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Charge Controllers and Clippers => The "Classic" charge controller => Topic started by: dwih2007 on October 18, 2021, 04:55:14 PM

Title: need help with my midnite classic 150 showing no watts and no killowatt hours
Post by: dwih2007 on October 18, 2021, 04:55:14 PM
need help with my midnite classic 150 showing no watts and no killowatt hours input volts 73.8 input current 5.2 amps battery volt 55.2 i would love to do the repair myself without shipping the product back to be repaired if there is something that need to be repaired i realize that the little battery in the display panel is finished so i need to get one because when i check it with volt meter it does not read 3 volts i did a hardware reset on the classic and still having the same error
Title: Re: need help with my midnite classic 150 showing no watts and no killowatt hours
Post by: boB on October 18, 2021, 05:00:47 PM

Interesting !

The MNGP display 3V battery shouldn't have any affect on kW-Hours or output watts displayed...

Watts should be similar to output current multiplied by battery voltage of course

boB

Title: Re: need help with my midnite classic 150 showing no watts and no killowatt hours
Post by: dwih2007 on October 18, 2021, 05:35:19 PM
ok thanks what can i do to fix the problem
Title: Re: need help with my midnite classic 150 showing no watts and no killowatt hours
Post by: ClassicCrazy on October 18, 2021, 08:06:57 PM
did you try a reset of Classic ?
"To do a Factory Restore or a Quick Start first turn the battery and solar power to the Classic off. Next, turn the battery power back on while holding the Left and Right arrows. Hold the arrows until the Solar, Wind or Hydro screen pops up. Follow the on screen prompts and continue setup. Note: This will reset all settings to factory defaults. You will need to reset any custom settings such as Aux 1 and 2. You may want to write these settings down for reference prior to resetting the Classic."
https://www.midnitesolar.com/firmwareReport.php?firmware_ID=19&firmwareProduct_ID=1&act=edit
Larry
Title: Re: need help with my midnite classic 150 showing no watts and no killowatt hours
Post by: boB on October 18, 2021, 08:27:03 PM

More questions...

Does the Classic MNGP remote seem to work for all other status ?

Does it show battery output current more- or-less correctly ?

Does it show battery voltage correctly ?

Do you have any other Classics in the system besides this one ?

Does the Classic actually charge the batteries and raise the battery voltage when sun is shining ?

boB
Title: Re: need help with my midnite classic 150 showing no watts and no killowatt hours
Post by: dwih2007 on October 19, 2021, 02:36:57 AM
the MNGP remote work good for other status
it show battery current and voltage correctly
i dont have any other classic
the classic charge the battery and raise the battery voltage it only sweep and go to resting sometimes i am using lithium batteries
Title: Re: need help with my midnite classic 150 showing no watts and no killowatt hours
Post by: dwih2007 on October 19, 2021, 07:56:23 AM
dont have battery current either
Title: Re: need help with my midnite classic 150 showing no watts and no killowatt hours
Post by: dwih2007 on October 19, 2021, 08:02:37 AM
can midnite classic firmware get corrupted
Title: Re: need help with my midnite classic 150 showing no watts and no killowatt hours
Post by: dwih2007 on October 19, 2021, 10:10:47 AM
i took out the 3v battery and it start to work and then it stop working again so look like i need to buy a 3v battery for it to work
Title: Re: need help with my midnite classic 150 showing no watts and no killowatt hours
Post by: boB on October 19, 2021, 12:42:03 PM
Quote from: dwih2007 on October 19, 2021, 10:10:47 AM
i took out the 3v battery and it start to work and then it stop working again so look like i need to buy a 3v battery for it to work


This is very strange.   Almost sounds like a loose connection but kW-Hours and watts display should not rely on the 3V battery.

If the 3V battery is dead it will definitely keep the time and date from staying accurate when the power is turned off or if the MNGP comes unplugged.

Title: Re: need help with my midnite classic 150 showing no watts and no killowatt hours
Post by: boB on October 19, 2021, 12:43:52 PM
Quote from: dwih2007 on October 19, 2021, 08:02:37 AM
can midnite classic firmware get corrupted


If the Classic works at all, then the firmware should not be corrupted.

