Procedure for Paralleling XQ230 Generator Sets {4450, 4492, 7451} Caterpillar

Generator Set

XQ230 (S/N: CK21-UP)

Introduction

The XQ230 with paralleling option comes equipped with an EMCP 4.4 genset paralleling controller and electrically operated generator breaker. This document provides the information needed by those setting up units at a job site.

Note: For unit operation, a quick start film is located on the door next to the EMCP 4.4 ( 380-6866 Film).

Do not perform any procedure in this Special Instruction until you have read the information and you understand the information.

Important Safety Section

Work safely. Most accidents that involve product operation, maintenance, and repair are caused by failure to observe basic safety rules or precautions. An accident can often be avoided by recognizing potentially hazardous situations before an accident occurs.

A person must be alert to potential hazards. This person must also have the necessary training, skills, and tools to perform these functions properly. Safety precautions and warnings are provided in this instruction and on the product. If these hazard warnings are not heeded, bodily injury or death could occur to you or to other persons.

Caterpillar cannot anticipate every possible circumstance that might involve a potential hazard. The warnings in this publication and on the product are, therefore, not all inclusive. Do not use this product in any manner different from what is considered by this manual without first satisfying that you have considered all safety rules and precautions applicable to the operation of the product in the location of use, including site-specific rules and precautions applicable to the work site. If a tool, procedure, work method, or operating technique that is not recommended by Caterpillar is used, you must satisfy that it is safe for you and for others. Ensure that you are authorized to perform this work, and that the product will not be damaged or become unsafe by the operation, lubrication, maintenance, or repair procedures that you intend to use. The information, specifications, and illustrations in this publication are based on information that was available at the time that the publication was written. The specifications, torques, pressures, measurements, adjustments, illustrations, and other items can change at any time. These changes can affect the service that is given to the product. Obtain the complete and most current information before you start any job. Cat dealers have the most current information available.

Safety Section

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Do not operate or work on this product unless you have read and understood the instruction and warnings in the relevant Operation and Maintenance Manuals and relevant service literature. Failure to follow the instructions or heed the warnings could result in injury or death. Proper care is your responsibility.

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Failure to follow all safety guidelines prescribed in this document and by governing authorities and regulatory agencies may result in severe injury or death of personnel or machine damage.

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When removing a major component or attachment, ensure that it is properly blocked or secured before removing mounting hardware. An assembly that is disconnected without proper blocking may shift or fall, resulting in serious injury or death of personnel or machine damage.

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Personal injury or death can result from improper maintenance procedures. To avoid injury or death, follow the procedures exactly as stated below.

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Personal injury can result from improper handling of chemicals. Make sure you use all the necessary protective equipment required to do the job. Make sure that you read and understand all directions and hazards described on the labels and material safety data sheet of any chemical that is used. Observe all safety precautions recommended by the chemical manufacturer for handling, storage, and disposal of chemicals.

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Climbing equipment may be required to access this service point. Refer to the Operation and Maintenance Manual, "Mounting and Dismounting" topic for safety information.

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Before servicing/performing maintenance on the machine, electrical power must be physically disconnected; battery plugs must be disconnected from the batteries, or the trailing cable must be unplugged, and warning tags and padlocks shall be applied by a certified electrician. Certified electricians shall perform or direct any electrical work, including any energized testing, repair work in controllers, motors, or other approved compartments, and shall insure that all compartments are properly closed and inspected prior to re-energization. All applicable lock out and tag out procedures must be followed.

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Do not operate the machine if any guards or covers are missing or inadequately secured. Personnel could be seriously injured or machine damage may occur.

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Observe the safe working load limits of all lifting and blocking devices and keep a safe distance from suspended/blocked loads. Personnel may be seriously injured or killed by falling loads.

Paralleling Procedure

Maximum Number of Units to Parallel

The chart below gives the interrupting ratings for the XQ230 generator breaker. This information is needed to help determine maximum number of XQ230 units which can be paralleled together.

Note: The XQ230 uses type "PJ" circuit breaker.

XQ230 Generator Ratings:

The maximum available fault current for the XQ230 generator at 480V:

• Instantaneous 3 Phase Fault Current - 3839 Amps.

