Local App Unlock code.

[Resthome]

The only issue I ever had with installing the LA was when the download would come down as an EXE instead of an AIR file. Haven't had that problem lately.

Ah if the file comes down as a non .air all you should have to do is rename it and change the extension to .air

I know IE will tend to make it some odd extensions for some reason

Exactly what I did Ryan, just not expecting it to happen. And yes an IE malfunction.  As I said have not seen it the last few updates.

[Halfcrazy]

The only issue I ever had with installing the LA was when the download would come down as an EXE instead of an AIR file. Haven't had that problem lately.

Ah if the file comes down as a non .air all you should have to do is rename it and change the extension to .air

I know IE will tend to make it some odd extensions for some reason

Exactly what I did Ryan, just not expecting it to happen. And yes an IE malfunction.  As I said have not seen it the last few updates.

Yeah that has been a little problematic. I guess we need a warning beside the download button mentioning this. i will bring this to Andrews attention asap

[Resthome]

For those of us who have been around for a while the LA is probably easy to understand. For the new kid on the block they are going to look for the manual to learn how it works and not try to find info in the forum.

IMHO Midnite should pull the LA manual from the web site or cut out the network stuff that no longer applies. Like the DynDNS.org set up! The screen shots are out of date along with a lot of the information. And nothing on the WBjr info that has been around now for 5-7 months. Then again there are those that never read the manual. So who know what is right.

Don't get me wrong I think Midnite is a great company with great hardware and great support.

[viola]

Well the gauge labeled Energy also says KWH So it is the actual KWH at that moment the particular Classic has put into the battery and loads.

Which means what?   At this particular moment the gauge labelled 'Energy' is reading 0.0 and it's nearly midday, but it's been a dull day without a lot of power flowing out of the panels it seems.  As I recall there was a numeric entry in the gauge yesterday before the Classic went into 'resting' mode for the night so would I be right to assume - in the lack of direct information - that the gauge re-sets at the end of the day?  Or does it reset every time the Classic goes into a 'resting' mode, which I suspect it has done a couple of times already today?  Or does it reset every time I log off from the monitor?

In fact I don't really care what the Classic is putting into the battery, as long as I can rely on it working to maximum efficiency with the power available.  The only measure that concerns me is the amp-hours stored in the battery.  Our wireless gear only draws about 2 amps but it does so 24/7.  The battery fully-charged should be able to run the site for four days plus with no solar input at all and all I really need to know is where we stand in relation to that.  If the local app can tell me that I haven't yet found out how. 

While I agree the Local App manual is very old and out of date we really tried to make the Local App mimic the Classics language and be very intuitive. Sorry again we are a disappointment.

Well, there's no excuse for having an old and out of date manual - unless you want to be seen as some amateur hayseed operation out of the backblocks.  And expecting people to be able to intuit their way through functions suggests an unhealthy attitude towards your customers; ie if you can't work it out for yourself you shouldn't have purchased our products - as does your "We regret you're not good enough for us" dismissal.

[dgd]

Viola,

The amp-hour readings you need and battery state of charge (a figure as % of full capacity) is displayed by the local app when you have a battery shunt and the Whizzbang Junior connected on the shunt and wired to the Classic (the WBjr is now supplied with the Classic but not the shunt).

The local app display on left in upper right of green display box shows output from Wbjr.
The display on right is Classic without a Wbjr.

dgd

[viola]

Thanks dgd.  When I've found out what a shunt is, researched the WBJ and can go to our Trustees with some confidence I know what I'm talking about plus a price I'll discover if we can afford what I thought I was getting from Midnite in the first place.

Can someone explain this?

According to the Classic's Status Panel, Data Reports, Daily Values, I'm sure that about an hour ago it was reading kW hours: .1   Amp Hours:  30 or so.  Which is good as that's a long way towards meeting our daily need of 48 AH or.  When I looked at it later, tho', the Amp Hours: was showing a negative figure and running backwards.  (-6.022).  Now it's positive and climbing again.  Is some bugger up there with a bucket stealing our Amp Hours?

Interestingly in the other pane under Lifetime Values we have Kilowatt Hours 1.1  Amp Hours 3,263,832.  I wonder where 3+ million Amp Hours went, over a mere five days of operation.

And could someone advise me re this - if I connect the load (the supply to the wireless gear) to the Classic's battery terminals rather than the battery's battery terminals will I
a: bring an end to Western Civilisation (to the extent that it is civilised),
b: blow something/everything/anything up, and/or
c: have in the battery Amps dial on the Status panel a reading of input less draw in amps, with a negative where draw exceeds input?

[dgd]

Viola,

In order to measure the current flowing in and out of your battery you need a shunt inserted in the -ve cable to the battery. All other devices (radio gear, Classic, inverter etc) connect to the non battery side of the shunt.
Connected to (bolted onto) the shunt is the WBjr device and one wire from it goes to the Classic.
The Classic can now monitor what current is going to/from the battery and shows up the local app as I posted above.
Good news is these are low cost, all up about $75 from dealers (Naws, AltE)

The KwHr figures you see are good but the amphr reading is nonsense. This may be because the firmware in your Classic needs updating as this was a bug several firmware versions ago.

Your questions
a. No
b. No
c. No. The battery amps on the local App is really the OUTPUT amps from the Classic. It only displays  a positive range from 0 up to the maximum current your model of  Classic can output.

