Colin G Posted February 22, 2022 Author Share Posted February 22, 2022 Thanks, this board though appears to have had an oscillator fitted as I desoldered the legs of it, so depending on if the pic has been programmed to fall back to the internal oscillator, i think I need this as it was on the board, just need to know the frequency value. Thanks for your help, cheers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sid Genetry Solar Posted February 22, 2022 Share Posted February 22, 2022 48 minutes ago, Colin G said: Thanks, this board though appears to have had an oscillator fitted as I desoldered the legs of it, so depending on if the pic has been programmed to fall back to the internal oscillator, i think I need this as it was on the board, just need to know the frequency value. Thanks for your help, cheers. Crystal is 8MHz. Yes, the PIC has the ability to use an internal oscillator, however the configuration bits are set to external oscillator only. So without a crystal, it won't run. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin G Posted February 22, 2022 Author Share Posted February 22, 2022 Thats fantastic news, wow, you are a genius, I looked at the PIC datasheet, and kind of got my head around it, and could see some of the registers that could be set, sorry I didnt mention this fact before that there was something supposed to be in this component location. Alrighty, Im going to get a new crystal and go from there. Thanks a million, great info, will let you know how I get on. Kind regards Colin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sid Genetry Solar Posted February 22, 2022 Share Posted February 22, 2022 2 hours ago, Colin G said: Thats fantastic news, wow, you are a genius, I looked at the PIC datasheet, and kind of got my head around it, and could see some of the registers that could be set, sorry I didnt mention this fact before that there was something supposed to be in this component location. Alrighty, Im going to get a new crystal and go from there. Thanks a million, great info, will let you know how I get on. Kind regards Colin. If you just want to test it, you can pull a colorburst crystal off an old TV (3.579545MHz)--or a 4.0MHz crystal resonator off a junked board...and throw it in there just for test purposes. As the power sense IC (CS5463) has its own 8MHz crystal, the board might work fine, if slower on the LCD. EDIT: nothing's RS-232 on the board, it's all clock-gated--so the PIC oscillator speed isn't critical. According to the datasheet, any crystal between 4-20MHz will probably work fine, as the config bits would have it set to HS oscillator. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin G Posted February 23, 2022 Author Share Posted February 23, 2022 If its possible, could anyone post a pic of the ct clamp at all please, with the model number of it so I can try and source a compatible one I can fit to my monitoring board. Would be greatly appreciated, as I dont have another unit to swap one out of. Many thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sid Genetry Solar Posted February 23, 2022 Share Posted February 23, 2022 I have no idea what current sense transformer PJ used in their GT inverters. All that I DO know is that the CT clamps PJ uses are custom-specced and sourced by PJ from various Chinese manufacturers. Any part numbers (if any) on the PJ CTs generally mean absolutely nothing--i.e. you won't be able to find a datasheet for them, as they aren't a "general stock" item. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin G Posted February 24, 2022 Author Share Posted February 24, 2022 Thanks Sid and everyone's input on my issues. The LCD is alive once more once I had fitted the new crystal, all good. Thanks again everyone, you are legends. Kind regards Col. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin G Posted October 17, 2022 Author Share Posted October 17, 2022 Hi guys, Back to the inverter again after a long break. Im not sure what is going on with this inverter, I have a 270w panel connected to it, but the led blinks about 3 or 4 times green, then blinks once red, then the cycle starts all over again. I have one of those plug in watt meters, and it shows that the output ramps up then drops suddenly then builds back up and keeps doing this. At the same time there is a very quiet kind of 1 second pulse of a sound like a tap on a can. I reviewed your you tube tutorials and thinking it might be something to do with the PSWGT-control board, but you guys are the experts not me. Its driving me crazy as I cant see anything that has failed component wise. Let me know what ideas you have. Many thanks Col. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sid Genetry Solar Posted October 17, 2022 Share Posted October 17, 2022 1 hour ago, Colin G said: your you tube tutorials and thinking it might be something to do with the PSWGT-control board, but you guys are the experts not me. I have honestly never seen a PSWGT control board--or one of those inverters, for that matter. 