Most likely one or more of the thyristors is bad.
Posted on 06/27/2024 10:59:46 AM PDT by George from New England
Has anyone hear ever heard about an air conditioner soft start module ? A sure-start made by hyper engineering in Australia. It takes sort of an electrician mind to install this. Module is used to stop electrical surges that flicker lights when a big a/c starts up. Can also be used if you are a prepper and want to run stuff off-grid with an inverter.
Mine is only 4 years old and not working right anymore. But one can't tell when there is a good utility power source. It fails when one is off-grid for a power failure.
Sort of a sneaky failure. You won't know until you must have it work.
No LEDs show anything wrong. It just has 66 amp surges. And it refuses to let a/c run when utility fails.
I have 2-ton units and they work fine on inverter. Just this 3-ton with sneaky sure start module that won't run.
Utility comes back and all is fine again.
Factory won't support.
It’s broke...................
Marker for later. I started looking into that several years ago also.
I have seen soft start starters on large motors that might overload the system if allowed a standard start. Motors typically have a high starting amperage compared to their running amps, thus the soft start.
I’ve seen a couple of YouTube videos about them, but how they actually work, I’m not sure. Maybe not much more than an extra capacitor to get the compressor going, and maybe a timer to have the fan motor startup several seconds earlier to lower the power surge a little bit.
I self installed a soft start on my RV air conditioner. Works great allows me to run air conditioner on my Honda 2200 generator. It also worked when I ran my old Honda 2000 but you had to make sure nothing else was running.
I just paid for a new one, same exact module, it works 100%.
So I have conclusively pointed to module itself.
I post as many preppers might not even know that what worked off-grid last year, is secretly and hiddenly failed you.
https://www.eltwin.com/hyper/products/soft-starter-hyper-single
This is faulty design.
SS1B16-32SN (230V, 60/50Hz, 16-32 FLA)
Out of curiosity, is your AC unit circuit one that is actually powered when the generator runs? A lot of time, the circuits powered to run when the generator is on are limited due to the generator capacity and are only there to run some lights and the fridge and freezer. It takes a big gen-set to run an AC unit.
I suspect they use a microprocessor to track startup currents on every install and then time-slice the currents to better control the current during each cycle of the 60 Hz coming in.
It does work when it hasn’t broken internally without notice.
Scary is I would never have known if I didn’t have weekly utility failures. I would have been dead in the heat during a hurricane. Can’t trust these people anymore.
” Maybe not much more than an extra capacitor to get the compressor going, and maybe a timer to have the fan motor startup several seconds earlier to lower the power surge a little bit.”
They work by starting at a lower voltage to reduce initial current surge.
I have the Schneider/Electric XW 6848 Pro inverter. Good for surges to 13 kw. Continuous at 6.5 kw. Off LiFeP04 batteries, 42 kw.
So every load is on this system. I do automate and disconnect many other loads to manage running off-grid.
Also have 3 other hvac systems at 2-ton. None have a soft-start, nor do they need it. 2-ton starts fine off-grid. I just have to observe my system limits of 6.5 kw
You may need to just get a new soft start module. I know they’re expensive, but they aren’t difficult to install.
The other possibility is that the start/run capacitor in the condenser unit is bad.
Most likely one or more of the thyristors is bad.
Cap spec is 50 uF. Measured 40 uF. Which in the cap world is almost new.
If it died at 4 years, there must have been a 3-year warranty on it.
Hmm — I got electronics I bought 40 years ago that still run fine.
I think the warranty on those things is only 2 or 3 years. Most of the ones I see are installed outdoors on the unit, so the components are exposed to weather extremes, even though the control box may be sealed pretty well. People have been using them on RVs for quite a while. I would think it would not be very difficult to replace.
I had a dehumidifier that had a 1-year warranty. It died just after a year had passed. It’s almost like it was planned that way.
I’d replace it. Mine was off by 5uF and wouldn’t start. Most of them are something like 5 or 10/35 , or 10/40, etc. I put a cap in that was 5uF larger than the OEM and it has worked fine for several years. Also, a lot of them are in the 5% tolerance range, so 5% of 50uF 2.5uF.
Cap specs and performance are about way more than just capacity. If it is electrically leaky, or is breaking down at higher volatges that will hurt performance. I’d replace the start cap if it were my AC unit.
In case you are dubious about my knowledge, I’ve been in the electronics troubleshooting and repair business for 30+ years (currently work at one of the top two medical device manufacturers in the world performing failure analysis and have been there for 22 of those years).
Yeah. The softstart electronics may be more sensitive to things like that.
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