You can however choose the wrong type of Classic when updating but then you should see the message, "wrong code"  in the MNGP lower right corner flash on.   This would be where you see "Resting" and Absorb and that sort of message

Title: Re: need help with my midnite classic 150 showing no watts and no killowatt hours
Post by: dwih2007 on October 19, 2021, 04:46:39 PM
its malfunctioning now i its showing  5 watts for power when more is coming in i am using lithium battery i dont put back the 3v battery in it yet its working only thing it dont show correct information for watts and it go to rest often probably because of the lithium battery
Title: Re: need help with my midnite classic 150 showing no watts and no killowatt hours
Post by: boB on October 19, 2021, 05:08:46 PM

Can you take a picture of the MNGP display and post it here ?

boB
Title: Re: need help with my midnite classic 150 showing no watts and no killowatt hours
Post by: Vic on October 19, 2021, 06:07:17 PM
Hi dwih..,

Does this Classic have a WbJr (the battery current monitoring accessory),  connected to it?
Did it ever have one?

Is the Classic set to use an external Shunt (this is one of the settings,  when using the WbJr),  instead of the shunt that is in the Classic?  You can tell this by,  doing this:  From the main Status screen of the MNGP display on the Classic,  press the small round button on the lower,  left,  four times.   This takes you to the first WbJr Status screen.  On the top row of that screen,  all of the way on the right,  does it say, "shunt",  or, "classic?.

If it says shunt,  then it is trying to use an external shunt,  not the one built into the Classic.  If it says shunt,  and you do not have an external one,  plus,  the WbJr,  would guess that there will be no current shown,  and there would probably not be any kWh,  Ah,   etc shown on the MNGP  ...   I think.

Just guessin'.     Vic
Title: Re: need help with my midnite classic 150 showing no watts and no killowatt hours
Post by: dwih2007 on October 19, 2021, 06:23:27 PM
will take a picture when the sun come out tomorrow yes i use a wizbang jr
Title: Re: need help with my midnite classic 150 showing no watts and no killowatt hours
Post by: Vic on October 19, 2021, 06:35:16 PM
OK,  thanks ...

So,  did the WbJr ever give reasonable readings of battery current and kWh,  Ah,  etc?

On the WbJr module,  mounted on your external shunt,  how often does the green LED flash?

Thanks,  Vic
Title: Re: need help with my midnite classic 150 showing no watts and no killowatt hours
Post by: FNG on October 20, 2021, 05:28:56 AM
If the MNGP is not showing amps either than the current sense is broken. You will need to send it in for repair. Please email support@midnitesolar.com they will help you trouble shoot
Title: Re: need help with my midnite classic 150 showing no watts and no killowatt hours
Post by: dwih2007 on October 20, 2021, 08:25:56 AM
(//)
Title: Re: need help with my midnite classic 150 showing no watts and no killowatt hours
Post by: dwih2007 on October 20, 2021, 08:30:56 AM
(//)
Title: Re: need help with my midnite classic 150 showing no watts and no killowatt hours
Post by: dwih2007 on October 20, 2021, 08:43:31 AM
where do i find the current sense on the board i would repair it myself
Title: Re: need help with my midnite classic 150 showing no watts and no killowatt hours
Post by: dwih2007 on October 20, 2021, 08:55:23 AM
(//)
Title: Re: need help with my midnite classic 150 showing no watts and no killowatt hours
Post by: boB on October 20, 2021, 02:54:31 PM


Looks like it is displaying correctly

However the Classic is putting out less than one amp I think.

Not sure why the WB Jr is showing +0.7 amps ?   Is the purple WB Jr. wire pointing towards the batter negative terminal ?


I see that the PV input is about 75 to 80 volts.

Very important to know what the Voc is.  PV input voltage all by itself is necessary as well as Voc to see if the Classic is working at all.

boB
Title: Re: need help with my midnite classic 150 showing no watts and no killowatt hours
Post by: dwih2007 on October 20, 2021, 03:01:43 PM
yes it is it wos working before and i did not change any wiring i only change battery to lithium
Title: Re: need help with my midnite classic 150 showing no watts and no killowatt hours
Post by: dwih2007 on October 20, 2021, 03:03:16 PM
it put out more current in the day when the sun come out more but its not recording kilowatt
Title: Re: need help with my midnite classic 150 showing no watts and no killowatt hours
Post by: boB on October 20, 2021, 11:43:35 PM

Great !

Please note what the open circuit (Resting) voltage is of your PV array...   You can view this either on the 2nd stats screen or any time the Classic is resting for a moment.  It starts out unconnected which is that Voc voltage...   Then the Classic has to drag the input voltage down to somewhere around 80% of that or sometimes lower voltage in order to power fully in MPPT mode.