1 hour ago, Colin G said: At the same time there is a very quiet kind of 1 second pulse of a sound like a tap on a can. Sounding a lot like something is shorting out the power supply, causing a reset/restart of the processor. Likely this would be a higher voltage power supply (i.e. not the MCU's 5v rail!) Can you confirm something of this sort, i.e. is it shorting out the panel voltage? There'll be a ~200vDC boosted bus internally from which the output AC control is driven from--but if you're getting output AC power, I'd have a hard time fathoming that these output parts (IGBT/FET--don't know!) would be faulty. Likely something in the boost converter circuitry...throttling up, but too hard, and reaching 100% duty cycle?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin G Posted October 17, 2022 Author Share Posted October 17, 2022 Hi Sid, Thanks for your reply. Sean had one of these on the channel a few years ago. Its really a strange one, I thought I had got this sorted with your great advice on the crystal for the lcd panel. All worked well, I even found a suitable CT clamp for it too that was missing. Just this strange tap sound, every second, but the dual colour led goes 3 green flashes and a red momentarily, or 4 green flashes and a red. It does produce output, but the sound doesnt seem right. The piezo buzzer on the lcd cherps now and again? IGBT's? This one has a 4 mosfet board arrangement, its either that or the plug in control board. I should be getting more power than I see i am generating. Sean might have one of these kicking about somewhere. Many thanks Col. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin G Posted October 20, 2022 Author Share Posted October 20, 2022 Hi guys, Just a quick follow up, I know these Power Jack PSW 1200 inverters are old, but, it seems that they are only happy when the input gives a stable 200w plus. As at that level things seem to be fine, but I will thank everyone including sid who helped me on the display issue I had, and that I think everything is fine now. You guys are fantastic and I see on youtube, there maybe a garage sale of some old power jack 1200's. Many thanks, Col. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin G Posted November 21, 2022 Author Share Posted November 21, 2022 Hi everyone who has chipped in to help me. As a reward I have managed to piece together a manual covering these PSWGT 1200 flavor of inverters. Here is the manual that has been a holy grail. I hope it helps anyone in the future in my same position. Cheers Col. PSWGT-manual.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sid Genetry Solar Posted November 21, 2022 Share Posted November 21, 2022 Hmm, literally just replacing fuses and FETs. What was the issue on your unit? The part that had me confused was that you said it was actually producing power for a few seconds before shutting down--which to me ruled out blown FETs, or it'd be CONSUMING power before shutting down. (Oh, that's right...clamp meters don't have AC phase "polarity" info.......!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin G Posted November 22, 2022 Author Share Posted November 22, 2022 Hi Sid, Sure the manual is a beginners guide to electronic diagnostics, etc. but I wanted to get to the bottom of this battery storage thing with these inverters, but that will be for another day. The inverter that I have is the later PSWGT-1200 with the LCD panel. I only have one 270w panel connected to it, but it seems the mppt on this bounces from 100w, down to 40w and back again in a loop, and doesnt stabilise until its about 160w plus. I have a plug top energy monitor that seems more accurate than the lcd display. Although I think there is an issue with the lcd as I get corrupted characters sometimes and then either the display locks up and doesnt respond, or just reboots to the powerjack startup logo. Very strange, needs further investigation, any suggestions greatly appreciated. Kind regards Colin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sid Genetry Solar Posted November 22, 2022 Share Posted November 22, 2022 2 hours ago, Colin G said: Although I think there is an issue with the lcd as I get corrupted characters sometimes and then either the display locks up and doesnt respond, or just reboots to the powerjack startup logo. Probably EMI and/or bad 5v rail filtering on the LCD MCU (assuming it's separate from the main MCU). Biggest issue for me is that I have never seen one of these units in person, so I can't offer any hands-on suggestions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin G Posted November 22, 2022 Author Share Posted November 22, 2022 Think I need to check the electrolytic caps on the lcd, and maybe the voltage regulator, thanks for the heads up. Let you know how I get on. Cheers Col. