Lite 150 stopped charging

[mobywile]

Thanks.  I get rolling along here and make the most basic errors.  Parallel! 
Now, when I changed to the new panels, I had to rewire my strings through the same junction boxes I used for the M-55s.  I think, in one of the boxes I may have connected two strings together on the + side where they are all in one place.   This may not make sense right now.  BUT, the temp is rising and maybe when I get up in the AM it will be calm and comfy out there in the snow.
Oh boy - playin' sparky in the snow.  My fave...

[Westbranch]

Snap a few pics and analyze them in the house before trying to 'adjust' the connections..  Drawing it all out, if it doesn't seem obvious, might help...

2 together, ,,,  right, especially if the negatives are on the other CC...

[mobywile]

This is almost funny.  I was checking voltage on the at the array in buses, which are "completely separated.  Almost.  I have an old Cruising Equipment Amp Hour + which I have used forever.  Ever wire one of those things?  Very messy.  Anyhow, the signal wire that reads array input is connected to both of them.  It was giving me the same voltage reading on both buses.  Disconnected it and it went away.
Now, I have not redone any wiring outside.  But, with the patient assistance of my wife, I have, by using the MNGP Remote, a DMM, and some walkie-talkies, checked all input combinations from all strings.  There is no cross contamination that I can find.  The 2 strings wired to the Lite that is working both show up, individually and together, correctly on the MNGP.  When I turn on any or all of the other 3 strings, there is no change in the input amps being detected my the MNGP. All seems to be stable and nice.  If I turn those 2 strings off and activate the 3 strings that are wired to the Lite that is not working, there is no amperage input detected by the MNGP.  Input voltage measured at the blue terminal block matches the array voltage on the MNGP for both units, as does the battery voltage. 
Here's a pic of my big gray box out at the arrays.  This is where the wire sizes get big for the long run to the house.  Made it all by myself, I did.
Gotta go to town for the afternoon.  Thanks for helping. Later...
I do have both of the negatives connected to the Lites.  There is no detected voltage from any negative to earth ground.
I undid and disconnected the "Follow Me", did a shutdown of all I/O sources for 5 minutes, turned them back on and all seems well.  Fan test on both, blinky light sequences OK, no alarms or red lights. 
Have I done everything I can to this point?

[Vic]

Hi moby..,

On the Lite that is "not working",  what is the Mode that it is running,  or is the Mode Off?

And,  what IS the input voltage on this non-working Lite?
What is the battery voltage at that time.
What state is this Lite in at this time?   Is it Resting?

Did not know that you had the MNGP...
Have you looked for the Reason For Resting (RFR) on the non-working Lite?

With the non-working Lite selected on the MNGP,  Press and hold the Left Arrow key,  and tap the Enter key.  There should be a screen of numbers displayed.  On the top row,  the center number should be the RFR.   What is that number?
Here is a Link to RFRs:
http://midniteforum.com/index.php?topic=2034.0
Thanks,   Vic

[mobywile]

OK Vic! Here we go. 
Mode is "Solar" and is ON.
Input V is, depending on the sun, around 32V.  Battery V is/was 13V.
RFR is #5, normal, I assume.  Of course, I have had the panels off to that controller today.  When the sun is out and they are on, they mimic the other controller, i.e. Bulk, Float, etc., most of the time.  It will sometimes stay at Rest even with input and battery voltages above the threshold levels. 
I'm stumped.  Is it possible that I need to reinstall the 1933 firmware and do the factory restart again? 
Any idea where I can get an rj45 wifi adapter so we can, maybe, install the local network program?  Noone I asked in the "stores" has a clue.  If it ain't USB, it just ain't.  Would this be of any assistance in diagnosing this situation?
Thanks for bearing with the old dude who lives in a previous era.  You guys will bring me into this century, and I will love it when it happens.

[xsnrg]

Not sure if it helps or not, but wifi to ethernet devices are pretty common.  Here is an example:

http://www.amazon.com/IOGEAR-Universal-Ethernet-Adapter-GWU627/dp/B004UAKCS6/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1423187482&sr=8-3&keywords=wi-fi+to+ethernet+adapter

[mobywile]

Thanks.  I don't think this is what is needed.  I have a wireless router and the Classic/Lite has an ethernet (rj45 female) port.  I could run a very long cable through the house, but I'd rather have a wireless device that my computer could recognize and communicate with.  That would have an rj45 male and some sort of antenna, I think.  This is all part of the conversion from Barney Rubble to 21st Century Man.
Again, I appreciate everyone's input.

