Woke up to my Solar Classic 150 not pushing watts when it should have been.
Rebooted it and it came up solar "off" so I set that "on". No joy. I did a VMM, reset everything and while it boots it shows in and battery volts on the MNGP while it does the resting .. wait .. cycle then both in and battery go to 0 and resting when it gets booted. It has full morning sun and 112+ volts on the input and 24.65 on the battery so it should be getting some watts thru.
Firmware 1779 and the Local App shows the in and battery volts but no current to battery. Weird.
Anyone have a clue what I can do? I tried legacy P&O and no help there.
Thanks.
Tom
Sent you an email hoping you can check a couple voltages.
Ryan
Been messing with this Classic. I could desperately use some watts :o.
Did a VMM, reset everything again.
The MNGP is showing the input volts and battery volts now but keeps cycling between Bulk MPPT (not doing any charging) and resting.
Watching the MNGP I see the input volts and the battery volts go between true values and 0 for just a second or less at different times while in "Bulk MPPT".
Just an update and what might be "progress" sorting this out.
Just an update.
Ryan: Got the email will pop the cover off and give it a try.
Tom
Quote from: Halfcrazy on April 02, 2014, 11:11:25 AM
Sent you an email hoping you can check a couple voltages.
Ryan
Ryan;
Good call. No voltage on either the +5 or +3.3.
Tom
So, from what I heard from Ryan, you actually did measure good voltage on the 3.3V line but bad voltage (2.5V or so) on the 5V line... That would explain why the Local App still works but nothing else.
The 5V line is needed for RS232 communications to and from the MNGP and also to drive the power circuit board.
If it's what I think it is, you could probably fix it by soldering one wire between 2 points on the top PCB.
If your eyesight isn't so good, then it will just need to be RMA'd.
Sorry about that, Tom. It is kind of an older one though I think.
We'll get you fixed up ! If your PV input voltage is not too far in voltage from the battery, you could
temporarily connect PV positive directly to battery positive and get some charging done.
Also, the Aux outputs should still work if it is just the 5V line.
boB
Quote from: boB on April 02, 2014, 05:28:57 PM
So, from what I heard from Ryan, you actually did measure good voltage on the 3.3V line but bad voltage (2.5V or so) on the 5V line... That would explain why the Local App still works but nothing else.
The 5V line is needed for RS232 communications to and from the MNGP and also to drive the power circuit board.
If it's what I think it is, you could probably fix it by soldering one wire between 2 points on the top PCB.
If your eyesight isn't so good, then it will just need to be RMA'd.
Sorry about that, Tom. It is kind of an older one though I think.
We'll get you fixed up ! If your PV input voltage is not too far in voltage from the battery, you could
temporarily connect PV positive directly to battery positive and get some charging done.
Also, the Aux outputs should still work if it is just the 5V line.
boB
boB;
Yeah, sharpened my probe and got good contact on the test points after Ryan pointed out that might explain 0 on both with working ethernet. I can still solder OK but my hands are not so steady these days so might be beyond my abilities. I got cheaters for the eyes.
My PV in is in the range of 110 or so V.O.C. with a 24 volt bank. I just bypassed the inverters and am letting the Wind Classic and The Kid keep the battery topped off at maybe 10% of normal incoming solar.
I guess S/N #1871 is an antique by now?
My other one is S/N #7805 .
Thanks
Tom
I will post a picture of the PCB and the spots to poke your meter probes some more just to see
if it is in the area I think it might be in.
And also, if that is the case, a couple possible spots to solder a wire to. I do know that one
of those places to solder the wire to is REAL big and easy. Will have to look for the other
spot though.
boB
Quote from: TomW on April 02, 2014, 06:03:39 PM
I guess S/N #1871 is an antique by now?
My other one is S/N #7805 .
I hadn't thought of my #879 and #1771 as antiques
or #2993 as approaching antiquedom
I remember someone posting that later or latest # had nice big terminal blocks. Is any info available on which serial# onwards has these big terminal blocks? I need to order six Classic Lites and I'd like to make sure they all have this feature by specifying lowest serial # I want.
Sorry to ask that off topic Q. TomW, I hope a field repair fixes your Classic. This why I have always keep a spare Classic 150 new in box but for last two years this has been proven unnecessary, the Classics are just reliable.
dgd
Quote from: dgd on April 02, 2014, 10:00:29 PM
Quote from: TomW on April 02, 2014, 06:03:39 PM
I guess S/N #1871 is an antique by now?
My other one is S/N #7805 .
I hadn't thought of my #879 and #1771 as antiques
or #2993 as approaching antiquedom
I remember someone posting that later or latest # had nice big terminal blocks. Is any info available on which serial# onwards has these big terminal blocks? I need to order six Classic Lites and I'd like to make sure they all have this feature by specifying lowest serial # I want.
Sorry to ask that off topic Q. TomW, I hope a field repair fixes your Classic. This why I have always keep a spare Classic 150 new in box but for last two years this has been proven unnecessary, the Classics are just reliable.
dgd
Yeah my #2111 had the old terminal block but the #13232 has the new terminal block, new jack for BTS (wish the Ethernet jack was also changed it's a pain to remove). I don't think they are much bigger, just that there is a cap on the top that comes off so you can see what you are doing better and then place the protective cap over the top of the terminal block. Best of all it has the modified case to remove the fans from the back (nice).
Quote from: Resthome on April 03, 2014, 02:39:55 AM
Yeah my #2111 had the old terminal block but the #13232 has the new terminal block, new jack for BTS (wish the Ethernet jack was also changed it's a pain to remove). I don't think they are much bigger, just that there is a cap on the top that comes off so you can see what you are doing better and then place the protective cap over the top of the terminal block. Best of all it has the modified case to remove the fans from the back (nice).
Thanks for that info John, so connectors are about same size as old ones. I can just about squeeze multi-strand #4 into them now so I was wrong thinking that these new ones were larger. No matter, I should just get whatever Classics are available in stock.
You have #13232 so I hope that means sales of Classics has really improved. I know #6191 was from Q1/13 so in less than a year total sales has doubled. I expect to install about 13 Classics this year so thats my effort towards the next 13000 sold in 2014 :)
dgd
Quote from: dgd on April 03, 2014, 05:05:59 PM
Quote from: Resthome on April 03, 2014, 02:39:55 AM
Yeah my #2111 had the old terminal block but the #13232 has the new terminal block, new jack for BTS (wish the Ethernet jack was also changed it's a pain to remove). I don't think they are much bigger, just that there is a cap on the top that comes off so you can see what you are doing better and then place the protective cap over the top of the terminal block. Best of all it has the modified case to remove the fans from the back (nice).
Thanks for that info John, so connectors are about same size as old ones. I can just about squeeze multi-strand #4 into them now so I was wrong thinking that these new ones were larger. No matter, I should just get whatever Classics are available in stock.
You have #13232 so I hope that means sales of Classics has really improved. I know #6191 was from Q1/13 so in less than a year total sales has doubled. I expect to install about 13 Classics this year so thats my effort towards the next 13000 sold in 2014 :)
dgd
Yeah I'm coming down from the PV with a Marine grade stranded #4 which is 13/32" and it didn't fit the old terminal block and it doesn't fit the new ones. I had to drop down to Marine #6 which is 11/32" from the breaker over to Classic and that was a tight fit. The Marine Grade #4 didn't fit the MidNite buss bars which were suppose to take up to #4.