Chapter 1: The disappointing child (1856)
I skipped over the Chinese garbage and spent my hard earned cash on a 'better' charger, or so I thought. After much research the KID seemed to fit my requirements - MPPT, 100v+ PV, 24v battery support, and serial data out. I have a remote off-grid property, where I have a few cameras up to catch nature, and (hopefully never) trespassers/thieves. These cameras run on a 24v, 440ah bank of batteries, 360 watts worth of Solar Panels. I do have slow cellular data so I can remotely connect to a small computer to manage the cameras and view the serial data from the KID.
Installation of the KID was simple and it worked great for a week while I was at the property, cycling through Bulk, Absorb, Float as I would expect. I fumbled around the Interwebs and came up with the wiring I needed to create a serial cable to talk to the KID (Hey, maybe document this in a manual MidNite). Success! Serial data on the PC so I can see the health of the batteries remotely. "This works great!" I thought. I returned to my house/job/reality 6 grueling hours of driving away.
I thought wrong. The KID continued to work for about 5 more weeks, then one day I stopped receiving serial data. I restarted the computer, no change. "Maybe I messed up on the cable or somethings wrong the with the computer (it runs Windows after all), I'll figure it out next time I return". Life went on, and I continued to receive pictures for another few weeks until, nothing. I could no longer remotely connect.
After finding the time to return to my remote property (another 6 grueling hours of driving later) I was greeted with a 24v bank of batteries at 11v, and a KID charger that was FROZEN. No response to any buttons.
<rant>
A CHARGE CONTROLLER THAT DOESNT CHARGE IS F**KING USELESS! Is this a quality, tested product or someones arduino project on instructables?
</rant>
Chapter 2: New Issues (1860)
After a few choice words, I disconnected the KID and hooked up the only small charger I had. I charged the batteries for literally days using the generator and small charger. They did finally come back up in voltage, but I'm sure their lifespan has been impacted - only time will tell. Oh and I burned about 15 gallons of fuel, and drove off any wildlife that don't care for the clickity clackity of a generator (that's all of them).
While waiting for the batteries to charge I fumbled around the Interwebs some more and found KID had a newer firmware available, and whadda you know? In the notes for 1860 it states "Fixes sporadic Kid Freezes and bugs in Aux menu" Since this sounds exactly like the issue I'm having I break out a USB cable and download the new firmware. Once the batteries were charged to at least 24v, I hooked the KID back up and updated the firmware.
Hopefully 1860 fixes the freezing issue. I'ts only been a week since the update, so I can't say for sure yet.
I have already found a new issue with 1860 - The format of the serial data is drastically changed. No documentation, just change sh*t MidNite, that's the way! Not like anyone built custom software to read this data *COUGH COUGH* Again - this feels like an Instructables project, not a quality product. Here's some sample data. If anyone knows any more about this, I'd appreciate any input. The KID is set to 'PC' mode (just like it was with 1856)
(spaces added for readability)
1856
BatV,PanelV,PanelW,KWhrs,Ahr,Btemp,WBjrA,SOC,Ahr Remain, Status(?) [NEWLINE]
280 ,863 ,252 ,11 ,840,314 ,164 ,99 ,412 ,5,
1860
BatV?,PanelV?,?,? ,Ahr Remain?, Status? [NO NEWLINE]
260 ,193 , ,12 ,440 ,2
Below was the info from 1820 firmware . If the serial output is different now with the new firmware and not documented you could open a ticket with Midnite and ask them .
Larry
-- PC Comm needs to be selected and saved
- it sends data once a minute
- sends data in raw decimal separated by a comma
- data needs to be massaged to be read correctly and divided by 10
List of what it sends in order:
* Displayed battery voltage
* Displayed PV Voltage
* Displayed output watts
* KWH
* Amp Hours
* Battery Temperature
* WBJR Current
* Battery SOC
* WBJR Amp Hr Remaining
Open a serial terminal and use the Baud Rate displayed in the screen when PC selected. PC comm only works with systems with a single unit.
