New Off Grid Inverter Charger

[Robin]

That’s funny. Today they are running more tests and will just let it run when in severe overload while watching FET temperature with a flir. Bob says since the inverter will probably be tripping the overcurrent protection on and off, the temperature may even go down? Hard to tell what is going to happen. I told them to wear goggles. Easy for me to say since I am down in Puerto Vallarta with my lovely wife at the moment.

[Highflyer]

Congratulations, all around!

[Highflyer]

Well, how did the test go?

[Robin]

We kept on reducing the sensitivity of the protection circuitry such that it essentially was out of circuit. We aren't using the corrcet DC fets on the B17 yet as we only have a few samples and they went into the Rosie. The real fets are tougher and lower resistance than the ones we are testing with, but if we can't get the ones we want, we will continue using the Brat fets. Running half of a B17 module at about 5000 continuous watts does eventually get the Dc fets hot. That is not unexpected as it is only a 1500 watt inverter section. We finally shut the unit off after the fets got up to 187C! They never broke. Boy are those good fets. We didn't have any air flow during this test so we could have run it longer with fan cooling. This condition will never happen in a real B17, but it is good to know just how tough these things are.
By the way, The Rosie is now up and running and putting out lots of power too.

[Highflyer]

All good news, is is time for Beta testing yet?

[Robin]

I asked Mario this afternoon when will we be able to send some units out again? His answer was typical of an engineer.
1. It was working so well.
2. I went to add a couple more features and fix a couple of things.
3. Now it is all broken!

I am sure he will get the HB ready to ship out soon. That means within a couple of weeks.
Then the Barcelona. We have plenty of boards built, but Mario has to get the HB working decently first since the Barcelona is basically just two Hawke's Bays.

Then the B17 MPPT is next. We have modules built. Sami is redoing the MPPT circuit boards to bring them up to the HB level of changes, but we can use what we have now for testing. Unfortunately it is third on the list.

We are resurrecting the LTP (Lunch Time Project). Every Friday a dozen or so engineers will go out to a larger restaurant to eat lunch and talk about the LTP. Jeremy is the main engineer on the LTP, but it will be based on all of our previous charge controllers, so Bob and MArio will have a lot to say about the direction it will take. My goal is to make an MPPT charge controller here in the states that blows the doors off the competition. I know technically that is possible. The challenge is to make it cheap enough that people will want to buy it over all the foreign made stuff.
I think it is possible. Hope we can make a buck or two in the process?

The Rosie is putting out a lot of power lately as well as is the B17 inverter. Bob's focus lately has been hot swap for the plug in modules. Making them behave and not electrocute customers is a real challenge. It is coming along fine though. We still have a few more expendable technicians that haven't bit the dust yet.

Sunspec compliant rapid shutdown is almost ready for ETL. We are having tons of problems getting parts though.

The B17B battery system is almost ready for a full fledged prototype too. Boards are being ordered. Metalwork should be ordered in a couple of weeks. The custom plastic and chrome plated side covers are being tooled now too. Can't wait to see one all put together. IT will be a real challenge building this module without shorting battery packs out. There are so many chances to screw up. We will need very special processes and procedures once we have a functional product. In the mean time Scott has to be very careful. Scott is the B17B engineer. We have worked with him since our very early days at Trace Engineering. Scott was also one of the owners of OutBack with us too.
Although the MNGP2 is pretty functional now, James has started on a touch screen version that can hold about 40 minutes of video. I am thinking installation related video instructions that also have sound. Maybe we can get an episode of StarTrek on there also?

[onanparts]

I posted links to B17 and Rosie videos firing up air compressors in the Inverters sub forums but here they are too. Please read the full descriptions in the videos for the details.

B17 overload video, 1500 Watts of lights plus a pair of compressors on half of a module, 120V single leg.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3mGehzhIwc

B17 video 300 watts of light and a pair of compressors same as above, on half of a module.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AHHsfqNMhA

Rosie video first time running a single air compressor. Note Andy's hesitation on flipping the switch..will it smoke?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1yDP8n1wW0

Rosie video first time running a pair of compressors.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4YQi7ksGUs