Absorb or Float will not drop the PV input voltage very much necessarily.

boB
Title: Re: need help with my midnite classic 150 showing no watts and no killowatt hours
Post by: dwih2007 on October 21, 2021, 05:40:14 AM
sometimes 87v when it is night it show 22v sometime when mppt sweep it shows 100v
Title: Re: need help with my midnite classic 150 showing no watts and no killowatt hours
Post by: dwih2007 on October 21, 2021, 05:43:43 AM
i have 3 panels in series and 3 in parallel
Title: Re: need help with my midnite classic 150 showing no watts and no killowatt hours
Post by: dwih2007 on October 21, 2021, 05:45:38 AM
no its 3 in series and 4 of those series in parallel thats 12 panels which give me 3000 watts
Title: Re: need help with my midnite classic 150 showing no watts and no killowatt hours
Post by: boB on October 21, 2021, 07:13:46 PM

If the Voc is 87 volts and the Vmp is 85 to 87 volts, then the Classic may need to come in for service.

Might also be an open 20 Ohm resistor on the top control board.   This would keep the Classic from sweeping the PV voltage down from Voc.

There was a thread on this forum that talked about this.  Will try to find it.

boB
Title: Re: need help with my midnite classic 150 showing no watts and no killowatt hours
Post by: Vic on October 21, 2021, 08:23:06 PM
Quote from: boB on October 21, 2021, 07:13:46 PM

If the Voc is 87 volts and the Vmp is 85 to 87 volts, then the Classic may need to come in for service.

Might also be an open 20 Ohm resistor on the top control board.   This would keep the Classic from sweeping the PV voltage down from Voc.

There was a thread on this forum that talked about this.  Will try to find it.

boB

Hi boB,

The following does touch on this resistor,  I think,  Reply  5 from you:
http://midniteftp.com/forum/index.php?topic=5052.msg46986#msg46986

FWIW  Vic
Title: Re: need help with my midnite classic 150 showing no watts and no killowatt hours
Post by: dwih2007 on October 22, 2021, 04:05:40 AM
do you have a picture of where that resister is i am going to check it with multimeter
Title: Re: need help with my midnite classic 150 showing no watts and no killowatt hours
Post by: boB on October 22, 2021, 04:39:15 PM
Quote from: dwih2007 on October 22, 2021, 04:05:40 AM
do you have a picture of where that resister is i am going to check it with multimeter

Here you go.   See if it measures around 10 Ohms.   R145  is a 1206 size SMT resistor.

We have seen some of these go open.  When that happens, the PV in will not move hardly at all, if any, from Voc but the display will show MPPT.

The 0005 watts is probably just a measurement tolerance.

Not sure if this is the problem but it certainly will not hurt to measure it if you have an Ohm Meter

boB

Title: Re: need help with my midnite classic 150 showing no watts and no killowatt hours
Post by: dwih2007 on October 22, 2021, 05:15:00 PM
I check it and get 10 ohm so its not that
Title: Re: need help with my midnite classic 150 showing no watts and no killowatt hours
Post by: dwih2007 on October 22, 2021, 05:16:56 PM
when i did take out the bad 3v battery it did start work and then after it stop so probly the battery help it to do calculations
Title: Re: need help with my midnite classic 150 showing no watts and no killowatt hours
Post by: dwih2007 on October 25, 2021, 10:23:32 AM
i changed the battery and it dont work either dont know what else to do its running my house now so i cant send it for repair
Title: Re: need help with my midnite classic 150 showing no watts and no killowatt hours
Post by: ClassicCrazy on October 25, 2021, 02:38:29 PM
open a repair ticket at midnite - they sometimes have loaner controllers I think while something is being repaired.

Larry
Title: Re: need help with my midnite classic 150 showing no watts and no killowatt hours
Post by: dwih2007 on November 08, 2021, 05:22:50 AM
Just going to continue running it because its still charging my battery and buy a different charge controller like a victron when i have money i am in Jamaica and it is not profitable for me to send it back for repair that money could make up and buy a new charge controller
Title: Re: need help with my midnite classic 150 showing no watts and no killowatt hours
Post by: ClassicCrazy on November 08, 2021, 10:20:26 AM
Quote from: dwih2007 on November 08, 2021, 05:22:50 AM
Just going to continue running it because its still charging my battery and buy a different charge controller like a victron when i have money i am in Jamaica and it is not profitable for me to send it back for repair that money could make up and buy a new charge controller

If it is just MNGP messing up - have you used computer or android to try to monitor it and see what the status is showing ?
I forget which model Classic you have and if it is one with modbus .
Larry
Title: Re: need help with my midnite classic 150 showing no watts and no killowatt hours
Post by: FNG on November 09, 2021, 04:35:41 AM
Yes if you could check like the local app or my midnite and see they are reporting we could send an MNGP