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Forum Index : Solar : Parts from Dead Inverters.
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| George65 Guru  Joined: 18/09/2017 Location: AustraliaPosts: 308 |
Seems I am gathering a bunch of dead inverters from various sources. Several of those blue ones with the dodgy relays and a couple of Msky? and Aroura's. Are there any parts ( other than the heat sinks worth salvaging or any thing you can do with them for off grid etc? What are the Big round things that have heat sings and one wire Coming out of them? Cap's? Can't see any markings on the things but seem to be a very major component. Got an SMA the other day with panels but it has an internal Error. Thing is only 3 years old so should be under warranty but I'm wondering if they will baulk because it's not installed now or if there is a way around this with what I tell them? |
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Madness Guru Joined: 08/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2498 |
Some photos might help. There are only 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary, and those who don't. |
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Tinker Guru Joined: 07/11/2007 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1904 |
A picture of the "big round things" would help... Keep the big heat sinks of junked inverters that have no fan inside, these are good for our LF toroid inverters. Klaus |
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Ralph2k6 Senior Member  Joined: 24/09/2017 Location: AustraliaPosts: 129 |
Wonder if the big rounds are pancake style scr or thyristors or similar? (From desc) Or chokes? Ralph |
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| Madness Guru Joined: 08/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2498 |
I am thinking chokes also, HF GTIs have quite few big ones from what I have seen. There are only 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary, and those who don't. |
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| Tinker Guru Joined: 07/11/2007 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1904 |
Does the "big round thingie" look like this:  If so I'm curious too just exactly what it is, there are two of them in my junk box  Klaus |
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| Madness Guru Joined: 08/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2498 |
This could get a bit crude! There are only 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary, and those who don't. |
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| George65 Guru Joined: 18/09/2017 Location: AustraliaPosts: 308 |
Not From Memory, more like a Finned can of Coke. The ones in the blue inverters I have seen under various names are in the very top of the caseing. I'll try to get some pics Monday. Long, painful weekend ahead. Apart from the thingys, anything else in inverters worth saving and or Useful? My half Cooked aurora let out the magic smoke today. Only one tracker was working anyway. getting a pile of these things. Have to start stripping them soon as they are piling up. |
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| George65 Guru Joined: 18/09/2017 Location: AustraliaPosts: 308 |
On this Vid https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1t8rWGt_NA at about 6:40 you can see what I'm talking about on this inverter. They are the 3 rectangular things, bit different to what's in the inverters I have but clearly the same function, closest to the camera position. the ones in the inverter I have a re different and only one wire but obviously doing the same thing and in the same position. After seeing that Vid I'll give the ones I have a go bending the terminals. Might get a good one. I read the relays have to be the same ones for the inverter to work if they are replaced. Would that be right or should any DPDT relay of the same voltages/ amperage's work? The OEM ones are about $50 ea I read. Not worth repairing the inverter. For the ones I can't fix, what's worth keeping in them? |
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| Madness Guru Joined: 08/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2498 |
Those things are inductors, might be some value for scrap but not something that is readily reusable. So long as a relay has the same specs should be no problem. If you have any PCBs for 5KW Arouras I would be interested in them. There are only 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary, and those who don't. |
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renewableMark Guru Joined: 09/12/2017 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1678 |
Ha, have a look at these robbers here Scroll down half way, you can ORDER (Not installed) a new fan for $260  It's just a 12v pc fan.I was looking at this as I scored a dead one and wanted to resurrect it. Cheers Caveman Mark Off grid eastern Melb |
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| George65 Guru Joined: 18/09/2017 Location: AustraliaPosts: 308 |