Thanks Larry. The 1856 manual shows the same info. I haven't found a 1860 manual, but the dataset is clearly different - It doesn't even have the same number of data points, and each sample is no longer followed by a newline.
How do I go about starting a ticket with MidNite? This forum is the closest thing I've found to any sort of support. Clearly I didn't research this side of things well enough when making my charger selection :-\ .
I found it - http://www.midnitehelp.com/ . Thanks again Larry
Yeah well stuff happens with new products and hard to figure out why something that works for so many can have a problem on specific systems. Some companies don't even bother to air all their flaws out in public like on these forums and do firmware updates to fix stuff. So you have to give a lot of credit to Midnite . If you had gotten the Chinese controller and it did the same thing would you be able to get any support ? I understand your frustration especially with a remote system like you have . But maybe happy times are in the future for you !
Let us know if you find out what is going on with the serial data stream on this new firmware version.
Larry
Any news on the serial stream? Maybe the latest firmware (1860-1.1) fixed it?
I pinged Sue on this, Hopefully MidNite can respond
There is a internal ticket being worked on for this issue.
If we find any information I will try and update this post for everyone else.
-Kyle
Quote from: jamesmc on May 10, 2018, 01:33:13 AM
Any news on the serial stream? Maybe the latest firmware (1860-1.1) fixed it?
My understanding is that 1860-1.1 is the same as 1860, only with the new firmware flashing tool instead of manually updating with the FUP file. Can someone confirm?
Quote from: KyleM on May 11, 2018, 11:56:25 AM
There is a internal ticket being worked on for this issue.
If we find any information I will try and update this post for everyone else.
-Kyle
As part of my ticket, Kyle requested some data logs. I sent the 2 logs attached to this post. Take note that the filenames start with the firmware version. The reply I received is...um..interesting;
Quote from: KyleM
This is the message that our Lead Engineer sent to me.
"It seems like the serial terminal is omitting the 0s and looks as if the spaces were empty, but the actual data is still the same format. here is a snapshot of the data that was sent:
130,565,,8,610,136,-21,100,821,15
13.0 * Displayed battery voltage
56.5 * Displayed PV Voltage
,, * Displayed output watts
.8 * KWH
610 * Amp Hours
13.6 * Battery Temperature
-2.1 * WBJR Current
100 * Battery SOC
821 * WBJR Amp Hr Remaining
15 * Reason For Resting
At this point in time the unit is not producing any power that is why the Watts is displayed as empty(0W)
138,832,229,1,70,135,152,97,798,5
This other snapshot looks like it is producing 229W
Another note to keep in mind is that KWH and AH will reset to 0 every night because those values refer to the total amount of power accumulated during the day."
There might be a setting in Putty that needs to be changed or configured differently to rreflect what you are used to seeing.
Please let me know if you have any further questions
My reply was;
Quote from: bmrc
Please note that the logs I sent are from 1856 and the new 1860 firmware (version is in the filename). 1856 was sent only for reference, but thank you for clarification on what each data point is.
The issue is that the 1860 data does not have as many points. Here is a sample; 259,192,,12,440,2 (6 data points vs 10 previously).
Concerning putty - I've used the same 'saved session' (profile) to capture data from both versions. In 1856 I get one sample per line. In 1860 there is no line break. I'm only pointing this out to show that (besides missing data points) something did change.
It's been a week since I've heard anything else. I realize my situation may be somewhat unique and I can be a snarky bastard, but this is no excuse for no communication - especially when your product has already let me down once. My confidence in this brand is faltering.
Quote from: KyleM
There might be a setting in Putty that needs to be changed or configured differently to rreflect what you are used to seeing.
Sit back for a second and realize the absurdity of this statement.
You changed something in the firmware,
you figure out what needs to be changed. I'm not poking around with settings blindly because 'there might be a setting...'. IT WORKED BEFORE YOUR UPDATE.
I'm an IT nerd, I work with data all day. If I changed say, the format of some XML data and then told a customer that 'there might be a setting that needs to be changed' but didn't provide details on what changed and why, I'd be out of a job.