• Instantaneous Line - Line Fault current - 3148 Amps

• Instantaneous Line Neutral Fault current - 5313 Amps

The maximum available fault current for the XQ230 generator at 208V:

• Instantaneous 3 Phase fault current - 6655 Amps

• Instantaneous Line - Line fault current - 5457 Amps

• Instantaneous Line - Neutral fault current - 9211 Amps

Examples:

Paralleling at 480 V, the maximum number of paralleled units is 13, where the combined available fault current is 63756 Amps (12 x 5313 Amps).

Paralleling at 208 V, the maximum number of paralleled units is 11, where the combined available fault current is 92110 Amps (10 x 9211 Amps).

The examples above are considered conservative and assumes the worst-case scenario where a fault occurs between the generator and the breaker on one of the units in the group of paralleled units. In this case the breaker on the failed unit will not carry the fault current of the failed unit itself but rather the combined fault current from all other units.

Note: The examples do not take into consideration the job site power distribution (cables, bus, etc.) or loads that could contribute feedback energy. A site survey is required to determine the actual maximum number of units that can be paralleled at a given site. The EMCP 4.4 can support up to 16 units on the MGDL network.

Control Wiring Interconnect

The image below shows the location on the package for interconnect wiring.

Illustration 1	g06395441

There are two means provided on the package to easily connect control wiring for interconnecting the group of units to be paralleled:

• Digital Load sharing via MGDL (ethernet communications network)

• Hard wired Load sharing (analog load share signals)

One or the other should be used but not both.

MGDL is the default factory configuration and should be used if the entire group consist of XQ230’s or if all have EMCP 4.4 controllers and provide a connection on the package for MGDL.

An ethernet switch module is included in each XQ230 unit so that the only thing required by the user is to provide standard ethernet cables with RJ45 connectors to interconnect between the units.

MGDL uses a 10BaseT connection to an ethernet network. It requires a minimum of Category-5 (Cat5) cable, but Category-5e or Category-6 are also permitted and preferred.

Hardwired loadshare connections are provided when paralleling XQ230 to legacy units that do not have EMCP 4.4 controls. This requires the user to provide two-conductor shielded cable to interconnect between the units. This document describes setup for 0-3V for real load sharing which is compatible with legacy CAT rental products and voltage droop (3% default) for reactive load sharing.

MGDL interconnect for digital load sharing

The control features provided by MGDL are:

1. Group Start - Remote start contact can be wired to a single unit, terminals GS1 & GS2, which will provide start/stop control of the entire group.

   Note: Access to group start terminals GS1 & GS2 require the sliding selector on the terminal strip to be moved to the upper position.

2. Dead bus arbitration - When starting units simultaneously the first unit up to speed, voltage, and frequency will be detected and will close to the dead bus then remaining units will parallel to the live bus.

3. Load sharing control (kW and kVAR) - Real and reactive load will automatically be shared proportionally among all units.

4. Load-sense-load-demand - The number of units running and in parallel is controlled automatically based on the load level. As load level increases, more units will be added. As load level decreases, more units will be removed. This conserves fuel and ensures units are operating at desired load levels.

   Note: Load-sense-load-demand is available but disabled by factory default. If desired and assistance in programming EMCP setting is needed, contact your local Caterpillar Dealer.

The connections related to MGDL are shown below:

Illustration 2	g06395448
(A) Do not form loop (B) Ethernet Cables (C) Optional remote start/stop (starts all units)

Each unit must have the EMCP 4.4 set point "Multiple genset control data link unit number" set to a non-zero and unique number. Factory default for this setting is "1" so the other two units in the example above must have this number changed to "2" and "3" respectively. This can be done easily by using the keypad on the EMCP 4.4 (Main Menu⇒ Config ⇒Paralleling ⇒ MGDL ⇒ Unit Number).

Hardwired Load Sharing Interconnect

The control features provided by hard wired load sharing interconnect are:

1. Local start only - When using hard wired interconnect there is no dead bus arbitration so each unit must be started and added to the bus one at a time. No remote start/stop to the units should be used. This is to prevent crash paralleling.

   Note: Access to load share terminals H6 & H7 require the sliding selector on the terminal strip to be moved to the lower position thereby blocking and preventing remote start/stop wiring to terminals GS1 & GS2.

2. Load sharing real power (kW) - Provides 0-3V signal to wire, daisy chain fashion, among all units.

3. Load sharing reactive power (kVAR) - Provides 0-10V signal to wire, daisy chain fashion, among all units.

   Note: The 0-10V kVAR signal is not common with legacy CAT rental units. Therefore, when paralleling to legacy units ensure all units use voltage droop for reactive power sharing. Droop in XQ230 is set to 3% default.

