Bobby T Posted March 19, 2022 Share Posted March 19, 2022 my gentry 6000 watt inverter usually does great but living in the forest we get a lot of limbs that fall and trip the wires occasionally,It seems when the power goes completely out the ups kicks in and takes over just fine but if the power just breifly flashes it trips the converter and i loose power and the red light comes on hopefully threres a solution. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sid Genetry Solar Posted March 19, 2022 Share Posted March 19, 2022 6 hours ago, Bobby T said: my gentry 6000 watt inverter usually does great but living in the forest we get a lot of limbs that fall and trip the wires occasionally,It seems when the power goes completely out the ups kicks in and takes over just fine but if the power just breifly flashes it trips the converter and i loose power and the red light comes on hopefully threres a solution. I think I know who this is...but am not fully sure, so I'll just ask the questions 😉. Can you provide more details/info? what revision control board the inverter has? (A.1 / B / C) STAT page, 2nd line, "Rev.: " what firmware revision the inverter is running? (1.1r4, 1.1r5, 1.1r6) OUT page -> Diagnostic Info -> top lines what error you are getting when the red light comes on? OUT page, bottom line, "ERR: ......." Because yes, the inverter should not be tripping out with an error upon brief power transitions. I need more details so I can figure out what is going wrong...so we can fix it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobby T Posted March 19, 2022 Author Share Posted March 19, 2022 its rev 3 board and i didnt see the err message it was 3 am and pouring rain i just went out to the garage and reset the inverter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobby T Posted March 20, 2022 Author Share Posted March 20, 2022 sid next time it does it i will look at error message. its probably something in the settings because this has been one tough inverter ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sid Genetry Solar Posted March 20, 2022 Share Posted March 20, 2022 3 hours ago, Bobby T said: sid next time it does it i will look at error message. its probably something in the settings because this has been one tough inverter ! OK, thanks. It's always the diagnostic stuff that helps pin down the error 😉. I'm expecting something like "Xformer Polarity" or "Xformer Volt". Those are errors I've put in as a safeguard for potentially dangerous situations--but false triggers have been a pretty big issue in testing/work. If it's something like "AC Volt" or something else, that's a different thing to deal with. One-off random errors are almost impossible to diagnose, unfortunately. If it can be reliably repeated, however, the error can be addressed far easier--especially if I can duplicate it on my bench. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobby T Posted March 21, 2022 Author Share Posted March 21, 2022 it never does it when power goes off completely it works fine. its only when the power just flashes for a second 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobby T Posted March 29, 2022 Author Share Posted March 29, 2022 ok it just did it again and it says err ac backfeed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sid Genetry Solar Posted March 30, 2022 Share Posted March 30, 2022 1 hour ago, Bobby T said: ok it just did it again and it says err ac backfeed Ah. That definitely helps narrow down the issue. Sorry I didn't ask for more details....because there's more diagnostics that can be gotten from the inverter to pin down what exactly is going on. In this case, a photo of the Oscilloscope "DVLT" (Diagnostic Voltage) channel would be very helpful--but only during the error state. (If the inverter is running normally, the DVLT channel won't be of much value.) "AC Backfeed" basically indicates that there was power present on the inverter's OUTPUT when it was not expecting power to be present there. (This error is to try to notify the user AND avoid FET destruction resulting from connecting the inverter's output to a live AC panel--which happens more often than you might think.) In your case, it likely is simply a result of the code being a little too protective. The inverter requires AC output to be <20vAC before it will start battery power mode--and if the voltage is >20vAC for 0.5 seconds, it will throw an "AC Backfeed" error. What I don't understand is how certain loads can provide power to the inverter for over half a second after power has been cut off... I probably should bump the limit to 50vAC, as the FETs will be fine as long as there isn't any significant current behind said unexplained power. This I can easily address in an update--hopefully you have been able to get WiFi signal to the inverter? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobby T Posted March 30, 2022 Author Share Posted March 30, 2022 i did run a cat cable out into the steel container where the inverter and batteries are stored and will work on the wifi extender and get the wifi going and will get back to you. Thankks Sid ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobby T Posted March 30, 2022 Author Share Posted March 30, 2022 Ok Sid i finally have wifi in the steel container that inverter is in and did manage to switch wifi on the inverter to on not sure what to do next Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sid Genetry Solar Posted March 30, 2022 Share Posted March 30, 2022 Ha. I'm tinkerin' with the code right now, but I guess I can get you a Tech update to bump up the limits ;-). I should ask: do you have a battery-backed method of getting WiFi to the inverter? There's always the possibility that something can go amiss with the update sequence--and if you have no backup means of getting WiFi to the inverter, that would be quite an issue. 