Release the source code for the firmware and I'd be happy to figure out whats wrong on my own ;)
The Forums are a great place to exchange ideas, and look for assistance from not only the Midnite Team, but other users as well.
We try and help everyone out as much as possible, but sometimes that takes time.
If you are having troubles with a supported aspect of our product, and are looking for timely Support on that issue. We have a trouble ticket system in place for that.
http://www.midnitesolar.com/support.php (http://www.midnitesolar.com/support.php)
Please feel free to submit a ticket and our Support Team will do everything they can to help you.
Thanks,
Kyle
:o *SMH* Kyle... I already had a ticket - #KID11477 . You closed it despite my response that you analyzed the wrong log . I've posted the entirety of the exchange here so others can see the process (or lack there of).
My gripe is the lack of communication. I clearly responded that the issue was not resolved, yet this message was not added to the ticket and it was marked as resolved. Customer Service 101 - don't close tickets until the issue is confirmed resolved or the customer hasn't responded in a reasonable amount of time. Neither were the case here.
I'm really not trying to be a burden, but I'm not going to get walked on. Midnite is consistently dropping the ball here...
Just received this via email, ticket is still marked as resolved.
Quote from: KyleM
I have sent your request to release the source code to our engineering Supervisor.
When I get an answer I will be sure to forward it on to you.
On the bright side, the charger appears to still be working. However it hasn't been over 5 weeks yet (when it froze the last time). No matter the outcome, I will update this topic with the status of the charger.
I just spoke with engineering over at MidNite, Mario promised to stop in here and see if he can get tot he bottom of this.
BMRC, I am glad you are an IT nerd, I understand your frustration, here at Midnite we are working hard at keeping and supporting our customers we do not have a big staff like Apple or Samsung even tho we do get some bugs in our code just like they do, Maybe they can provide you with their source code to fix their issues too.
Anyways, I looked at the code and it seems like there was a bit left set for debug vs release, I will attach the kid code if you are willing to try it out, the code has not been tested or released by our team since it will take some time, but if you are willing to give it a try be my guest.
I apologize for the inconvenience.
Mario
Quote from: Mario on May 16, 2018, 05:47:19 PM
BMRC, I am glad you are an IT nerd, I understand your frustration, here at Midnite we are working hard at keeping and supporting our customers we do not have a big staff like Apple or Samsung even tho we do get some bugs in our code just like they do, Maybe they can provide you with their source code to fix their issues too.
I realize my previous posts shed a bad light on your product in a somewhat snarky manner, and it's human reaction to be defensive, but your (poor) attempt at humor is neither funny nor helpful. My request for source code was sincere - If no one was willing to look further into my issue I'd do it myself given the tools. If Apple or Samsung released botched firmware that caused phones to randomly freeze after weeks of working then provided poor customer service to those impacted, they wouldn't have a big staff for long.
Quote from: Mario on May 16, 2018, 05:47:19 PM
Anyways, I looked at the code and it seems like there was a bit left set for debug vs release, I will attach the kid code if you are willing to try it out, the code has not been tested or released by our team since it will take some time, but if you are willing to give it a try be my guest.
I appreciate you at least providing something to try, but no thanks on the untested firmware. I feel as if I'm already rolling the dice with the firmware/charger I've got, no need to double down on my bet with a charger 6 hours away from home.
If I can't get all of the data as I did before, can you at least clarify what the 6 data points are that I'm receiving in 1860? At first glance it looks like the WBjr data is whats missing, but I'm just making a guess without any documentation or code to verify.
I agree we can have a constructive conversation without the bad humor or sarcasm.
The first 2 variables in 1860 are Battery voltage and PV voltage, everything else will not be helpful to you since it is being used for debugging different peripherals of the unit, The code I sent you (1863) would be safe to use since all I did in the code was to disable the debug bit on the PC Comm for the PC, I am not trying to pressure you in any way to use this code in your unit since it is 6 hrs away, but you will have to realize that testing the code here will take some time, we will do our best to get it out as soon as we can.
