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Rag Chew => Off Topic Discussions => Topic started by: littleharbor2 on July 24, 2022, 10:09:58 AM

Title: SWI stacking cable question.
Post by: littleharbor2 on July 24, 2022, 10:09:58 AM
I figure this would be the best place to ask being some of you guys go back to the Trace days

I am trying to find out the difference between the SWI series and parallel stacking cables. At this point I have resigned to building my own being I cant find them anywhere. It looks like all the parts are readily available. The series cable seems to have 20 lines used in a 25 pin connector.  So does the parallel cable have, like one more or one less wire? Is it that simple?
See attached image.
Title: Re: SWI stacking cable question.
Post by: Vic on July 24, 2022, 05:38:31 PM
Hi, l h,

Have not looked, but, have you tried on the WInd-Sun Forum, as well.  A member there (RCinFLA, or similar) seems to have great depth and breadth of knowledge of some of the venerable inverters.  Of course this is the best, first place to start.

I only have two Series stacking cables,  and you have the diagram of it.  IIRC, the series cables have no identifying marks, short of a part number.

Good Luck,  Vic
Title: Re: SWI stacking cable question.
Post by: littleharbor2 on July 24, 2022, 06:19:32 PM
Thanks Vic. Good idea. I will post over there as well.
Still hoping to hear from the good guys here.
Title: Re: SWI stacking cable question.
Post by: boB on July 24, 2022, 08:50:35 PM
I found this little tidbit from a long time ago.

This, partial schematic shows the clock lines which are made from complementary 5V logic.

There is also +5V, 0V (gnd) and 3 control lines that tell the slave which charging mode it is in like, Absorb, Float, EQ, etc.
Those 3 lines are like the clock line, as in, differential 5V signals.  But I don't remember which pins those go to.

I think that the 2 clock lines shown are correct but not absolutely 100%.   You would have to reverse-engineer a bit to find out which pins are actually uses but shouldn't be too difficult knowing what should be there with this info.

boB

Title: Re: SWI stacking cable question.
Post by: littleharbor2 on July 25, 2022, 07:28:04 AM
 boB, Thanks for digging into the archives and your memory trying to figure this out.. While I've yet to figure out the difference between the SWI and SWI/PAR cables I have, while rereading all associated previous posts realized that for parallel operation I would need the Paralleling Interface Module to pull this off. I have handled lots of old Trace/Xantrex equipment before and haven't come across the Interface module or I would have ended up with one. I guess at  this point I'll put this thread to rest.
Title: Re: SWI stacking cable question.
Post by: ClassicCrazy on July 25, 2022, 05:40:50 PM
Quote from: littleharbor2 on July 25, 2022, 07:28:04 AM
boB, Thanks for digging into the archives and your memory trying to figure this out.. While I've yet to figure out the difference between the SWI and SWI/PAR cables I have, while rereading all associated previous posts realized that for parallel operation I would need the Paralleling Interface Module to pull this off. I have handled lots of old Trace/Xantrex equipment before and haven't come across the Interface module or I would have ended up with one. I guess at  this point I'll put this thread to rest.
Not sure if it will help , but worth a try contacting Jim Kerbel
I was in his shop once and he used to repair Trace Inverters .
Might be worth contacting him to see if he knows or has any of the cables you might be looking for.
https://www.pv-systems.org/contactus

Larry
Title: Re: SWI stacking cable question.
Post by: littleharbor2 on July 25, 2022, 06:27:44 PM
Thank you Larry, I will.