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sid Genetry Solar Posted November 22, 2022 Share Posted November 22, 2022 Like I've said...I've never had one of these units on my desk, so I'm just purely guessing. But the display locking up / showing gibberish and/or resetting pretty well sounds like interference or poor power supply filtration. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin G Posted November 22, 2022 Author Share Posted November 22, 2022 Many thanks, great advice, im going to investigate. I did see some spare LCD panels in the spares shop, but I think they are too new, mine is 2014 I think. Cheers Col. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sid Genetry Solar Posted November 23, 2022 Share Posted November 23, 2022 3 hours ago, Colin G said: I did see some spare LCD panels in the spares shop, Careful...I would expect (hope!) that the LCD panel in one of these grid-ties would have different programming than an LCD panel for a PJ low-frequency inverter... But as I've never had one in hand, I don't know if there is any difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin G Posted November 24, 2022 Author Share Posted November 24, 2022 Hi Sid, Thanks for the advice, I will battle on. I have checked the electrolytic caps on my lcd and all appear in spec, puzzling. However its only a display not a controller as such so really its just a pain. Unless it is a controller of such? I have 2 power jacks, a 2012 one and the 2014 one with the display. I thought I would try and resurrect my 2012 one with replacing 2 IGBT's that had shorted G60N100 with FGL60N100BNTD. However, I replaced them, checked the dc and ac side and all in spec. I connected it to the grid without a solar panel just to see if I get anything, and pop. Just blew 2 IGBT's at 9 pounds a pop in the UK. Am I missing something here, cause this is going out the window freestyle, I cant believe this is so difficult. Im doubting my electronics knowledge here and I thought I was quite good at this stuff for over 20 years, maybe I am fooling myself. Cheers Col. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sid Genetry Solar Posted November 25, 2022 Share Posted November 25, 2022 9 hours ago, Colin G said: Thanks for the advice, I will battle on. I have checked the electrolytic caps on my lcd and all appear in spec, puzzling. However its only a display not a controller as such so really its just a pain. Unless it is a controller of such? AFAIK all of the PJ LCDs are just displays with sensors, and do absolutely no controlling. Again, I've never had one of their grid-tie units, so this is just a guess. 9 hours ago, Colin G said: I have 2 power jacks, a 2012 one and the 2014 one with the display. I thought I would try and resurrect my 2012 one with replacing 2 IGBT's that had shorted G60N100 with FGL60N100BNTD. However, I replaced them, checked the dc and ac side and all in spec. I connected it to the grid without a solar panel just to see if I get anything, and pop. Just blew 2 IGBT's at 9 pounds a pop in the UK. Am I missing something here, cause this is going out the window freestyle, I cant believe this is so difficult. Im doubting my electronics knowledge here and I thought I was quite good at this stuff for over 20 years, maybe I am fooling myself. Damage often goes upstream to locations that might not be immediately visible. Replacing just the visible damage may not solve the actual issue that caused the visible damage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin G Posted November 25, 2022 Author Share Posted November 25, 2022 Thanks Sid, So really start at the grid and work backwards towards the IGBT's, I wonder why connecting this just to the grid without a panel popped the 2 IGBT's? Regards Col. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sid Genetry Solar Posted November 25, 2022 Share Posted November 25, 2022 14 minutes ago, Colin G said: I wonder why connecting this just to the grid without a panel popped the 2 IGBT's? Probably blown/damaged FET drivers that resulted in the IGBTs shorting out the AC line when power was applied. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin G Posted November 25, 2022 Author Share Posted November 25, 2022 Thanks Sid, you mean the dc side drivers, even though there is nothing connected to the dc, do I understand that ok? Ok a complete test and run through on this one, really driving me crazy. Thanks a million Col. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin G Posted November 26, 2022 Author Share Posted November 26, 2022 Hi SId, I have done some investigating and this is really interesting. I dont know what happened to this inverter prior to me receiving this one. I have noted that the IGBT's that have blown Q8 and Q11 have a gate resistor of 1002, however the ones that appear ok Q9 and Q10 under diode test have a gate resistor of 1003? Looks like someone has had a play with this one and misread the value or something? What are your thoughts? Look forward to hearing from you, Cheers Col. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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