BTW I tested the code here with my PC to a kid and this is what I got:
139,129,,,,-530,,100,400,39,
139,130,,,,-530,,100,400,39,
139,130,,,,-530,,100,400,39,
139,130,,,,-530,,100,400,39,
Which is the same as what 1856 used to send out, I don't have a WBJR connected or a BTS
Thanks,
Mario
I believe Mario said there was some debugging stuff in that previous firmware output that is a bit messed up and that the firmware he just posted should fix it. Lots of us on here have served as beta testers for their new products and firmware updates. Mario just offered you the chance to test the fixed firmware since you seem to have volunteered in your other post.
I have to tell you that in all the years I have been on this forum your post has been the toughest or sort of hostile towards the Midnite staff. They have always been helpful and innovative and often offer new features that forum users have politely and seriously requested. It seems Midnite has been working on resolving your concerns with the issue you raised. The fact that you have been able to offer your pointed critiques is testament to their customer service . If they were not open and had some kind of attitude your post on here and repeated tone could have been easily deleted at the very beginning . No one has done that .
Enjoy the sunshine and the people who bring the products to you . ( I see Mario responded just before I did ).
Larry
ClassicCrazy - I do apologize for the tone I've set, as I stated earlier I can be a snarky bastard. I think my pointed critiques at least give an idea as to why I've been frustrated. I don't mind waiting for a fix, but the lack of communication and a 'resolved' ticket really got me. I offered to look at code to understand the issue, not to be a beta tester. I spent a lot of money to have it work 'out of the box' specifically because of the remote location. Anyway, I'm just beating a dead horse about my experience thus far, so moving forward with a more positive tone...
Mario - Thank you for the information. Knowing what you've changed in 1863 and the explanation of the root cause gives me much more confidence to try this out. I'm not sure when I'll be at the property again, but I'll report back once I do update. I'm also planning on adding a Programmable Logic Controller for load control and monitoring voltages. If I add a large relay in the chargers positive battery wire I should be able to reset it remotely if I have an issue.
Could you please shed some light on what was changed in 1860 to fix freezing? Was this some sort of overflow issue? I'm really curious as to why my setup failed and others haven't.
bmrc
You may want to have a look at this topic in case you have not seen it yet ( and others in open source section )
http://midniteftp.com/forum/index.php?topic=2765.0
Larry
Mario and All,
I have two Kids setup for beta testing. I will be glad to upload one of them with 1863. My two Kids running 1860 have never frozen up. I do have WBJr's and BTMS for both. I'll update as soon as I get 1863 running.
I for one am very impressed with everyone at Midnite. Sure there are going to be issues, show me any code that is still on version 1.0 I dare you.
I talked with Mario and there was definitely a flash bit set that would send out debugging information for part of the string
that nobody else would be able to make heads or tails of. Evidently part of that data string was normal.
Luckily it was a simple matter to fix.
Thanks and sorry for the inconvenience of having to re-program the Kid.
We're so busy here lately that we're running around like chickens with our legs cut off !
boB
Mario,
Does 1863 have the new windows 10 update, or do I need to use the old key updater?
Thanks.
It can't be as bad as my almost 500 dollar Outback MATE3 and it's supposed grid zero function for my four series/parallel 3500 watt inverters. First the grid zero is not documented properly (why I bought it in the first place) with it's limiting to almost nothing in grid zero from the battery bank and almost all from the grid. Then the MATE3 had 1 too many errors I think is the problem and will not clear faults and will not see or accept an SD card so it is frozen. My inverters are on autocruz for weeks now. And the priority of the inverters is also messed up only straightened out by tech assist. I had to use their recommendations from a trouble ticket to overcome it shutting down with surges of 2hp motor starting (with 14kw of inverters and 150 solar panels). I had to implement my own homebrew grid zero with a meanwell 2kw power supply to sip off the grid and now manually disconnect every morning with the MBT and the meanwell upstream of the MBT. I feel your pain on the lack of documentation on the kid (and also Outback products) and software glitches (in their case likely done by a programming team in India). Best regards, Mike
Mario,
I used the new updater and supplied it with 1863. It loaded well.
