Solarimmersion died what should I replace it with

[mccltd]

Ok, it lasted 6 years but seems its finally given up on outputting.
what choices do I have to replace it with nowadays around the £250 mark, I see solar immersion do a mark IV for £229 but is there anything else I should look at?
I only have a 2kw solar system but it heated my hot water all through the summer ok.

[ecogeorge]

Got to be the Solic -google is your friend.
UK made , ONLY device that diverts 100% surplus.
Fitted 2 now -no issues.
No connection
George.
www.earthwiseproducts.co.uk

[Fintray]

If you're handy with a soldering iron you could buy a Mk2 PV router for half the price of your budget.

[mccltd]

Thanks I was looking for a dual output as in the summer once it had heated my water I was using the secondary output to run a fan.
I had seen another make that did that but can't remember what it was.

[ecogeorge]

How can you run a fan off a diversion controller ? surely they require a resistive load?
George

[oliver90owner]

I’ve seen items that turn on a device once the generated power exceeds a certain value (settable).  I expect that the load can then be of any value - even in excess of generation.  They must use grid power, I would suggest, or the load may be switched multiple times if the generation level varies around the device setting.

I think the Solic had this sort of option on early models, but soon dropped the option and made the unit a bit simpler (there were several dip switches to be set for power selection?) as I’m sure only a very small minority would have been silly enough to use it that way.

[ecogeorge]

I have successfully utilised 2 heaters by using a NO/NC relay/contactor.
Wire primary heater through NC contacts and secondary through NO.
Wire thermostat (needs NO connection ) to coil (a1 -a2) -when primary is satisfied thermostat closing connection on coil and contactor switches. Other heater then in circuit.
Primary heater will always take priority , coil will only consume power when heating secondary heater. 
As soon as primary heater drops below thermostat set temp it will switch back.

NO = normally open
NC= normally closed.
Its a cheap mod.
George

[dc]

The Solic looks good but is there any way to set it up to run with a Powervault as the priority?

[greentangerine]

It doesn't look like it supports a configurable export threshold; that's what I use to give my battery system charging priority over my Immersun.

[mccltd]

Hi George,
The secondary output on my solarimmersion was a relay contact no/nc and I could setup in the menu when it came on depending on what I was currently putting back into grid.
Could be wired/programmed for a few different things.
Found the other one I had read about but its more expensive than the IV version of the solarimmersion.
It was the Apollo Gem.
I presume your idea is like the image i have attached using a mains 5 pin relay?

[Stig]

That circuit would be a bad idea  as you're driving an inductive load (the fan) from the inverter output.  If your relay had two independent sets of contacts you could use one (NO) as you've shown for the immersion (simple resistive load) and the other (NC) to switch the fan but directly from the mains rather than the inverter output.

[pj]

That circuit would be a bad idea  as you're driving an inductive load (the fan) from the inverter output.  If your relay had two independent sets of contacts you could use one (NO) as you've shown for the immersion (simple resistive load) and the other (NC) to switch the fan but directly from the mains rather than the inverter output.

Stig, can I ask what is wrong with an inductive load? This is an output from a diverter (not inverter), which may be a solid state SSR or a mechanical relay. SSRs are regularly used to drive inductive loads - Solar thermal with variable pump speeds being a prime example on this forum. If it's a mechanical relay output, then it's no different to any other relay output.
What is the problem?

[Stig]

Sorry, misread your diagram as 'inverter' rather than 'diverter'.
No problem at all, as you were. 

[Tinbum]

That circuit would be a bad idea   as you're driving an inductive load (the fan) from the inverter output.  If your relay had two independent sets of contacts you could use one (NO) as you've shown for the immersion (simple resistive load) and the other (NC) to switch the fan but directly from the mains rather than the inverter output.

Stig, can I ask what is wrong with an inductive load? This is an output from a diverter (not inverter), which may be a solid state SSR or a mechanical relay. SSRs are regularly used to drive inductive loads - Solar thermal with variable pump speeds being a prime example on this forum. If it's a mechanical relay output, then it's no different to any other relay output.
What is the problem?

It depends on the diverter and its output. If it has an on or off output then that's OK to power an inductive load but if its like most diverters where the output varies then no you can't. Even diverters with a relay often / mostly just route the variable power through that relay. Yes an SSR can drive an inductive load but it won't be switching on and off many times a second, as solar diverters do, to vary the power output.

[pj]

...Yes an SSR can drive an inductive load but it won't be switching on and off many times a second, as solar diverters do, to vary the power output.

An SSR can do precisely that - switch many times a second, whereas a mechanical relay can not.
My home grown diverter has an SSR output, and switches at 50Hz - I switch on or off every mains cycle, depending on the import/export of the previous cycle.
Commercial diverters typically use either zero crossing PWM or variable phase switching, through an SSR or Triac or some other electronic device.
I'm not sure I understand what you are getting at?