The connections related to hard wired load share are shown below:

Illustration 3	g06395454
(D) Shield grounding jumper (on one unit only) (E) Terminations on legacy units may be labeled differently (F) Shielded 2–conductor (G) Do not use remote start/stop. Start and add units one at a time.

There is a total of five set points in the EMCP 4.4 that need to be programmed to support hard wired load share. Refer to "programming matrix" chart below for details.

Single Unit Mode (Non-Paralleling)

The paralleling package can be setup to use as a single unit supplying prime power to the load.

Single unit mode can be enabled using one of two different methods as detailed below.

"Method A" is quick setup and does not require any programming. However, the limitation to method A is that the sync mode switch is forced to ‘manual’ prior to breaker closing. Therefore, the breaker must be closed using push buttons on the control panel door. Remote start/stop is of little use in this mode.

"Method B" involves programming a total of (4) set points in the EMCP 4.4 but the sync mode switch is not locked and can be changed to the desired setting. This allows the use of remote start/stop and automatic breaker closing if desired. Refer to "programming matrix" chart below for details.

• Method A - Install jumper across terminals H1 & H2 for disable auto paralleling. No programming required. Warning alarm "Multiple genset data link control is offline" will be present. No action required. Start unit and operate breaker using green & red push buttons on the control panel door. The red "breaker close" push button should be pressed and held up to 6 sec to close the breaker.

• Method B - DO NOT install jumper across terminals H1 & H2. Set points in the EMCP 4.4 must be programmed. Refer to "programming matrix" chart. Start unit either locally or remotely. Breaker operation will be manual or automatic based on sync mode switch setting.

The connections related to single unit mode are shown below:

Illustration 4	g06395456
(H) Disable auto paralleling jumper (for method A) (J) Optional remote Start/Stop (for method B)

EMCP 4.4 Programming Matrix for Modes of Operation

This chart lists parameters and their values required to support the different modes of operation listed are described below.

Power and Control Wiring Connections

Refer to image below for power and control connections set up.

Illustration 5	g06395458
(K) Mechanical lugs are provided on the package when cam lock option is not ordered. (L) Bolts attaching lugged phase cables should have threaded ends facing outwards. (M) control wiring should loop under the bar and attach to panel with zip tie for proper strain relief.

Voltage Selection (VSS)

The Voltage Selector Switch (VSS) is mounted in the generator terminal box and is provided for quick selection for the desired generator output voltage. Auxiliary contacts on the VSS activate digital inputs on the EMCP which automatically re-configure the EMCP for the selected voltage.

Changing the VSS selection should always be done while the engine is stopped. Failure to do so may result in equipment damage. Once the VSS selection is made the unit is re-configured and ready to start.

Note: Do not change switch selection while engine is running.

Illustration 6	g06395460

VSS selection 480V:Paralleling or single unit mode is allowed.

VSS selection 208V:Paralleling or single unit mode is allowed.

VSS selection 240V single phase:Only single unit mode is allowed. Paralleling will be automatically disabled. Must use single unit mode method B as described above. Generator breaker can be closed and remain closed after unit is stopped if desired.

Fast Start

The key switch input to the engine ECM is normally turned off. During this time the engine parameters are not communicated to the EMCP. When engine start is initiated the EMCP normally turns on the key switch input to the engine ECM and then the ECM will bring on the fuel lift pump and glow plugs if needed. Because of ECM wake up delay, the EMCP has a 5 seconds delay time programmed for set point "engine start sequence delay time". This all causes a significant delay from the time engine start is initiated till the unit is up to rated speed and voltage.

If a faster startup is desired there are two things that must be done to allow this. Inside the control panel is a toggle switch for "maintenance mode" that must be turned on. The engine ECM will start communicating parameters to the EMCP constantly. Also, the EMCP set point "engine start sequence delay time" must be set to zero. This will cut the startup time approximately in half.

Note: The limitation with fast start is that the fuel lift pump and glow plugs will only be activated once when the switch is initially turned on and then remain deactivated while the switch is on.

Spare Terminals

Spare terminals are provided inside the control panel and are intended solely for customer use if desired.

Locations are provided to allow the customer to terminate wiring on these terminal blocks and program the EMCP 4.4 settings accordingly (required).

Note: If assistance is needed in programming EMCP setting, contact your local Caterpillar dealer.

Illustration 7	g06395463