Going through the menus, I see the PWM divert is missing from the load section, is this on purpose?
I have two classic 150s and they are bullet proof. For my smaller installations I looked at kid but for the price was not impressed. Enerdrive make to notch kit and went with a couple of their dc2dc mppt chargers. Beautiful bit of engineering. Love my classics though for larger installs can’t beat them. Hope you get your issues sorted after investing the money.
Update: My kid with 1860 is still charging, Hallelujah!
Quote from: Highflyer on May 23, 2018, 12:04:01 PM
Mario and All,
I have two Kids setup for beta testing. I will be glad to upload one of them with 1863. My two Kids running 1860 have never frozen up. I do have WBJr's and BTMS for both. I'll update as soon as I get 1863 running.
I for one am very impressed with everyone at Midnite. Sure there are going to be issues, show me any code that is still on version 1.0 I dare you.
Do you ever reset your chargers?
1856 isn't version 1.0 so I'm failing to see the parallel. My complaint was not that midnite updates their code...that'd be silly. Something like the serial data formatting is unfortunate, but the charger freezing is wholly unacceptable. IMO, both issues should've been caught in testing before firmware was released - the malformed serial data shows midnite certainly isn't using a standardized test before a version release. We, the paying customers, are the testers...
We - some of the customers have volunteered to be Beta testers. And we the customers often ask for new updates and Midnite does them. We often beta test those updates too before the general release. Sometimes some stuff breaks in the process that neither Midnite or the volunteer beta testers uncover. Like I mentioned before , you could buy the Chinese controller and see if they have an open forum that you can communicate with other users and the engineers. And see if they will respond to requests for new features and back up their products.
There are so many different installations , wiring techniques, add on equipments, how could every single scenario and installation get beta tested ?
Larry
I certainly agree the Chinese product would lack any support. It would also be about 1/3 the price.
Quote from: ClassicCrazy on May 31, 2018, 04:19:24 PM
There are so many different installations , wiring techniques, add on equipments, how could every single scenario and installation get beta tested ?
They couldn't. However, this doesn't mean Midnite shouldn't or couldn't perform basic testing for every new firmware release. For example - while testing COMM, the test script should include a sanity check for serial data in each mode; with a WBJR, and BTS. Baseline testing like this is pretty standard in the software development world. Some companies even start coding
from testing - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Test-driven_development (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Test-driven_development)
BMRC,
I have been using the Kid charge controller from the beginning. I love it for what it does. For you to say that Midnite does not test their software is laughable. I get you are mad because of a problem you are having and you want to find someone to blame, noted.
Please spend your time doing something productive. I have asked for and had Midnite add several features to the Kid. I have found several bugs as well. Just the fact that I can talk to the engineers about their code and product is several steps above most other companies.
Yes, I have had to reset one of my Kids once or twice over the last four years I have had them. Show me a windows computer that does not need to be rebooted from time to time. I have had more things than I can count blue screen. But for me, Midnite has listened and corrected every issue I have seen to date.
In short, if they build it, I'll buy it.
If you want to spend your money on other equipment, best of luck. That's more Midnite equipment for the rest of us.
Nothing like a robust discussion lol...
I suppose the primary objective of a charge controller is correctly charge and manage batteries. That is it’s primary objective. Everything that it does on top of that is just an additional feature. If those additional features cause it to fail at its primary job then the product has real problems. Having a charge controller lockup so that it no longer charges your batteries is a significant failure. Batteries are expensive and if they get damaged because of this then you lose faith in the product and feel “ripped offâ€.
Implementing new features to make the product more marketable is great and I love my classics and what they can do but they have never let me down. My view on all of this is build in redundancy. For remote systems where you cannot easily monitor or physically access split your charging process into two. Two smaller solar arrays rather than one big one. Two smaller charger controllers rather than one. That way if the worst happens and you loose a controller for whatever reason you still have one system hopefully feeding your batteries. Add in low voltage cutoff or some form of remote alarms and you increase your chances of surviving a failure.