[Vic]

OK Vic! Here we go. 
Mode is "Solar" and is ON.
Input V is, depending on the sun, around 32V.  Battery V is/was 13V.
RFR is #5, normal, I assume.  ...     It will sometimes stay at Rest even with input and battery voltages above the threshold levels. 

Hi moby...,,

Thanks for the additional info on the Mode abd the Vin and Vbatt.

This is the definition of RFR #5:
  ReasonForResting = 5    Too low power and Vbatt below set point for 90 seconds

The reason that the RFR codes are in the Classics,  is that it helps a lot in diagnosing problems that folks in the field are having.

If you have the chance to look at the RFR when you believe that the Classic should be making power,  please try to catch the RFR at that point,  it could help a lot.

If you want,  you can just reload the current version of the Firmware over the previous version,  and do another Reset to factory settings (also known as VMM).

More later,  hang in there   think that we are making some progress,  Thanks,  Vic

[mobywile]

OK Vic.  Got the program.  I'll reload the firmware and restart tomorrow AM.
Also, I'll monitor the "Resting".  Hell. I'm retired and did all my "town errands" today.  Supposed to be sunny and, can you believe it, 60+ tomorrow.  Great weather to be out in the sunshine.

[Westbranch]

Local App:  First you want to get the communication  setup with the RJ45 cable supplies with the classic.
Then, when you know you have it working you can get a wireless bridge to your router...  you can only look at one at a time even though there are 2 listed, you may have some headaches depending on which OS you re using...  take your time as if you get one digit wrong it wont work...

see here for some info post #1 and 2  http://midniteforum.com/index.php?topic=2297.msg21651#msg21651

[Resthome]

Thanks.  I don't think this is what is needed.  I have a wireless router and the Classic/Lite has an ethernet (rj45 female) port.  I could run a very long cable through the house, but I'd rather have a wireless device that my computer could recognize and communicate with.  That would have an rj45 male and some sort of antenna, I think.  This is all part of the conversion from Barney Rubble to 21st Century Man.
Again, I appreciate everyone's input.

The simple solution is to put another wireless router near the Classics and plug the ethernet on the Classic into 2 of the router ports. Then set this router to a different IP than your existing router. Example: Use 192.168.2.1   For the Classic router use a different SID name and connect your computer wireless to that SID you then can run the LA and it will see both Classics.

[mobywile]

OK, folks.  I've spent the day checking wiring, wearing out my DMM, and I reran the firmware update and also did the hardware factory restart.  Nothing seems to have changed.  I AM needing to run my generator on a sunny day, though.
Now, If I somehow learn what an ISP is and drill a couple holes to run a Cat5 cable, where will I be?  Will I have a huge menu of possibilities and data that I can communicate to get a next level of help?  I don't mean "better", I mean, will I be able to make enough sense of the info that it will help one of you help me?  I'm willing, just not terribly able.
I am willing to do/learn whatever I'm capable of to get through this.  Your patience is highly appreciated.  Thanks

[Halfcrazy]

Moby
The benefit of getting the Local App going is advance trouble shooting.

[mobywile]

Thanks.  Guess I'm on my way downstairs with a drill and some cable. 

[vtmaps]

I've spent the day checking wiring, wearing out my DMM, and I reran the firmware update and also did the hardware factory restart.  Nothing seems to have changed.  I AM needing to run my generator on a sunny day, though.

Thanks.  Guess I'm on my way downstairs with a drill and some cable. 

Hold on there.  Just because you didn't find the wiring fault, doesn't mean its not there.  Your previous description of the problem sounds like a wiring fault:

Each Lite has its own array.  I have this sinking feeling that, for some reason unbeknownst to me, my arrays are
contaminating each other.  I turned off all my panel breakers.  I have 6 - 3 feeding each controller.  I turn on breaker #1 and it shows up as a charge on Lite #11;  I turn on breaker #6 - which should be the other end of the #10 source, and it still shows up charging on Lite #11 also - never wakes up or shows up on as amps in on Lite #10.  Curious...

Wiring faults can be very difficult to diagnose, but you must resolve this before ANYTHING else.  Your problems may be related to DC bonding to ground, or ground fault protection.  If any of your PV negatives are grounded, then they are connected to each other.  Are there any chaffed wires that are getting grounded on a PV frame?

There are dozens of other possibilities... My point is, if you can't figure this out, hire someone who can.

--vtMaps