Report Card for Beta Units...??

[ClassicCrazy]

I just installed 1722 . In the menu Battery Setpoints / Equalize it does not let me select On or Off - just says Off. I tried setup which lets me change equalize  voltage and time . Is there another menu to turn on Equalize and set up days between ? 

[Highflyer]

I finally had a nice day to try the two kids I have and the results were very interesting.

My first Kid is a Rev B black cased Kid and the other is a Rev C white Kid.  I loaded both Kids with the 1722 firmware.

I used Nine 10 watt panels (17 volt nominal) in an array trying several versions of power input for the kids.  I used a deep cycle marine battery to receive the charge.   When I used all nine in parallel (17 Volts), the white kid produced up to 81 watts, while the black kid only produced one to three watts to the batteries.  I was very surprised.   The Rev B Kid did not seem to be able to use the lower voltage to charge the battery, but Rev C Kid was readily able to use the power.  The rev B Kid had the high rate clicking going on during this test. 

Then I tried four serial sets of two panels (raising the voltage to 37 volts) and the Rev C board was still able to use the power better than the Rev B Kid by about 25-30 percent (57 - 71 Watts (This test had partial high clouding)). 

Then I went to three serial groupings of three panels each ( 52 volts nominal) and the results were again interesting.  My Rev B Kid was able to produce within three watts of the Rev C Kid.  Again around 74 watts and 71 watts with partial high clouds.

Does anyone know why the disparity? 

I also got Wizbang Jrs this week so I expect my data to be refined further after I install them.

I used an electric motor to tax the battery during these tests.  I swapped out both Kids several times during each test to confirm my results.

[dapdan]

ok, load the lastest fw and observed the kid for several minutes. The first thing I observed is that when it does the mppt sweep(if when output drops to zero and then surges back to full ouput is when it does it sweep) it stays at zero longer than the previous code. I estimated that it stood at zero for about 2-3 seconds. I will time it the next time I am observing the kid.

Cheers...
Damani

[Mario]

I just installed 1722 . In the menu Battery Setpoints / Equalize it does not let me select On or Off - just says Off. I tried setup which lets me change equalize  voltage and time . Is there another menu to turn on Equalize and set up days between ? 

As of rev 1722 there is only Manual EQ, so you have to initiate an EQ when required. in future updates Auto EQ will come.

Mario

[dgd]

Reconnected KID today to my 24v battery bank, input is four in series 140w, 18.2v mpv PVs.
Started KID hoes to bulkmppt  and within a minute or so goes to resting, stays there for up to an hour and restarts bulkmppt for another minute or son then rests again.
See video over 5 minutes, noise in background is Classic fan running

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6RJ570NFsQ

Bright day, PVs no shading.  Note the bulkmppt making over 200watts then click sound and resting state starts. After a few minutes I repowered KID and same sequence again.

Mario,  Is my KID broken? should I send it back to Midnite?

dgd

[Highflyer]

dgd,
Did you check your input voltage (VOC) and battery voltage while the Kid was not in use?  I had a similar problem and after I used a multimeter and "Calibrated" the input voltage and battery voltage, my Kids ran like a top producing far more power and all of my problems were gone.

[dgd]

Thanks for your thoughts on this.
I have inspected the wiring and tested PV output many many tiimes when this KID is going into resting. The battery voltage is always good as its also charged by a Classic 150 so too low or too high voltage is not an issue either.
i'm thinking its just a faulty Kid.
dgd

[Highflyer]

DGD,
I figured you had. I had a very similar problem with one of my Kids and yesterday Mario talked me through a (input off) calibration of the input voltage and battery voltage.  After the calibration, I was amazed at the difference in performance and the problems were gone.  On my Kid that was not showing a problem, it was making up to 15% more power after the calibration.  I would have never though a one volt calibration error could make such a difference.

