Classic 250 status screen

[plongson]

I'm still in a huge learing curve here, and I have questions about the display on my new 250 status screen.

On the left side I see

Volts- I assume this is the voltage in realtime from the panels  Y/N
Watts- This is the realtime watts being produced Y/N
kWh-The accumulated watts for the day and it resets when the sun goes down Y/N

Then on the right side...

Battery voltage-realtime battery voltage Y/N
AMP- I dunno not sure how this one works
State of the controller? Is there a list of the states and what they mean?

Occiliscope- I haven't pushed this button yet, is it a 60hz sine wave or flat DC line??

I DL'd the user manual but didn't see any information on this.

Thanks, and point me in any direction for additional tips

[boB]

Hi Plongson...
There ~should~ be a short blurb about the main status screen that comes with the Classic that shows what
is what on the main status screen.  Maybe I'm thinking in the past on that one though ??

So, I think you got most of that correct.
Second line down on the Left is input Voltage.   Second line down on the right is output voltage
Third line down on the left is the present output wattage.  Third line down on the right is output current  to the batteries, in amps.

Bottom left is today's energy in kilo-watt-hours which resets at night.  Soon to be at midnite (00 hours) on the next code revision.

At the bottom right you will see the charge stage and sometimes other information that shares the time with that message.
At night or when the Classic isn't making power, it will usually show "Resting"

First charging stage is Bulk and is when the battery voltage is below the Absorb set point voltage, usually around 14.3 Volts for
a 12V battery or multiples of that for higher voltage batteries.  When the batteries get charged enough to get to the
Absorb set point, the Classic will just try to keep the batteries at that voltage for usually a couple of hours.
If clouds come by or large loads get turned on where the Classic can't keep the battery at that voltage, the message
will return to BULK MPPT.  The Word "MPPT" means that the Classic is trying its hardest to reach the voltage set point,
whether that voltage is Absorb, Float or EQ.
After the timer in the Classic has seen that the battery was held at the Absorb voltage for a couple of hours, (this time is adjustable in the
charge menu), it will go to Float and try to keep the battery voltage there until the beginning of the next day. (around 13.6 Volts for 12V batteries).

Again, if clouds come by, big loads come on or usually, evening and the sun is going down, "Float" may turn to "Float MPPT" because
the set point voltage is still at 13.6V (12 B battery)  but the Classic and solar can't keep that Float voltage active.

Same thing for EQualize (EQ).  It has its set point voltage and EQ MPPT stage as well.

In the little bit of space  on the second line down from the top, you may see AUX1  on the left part and/or  AUX2 on the right.  This simply means that the Auxiliary outputs of the Classic terminals are "ON"... On meaning that there is 12 to 15 Volts appearing on those screw terminals or, for AUX 1, the relay is closed.  Aux 1 and 2 are selectable functions adjusted from the AUX menu.

That's the basics for that message screen.

If you press the STATUS button, it will take you to the Status two screen which now will show you the input current as well
as the input Voltage and input Voc, or the open circuit voltage last seen by the Classic when it opened up its input for whatever
reason, either for certain types of sweeps or beginning of charging or whatever.

Press the STATUS button again and it will show you (for latest software) a graph of recent history showing power, input/output voltage, etc.
BTW, if you hold the STATUS button down before releasing it, a short description of that screen will appear.  Again, this is for the latest firmware in the MNGP, either shipped with the Classic or updated by USB from our web site.

Pressing the STATUS button again brings up the oscilloscope, called the "Moon Scope".  This simply shows input and output (battery) voltage.
You can speed it up by pressing the UP arrow button and slow it down by pressing the DOWN arrow button.  This screen isn't all that interesting probably for solar since the voltage doesn't change very fast but for wind it can be fairly interesting and informational.

Press the STATUS button again and you get the software revision date screen for Classic and MNGP and what nominal battery voltage the Classic is set for.  (12, 24,36, 48V etc...)

There are a couple of other functions that can be done from the main status screen.  For instance, if you press and hold the upper left key, (the soft left key), the MPPT input voltage will come down.  Pressing the soft-right key will bring the input voltage UP.  This will only do something if the charge stage is in a MPPT stage (not voltage regulating) and can be handy for some things where one needs to adjust the input voltage or check the tracking or something like that.

Pressing and holding the Left arrow and tapping the ENTER button gets you into a test screen with some numbers on it.  Most useful thing on that screen is the top middle number which shows the last reason number (Reason For Resting) that shows why the Classic went to Resting last time.  This is sometimes handy for troubleshooting, usually with one of our tech support people over the phone.

Not really useful yet although will be soon is that pressing and holding the left arrow key down and tapping the UP or DOWN arrow key will change the modbus address that the MNGP is talking to on the Midnite network.  Address 10 is the default address of a shipping Classic.

boB

[niel]

boB,
this may confuse some people,
"Third line down on the right is output (battery) current in amps."
that makes it sound like a battery monitor for the battery current output. it is the controller's output current to the batteries.

should you accept this mission and get caught i will disavow any knowledge. this message should self destruct after you read it. (delete it )

[plongson]

WOW, you guys, THANKS!! Very helpful and informative. I'm going to print this out and save it with my documentation. This could really be incorporated into the uses manual.

Thanks again, Paul

[boB]

boB,
this may confuse some people,
"Third line down on the right is output (battery) current in amps."
that makes it sound like a battery monitor for the battery current output. it is the controller's output current to the batteries.

should you accept this mission and get caught i will disavow any knowledge. this message should self destruct after you read it. (delete it )

Thanks Niel.   I just modified that line.

And Plongson, thanks !   This may very well make its way into the manual in some form.

boB

[niel]

"Bottom left is today's energy in kilo-watt-hours which resets at night."

now this may be elsewhere, but when one goes into the mngp and hits logs there's a total kwhs screen. how does this differ with the one on the main display you already covered? not sure if the fact i have one of the first issue classics with original software in it matters or not, but i'm thinking it may be on the newest as well.

[boB]

"Bottom left is today's energy in kilo-watt-hours which resets at night."

now this may be elsewhere, but when one goes into the mngp and hits logs there's a total kwhs screen. how does this differ with the one on the main display you already covered? not sure if the fact i have one of the first issue classics with original software in it matters or not, but i'm thinking it may be on the newest as well.

At night, the status screen kW-Hours gets added (accumulated) with the lifetime kW-Hours in the total-kW-hours (LOGS) screen.
That "total" kW-Hours should really be re-labeled as "Lifetime" kW-Hours.   Until now, the daily kW-Hours on the main status
screen has stayed there until the first wakeup of the new day where is it then reset to 0.0 kW-H  but soon that will be
reset to 0.0 kW-H at midnite. Actually 23:59:59

boB

[niel]

ok an adjective of lifetime does explain that well and makes me realize just how bad feeding my classic so far with only a us64 pv over a year has been. .5kwh boy, do i need to get those other pvs mounted.