Must be a thing with electrical. Went to an electrical Wholesaler last week to pick up some bit and Pieces and when the guy rang them up I thought he was Joking. No, that was the retail price. They wanted to charge about 4x what I could buy a standard power point at bunnings for. While I'm standing there still trying to figure if the guy is real, mate walks in. He has an account. $93 comes down to $28. Guy hands me invoice, I say I'd like to pay this please and hand over CC. Unreal. While some people make a fuss about things from Ebay and china, so much of that the storefronts sell is exactly the same stuff repackaged. I understand places like Jaycar have rent and wages and everything else but there is no way I can in good conscious pay $84 for a multimeter that is the same with the same Number on it even as I can buy from china for $13 as I did last year. Yeah, usually you pay for it in delivery time but I had the thing in 8 days. great meter so I bought 2 more for good measure. Solar Connectors are the same deal. Buy a bag of 20 delivered for the same price as Local sellers want for 2 pair PLUS delivery. There is in a lot of things NO quality difference now. It'a all made in china. In my game, the Chinese Co's started making knockoffs of the OEM products. They were 1/4 the price or less. had a job coming up which I was pretty sure would be a suicide mission for the gear so I thought may as well kill something cheap as exy. Bought the knock offs and not only did they survive when I didn't think anything would, they are still going years later. Brand centric mate who said he'd never buy knockoffs got in a pickle and had to borrow them. I asked what he thought when he gave them back and his reply was " I'd never buy original again, not for that they do at ( then) 1/5th the price. " The Chinese have gone a couple of steps further now and past the knockoff stage and are doing their own products which have VERY useful and game changing features the OEM's just don't have. They are leading the way by far and still a heap cheaper and every bit as good and in some ways better ( easily replaceable and cheap available commonly damaged parts) than the OEM's. There are still the ignorant operators out there that swear they would never buy that Chinese Crap which is fine by me. I can pass on the cost savings to under cut them on quotes, win the business and still make more than I would have at full tilt with the cost of the OEM gear factored in. They are clueless enough to still think Price = quality level. Don't take into account differences in costs of labour, taxes, Gubbermit subsidies and trade benefits that allow products of the same quality to be produced far more cheaper than western made. Not everything Chinese is crap by a long stretch. Often it's all Chinese so you have no option. So much is Chinese made with a western brand sticker on it. Some is crap but if you are selective with what you get..... paying for OEM is just stupidity. |
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| TomSon Newbie  Joined: 17/09/2016 Location: AustraliaPosts: 6 |
About the product direct from China. Observation: There will be no warranty No Compliance testing by the importer Seller will take no responsibility if it burns down someones house of kills someone ( Im not saying there is not what seems to be a fat profit margin on the au sale of the product ) |
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| Warpspeed Guru Joined: 09/08/2007 Location: AustraliaPosts: 4406 |
Who cares about warranty. If I bought something for ten dollars from China over the internet, and after a month the lid fell off. I would probably just buy another rather than pay fifty dollars for the EXACT SAME THING from a local shop. I used to rent factory space, and what went on in some of the other factories in the same row of factories was fascinating. The guy next door imported pallet loads of Chinese plumbing fittings. Really nice expensive looking chrome taps, shower roses, bathroom and laundry fittings. He hired some rather disreputable looking minimum wage people to unpack and re-pack these fittings into really nice expensive looking cardboard boxes with "made in Australia" written on the box. I asked him once how do you get away with that? He laughed, the cardboard boxes are definitely printed in Australia, and I can prove it. In another nearby factory, the concrete floor was always several inches deep in seed. Huge sacks of various types and varieties of seed arrived, and several people were emptying these onto the concrete floor and mixing the whole lot up with a rakes. WTF ?? Anyhow, the solution to the riddle was the mixed seed was re bagged in small plastic bags as BIRD SEED. Wow, the profit margin must have been enormous, and so simple. Cheers, Tony. |
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| Davo99 Guru Joined: 03/06/2019 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1578 |
The Problem I find is as Tony alludes to. The old saying you get what you pay for is a complete and utter Fallacy. I don't mind If I get crappy quality for things I will use as a one off But I get pretty pissed off when I pay good money because I want something to last and then find the EXACT same product somewhere with a Different sticker for 1/5th the price OR, pay a lot and still get crap quality. Time and time again I have come across many products/ equipment that you just can't get in good quality. It's all the same Chinese Crap that ranges in price from $10 To 100 for the same thing. Things like the MC$ Clips I buy are all pretty much Generic and made in china anyway. I have yet to see any that were any different or better when I have bought the few from local companies. The chances of me Proving and getting money out of a company if one of the rebagged Connectors does cause my house to burn down is probably less than winning lotto. As far as testing by the importer, sorry but you are kidding yourself if you thank that means anything. I bought some driveway lights earlier this year from an Australian Importer that as soon as I unpacked the first one I could see problems with. Complaints to them were returned with crap about meeting Australian standards, Complaints to Fair trading resulted in being Duck shoved around various electrical Authorities Finally I gave up and sent the sh*t back for a Refund which I then got stuffed around with. Basically, even