Voltage report using a Sola Basic autoformer
Hi, First test of a Sola Basic autoformer on August 5th, 2016 starting at 2:30 p.m. The unit cost was $232.50 Canadian dollars. I added a #10 shore power cord, a 30 amp RV outlet, a 15 amp femal...
Forum Discussion
Hi CA Traveler,
The list of boost voltages is deceiving. (why am I not surprized? LOL)
There are only 3 boosts and 1 buck.
In testing I had to get down to 90 before the 3rd boost cut in.
I can't get it to boost on the 50 amp shore power supply unless I turn on both the water heater and the toaster. It will stay in boost after the toaster cycles.
It boosts well on the 30 amp shore power and on the 15 amp shore power.
After the boost is triggers I think that as load increases the voltage slowly sags towards the trigger point for the next level of boost. I have no way to gradually increase load to test that out. Some one posted a lovely graph of what happens with a Hughes autoformer. I suspect the Sola is the same.
I did test the 30 amp by turning on the water heater and that activated the 2nd level of boost.
In testing at 133 volts it bucked to 125. I had no way to go higher on the voltage. That was with no load on the output of the sola basic.
There is no end user control of the trigger voltages for the boost. There is no circuit diagram for the control board.
I did list the voltages inside the RV, and at the input of the Sola Basic and at the output of the Sola Basic.
I do have a longer path that most RV's for the shore power cord. I plug in at the spare tire on the rear (which works well for my generator on a rack). That goes to a plug in the shore power cord box. I plug the input for the Magnum in to that outlet. The only space available for the Magnum that was close to the battery is behind the drivers seat. The 120 volt output of the Magnum feeds back to a 30 amp outlet in the shore power cord box. I plug the OEM shore power cord (which is cut off at four feet) into that outlet.
I'm ecstatic that I will no longer have to worry about low voltages.
The list of boost voltages is deceiving. (why am I not surprized? LOL)
There are only 3 boosts and 1 buck.
In testing I had to get down to 90 before the 3rd boost cut in.
I can't get it to boost on the 50 amp shore power supply unless I turn on both the water heater and the toaster. It will stay in boost after the toaster cycles.
It boosts well on the 30 amp shore power and on the 15 amp shore power.
After the boost is triggers I think that as load increases the voltage slowly sags towards the trigger point for the next level of boost. I have no way to gradually increase load to test that out. Some one posted a lovely graph of what happens with a Hughes autoformer. I suspect the Sola is the same.
I did test the 30 amp by turning on the water heater and that activated the 2nd level of boost.
In testing at 133 volts it bucked to 125. I had no way to go higher on the voltage. That was with no load on the output of the sola basic.
There is no end user control of the trigger voltages for the boost. There is no circuit diagram for the control board.
I did list the voltages inside the RV, and at the input of the Sola Basic and at the output of the Sola Basic.
I do have a longer path that most RV's for the shore power cord. I plug in at the spare tire on the rear (which works well for my generator on a rack). That goes to a plug in the shore power cord box. I plug the input for the Magnum in to that outlet. The only space available for the Magnum that was close to the battery is behind the drivers seat. The 120 volt output of the Magnum feeds back to a 30 amp outlet in the shore power cord box. I plug the OEM shore power cord (which is cut off at four feet) into that outlet.
I'm ecstatic that I will no longer have to worry about low voltages.
CA Traveler wrote:
How the pedestal is wired and its voltage is irrelevant to the Sola Basic operation to me.
What would be of interest are data points for the Sola Basic showing input and output voltage at the unit and amps (say on the output side).
The Sola Basic specs suggest that at 105V you should have gotten 121V if I understood the post. But your 118V is close.
Also isn’t one of the significant points for this unit is that it also reduces high voltage which seems to be more common in Mexico?
From the Sola Basic specs:
Entrada Salida
V~ V~
85 103
90 109
95 115
100 121
110 121
120 120
135 121
140 125
145 130
150 134
155 139
