Report Card for Beta Units...??

[Bunkie314]

After playing with the menus and searching through all the different options you can not get into the advanced tech. I had to disconnect battery power to get into that area.  I did  verify by browsing through things several times and had to shut battery power off to access.  Since the reset is located there I didn't have much of any other choice.

BTW, the firmware version is displayed when you do a factory reset. Mine displays 1704. That may be a useful visual tool for the status display or in the tech menu.

I also couldn't configure anything in bully mode. Connection of the two units required?  I could mess around in follow me. I will be configuring in this arrangement but not for a while. One is in service at the trailer and one is on the coffee table where its warm.

An option to change between Celsius and Fahrenheit would be really nice.

This little thing is incredible!

[Bunkie314]

Sorry for the double post, but I have a couple more questions:

what triggers a charging cycle? Will this be able to the set on time or voltage and or both? Additionally what triggers equalize cycle? Will this be able to be set on an automatic time or manual? ln an RV application it could be several months before you return to see the state of the battery with no use.

Thanks

[Kent0]

Beta Kid #48 arrived safely today.

Initial impression:
I think it is a mistake to not have front side access to the wire terminals. With wiring from the back, the connections to the Kid have to made before mounting it on the wall and/or there has to be a location to leave a slack section of wire.

A couple questions:
Is there a Low Voltage Disconnect mode for the load terminals?
How does one initiate an equalize charge?

[Mario]

#27 arrived Thursday. Nice, solid unit! Packed well enough to survive being dropped from a plane, too!

I did not have time to do much more than unpack it, fire it up on the bench and do a firmware upgrade because we had frozen drains from the Arctic Vortex that showed up with sub sub zero (F) temps for several days earlier this week and today I had to drive 3 hours through sleet and black ice to Ea Claire, Wisconsin in the dark to take my Amateur Radio tests this AM. Passed the Technician and General tests but choked on the Extra. 

Hopefully I will gather some needed bits and get it in the system in the next few days.

I noticed the tight cover but looked like it was just the paint and snug is good for parts that do not move or get removed often.

I really liked the drag and drop firmware upgrade method. Too bad it did not work on my Ubuntu laptop even though Ubuntu recognized it as a drive and the file transferred to the Kid without errors but was dead simple on Win 7 Home Premium on the laptop I keep for M$ only things like this. No drivers,to install, no confusion on ports or support software to put fresh firmware on the unit. +1 on that!

All told, well done, guys!

More info as I get it.

Tom

Tom, I am working with Andrew in making a bootloader Rev 2, which should work on Linux, Mac and all Windows.
Right now there will not be any more updates until we get the new bootloader done and verified.
Coming real soon.
To note: All the units with Code Rev 1704 might have problems communicating with the WBJR, that is known and will get fixed as soon as we roll out Bootloader Rev 2.x

Mario R

[Mario]

I had a 500 amp 50mv shunt that was for another project and also the Whizbang. I now have them connected to the Kid . It seems to be working as expected. I did need to extend the purple wire from the Whizbang about a foot.  When there is an option to set up a different shunt I will install the 100 amp .

I couldn't find any menus that shows the firmware version. I am assuming that this shipped out with the most current firmware since the one on the web is dated 12-31-13 .

ClassicCrazy,
To tell what version of firmware it has: on boot up when the Welcome screen appears "Midnite Solar" "The Kid 17xx"
there will be a number on the left side of The kid is the firmware version.
The latest code on the web is 1704
If there is no number there that means that you have the original code from factory.
Again, if you update to 1704 your communications to the WBJR will be flaky but its not a big deal since right now the kid doesn't do nothing else than display the current from it.

[ClassicCrazy]

ClassicCrazy,
To tell what version of firmware it has: on boot up when the Welcome screen appears "Midnite Solar" "The Kid 17xx"
there will be a number on the left side of The kid is the firmware version.
The latest code on the web is 1704
If there is no number there that means that you have the original code from factory.
Again, if you update to 1704 your communications to the WBJR will be flaky but its not a big deal since right now the kid doesn't do nothing else than display the current from it.

After I had written this post I had updated the firmware.  So from what I saw last time I looked was that in most recent firmware the Whizbang amps reading was only a positive value even if it was coming only out of the battery. 

[TomW]

Tom, I am working with Andrew in making a bootloader Rev 2, which should work on Linux, Mac and all Windows.
Right now there will not be any more updates until we get the new bootloader done and verified.

Mario R

Mario;

Thats great! Anything that makes it easier will be appreciated, I am sure.

I think you guys hit a home run with the drag and drop updater, making it cross platform will make it that much better!

Finally hooked mine up temporarily until I source some proper parts and of course no sun today.

Tom

[dgd]

My KID arrived this morning, as TomW said the packaging is excellent and the build quality is excellent.
No serial # on it or the box.

The manual is well presented and those various connection diagrams are a very useful addition. The wall template is also a nice idea.
As expected for a beta unit, lots of the mentioned modes and features are also noted as not yet available. 

I will be very interested when the wind options become available and the KID Clipper too. A wind learning mode
Maybe this code will migrate to the Classic and it will get the eagerly awaited wind learning mode 

Bright sun today so will be connecting this up to five in series 140W Pvs and 24v LiFeYPo4 battery. MPV of 90v looks good for max current throughput on KID.