[TomW]

Thanks for your thoughts on this.
I have inspected the wiring and tested PV output many many tiimes when this KID is going into resting. The battery voltage is always good as its also charged by a Classic 150 so too low or too high voltage is not an issue either.
i'm thinking its just a faulty Kid.
dgd

dgd;

I think you are missing a BIG point here.

Did you calibrate The Kid's idea of the voltages?

I just redid mine to be sure and gained some oomph from a mismatch of actual and what The Kid thought the voltages were.

Just saying it may be worth the effort to eliminate this possible known cause for degraded performance before sending it back.

Tom

[ClassicCrazy]

DGD,
I figured you had. I had a very similar problem with one of my Kids and yesterday Mario talked me through a (input off) calibration of the input voltage and battery voltage.  After the calibration, I was amazed at the difference in performance and the problems were gone.  On my Kid that was not showing a problem, it was making up to 15% more power after the calibration.  I would have never though a one volt calibration error could make such a difference.

How exactly did you do this recalibration ? 

[dgd]

dgd;

I think you are missing a BIG point here.

Did you calibrate The Kid's idea of the voltages?

I just redid mine to be sure and gained some oomph from a mismatch of actual and what The Kid thought the voltages were.

Just saying it may be worth the effort to eliminate this possible known cause for degraded performance before sending it back.

Tom

Ok, I will go through the calibration and get it as accurately as I can then retest the kid.  I used the calibration tech option a couple of weeks ago and got the kid voltage readings agreeing with my Classics and the battery voltage. For input voltage I use the Fluke and calibrated so they agreed too.
But no harm in redoing this.
I really hope its something obvious as this KID spends most of its time in resting with RFR 15.
dgd

[TomW]

DGD,
I figured you had. I had a very similar problem with one of my Kids and yesterday Mario talked me through a (input off) calibration of the input voltage and battery voltage.  After the calibration, I was amazed at the difference in performance and the problems were gone.  On my Kid that was not showing a problem, it was making up to 15% more power after the calibration.  I would have never though a one volt calibration error could make such a difference.

How exactly did you do this recalibration ? 

CC;

Main menu. Arrow over to right to "Tech". It is pretty straight forward.

You need a voltmeter (I used a digital one) attach meter to battery, set The Kid battery volts, do same for the input voltage.

[Mario]

OK the KID must be OFF before you do any calibration.... meaning no power being produced... Resting. I've had people trying to Calibrate when the unit is in Bulk Mppt/ charging, that makes it worse.

Mario

[Highflyer]

Mario,
Just to be sure, to "Turn Off" the Kid:

I go to main menu, toggle to INPUT, toggle the "*" to OFF.  Then I should see the Kid "resting" when selecting the "status" screen.  Then I can properly calibrate the Kid? 

Thanks for the lessons!!

[dgd]

Tom and Brian,
Thanks for your suggestions with this.
I have spent all morning and this afternoon looking at this KID.
Opened PV breaker so KID resting then recalibrated battery voltage to exact same as Fluke as Classics and 3024e inverter.
Closed breaker and calibrated input voltage after setting mode to OFF.
Opened PV breaker and set mode to SOLAR
Closed PV breaker, input voltage is low due to cloud cover, 31v, battery 26.1, goes to BULKMPPT and has 70 to 90 watts power, battery V still good, input V accurate too.
Like this for several hours, under 100W, 32ish PV volts.
Then clouds moved, sun out, pv in voltage rose to 82v, power at 460 watts.
Then I noticed the KID was showing battery voltage at near one volt greater than it actually was and was going to ABSORB at 29v whereas the real battery V was 28.2 and Classic was still BULKMPPT.
After about 3 minutes the KID relay clicked and it went to RESTING and it showed the battery voltage at the correct 28.2v
I left it and it stayed in RESTING for over 30 minutes before it restarted BULKMPPT and the voltage rose again to near a volt too much. A few minutes later went to RESTING.

So it seems to be ok if input voltage is only a few volts over the battery voltage and power is under 120watts.

I'm so knackered with all the up/down stairs that an early G&T was required.
dgd