, you have to switch off the inverter and battery, try restart the battery and inverter, lower the cutout setting and low battery setting and wait for the inverter to normalize. IF it doesn't normalize and the red fault light keeps switching on, you pretty screwed.

[Isetech]

If there is one thing I have learnt in business, I have said this on numerous occasions. The products you buy and install are only as good as the support from the supplier.

I have learnt that no matter how many training courses you attend, hours on youtube, watching training videos etc, when you are on site and you get stuck with what might be a really silly issue, the product technical team support will make the difference between you sitting like a knob in front of the customer for hours or a a quick 5 minute solution.

I deal with many different technical support centres because of the variety of project we get involved in.

Some technical support centres have specific people who know their stuff and others which you going to waste time waiting for them to find the right page in the manual.

IDS is a good example, I dont waste my time speaking to any of the new support technicians, there is only one person I speak to, she knows her stuff and more important, she is polite and patient with callers. She actually wins the customer support award for 2022. I just hope IDS realize her value and make sure they look after her. They have already lost one of their best counter sales employees and their top technical support person.

Dealing with Varispeed was another company which use to have good technical support, I recall contacting the owner (Frank) at 8 pm on a Friday night, while stuck out in the bush in the middle of nowhere, 3 minutes later the plant was ready to run. A simple setting adjustment, that is all it needed.

Dealing with WEG, setting up VSD's etc, the lads know there stuff and it is such a pleasure to deal with their technical support team.

[Derlyn]

Someone I know had Deye installed but says he is going to change the logger to a Synsynk because the Deye has to be controlled by the installer.

[Isetech]

The Sunsynk installer has full control over the Sunsynk unit. if the customer doesn't pay the bill I can shut the system down. My customers dont have this problem because all their systems are paid up in full.

The old dongle used Solarman software.

At one stage you could buy a sunsynk dongle and fit it to a deye unit which is built in the same factory, they look and use the same components, only the software is different (so I am told) and of course the price.

People got smart and started buying and fitting the Sunsynk dongle to the Deye units for way cheaper than buying a Sunsynk unit with a a free dongle, how true this is I couldnt tell you because I have never done it.

[Isetech]

What is going to be interesting, something I need to check on the other units we have installed. I am going to change the frequency from 50 to 60 and see if the limits reset automatically.

Another lesson learnt with these Sunsynk units, never assume anything, rather press ok, then go back and check the setting has activated, then run through all the other settings and make sure they have adjusted accordingly.

[Isetech]

Something else you need to check is the software is the latest version and do a firmware update, if required.

[Isetech]

By the way I am new to Sunsynk products, yes I am going to ask the dumbest of questions and yes 99 % of the issues are going to be installer related, hence the reason I need good technical support, at the press of a button, from people who have experience with these units, who can assist and advise me when I get stuck with silly challenges or installer errors.

It is a good product and one of the reasons I have chosen to install these units on the majority of my customers sites. The people at Sunsynk are improving the product by the day. We will continue to install products like Victron (the Rolls Royce of inverters), axperts and Luxpower for the customers who dont have the budget for the more expensive units.

Something I have learnt recently, no matter where you buy the unit, the technical support is international (+27 10 100 3589). If you buy the unit from ARB or Voltex the technical support is the same. You call the number, it takes you to a call centre in the UK, you tell them the problem them they will redirect you to someone somewhere in the world, make sure your telephone line has lots of spare minutes.