though they came from a Huge distributor in Melbourne, No one gave a Fk whether they were compliant or not. Could have bought the same things direct MUCH cheaper and saved myself the hassle of expecting them to be compliant. Funny you mention Birdseed Tony. My father was buying it for the wild birds from the local Pet store. I had a Fit when I saw how much he was paying. I said that's BS, we'll go to the Co Op. We did and got 10 Kg bags for less than the 5 Kg bags he was buying from the pet place you could see from the co Op. Dad said to the guy this looks exactly the same as I was buying from down the road but you are half the price . The guy smiled and said It is the same, we supply it to them. Been doing a bit of cleaning up the last week or so trying to correct my mental affliction of crap collecting. Already taken one ute load to the Scrap, I'll probably do another on Monday and hope I don't need a 3rd but pretty sure I will. I have found 4 Inverters I picked up at some time I want to scrap. When I was at the scrapys the other day there was 4 large Skip bins Full Of old AC Units. There was a gut there going through them pulling out the boards. I noticed some had Multiple Very large caps on them. I commented to the guy and asked what he was getting them for but he seemed Very Cagey in telling me. Got so many Big Heat sinks now I think about all they are good for is cashing in for the ally they have. |
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Revlac Guru Joined: 31/12/2016 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1022 |
Have used a couple of those big Heat sinks to help thaw out a large frozen Turkey, works well, done that a few times, good for anything frozen that need to be thawed a bit faster.   Cheers Aaron Off The Grid |
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| TomSon Newbie Joined: 17/09/2016 Location: AustraliaPosts: 6 |
About the plumbing Guy should have been reported for FRAUD Why was he relabeling with MADE IN AUSTRALIA? - because people are prepared to pay more for the higher quality and safety. Id check the lead content in brass. https://www.spectator.com.au/2017/07/importing-chinas-poison/ The seed - ok for animal consumption. as who knows how the seed has been chemically treated. |
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| TomSon Newbie Joined: 17/09/2016 Location: AustraliaPosts: 6 |
About Davo99's comment About compliance testing by importer, they are ones that are legally liable and must pay for product recalls. I agree Government departs that are supposed to oversea these areas have poor performance. They are very slow or do not act on complaints. I agree that there is over charging (above the normal profit margin needed to run a business) by some entities |
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| Warpspeed Guru Joined: 09/08/2007 Location: AustraliaPosts: 4406 |
Its not all so black and white Tom. Many if not most "Australian manufactured products" use many Chinese sourced parts. Its almost impossible to avoid using Chinese parts. I don't think anyone in Australia is manufacturing ball bearings for instance. I don't think anyone in Australia could compete with the Chinese for manufacturing circuit boards. So like the old joke, the axe handle came from China, and the Axe head came from China, but it was assembled in Australia and therefore is an Australian made product. Most manufacturing is like that these days, its the only way to stay in business. Cheers, Tony. |
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| Davo99 Guru Joined: 03/06/2019 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1578 |
I agree with Tony. I have made a concious effort to Not buy Chinese, to Buy Australian and to source Quality parts and products wherever they come from. All are extremely difficult and the majority just flat out impossible. As Tony says, there is so much that just isn't made in Oz or anywhere BUT Chinnah. Many things in my game are All made in Chinaah and you can buy something off Fleabay for $5 or you can buy one from a shop front distributor for Literally $90 and they are the same crap only the more exy one comes in a slightly prettier packet. The adage of get what you pay for is an outdated ideal only held by the ignorant these days. I have some inverters up the back I uncovered the other day I have to strip. I was going to attempt repair but I am buying inverters so cheap these days, not worth my time and feeble efforts.... Nor frustration when they still probably don't work even if I could find what was wrong. I know some have a relay problem but stripping them down, buying the repay and putting them back together just isn't worth it. Relays will cost me >30% of what I buy a larger new inverter for. The interesting bit is they are all well known brands that have failed very young. One SMA unit was a couple of Months out of warranty when I got it but because I wasn't original owner they wouldn't look at it. Not unusual from what I read from this company either whom have a reputation of rejecting warranty work and taking forever to fix things under warranty then them failing again soon after. Meanwhile the cheaper chinese units I'm getting now are taking a hammering and doing fine. I'll get the caps and Mosfets but is there anything else worth Grabbing from them? They are electronic rather than transformer types although I think one may be the aerosharp type but not sure. They are all pretty heavy but some is in the heat sinks and some is in the transformers. I have a few cases now so don't need them, think I have enough heatsinks as well although I'll keep them to melt down and scrap or make some castings with. |
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