Automatic Circuit breakers

Hi.

I presume that most of You use a lot of auto cbs, 10A or 13A for 230 Volts AC and DC CBs for the solar side.

However, I have removed the 13A CBthat was placed after my 230 V ACinverter.

MostInverters areprotected against shorts and other mishaps, so a CBon the AC side should not be necessary, butthe CBs makes it possible to disconnect some of the load if needed.

Yesterday I wantedto install a newly bought ACmeter and switched off the AC breaker.
When finished, I turned the CBback on: The result wasa loud bang and a light flash inside the CB. The CB simply exploded :huh:

The explosion obviously caused a huge electricalspike and this destroyed my Inverter.

Now I am going to replace the CBs with plain switches. I will leave the protection to the inverters.

Just to let You know.

ChrisD

Which one was it? You said you removed it on the ac side but then you turned it on?

What brand CB?
What brand inverter?

A proper CB/breaker wont kill your inverter. Not kill them more than a switch will do since they basically are a switch inside.

But using cheap ass breakers can cause issues.

Note that No inverter in Sweden is installed without automatic breakers. Its common practice. On the DC side they arent used since its to high voltage and there you have fuses and HVDC switches instead.

+1 circuit breakers (good ones) would not do this - must have been a poor quality one?
For safety having an earth leakage breaker on the output side is a really good idea too.
Basically, your mains side wiring should be the same as local electrical rules in your area.

Removing post- misread the original post

ChrisD5710 said:

The CB simply exploded :huh:

Click to expand...

Can you post pictures? I've had several breakers fail, but none that exploded.
Any possibility that the new AC meter was installed incorrectly? If there was a short, trying to turn on the CB can make it trip immediately with a visible flash (arcing).