2 hours ago, Bobby T said: did manage to switch wifi on the inverter to on Does this mean that it is connected to your WiFi network? If it's connected, the "WiFi" line will read "WiFi: On -> Connected". If not, the bottom line will read "(no credentials)" If the inverter does not have any WiFi credentials, you'll need to configure the inverter's WiFi settings. To do this, scroll down the WiFi page to the bottom line, which will change to "Configure WiFi" when selected. Hit "Enter" on that (right button), and the inverter will display a QR code. You should be able to scan this QR code on your phone (connect to network), then hopefully the captive portal will come up (on your phone). From here, the inverter will scan for WiFi networks, and provide you a list on your phone...if you tap on the network you want, you can enter a password and click "Connect." The inverter will try to connect to the network, and if successful, it will automatically exit configuration. Once the inverter is connected to WiFi (and both "WiFi" and "MQTT" lines read "Connected"), the inverter should be basically ready for an update. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobby T Posted March 30, 2022 Author Share Posted March 30, 2022 yes i scanned the code and it pops up a screen on my phone that says wifi encrtption:nopass password:null and the page wont do anything Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sid Genetry Solar Posted March 30, 2022 Share Posted March 30, 2022 5 minutes ago, Bobby T said: yes i scanned the code and it pops up a screen on my phone that says wifi encrtption:nopass password:null and the page wont do anything This means that your phone isn't executing the "WiFi network connect" QR code, and is instead just displaying the text data of the QR code. In this case, you can manually connect your phone to the inverter network: when the QR code is displaying, the inverter will be generating a WiFi network labeled "GS_Inverter". Connect your phone to that, and HOPEFULLY a captive portal will pop up (unfortunately, this is quite dependent on the phone's WiFi handling implementation). If not, try navigating to http://192.168.1.1/ Some have said than an IP address of http://192.168.1.4/ works... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobby T Posted March 30, 2022 Author Share Posted March 30, 2022 the connect to wifi button does nothing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobby T Posted March 30, 2022 Author Share Posted March 30, 2022 connecting to gs network made it work and now the inverter says connected credentials saved Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sid Genetry Solar Posted March 30, 2022 Share Posted March 30, 2022 Perfect. You can press the "Exit" button on the inverter, and you're good. You should now see "Connected" on both the "WiFi" and "MQTT" lines. If so, we're pretty well set. I just need to stop tinkering with the code and get you a Tech update...if you want to get it done right now. Assuming you have an alternate power source available for your WiFi router and Internet source? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobby T Posted March 30, 2022 Author Share Posted March 30, 2022 yes the curcuit that has the wifi extender on it isnst part of the ups and my main router has a battery backp that came with it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobby T Posted March 30, 2022 Author Share Posted March 30, 2022 not sure how to get the update Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sid Genetry Solar Posted March 30, 2022 Share Posted March 30, 2022 I haven't released it, haha. Been tinkering with something else. But I can increase the thresholds in code and "Tech" it to you. You'll need to set the "Update Branch" on your inverter (WiFi page) to "Tech"; it's likely on "Rev." or "Major". Once you have it set there, I can send a Tech to the server, and you should see it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobby T Posted March 30, 2022 Author Share Posted March 30, 2022 ok i set it to tech Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sid Genetry Solar Posted March 30, 2022 Share Posted March 30, 2022 Give me a minute, I'll get an update popped to the server, you should see it, "Get 1.1r6" after validating it. I haven't bumped the version code, so it's the same version as your inverter currently is running. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sid Genetry Solar Posted March 30, 2022 Share Posted March 30, 2022 Pushed to server, you should see it shortly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobby T Posted March 30, 2022 Author Share Posted March 30, 2022 ok thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sid Genetry Solar Posted March 30, 2022 Share Posted March 30, 2022 Should download and install (rebooting the inverter); I bumped the thresholds up SLIGHTLY, not significantly. If the error happens again, I'd appreciate a photo of the "DVLT" oscilloscope channel--that will show me what's going on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sid Genetry Solar Posted March 30, 2022 Share Posted March 30, 2022 (you'll have to manually click the "Get 1.1r6" button, it won't automatically update) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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