Classic stops output when large load applied and then recovers.

[Resthome]

Okay here is the day I was taking about it happening last year also. And this would have been the firmware before the current production as I just updated it last week.

Note the PV voltage input dropping off, this is what sent me looking at the combiner breakers but they where all okay and the voltage was 40 volts at the combiner. It recovered before I got back to the Classic. This involved the microwave load from Float and the kWh reset to 0 here also. Except it stayed with low PV input for a long period almost like it was stuck in a sweep. But it shows RESTING

See what you think about this data boB. Something sure seems haywire to me.

[boB]

Yes, something DOES look haywire there...  But it does not make sense kind of haywire.

There was low watts (5 watts) just before resting (stage 0) so that's OK...

BUT !  Then the kW-Hours reset to 0.0 from 0.1  First strange thing.

What REALLY bothers me is that your INPUT voltage is going from a good 30 to 40 volts
input to battery voltage and then BELOW battery voltage while resting !

It's like your input breaker turned off or there is a bad connection from the PV array...

Bad connections do happen BUT not with the added strangeness of the kW-Hours going
to zero !

AHA !  ALso, I see that right around going to Resting, the FET and PCB TEMPerature jumps
around 10 degrees C !!!  All of a sudden !

FET    PCB

34.2     43.2
34.2     43.2
44.1     52.4
44.1     52.4
34       42.9
34       42.9
33.6     42.6
33.6     42.6
33.5     42.5

I think it may be time for an RMA.
Haven't you done that already once ?

How do you guys come up with all this strangeness ?
boB

[Resthome]

Yes, something DOES look haywire there...  But it does not make sense kind of haywire.

There was low watts (5 watts) just before resting (stage 0) so that's OK...

BUT !  Then the kW-Hours reset to 0.0 from 0.1  First strange thing.

What REALLY bothers me is that your INPUT voltage is going from a good 30 to 40 volts
input to battery voltage and then BELOW battery voltage while resting !

It's like your input breaker turned off or there is a bad connection from the PV array...

Bad connections do happen BUT not with the added strangeness of the kW-Hours going
to zero !

AHA !  ALso, I see that right around going to Resting, the FET and PCB TEMPerature jumps
around 10 degrees C !!!  All of a sudden !

FET    PCB

34.2     43.2
34.2     43.2
44.1     52.4
44.1     52.4
34       42.9
34       42.9
33.6     42.6
33.6     42.6
33.5     42.5

I think it may be time for an RMA.
Haven't you done that already once ?

How do you guys come up with all this strangeness ?
boB

Hadn't notice the FET temp jump. Looks like for 4 sec and then back down.

This data was from a one day trip and I arrived at around 10:45am and started the LA. I think the Classic had been in some strange state when I got there. As battery is in float and the WBjr is showing a negative along with low watts and 0 input current. That went for over 15 min before the microwave came into play. It couldn't have been a bleed off from coming out of Absorb for that long.  At least I don't think so. At 11:06:41 when it snapped out of it the data then looks normal. It's stranger than I first thought.

If it was a breaker issue on the PV input it would have to be the main PV breaker before the controller. There are 5 -15 amp breakers in the Combiner with 4 awg to the PV main Breaker.

I bought a touque screwdriver last summer and touque all breakers, Classic, and battery terminals so it's not a connection issue.  And the PV voltage and amperage have been good. Does the PV input go through and other circuitry before it is read for voltage?

Yeah this is a refurbished replacement 07/20/14  Midnite Controller - CL11612. The previous SN was - CL13232.

Maybe they can send this one to your lab not sure what it prior history was. Should I send a note of to Ryan to start the RMA process?

[boB]

Yeah, let's talk with Ryan about this and more than likely get an RMA going.

The classic just reads the voltage across the + and - terminals.

It's possible I suppose that a weak negative wire could cause problems.
In fact, that would cause strange problems although not sure if it would
cause this problem for sure.

If the negative line is broken or there is a large voltage drop from main
negative to the Classic's negative, then the positive voltages are referenced
somewhat to the OTHER positive input.  Not saying that is the problem here
but more info to know.

boB



But that should not affect the temperatures.

[Resthome]

Thanks boB sent a PM to Ryan.

[boB]

Also, notice that the BATTery temperature went up almost 3 degrees when
the FET and PCB temperature jumped up too.  This may indicate an issue
with one of the internal A/D multiplexer inputs.


BATT   FET     PCB

19.2     34.2   43.2
19.2     34.2   43.2
21.9     44.1   52.4
21.9     44.1   52.4
19.2     34      42.9
19.2     34      42.9

Although this does not explain (at least yet) the kW-Hours resetting,
one thing you might check before disconnecting that Classic is to have a look
at the "secret" screen that shows the Reason For Resting (RFR). 

From main status, hold down the left-arrow key and then tap the ENTER key. 

Note all of the values.  You can do this when the Classic is Resting.  If the mux is
part of the problem, this may show which channel is the culprit if indeed that
is part of this.

We chalk this one up as being "interesting" at the very least.

boB

[Westbranch]

How do you guys come up with all this strangeness ?
boB

Same way hackers do it?  Just test to the max!

[Resthome]

How do you guys come up with all this strangeness ?
boB

Same way hackers do it?  Just test to the max!

Yeah, if it wasn't for the great monitoring capability of the MidNite Classic we would never see all this strange stuff.