When you have shunt/WBjr then the local app shows output amps from Classic minus draw amps and will range negative when draw exceeds input to battery.  There is no dial for this, its in the upper right pane of panel below dials.
(there have been requests to Midnite to have a dial display to show this)

dgd

[viola]

Thanks dgd.

OK, and I intuit that the battery +ve goes to the battery + terminal on the Classic, but from where do I take the +ve for the load (wireless gear)?

And what do I put the shunt on?  Does it require an electrically inert/insulated surface or can I put it on the plywood of the box the Classic lives in, and does it have to glued, screwed, nailed, taped, soldered, bound by three wishes?

Will it only work via this Adobe Air/local app nonsense or can I then scrap those and access the WBJ data at another level, seeing as its all I really need?

Is it the daily Amp hour total running backwards that indicates a crap firmware installion or the million AH total?  I'm so unimpressed with Midnite's programming efforts that I wouldn't be surprised if trying to update the firmware left me with a lump of iron that did nothing but whistle Dixie.

[dgd]

Viola,
It would probably be best not to connect the battery +ve direct to the Classic. Instead take the battery +ve to a box with a couple of breakers, the surface mount type. Midnite have an MNEDC box that takes up to 4 of these breakers. Common one side of the breakers to the battery +ve other side to one device, ie one to Classic, one to radio, etc.. Get amp rated breakers to suit your loads with a 80a or 100a breaker for Classic 150.

Shunt has insulated base with two holes for screws/bolts. Can mount it anywhere convenient.
See Classic thread here on 'Classic installed in RV' for some pics of a shunt mounted on a battery box
(along with T class fuse on +ve). Thats a neat installation.

Local app is easiest way to access this data OR read it from the Midnite graphics panels on the Classic (not on Lite model).  Data can be accessed also by modbus using non Midnite software bu thats a whole new learning curve.

The Ah reading nonsense was just a firmware bug that Midnite addressed fairly promptly. A new release of the firmware should be loaded.
One 'feature'  of the Classic is that it is being continually developed/improved with firmware updates. This means bugs resolution and firmware releases are part of the process.
I see this as a major advantage Midnite controllers have over their competition and I want to support a company with such a policy of continual improvement -as opposed to those that want to flood the market with cheap and not supported crap.

Firmware updating is dead easy. But it does really require the excellent and detailed instructions on the MN web site to be followed exactly. This documentation is right up to date and takes you through the process step by step.
If you do have a problem then Midnite have (so I read) excellent phone support but really RTFM definitely applies. 

dgd

[Westbranch]

I for one am not unhappy with either of my Classics, despite banging my head  for 3 plus weekends to update the FW.  It's just very finicky...

Why? because I still have  my old and venerable  MX60 that DID/DOES NOT communicate!

And yes the Classic does work as advertised, but it is miles ahead of the rest of the pack...

[viola]

Thanks dgd.  The pics of the RV set-up tell me little as I've no idea what I'm looking at.

I did get a Midnight Classic breaker box when I bought the Classic, with two breakers to add to the one in the original PWT set-up.

  Is this right?

1.  connect the pv panel  +ve to the Classic through one of the breakers, the pv panel -ve direct to the common -ve on the Classic.

2.  connect the battery -ve to the Classic common -ve via the WBJ shunt, with the -ve feed to the radios coming off the Classic side of the shunt.

3.  connect the battery +ve to the radio +ve power through another breaker

4.  connect the battery +ve to the Classic through a third breaker.

Are you with indepower.co.nz by any chance.

Westbranch,  I've no reason to suppose the Classic isn't doing what it's supposed to. 

[dgd]

Viola,

Yes all those connections are correct.

Not associated with Independent Power. Although they are Midnite (and OB,MS etc) distributor in NZ, the last stuff I bought directly from them was boxes of Siemens M55 panels, about 1997/8

Are you in New Zealand?

dgd

[viola]

Hi dgd.

Yip, Marlborough.

We bought the Classic through Indepower and we'd go to them for the Wizzbang.

[GHOSTNH]

"GHOSTNH Can you be more specific in what disappointing you so badly with your classic? Does it not charge the battery and let you adjust it with the local app etc? I would love to know what on this controller is so bad that makes it so undesirable compared to others?"

RYAN
the classic HARDWARE is great and functions fine .. the classics software and manuals are the issue to me .. Manuals are out of date  ,incomplete and poorly written for the novice or laymen IMHO...  YOU ryan are a great  customer service leader.. You always were there to answer my question and offer insight to to the classic. a customer could not ask for a better person to deal with in a time of need .. AGAIN THANK YOU!!. As stated in my previous post i have no experience with other MPPT controllers BUT when i install the next 3600watts of solar here rest assured i will do better research then i did with the classic. The classic's networking and the my.midnite site is what sold me on the product . only after wards did i realize that only 1 connection at a time is allowed .MY midnite at the time (AUG 2013) was down or non operational.. the only ongoing issues i have with the classic are software hangs ( no comm from classic to LA... have to reboot classic) it does not happen every day..but is still aggravating

[dgd]

We bought the Classic through Indepower and we'd go to them for the Wizzbang.

They should also be able to supply the shunt. It's a 500amp 50mvolt type made by Deltec.
If not then Able Solar in Auckland can do.

Dgd