My 6K arrived today

[Joe S]

It's a happy day for me. It's here; no scratches, dents, or rattles.
Got it hooked up with jumper cables. Powered on and am now familiarizing myself with the screen. It's gonna take some time I think. 
I applied a small load to try output.
When I turn inverter off, the fans start and keep running ... and running. No timeout, so after 10 min I pulled power.
Is this a setting or ?

Thanks

[Sid Genetry Solar]

28 minutes ago, Joe S said:

When I turn inverter off, the fans start and keep running ... and running. No timeout, so after 10 min I pulled power.
Is this a setting or ?

Ugh.  Pretty sure I know exactly what is wrong.

Will have to talk with Sean to confirm...

[Sid Genetry Solar]

OK, so it shouldn't be what I think it is.  So...that means I'm not quite sure what's going on.

As your inverter has the full new setup, it's possible that I've got a code issue with the WiFi board when all the temperature sensors are plugged into the control board (none in the WiFi board).  I need to check this on my bench and see if that's the issue; if so, I can correct it with a firmware update.

Does the LCD show something like, "Inverter cooldown" while the fans are running?  Or is the LCD off at that point?

[Joe S]

Hmmmm ... what popped up on TEMP page was ... NO THERMISTORS FOUND   ALL FANS FULL SPEED

M T M ... readings start decrementing down from ambient into the minus range and then goes to ---- 
LCD remains active

[Sid Genetry Solar]

Huh?  This'll be a first for me for sure...

...so the LCD indicates 240v AC output when running, you can see the system status ("INV: Running", etc.) and other functions on the OUT tab.  But when you turn the inverter off, the LCD remains on??

[Joe S]

Yes display is 240VAC and has pwr out.
LCD remains on. Dims after timeout, but FANS keep running. 

I'm gonna grab a couple of pics and send 
 

[Joe S]

[Joe S]

Note the output voltage "displayed" when power off. 

[Sid Genetry Solar]

Thank you for the photos.  Problem is very clear...but the issue is that I don't know what's causing it.

Any chance you can see a green light on the board at the top of the heatsinks (i.e. towards the LCD) through the fan grille between the battery terminals?  It should be brightly lit when the inverter's on...and off when the inverter power switch is off.  If it's dimly glowing and/or flickering ~3x/sec when the inverter's off, that's a big clue.

Have to admit this issue is a first.  There does not appear to be any problem with comm (as stats and other functions are working)...but when the inverter is turned off, the LCD isn't shutting off with it.  Both the power signal and comm are over the same wires in a cable...so it does not appear that said cable fell out of a connector in shipping.  (Have had THAT happen before...symptomized by an LCD that is always on, but reads "no CPU comm" regardless of whether the power button is on or off.)

I will have to try to replicate this issue and try to figure out what's causing it.

In the meantime, it does appear that the inverter is otherwise functioning properly.

[Joe S]

Bright when on and yes it is very dim when system is off.

[Sid Genetry Solar]

11 minutes ago, Joe S said:

Bright when on and yes it is very dim when system is off.

Humph.  That's a first...and that's also why the LCD isn't turning off.  That light needs to go all the way out.

Now...why in the world is it NOT going all the way out...??!?  Is there any 3x/sec flickering in the light when it's dim?

[Joe S]

I looked again from different angles. I did not see any flickering. 😞

[Sid Genetry Solar]

This is really weird.  Worst part is that without cracking the inverter case and unplugging said cable (to determine whether the issue is part of the LCD board or the control board [which has the light]), there really isn't any further diagnostics that can be done.

At least in the meantime the inverter DOES appear to be functioning properly...as long as the power switch is on.

 

I will need to get with Sean and determine what we should do for a solution.  It's definitely not your fault (unless someone poured a soft drink into the inverter!)...but this issue needs to be sorted out.  It's a first for us...and I'm anxious to figure out what's causing the issue.

[Sid Genetry Solar]

Maybe Monday I can get a test bench together to determine whether or not there's an issue with the hardware design--but I would certainly have noticed an issue like this.  Strangest part is that I tested every board in that inverter on my bench before sending it to Sean for installation in the actual inverter.  So it is a mystery indeed.

[Joe S]

Sounds good. I'll wait to hear from you. 

Thanks

[Sid Genetry Solar]

OK, I've just got to know 😉

There's one more test to confirm/deny what I'm suspecting is the actual problem...without taking someone's word for it.  Behavior is exactly correspondent to the fans being plugged into the control board (which due to a small design mistake on my part...doesn't QUITE work as intended.)  The fans should be plugged into the LCD board.

 

With the inverter on, if you go to the FANS tab, the first row of numbers ("Throtle") will turn to "TEST" if you highlight them.  Hit "Enter" on the "TEST" for each fan channel, one at a time (A / B / C)...and see if you can separately control the throttle of each of the 2 fans (Up/Down adjusts by 10%).

If you can directly control the speed of each fan separately (not sure if they're plugged into A / B or B / C)--or for that matter, control both of their speed simultaneously, then I'm back to being stymied.

If you can't get either fan to spin up from the LCD...then my initial hunch is correct that the fans are plugged into the wrong board (which would cause EXACTLY what you report).

 

Another symptom would be the fans starting to spin up the moment you turn the power button off--instead of waiting for the LCD to say, "No thermistors connected.  All fans full speed" BEFORE starting to spin up.

EDIT: and correspondingly, fans instantly shutting off when you turn the power button on--instead of waiting 3-4 seconds to turn off.

[Joe S]

West coast plus slept in. I didn't expect to hear from you until Monday.

5 hours ago, Sid Genetry Solar said:

With the inverter on, if you go to the FANS tab, the first row of numbers ("Throtle") will turn to "TEST" if you highlight them.  Hit "Enter" on the "TEST" for each fan channel, one at a time (A / B / C)...and see if you can separately control the throttle of each of the 2 fans (Up/Down adjusts by 10%).

yes i was able to do that.

 

5 hours ago, Sid Genetry Solar said:

Another symptom would be the fans starting to spin up the moment you turn the power button off--instead of waiting for the LCD to say, "No thermistors connected.  All fans full speed" BEFORE starting to spin up.

EDIT: and correspondingly, fans instantly shutting off when you turn the power button on--instead of waiting 3-4 seconds to turn off.

there is a delay when pwr is turned off.

there is a delay when pwr is turned on.

when pwr is off i have full control of menu functions including fan test.

hope this helps

 

[Sid Genetry Solar]

So to confirm, you can separately control the fans' PWM from the LCD?

[Joe S]

that is correct.

[Sid Genetry Solar]

10 hours ago, Joe S said:

that is correct.

Well, then I'm back to being stymied 😉.  Will have to get a full setup on my bench to try to replicate the issue and figure out what's going on.

[Sid Genetry Solar]

Just for the record:

Spent an hour troubleshooting the issue, and eventually figured it out: one of the thermistors' internal isolation had failed, and it was conducting battery positive from a FET heatsink directly to the control board.  Fortunately, due to the safety improvements on the Rev. C control board, nothing was damaged.  (Replacing the thermistor solves the issue.)