I worked for many years in Papua New Guinea for Oil Search and this is how we approached extreme remote power systems for monitoring and telemetry of mission critical systems.
Great fun.
Quote from: smanners on June 04, 2018, 07:09:32 PM
Nothing like a robust discussion lol...
I suppose the primary objective of a charge controller is correctly charge and manage batteries. That is it’s primary objective. Everything that it does on top of that is just an additional feature. If those additional features cause it to fail at its primary job then the product has real problems. Having a charge controller lockup so that it no longer charges your batteries is a significant failure. Batteries are expensive and if they get damaged because of this then you lose faith in the product and feel “ripped offâ€.
Implementing new features to make the product more marketable is great and I love my classics and what they can do but they have never let me down. My view on all of this is build in redundancy. For remote systems where you cannot easily monitor or physically access split your charging process into two. Two smaller solar arrays rather than one big one. Two smaller charger controllers rather than one. That way if the worst happens and you loose a controller for whatever reason you still have one system hopefully feeding your batteries. Add in low voltage cutoff or some form of remote alarms and you increase your chances of surviving a failure.
I worked for many years in Papua New Guinea for Oil Search and this is how we approached extreme remote power systems for monitoring and telemetry of mission critical systems.
Great fun.
We are in an age where superheroes exist and your super power is Common Sense never let anyone tell you it is not!
Redundancy in any system should be question number 3 or 4 that anyone asks when designing because nothing is perfect, everything breaks at some point.
Thanks for reminding us to use that lump on our shoulders for something besides a hat rack.
Kyle
Lol thanks...
I like the midnite products it’s a real engineers bit of kit made with a genuine love of the science. You can see it from the outside to the in. I love this type of gear. However I’m not a midnite die hard. It has to be fit for purpose. I use the classics on my primary house solar charging but I use Enerdrive for my smaller applications (its Australian made sorry). Victron also make good gear if you like top notch plug and play. But I find Victron a bit boring for some reason. Midnite gear is interesting. Just please make sure that with all these cool features you try to isolate those processes from interfering with its primary job. I don’t mind that the network stack on my classics lock up because I just set a system restart each night. It’s not mission critical that monitoring works 100%, the charging side always works and that’s all I really care about. I have had issues with SOC occasionally resetting itself to
100%. No big deal, I just add in a safety net of an intervolt voltage sensing relay to ensure batteries cannot be discharged past a certain voltage when the signal from the aux interface does not work.
Most importantly remember your spending a lot of money so try to have fun with it.
i think the attachment that Mario had made for 1863 has been edited out.. can we get a heads up on ETA on a release of the fix for the debug flag on the PC mode? ..
Or can I volunteer to beta test the fix .. would love to get data sooner than later.
There is a 1860 1.1 on the Midnite page - maybe that is the corrected version
http://www.midnitesolar.com/firmware.php?firmwareProduct_ID=4
Quote from: ClassicCrazy on June 11, 2018, 01:30:14 AM
There is a 1860 1.1 on the Midnite page - maybe that is the corrected version
http://www.midnitesolar.com/firmware.php?firmwareProduct_ID=4
Someone mentioned a few pages back that 1860 1.1 is 1860 with the windows updater. (plus the date of that release is april which is before this bug was known) -- I think the FW with the fix is called 1863 (unless they make another cut)
oh - okay - wonder why they took 1863 down ? I usually download all the new copies of firmware but for some reason I didn't get that one - I just looked in my download folder and don't have it.
Larry
given that midnite doesn't seem to keep a historic download page for older FW .. keeping all the releases yourself is a good practice.
Mario found a bug in the load output that effected PWM divert. He pulled it until he gets it fixed. And yes I agree on a page for "Archived" firmware that sounds like a great idea. I will ping the folks over at Midnite and see if they may consider that.
for those of you who are beta testers for new firmware, is there a formal process for requesting to be in a beta test program .. or how do you get on that list?
