-
Want to remove ads? Register an account and login to see fewer ads, and become a Supporting Member to remove almost all ads.
Volt meters for troubleshooting
- Thread starter Docfxit
- Start date
Matt-FL
Member
As was stated earlier by @Tazzman, the emporia stays running as long as my panel has power. I have whole-house backup, so as long as the powerwalls are providing power, my vue devices are running. If I was off-grid, and powerwalls ran out of power, then yes, the vues would go offline too. In that situation, I wouldn't really care
.With that situation the Tesla app will show no grid power, No powerwall power and panels?As was stated earlier by @Tazzman, the emporia stays running as long as my panel has power. I have whole-house backup, so as long as the powerwalls are providing power, my vue devices are running. If I was off-grid, and powerwalls ran out of power, then yes, the vues would go offline too. In that situation, I wouldn't really care
Emporia would show nothing.
My volt meter panel may show what a current user on TMC recently experienced:
Meter #1 Grid voltage on
Meter #2 After the cut off switch off
Meter #3 Between the panels and the gateway On because they don't drain completely
Meter #4 On the output/input of each powerwall On because they don't drain completely
Meter #5 On the output of the gateway to the house Off because the powerwalls were drained
Meter #6 On the line to the Car wall charger Off
The person I'm thinking of called SCE and they came out to the house and told him the grid was On and he needed to contact Tesla. I can't remember who he called next. Then he called Tesla. He finally talked to someone a few hours later and they suggested he unscrew a cover and pull on a cut off switch to turn it on.
I would have been able to see right away the grid was on, the powerwalls were drained but still had voltage and the cut off switch had no power. I would have been able to go right to the cut off switch.
What would everyone else have to go through to figure it out?
What if the electrician hooked a meter to the house side of the main circuit breaker?
Would that be up to code?
Would the power company be upset?
That would still show me grid power. That would still show me a problem with the solar cut off switch.
Last edited:
In the almost 2 years since my Powerwalls have been installed none of the meters described would have helped at all. Hopefully the other installations are well done and robust enough that no additional meters are required. For the occasional service a hand held multimeter works for my purposes.
As installers get more used to this new technology they will make fewer mistakes, so investing in a bunch of meters just to aid troubleshooting seems a bit going the wrong direction. However since my perspective is that of an ESS expert, others might see value that I don't. Grid status is pretty clear when it's on or off, the smart meter is either powered or not. I have a Kill-a-watt that I plug into any questionable outlets.
I personally have an E-gauge setup on my ranch to capture various subfeeds and usage. This also captures the grid voltage so I can look at grid events and how they correlate with observed events.
I can not think of a legal and safe way to hook a small wire to a 100 or 200 amp line that I would want at my house and that would only be useful if you do not have the backup switch unlike the other person you are referring to.
@Vines: "For the occasional service a hand held multimeter works for my purposes."
You have a little advantage over me. You understand the PV systems a lot better than I ever will. I am going to try to gain as much knowledge as I can during the install. You work with different installs all the time to keep troubleshooting fresh in your mind. I'm trying to learn now. After my system is installed, I'm hoping it just works. It might be years before I have a problem. I might have forgotten a lot of what I learned during the install. Yes, it's possible for me to use a multimeter just like you do. If I could only remember what wire feeds the gateway. What wire feeds the powerwall. Where that cutoff switch is that is behind a cover that was screwed on. You work with electricity all the time. I'm smart enough not to touch a hot wire. Which one is A/C and which one is DC? Can I remember? I don't know if I can remember a few years after install. Can the technicians figure it out? Sure. Can I get a technician to come take a look at my house within 30days? I don't know. Even with these volt meters I still might be dead in the water for 30days. These meters aren't going to solve everything for me. I would just like to be able to troubleshoot a problem quickly and easily after I forget everything I learned on install day without waiting hours or days for a technician to show up. Especially if I could have reset a cut off switch within minutes if I knew that was the problem. These meters aren't for everyone. Most people don't need or want them. I'm more comfortable looking at a panel of meters than I am with a multimeter. You probably don't go a day without a multimeter in your hand. If there was some way for me to get you to come to my house to diagnose a problem I'll forget installing the meter panel. Can I get any technician that knows what they are doing to come to my house within a week? I don't know. All I know is I work for a living. If I used a multimeter it would probably take me an hour to do what you can probably do in 10min. I know someone with a solar system. He asked me to come over and help him figure out what was wrong. I brought my multimeter. We figured out the voltage to his batteries was low but connected. His system is off grid. I didn't know enough how to check his Inverter. It was a Saturday. He didn't know what to do. I suggested he call the manufacture of the Inverter because usually there is a warranty on the hardware. He placed a call on Monday. Tuesday he got a call back and they told him what voltages to check. He was out of town. His family was home. When he got back home on Saturday he checked the lugs he was told to check. On Monday he called the Inverter company and they told him the Inverter was bad and it needed replacing. You could have figured that out in 10min. I have an IBM mainframe running here supporting a lot of people. I have an email server running here supporting a lot of people. I live in an area that when we had those fires up in Northern California the phone company put portable generators up and down a major street I live on because they were expecting our power to go out. They were supplying generators to homeowners in preparation for the power to go out. They were out of them by the time I called to get one. I purchased two generators. One for my house load and one to keep one of my two A/C units running. I haven't gotten them installed yet. I'm hoping to get solar. If something goes wrong with the solar, I'd like to cut down the time to troubleshoot it. I might not cut down the repair time. I might cut out a week to a month of troubleshooting time. I can't afford to have these computers down. The company I support will be out of business if their computer is down. This panel of volt meters aren't going to cost me thousands of dollars. I'm guessing the most it will cost me is $1,000 by the time I pay an electrician. To me that's insurance that might get me up and running faster if I have a problem. I wish I had your knowledge and experience to not only not need these meters but possibly repair what ever might go wrong. To me it's worth the insurance. If I'm trying to do something that is not up to code, I would like to know from you the experts. I won't do it. If it's not safe, I won't do it. If you all give me a better idea, I'm all ears. If Tesla would speed up the down time when something does go wrong, I wouldn't need this. If I was just a homeowner I could have a lot more flexibility to put up with being out of power. Since I am keeping a corporation up and running I need to keep the power running as much as I can.
