Blank display - unit not working suddently

[zekeria]

Hi.
I have installed the kid fresh from factory with three panels and 24 volt battery config.

It worked great for 14 days and then it just out of the blue died, one day the display just went blank and it does not help with reset. 

I have grounded the unit just like in the instructions and set the unit up as described.

Any guess what is wrong before RMA?

Ordered it from US to here in Denmark, so it is gonna cost Midnite Solar quite a lot as they have to pay for the shipping as well then.

Thanks in advance for any idea of how to get the unit alive?

I can also tell that if the battery is connected, then the load is blinking on and of, by blinking i do not mean that the unit blink, but that a whole lot of led lightning i have just starts blinking if more than a few is connected.

So something is wrong 

[Vic]

Hi zekeria,

If you have a multimeter,  or some other way to measure it,   What is your battery voltage?

Thanks,    Vic

[zekeria]

Hi 

It is 25.81 volt measured with a very good multimeter!

As a side note to this question i can also tell:
I have tried to disconnect the unit for one houer without any change, still blank/dead screen no matter what and no led is lighting up and all fuses are checked as well.
I have an external 50 amp charger build into my inverter that i have tried charging the bank with to see if a higher voltage would make it start but to no luck 
Else the voltage when the problem was registered was just below 25 volt.

Thanks for trying to help me 

[ClassicCrazy]

Did you check the voltage at the terminals on the Kid ?  If there is power there maybe pull the fuse and see if there is power making it up that far. I guess that would tell you if the connection is broken somewhere between the power terminals and the fuse. 

I can't think of anything else - unless you can visually inspect the circuit board for any odd things like broken traces or burned up components. 

Larry

[Vic]

OK,  Thanks zekeria,

Thanks for the info.  Even if the batteries are quite cold,  this battery voltage should be quite sufficient to run the KID.   So,  when the LEDs are blinking,  etc,  the battery voltage is still about 25 V,  and does not dip to a very low voltage ??

The Charger that you mentioned is inside an Inverter,  or is it connected to the KID,  at times?

Know that it can sometimes be a bit difficult to go inside the KID to measure the battery input voltage on the KID's terminal strip,  but if you could do this this is the absolute best place to measure the voltage that the KID is seeing ....   Would you please measure the battery voltage at the KID side of the battery breaker?   It is possible that on one of the fuses built into the KID,  that you could measure the actual battery voltage that the KID is seeing.

You might also try disconnecting all of the Loads on the Load terminals,  or switch OFF the circuit breaker that feeds your loads on the KID Load terminals,  just to make sure that these items are not overloading the KID.

Am running low on ideas.   Thanks,   Vic

[zekeria]

Yes i did #Classiccrazy

I have visually inspected the components also. nothing looks burned etc.

I have also disconnected the pv array and i can see that the internal capacitor drops VERY slowly.

So if i disconnect while the voltage is f.eks. 110 volts, it very slowly drops at a rate around 0.2 volts every second, i had expected it to discharge throgh the charging circuit imediatly but there is a blank screen allways, so there really is  not that much to expect?

Thanks for helping out! 

[TomW]

At a very basic level: are you certain The Kid has voltage On It's Terminals?  The battery voltage at the batteries is no proof the voltage is getting to The Kid. That would be the first logical step to bug out a device that is not showing life.

Just a thought.

Tom

[Vic]

Yes i did #Classiccrazy


So if i disconnect while the voltage is f.eks. 110 volts, it very slowly drops at a rate around 0.2 volts every second, i had expected it to discharge throgh the charging circuit imediatly but there is a blank screen allways, so there really is  not that much to expect?

So,  what are the specs on the three PVs that you are using  --  Voc,  Vmp,  etc.   What is the highest input voltage that you have measured/seen on the input breaker to the KID?

Thanks,   Vic

[zekeria]

Yes i did #Classiccrazy


So if i disconnect while the voltage is f.eks. 110 volts, it very slowly drops at a rate around 0.2 volts every second, i had expected it to discharge throgh the charging circuit imediatly but there is a blank screen allways, so there really is  not that much to expect?

So,  what are the specs on the three PVs that you are using  --  Voc,  Vmp,  etc.   What is the highest input voltage that you have measured/seen on the input breaker to the KID?

Thanks,   Vic

It is three 200 watt panels and the array has an absolute combined output of maximum 145 volts.
Everything was ordered to fit this charger.

[zekeria]

At a very basic level: are you certain The Kid has voltage On It's Terminals?  The battery voltage at the batteries is no proof the voltage is getting to The Kid. That would be the first logical step to bug out a device that is not showing life.

Just a thought.

Tom

I have measured it directly at the terminals on the back of the charger where the cables are attached!
All fuses have been checked.

We have also now tried to power down the unit for 6 hours before again giving it power to see if a longer power down period would help, but it did still not power up.
It is just plain dead.

But how can it have happened?
Have anyone had troubles like this, like a faulty unit or so?
I got this unit because i expected something sturdy with good longevity

I know a lot of people are very glad for MS products.

Funny that it ran just like it was supposed to after the setup for 14 days.

[Halfcrazy]

Yes i did #Classiccrazy


So if i disconnect while the voltage is f.eks. 110 volts, it very slowly drops at a rate around 0.2 volts every second, i had expected it to discharge throgh the charging circuit imediatly but there is a blank screen allways, so there really is  not that much to expect?

So,  what are the specs on the three PVs that you are using  --  Voc,  Vmp,  etc.   What is the highest input voltage that you have measured/seen on the input breaker to the KID?

Thanks,   Vic

It is three 200 watt panels and the array has an absolute combined output of maximum 145 volts.
Everything was ordered to fit this charger.

So what model panels? 145 volts if that is the open circuit that at the current 45 ish degrees F there now they would be over 150

[dgd]

You could test the KID by removing it completely and just connecting a 12v battery to it, then see if the display comes on. Nothing else connected to it, no loads, no solar panels, nothing except the 12v battery.

dgd

[b4solar]

Zekeria

Thanks for the purchase.

How much voltage was applied to the input during cold weather conditions?

[zekeria]

Yes i did #Classiccrazy


So if i disconnect while the voltage is f.eks. 110 volts, it very slowly drops at a rate around 0.2 volts every second, i had expected it to discharge throgh the charging circuit imediatly but there is a blank screen allways, so there really is  not that much to expect?

So,  what are the specs on the three PVs that you are using  --  Voc,  Vmp,  etc.   What is the highest input voltage that you have measured/seen on the input breaker to the KID?

Thanks,   Vic

It is three 200 watt panels and the array has an absolute combined output of maximum 145 volts.
Everything was ordered to fit this charger.

So what model panels? 145 volts if that is the open circuit that at the current 45 ish degrees F there now they would be over 150

It is the theoretical maximum open circuit value for the system at its highest, i do not know much more than that, but it is designed together.
the degrees mentioned is offcourse celcius.

Still the kid can go a bit over without any troubles.

It must be something. else.

[zekeria]

You could test the KID by removing it completely and just connecting a 12v battery to it, then see if the display comes on. Nothing else connected to it, no loads, no solar panels, nothing except the 12v battery.

dgd

Hi! :-)

I have done that with both 12 and 24 volt!

I have started an rma request through the Ebay seller.
Guess it will be cheaper to send a new one right away as MS have to pay for shipping.

But have no troubles returning the unit when the return shipping cost has been recived.

Thanks for all your help, i really appreciate it.

Now i just hope for getting the new functional unit as fast as possible and not waiting weeks without end.