Firmware 1761 For Beta Testers

[xsnrg]

This may be in the FAQ and I missed it, but can anyone be a beta tester just by loading the beta firmware, or is it only for those that got in on the initial beta program?  I recently brought my KID online, and am in playground and learn mode (a hidden setting that exists outside the KID).  The super-feature for me will be the serial port data as I am somewhat of a data junkie and have written cacti templates for most of my life functions.

[Halfcrazy]

Anyone can beta test new firmware by just loading it. Keep in mind therer could be a bug or two so keep your eye on it and let us know if anything looks wrong

[New KID On The Block]

For those testing 1761, how is it going?

Any big issues worry about?

[chris]

  Other the the menu auto scrolling (kind of annoying) all seems fine.  Voltage readings seem alot more stable.
  Is there a way to turn this off?

[Highflyer]

I would like to see all of the temps added to the scroll.  SOC would also be a good thing to add to the scroll.  (my 2 cents)

Chris, you can turn off the scroll if you don't like it.

[xsnrg]

I agree with wanting to see temps on the scroll.  That would be nice.  SOC does show up on my scroll, but is that because of the WBjr I have?

[Halfcrazy]

I wonder if there should be a menu in there that allows you to turn on or off things that scroll? Or is that going to over complicate the Kid?

[New KID On The Block]

I wonder if there should be a menu in there that allows you to turn on or off things that scroll? Or is that going to over complicate the Kid?

I would definitely support such a menu to pick and choose what appears during scroll. 

[xsnrg]

Looks like a crummy (weather) weekend ahead, I should have time to play with the beta firmware.  Any idea when the data port beta might show itself? 

[Highflyer]

I figured out why I was not getting SOC in my scroll, my WBJr was disconnected at the board.  My Beta Kid does not have a "no tool" connection for the WBJr and it was not tight enough.


I would still like to see the temps in the scroll please.....

[xsnrg]

 

Loaded 1761 tonight after the sun went down.  Re-programmed my current load configuration, and all is well.  There were a couple new items that I did not see mentioned anywhere.  One was some form of an offset defaulted to -0.3 and in that same menu was another one.  The KID is in my garage, so I will get the specifics in the morning to ask better questions about them.

So far, not a single issue.  Tomorrow will be first light on 1761. 

[xsnrg]

A follow up to my previous post.  I am seeing some interesting behavior that I am wondering about.  First a little about my setup.  I am running 3x 100w Renogy panels in series.  I have a single 12v deep cycle battery... It is mostly a set up and learn/play config right now, though I am running my garage electronics off the setup, with a continuous load of about 28w (2.4A) through a 140w cheapo inverter.  My KID is now running 1761 with Solar 2 and it was an excellent sunny day if not short from being in the N hemisphere going into December.

At one point today I saw about 230w coming in, and my battery was in float again in the early afternoon.  Now that the sun is getting lower, I am seeing the strange behavior.  The panels are at an angle, but still in full sun.  The MPPT is now in MTTP Float instead of just float, and it doesn't seem like it should be yet.  During the day, the MPPT function was holding the panels around 57-58 volts, right in the sweet spot per the manufacturer, so all was good.  Now that it switched from float to mppt float, the input voltage has continually dropped off.  It is now at 23.8V.  If I turn the input off and back on, it will re-calibrate, and use a much higher input voltage, and produce far more power for a while.  I just reset it again, and it went from 23.7V input to 55V on the input and is producing more than 2x the amps.  Should it not be periodically re-training to find the best wattage on its own?

A side note, it would be excellent to be able to show this with some data from the serial port.  Hope that is coming along well.

[Westbranch]

Do you have a larger inverter to put more load on the battery?
Also  it sounds like the Kid is doing its MPPT adjustment to maintain the float voltage you have set.. with failing incoming insolation as the sun drops.

[Vic]

Hi xs..,

Why are running Solar2?    This is customarily a slow-tracking mode,  and often works well with non-solar inputs.

Solar mode should be fast-tracking,  and might do better in tracking in fading sun.

Is there any shading on any of the PVs when you note the low-ish input voltage?

With 300 Watts of PV,   the KID should not be running hot,  and thus reducing the output current to limit its thermal load.

Done guessing for now.    Vic

[xsnrg]

I do have a larger inverter but do not see why more load would be a good thing.  My single battery is plenty wimpy, and I am pulling 2.4A off it continually.

As for solar2, I thought I saw the same pattern on solar, so tried solar2 to see how it behaves.  There are not any shadows that I saw, and on both occasions, simply turning the input off and back on reset the voltage back into the high 50s.  It stayed there until the sun set.

I will flip it back to solar in the am, and give that another go.  The kid is not hot at all.

Thanks for the replies