You have a little advantage over me. You understand the PV systems a lot better than I ever will. I am going to try to gain as much knowledge as I can during the install. You work with different installs all the time to keep troubleshooting fresh in your mind. I'm trying to learn now. After my system is installed, I'm hoping it just works. It might be years before I have a problem. I might have forgotten a lot of what I learned during the install. Yes, it's possible for me to use a multimeter just like you do. If I could only remember what wire feeds the gateway. What wire feeds the powerwall. Where that cutoff switch is that is behind a cover that was screwed on. You work with electricity all the time. I'm smart enough not to touch a hot wire. Which one is A/C and which one is DC? Can I remember? I don't know if I can remember a few years after install. Can the technicians figure it out? Sure. Can I get a technician to come take a look at my house within 30days? I don't know. Even with these volt meters I still might be dead in the water for 30days. These meters aren't going to solve everything for me. I would just like to be able to troubleshoot a problem quickly and easily after I forget everything I learned on install day without waiting hours or days for a technician to show up. Especially if I could have reset a cut off switch within minutes if I knew that was the problem. These meters aren't for everyone. Most people don't need or want them. I'm more comfortable looking at a panel of meters than I am with a multimeter. You probably don't go a day without a multimeter in your hand. If there was some way for me to get you to come to my house to diagnose a problem I'll forget installing the meter panel. Can I get any technician that knows what they are doing to come to my house within a week? I don't know. All I know is I work for a living. If I used a multimeter it would probably take me an hour to do what you can probably do in 10min. I know someone with a solar system. He asked me to come over and help him figure out what was wrong. I brought my multimeter. We figured out the voltage to his batteries was low but connected. His system is off grid. I didn't know enough how to check his Inverter. It was a Saturday. He didn't know what to do. I suggested he call the manufacture of the Inverter because usually there is a warranty on the hardware. He placed a call on Monday. Tuesday he got a call back and they told him what voltages to check. He was out of town. His family was home. When he got back home on Saturday he checked the lugs he was told to check. On Monday he called the Inverter company and they told him the Inverter was bad and it needed replacing. You could have figured that out in 10min. I have an IBM mainframe running here supporting a lot of people. I have an email server running here supporting a lot of people. I live in an area that when we had those fires up in Northern California the phone company put portable generators up and down a major street I live on because they were expecting our power to go out. They were supplying generators to homeowners in preparation for the power to go out. They were out of them by the time I called to get one. I purchased two generators. One for my house load and one to keep one of my two A/C units running. I haven't gotten them installed yet. I'm hoping to get solar. If something goes wrong with the solar, I'd like to cut down the time to troubleshoot it. I might not cut down the repair time. I might cut out a week to a month of troubleshooting time. I can't afford to have these computers down. The company I support will be out of business if their computer is down. This panel of volt meters aren't going to cost me thousands of dollars. I'm guessing the most it will cost me is $1,000 by the time I pay an electrician. To me that's insurance that might get me up and running faster if I have a problem. I wish I had your knowledge and experience to not only not need these meters but possibly repair what ever might go wrong. To me it's worth the insurance. If I'm trying to do something that is not up to code, I would like to know from you the experts. I won't do it. If it's not safe, I won't do it. If you all give me a better idea, I'm all ears. If Tesla would speed up the down time when something does go wrong, I wouldn't need this. If I was just a homeowner I could have a lot more flexibility to put up with being out of power. Since I am keeping a corporation up and running I need to keep the power running as much as I can.
That's a big wall of text.
If you don't know which wires are AC or DC, you should probably stop tinkering. Seems there's no point to measuring all the wires you want to. You should just get a clamp meter if you want to troubleshoot something, and a Kill A Watt to plug into an outlet. If you don't know if a wire is live, get a non-contact voltage tester.
If the power from your grid isn't at 240V 60Hz, then you got bigger problems.
If the voltage from your PW isn't at 240V, then it's got bigger problems.
If the power from your array isn't producing as expected, you'll know from looking at the data and production curve in the Tesla app. You can the log in and look at voltage and current. Chances are you're not going to get on the roof yourself and fix it.
If the inverter is dead, you'll know in the app or from a clamp meter or the green status light.
If the PW is dead, you'll know in the app or it's green status light.
If you don't know which wires are AC or DC, you should probably stop tinkering. Seems there's no point to measuring all the wires you want to. You should just get a clamp meter if you want to troubleshoot something, and a Kill A Watt to plug into an outlet. If you don't know if a wire is live, get a non-contact voltage tester.
If the power from your grid isn't at 240V 60Hz, then you got bigger problems.
If the voltage from your PW isn't at 240V, then it's got bigger problems.
If the power from your array isn't producing as expected, you'll know from looking at the data and production curve in the Tesla app. You can the log in and look at voltage and current. Chances are you're not going to get on the roof yourself and fix it.
If the inverter is dead, you'll know in the app or from a clamp meter or the green status light.
If the PW is dead, you'll know in the app or it's green status light.
Last edited:
Similar threads