Thanks MN for providing these Beta units.

dgd

[TomW]

My KID arrived this morning, as TomW said the packaging is excellent and the build quality is excellent.
No serial # on it or the box.

dgd

Mine was hand written  on a piece of paper taped inside the cover.

I have it wired in temporarily from 2 X 75 watt 12 volt nominal panels in series. It was doing some good amps earlier today when the sun was out with 63 to 65 volts in.

Tom

[dgd]

Mine was hand written  on a piece of paper taped inside the cover.

yes, I had taken the cover off and set it down without inspecting the inside of the cover.  Beta kid #28
No paint on the lip of the cover so it is a snug fit but comes off easy when the securing bolt is removed

Seems to be working nicely, I see over 540watts from a 700watt pv array

dgd

[Kent0]

I powered up #48 on the bench this morning. Measured standby loss of approx 700 mW at 12 V and 750 mW at 24 V. At 12 volts that amounts to 1400 mAh/day. Putting the display to sleep after 15 minutes should improve that some.

Update: for comparison I checked the standby loss of the SS MMPT that was removed to make room to give beta 48 a try. The SS MPPT standby loss was almost linear with voltage: 285 mW at 12 volts and 685 mW at 24 volts.

Going through the configuration I was able to adjust the load manual mode, low voltage disconnect and reconnect voltages. But only found this by luck as it is accessed with the setup button. Seems like the Manual mode should actually be called LVD for low voltage disconnect. I also tried the Toggle mode. Seems like this mode should allow the operator to turn the load on and off from the status display. Doesn't seem to work that way. So what does toggle do?

Still haven't been able to set up an automatic equalization and haven't been able to find a way to initiate a manual equalization either.

[Halfcrazy]

Kent and others
I have asked Mario to jump in. I know he is working on adding the EQ functionality now but as for the rest I will wait for Mario

Ryan

[ChrisOlson]

We have our KID Marine Beta installed in our sailing yacht, 12V system, two 160W panels mounted horizontally on the arch along with the radar, VHF, SSB, Rogue WiFi, and GPS antennas.  It works fine and seems to handle shading from the sails and antennas good.  And the idle power consumption is pretty much negligible.

One downside is that it has a pretty substantial footprint for the limited panel space we have in yachts.  The bracket that came with it was handy for mounting, and I found a nice place for it by the battery bank selector switch where it is out of the way but easily readable when sitting at the chart table.  It is right next to our VHF and SSB radios, and our GPS chartplotter, and none of the other equipment seems to be bothered by any RFI from it.

For the marine version we're looking at ruggedness in the salt air environment, ability to handle shading from the sails when underway, and power consumption when idle.  So far it meets all expectations.  Exceeds expectations on idle power consumption.  We'll know more after it spends the next couple months cruising the Caribbean.

I don't know if the non-marine versions have the same display, but the display is super easy to read in all lighting conditions.

[Mario]

Ok, I will try to answer some of the questions:
I have been working on code to get the LCD to turn off after some time to reduce idle. What ever I can do to Help minimize it.
EQ will be available soon but it will not be Auto EQ yet, It will be Manual to start with. Since right now there is not a way to do an EQ, I will get something so you guys can EQ.

Setup Button, this going to be new for some of you who are familiar with the Classic, so if you are in a menu(eg. Load, Input) and you want to know if you can Setup a parameter on that menu or for the specific function you have selected, just press SETUP the button, if there is a setup it will take you to it and you can modify the behaviour. Don't be afraid just press it, find out what is all you can Setup, for different functions there are different setups, to get out of the menu just press the Menu Back button.
If there is not a setup then the key is just ignored.

The Low Battery Disconnect  for the load can be found by going to Main Menu->Load->Highlight Battery and press the SETUP button.
The manual has a section on the LBD and how to operate it.
BTW there was an update recently to the Manual and can be found on the MidNite Solar website.

Mario

[Mario]

After playing with the menus and searching through all the different options you can not get into the advanced tech. I had to disconnect battery power to get into that area.  I did  verify by browsing through things several times and had to shut battery power off to access.  Since the reset is located there I didn't have much of any other choice.

What do you want to modify when you were trying to get access to the Advance menu?
There is a menu called TECH located all the way to the right in Main Menu where you will be able to find Calibration, Factory reset and Firmware Update.
Calibration is where you can adjust the Battery Voltage, Pv voltage and Anticlick settings on the kid.

BTW, the firmware version is displayed when you do a factory reset. Mine displays 1704. That may be a useful visual tool for the status display or in the tech menu.

Yes, I am working on an About Kid screen where it will have the Rev numbers for the App and the Bootloader. So it will be moved out of Factory reset.

I also couldn't configure anything in bully mode. Connection of the two units required?  I could mess around in follow me. I will be configuring in this arrangement but not for a while. One is in service at the trailer and one is on the coffee table where its warm.

An option to change between Celsius and Fahrenheit would be really nice.

This little thing is incredible!

About Bully: you Must have the two units to be able to do anything there because it is expecting a response back from the Wimpy kid,
Follow me mode does not expect a response back so it will just spit out data on the serial port when it needs to, to make the other kids follow the Master.

As time allows there will be a F to C option.

Thanks for the Feedback,
Mario