Report Card for Beta Units...??

[ChrisOlson]

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.

Mario, the idle power consumption seems very very low here.  It draws less power on standby than the OEM volt meter that was in our boat, which I took out after putting in the KID Marine.  I hope you leave an option to leave the display active because I like being able to glance at it when I go below deck and see our system voltage and/or solar charging status without having to touch it to wake it up.

Thanks.

[boB]

I like being able to glance at it when I go below deck and see our system voltage and/or solar charging status without having to touch it to wake it up.

Thanks.

Ahhh !  You see !   Mario's Look- N' -Lite software works great, doesn't it ?  You did not even notice that it goes
off when you aren't watching for it to go off !

Job well done, Mario !

Now, if we could only verify that the light inside your refrigerator actually goes off when you close the door....

[mtdoc]

Job well done, Mario !

Now, if we could only verify that the light inside your refrigerator actually goes off when you close the door....

You can with a mooshimeter!.   

These actually look really good. Can do lots of cool things for RE system monitoring - I'm gonna get one.

[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.

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, PVC voltage and Anticlick settings on the kid.

Mario, I was just browsing through all the different menus to get more familiar with the ladders.  What I was trying to convey was it will no go into the tech menu if you browse the other menus too many times. It just hangs and will not let you into the tech menu. I was not trying to do anything other than look through the contents. I thought at first I had not entered information somewhere else. The second and third time I got it to act the same way was to just browse the other menus numerous times and then try to get into the tech menu, of which it will not let you in unless you cycle power.

[Vic]

The new Kid here has been patiently waiting at the door for a week, until my weekend  return from the Center Of Nowhere.

Serial # unknown.  Looks very compact and sporty indeed.  Foam-In-Place packing material is very nice (this may not be done for Production units,  but shows MidNite cares!).

Looking forward to getting this youngster connected within the week,  initially on a 12 backup battery bank.

Very slick product on initial quick review.   THANKS again MidNite!     Vic

[Westbranch]

Beta Unit #51 received safe and sound.
Thanks  for the fast service.

Will not be able to get it setup for a little while due to snow and ice conditions.

Will try a small test here at home with what materials I have.

EJ

[TomW]

Beta Unit #51 received safe and sound.
Thanks  for the fast service.

Will not be able to get it setup for a little while due to snow and ice conditions.

Will try a small test here at home with what materials I have.

EJ

I didn't have time to hook mine up right away but I fired it up on 2X 9v batteries and updated the firmware so it was current before I got around to installing it. Might be easier if the install location is inconvenient to get at with a computer.

Just one thing you could do before you can get around to installing it.

Tom

[Westbranch]

Hi Tom, I got an email from Robin and he said there is new software coming in a week or so...  waiting ...

[TomW]

Hi Tom, I got an email from Robin and he said there is new software coming in a week or so...  waiting ...

You are going to like how simple they made the upgrade process!

Doesn't get any easier than drag and drop.

Mine has been humming along nicely in this deep cold full sun kicking out 300 watts and a bit from the 300 watts of 15 year old series connected 12 volt nominal 4X75 watt Seimans panels. Seldom saw over 240 watts or so direct connected in 24 volt pairs. Happy camper here.

Tom

[Westbranch]

Now you've got me curious.. so I will have to find a battery and just have a peek at it.
Still have to read the manual 

[Vic]

  ...   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.    ... 
Tom

Tom,  congratulations of becoming a General.    Going from zero to Extra is a fairly large step.   It can be a good idea to operate for a few months,  and then go back for the Extra,  even though it would be an "Extra" trip.

Hope to see you on the bands sometime soon.   73,  Have Fun!    Vic

[Vic]

Well,   had hoped to get Kid #53 in service with a reasonably clean install today.    But do almost no 1/2" conduit work,  so simply have no stock of anything other than in 1/2" Liquid-Tight Metal Flex stuff,  which would not fit well.  Actually could hack something together using CorraClad MC,  but that would just have to be replaced with something better in a week or two.

Would like to look at the RFI Emissions from the Kid,  which,   to me,   dictates tight metal pipe all the way to the entry of the battery box.

SO,  will be at least a week,  until the next trip to town.

It does look like perhaps MN  might be considering an additional knock out on the left end,  above the Master & Slave connectors  (based only on the relief in the rear cover's lip in that area).   This would please me,  as do like to separate BTS/Control/IO lines from the Power cables -- into their own conduit box.   FWIW.

I do like the USB Port access via the cutout in the casting wall.

More later,  but the Kid is a very attractive,  function-laden product.  Thanks MidNite!    Vic

[dgd]

Beta KID #28 has been up and running for near a week.

It has worked without any problem and it just fitted nicely into my PV system allowing me to use an extra five 140 watt pvs I had available. 24volt with 700watts of PV, high current I have seen is 28A. It really does run cool

Once I had it wired up, you must do this before attaching to mounting plastic frame, it took only a minute or so to get set up. It auto detects battery voltage. The battery charging setpoints are all initially at 29.5V and need to be adjusted. Float 27.4 and absorb 29.2 were ok but it wont let me set EQ voltage at 31v, it just bounces between 29.4 and 29.5.
Needed to tweak battery voltage by 0.1 to match Classics and inverter.

The display, 2 line by 16 chars, white on blue background, looks nice, but does need an off option. Main status seems a bit limited, cant see input current. When moving between main option a * is placed in front of the item text to show current one but in other menus the < and > are used to bracket the current item.

As a beta unit it does not have too many of the software options available. AUX options are just the WBjr input, off or auto, I could not find any follow me as I would like to eventually connect it to a Classic. I assume many more AUX output options are on the way.
Runs so cool I bet it could output 35A :-)

dgd

[Lou]

Beta #31 is up and running. 

First thing I did was to punch out 1 of the 1/2" knockouts to 3/4". This way I only have one piece of conduit running to the Kid. The 3/4" male adapter and lock nut fit fine. 

I did not like the fact that the lugs are on the back side of the Kid, but with some 10 awg pigtails I just made the final connections in the DC Disconnect below it.

One major issue for me, with my calibrated torque driver set for 20 in lbs I broke 2 of the lugs off, the other 2 torqued fine. So now with no way to loosen the lugs and remove the wires, I charged headed hoping it is torqued enough. I will be keeping a close eye on it tomorrow.

Seems to work great under the low light conditions at the end of the day. Isnt that always the way, when the sun is setting is just when you make the final connections and fire up the array.

Set up was a breeze.

What is the status of follow me with multiply Classics and the Kid?

Thanks for a nice product and the opportunity to bang on it.

[Halfcrazy]

20 Inch Pounds would likely break the screws. I was told the correct torque is 5.5 Inch Pounds.