My Whizbang Jr stopped working

[bafaro]

My whizbang Jr stopped working after only two months of use. I rode in a second classic but it's the same result. I finally changed the shunt and it is still the same. It flashes very quickly without stalling. help me please, what do I do? Thanks for your help.

[Vic]

Hi bafaro,

OK,  several questions;

1.  What is the temperature displayed on the WB Status page  --  the one that shows the battery Charge/Discharge current?  And,  what is the value of current reported  ...  does this value ever change?

2.  Does this temperature value ever change?

3.  If you switch the Classic's Mode to off,  does the WB report believable current now?

4.  Did you extend the WB's purple (violet) wire,  in order to reach the Classic?

5.  Are you the original buyer of the WBjr?   Do you believe that this WBjr was from very early production,  dating back to 2013?

Believe that rapid flashing of the WB's LED,   indicates that the Classic believes that it is not getting valid data from the WB,  IIRC.

AND,  I had a very similar issue with one WBjr here,  from very early production  --  perhaps the first production run.   It worked initially for several months,  and then stopped reporting current values,  and the WB temperature readout did not change,  and so on ...  :

http://midnitesolar.com/Forum/index.php?topic=1620.0

More Later,    Vic

[bafaro]

Thank you for your feedback. I will try to answer your questions:
1. The current status of WBJR gives no display, you can only read the last display in the judgment;
2. No data is available;
3. No data are available also;
4. Actually I made the extension of the purple wire to about 30 cm to reach the classic;
5. WBJR was purchased on the amazon site, so I do not know if it is an original and what is its version.
I hope these answers will enlighten you more. Thank you

[Vic]

Hi bafaro,

Thank you for the answers ...

OK,  so if you shut off the Input breaker to the Classic (usually PV input),  and then shut off the Classic's Output breaker,  wait for 30 seconds or so,  and then power up the Classic output breaker,  then the Input breaker,  does the WB begin working correctly?

Is there any chance that while the power system was operating,  that the WB negative connection to the battery was interrupted or disconnected?

Have you made any changes to the system between the time that the WB was working correctly,  and the time that it stopped working?

Since switching to the second Classic made no change,  it is possible that the WB might be non-functional.

Since you appear to be in Mali,  have you had recent lightning strikes fairly close to your location?

Are you connected to the Grid for AC power in any way ...  this can increase the chance of lightning damage to parts of the system.

Sorry for all of the questions ...   Thanks,   Vic

[bafaro]

Thank you again, Vic, your questions reflect your willingness to find a solution to my problem. in fact I had disconnected the entire system to retry the WBJR but nothing came. The system was working properly at the time of the judgment of WBJR and no change or interruption of the system took place at this time even less lightning. Say running is still happened at a time when the converter was a strong current demand and that's it, my advice would be responsible for stopping WBJR. Thanks, bafaro

[brad.midnite]

Hi bafaro,

If you look at the manual for the Whizbang Jr (http://www.midnitesolar.com/pdfs/Whizbang_manual.pdf), it states that a rapidly blinking light indicates a hardware fault. It suggests power cycling the device.

It sounds like you've already tried that. In that case I would suggest getting in touch with tech support.

What's happening is that the Whizbang Jr's firmware has detected that it cannot speak to the ADC chip. Perhaps the ADC is dead or some on-board connection has otherwise been compromised.

Check our front page, left column. There are phone numbers/email addresses of people who can help you.

I notified one of them I skype with regularly, so you may by now have already received an email.

-Brad

[bafaro]

ok thank you Brad, I have not yet received enamel so I just send one.