I would like to get the next FW sooner rather than later so i can finish up my monitoring dashboard.
Quote from: ricardo on June 12, 2018, 11:21:42 AM
for those of you who are beta testers for new firmware, is there a formal process for requesting to be in a beta test program .. or how do you get on that list?
I would like to get the next FW sooner rather than later so i can finish up my monitoring dashboard.
Maybe give Midnite a call or fill out a ticket offering to test out the new firmware so they know how to get in touch with you. Often they just post on the forums with new firmwares for anyone to try out in beta before they post on their main download page.
Larry
It looks like the charger (with 1860) has frozen again. I won't know for sure until I visit my property again, but the charger isn't spitting out any serial data anymore.
Quote from: bmrc on August 13, 2018, 10:44:40 PM
It looks like the charger (with 1860) has frozen again. I won't know for sure until I visit my property again, but the charger isn't spitting out any serial data anymore.
take a look here
http://midniteftp.com/forum/index.php?topic=4127.msg40602#msg40602
I visited my property this weekend and confirmed the kid wasn't working again. Batteries were still up at 25.4v thanks to a PLC shutting off loads when no charge current was detected for 3 days. Unlike the last time when the kid froze, this time it appears to be completely dead. There was no text on the LCD when I arrived, and disconnecting/reconnecting from the batteries and solar didn't do anything.
I'll be starting a ticket with midnite and will report back how it goes.
December 2018 Update
Midnite gave me an RMA, and I shipped the Kid back for repair. It was still under warranty so there was no charge (other than my shipping cost). Midnite repaired it and sent it back within a few days. I must say, excellent service. The reason for the failure: "It had a blown main processor." I inquired further, but the answer was about as I expected;
"Hard to say what blew out the processor. Could have been loose solder joints on the circuit board caused by shipping/handling. Could have been voltage spike on one of the circuits to the processor. A resistor was replaced too. This particular resistor blows when the processor blows, so that doesn’t help narrow down the root cause. Sorry, just no way of knowing in cases like this."
I'm hoping that the failed processor was due to something rare, but only time will tell. I bench tested for about 3 months with no issues, and just recently returned to my property to wire it back up again. No issues so far (fingers crossed).
August 2020 Update
Not quite 2 years later and the kid is dead again, same symptoms as last time. No warranty this time, so I'll take a stab at repairing it myself.
U1 on the PCB is visibly damaged next to the ground pin. This chip is marked 5022, does anyone know if this is an LM5022? https://www.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/lm5022-q1.pdf (https://www.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/lm5022-q1.pdf) .
This is a long shot, but are there any schematics available for the kid?
Thanks,
Nick
Quote from: bmrc on August 17, 2020, 12:43:06 AM
August 2020 Update
Not quite 2 years later and the kid is dead again, same symptoms as last time. No warranty this time, so I'll take a stab at repairing it myself.
U1 on the PCB is visibly damaged next to the ground pin. This chip is marked 5022, does anyone know if this is an LM5022? https://www.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/lm5022-q1.pdf (https://www.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/lm5022-q1.pdf) .
This is a long shot, but are there any schematics available for the kid?
Thanks,
Nick
Nick,
The KID carries a 5 year warranty. I would cover this repair even if it was out of that time. Looks like you had much better luck with the latest FW version?
If you could send me your shipping address and current phone number in an email I will set up the RMA for you.
Hi Kyle,
I sent you a PM with my info. I was under the impression that it had a 2 year warranty, so its great to hear it's still covered.
The kid has been running the 1860 firmware since it was repaired in 2018. While this version has the serial data bug it was stable as far as charging operation, which was most important to me.
Thanks,
Nick
Quote from: bmrc on August 17, 2020, 06:22:06 PM
Hi Kyle,
I sent you a PM with my info. I was under the impression that it had a 2 year warranty, so its great to hear it's still covered.
Thanks,
Nick
Well, IF it WAS 2 years, it's too late now !
Thanks Kyle !