Report Card for Beta Units...??

[dapdan]

Vic,

I will consider what you are saying and confirm the weather condotions next time I am observing the kid.

Thanks...
Damani

[philb]

I finally got to the point where I could install software in the Kid this morning. No problems.

I decided to make a peel and stick label with the serial number and put it on the front of the Kid, just in the case I had problems down the road and needed it for service advice. The label would not stick anywhere on the outside black surface. A dab of silicon under the label worked well.

Afterwards, the Kid was left on my workbench for a few weeks and it accumulated a bit of dust by then. The dust didn't stick to the surface either. Less dust and debris, more cooling. Good thinking Midnite! It must be paint or mold release? Anyway, great idea.

[dapdan]

Midnite,

Whatever happened to the complimentary wbjr that was supposed to be shipped out to the beta testers...or has that died a natural death?

Cheers...
Damani

[Westbranch]

Damani, I got mine ...  send Ryan@Midnite.com  (?)  a quick note to remind him. 

[dapdan]

Ok West, Thanks. Will do.

Cheers...
Damani

[TomW]

Midnite,

Whatever happened to the complimentary wbjr that was supposed to be shipped out to the beta testers...or has that died a natural death?

Cheers...
Damani

I got one, too. Probablyt just need to rattle someones cubicle. 

Tom

[dgd]

Vic,

I will consider what you are saying and confirm the weather condotions next time I am observing the kid.

Thanks...
Damani

Do you hear a relay click when this occurs? and does the state change from mppt (or absorb, float etc) to resting? then its resumes charging.
Since it seems nobody else has seen this random resting state change I was thinking it was my beta unit that had a problem. I have not seen any 'down to zero amps' mppt sweeps, yet!
dgd

[dapdan]

dgd,

No. I have not observed anything you have described. I can say that when it drops to zero amps it stays in the bulk mode or whatever mode it maybe in at the time. It does not go to resting.

Cheers...
Damani

[Vic]

dgd,

In my observations on the Classic,  it stays in the previous charge state,  the relay does NOT click,  and if one is not carefully watching on the MNGP (in my case)  it is very easy to miss that it has occurred.

Am almost certain this is when the CC does a miniSweep.   When listening to the CC on an HF radio,  to one of the CC's "Birdies",  one can hear these Sweep events.  It lasts about a second,  and occurs about once per minute in Solar mode.  These observed events may only occur in Bulk ...  forget.

I am ASSUMING that the Kid's MPPT function is similar to the Classic,   etc.

I may be way off base,  however.    FWIW,   Vic

[dgd]

dgd,

No. I have not observed anything you have described. I can say that when it drops to zero amps it stays in the bulk mode or whatever mode it maybe in at the time. It does not go to resting.

Cheers...
Damani

ok, thanks, I think its just my KID so I will retire it until a few more firmware releases occur. I need to get some power from this pv array so back to the Lite150 for a while.
One advantage of the KID is that to see what its doing I'm up and down stairs to my basement garage many times a day and it don't half keep you fit 
With the Lite in place with my other Classics I can monitor from local app 
dgd

[dgd]

Vic,

yes my Classics behave exactly like this and as you say this is the normal mppt sweeping.
I have not really observed the KID doing this but assume that it must be.

My KID problem is definitely a change of state from mppt to resting, relay clicking it into off state then after a second or so it restarts. Before this latest firmware release the KID would stay in resting up to an hour, now it restarts fairly promptly.

Although probably not related I also suspect there may be an issue with the power levels the KID can handle. I have hooked it to a 700watt PV array then a 1.4Kw array and in bright sunshine and seem to always get it maxing out about 440 to 480 watts. (24v battery bank)
I can see the voltage on the array rising from its normal 90v MPV to 105v which indicates,IMO, there is more power available from the array.

The KID's heatsink gets real hot so i am not sure if this is temperature related.

dgd

[dapdan]

A new behavior I have witness twice is that at night the screen goes blank and does not display anything. I have to do a power cycle to get back the normal screen. During this hang it does nor charge because I had first discovered it one morning and the screen was blank and the kid seemed not to be operating. I can not fully confirm this as I did not check output wire with a meter.

Cheers...
Damani

[Mario]

A new behavior I have witness twice is that at night the screen goes blank and does not display anything. I have to do a power cycle to get back the normal screen. During this hang it does nor charge because I had first discovered it one morning and the screen was blank and the kid seemed not to be operating. I can not fully confirm this as I did not check output wire with a meter.

Cheers...
Damani

Are you running firmware rev 1722?
Mario

[TomW]

Are you running firmware rev 1722?
Mario

Mario;

Just installed 1722 to The Kids. I got the "wavering digit" on the tenths digit on battery voltage again. It seemed to be not there in 1721 but its back now.

Plus, my LEDs only work in "run" or "test" after they boot. They run thru a cycle during boot like they should.

Just cuz its Friday and I know you love a good challenge.

Tom

[dapdan]

Mario,

I have 1721 installed. I didn't realize there was a 1722.

Cheers...
Damani