question

thomas-g avatar image
thomas-g asked

100/50 MPPT stopped Charging for no reason (other MPPTs still charging)

After a year of smooth running my 100/50 MPPT stopped charging. Nothing has changed from the previous day/s. There are 3 other MPPTs in the system (2x 75/15 and 100/20) and they are still OK and charging. There are no errors reported by it. No low/high temps, or low/high voltage episodes. Everything is normal (as per VRM stat and the other MPPTs data.

It just stopped charging. There is still the full expected voltage from PV array (73V) showing - but 0 Amps and 0 Watts. Charging state is 'off'.

Device info shows it is set to 'Charged Enabled'.

Very very odd.

I went into menu and turned 'Charger Enabled' to 'off', then back 'on' again - and voila! its back to normal and charging again.

So all good now - but its a worry that this can happen and no errors are recored and potentially I would not catch it (its a remote system) unless I check on the VRM. And that I need to manually toggle the charger enable settings get it to kick into charging again.

Anybody know the cause and solution?

Yes, all devices are on most up to date firmware (v1.59). Venus GX is on v2.80-14.

All MPPTs are always in sync with each other and go into bulk, float and absorption pretty much at the same time. So for the 150/50 to suddenly drop out and the other three to be still OK is weird. As I said - no peaks or spikes in voltages or amps or temps (according to graphs and also according to other MPPTs). Minimal load on the system (max 400Watt AC). So nothing to stress it or make it freak out.


Suggestions or experiences greatly appreciated

screen-shot-2022-02-04-at-20949-pm.pngscreen-shot-2022-02-04-at-21008-pm.png


MPPT Controllers
screen-shot-2022-02-04-at-20949-pm.png (743.0 KiB)
screen-shot-2022-02-04-at-21008-pm.png (205.4 KiB)
2 |3000
Toggle Comment visibility. Current Visibility: Viewable by all users

Up to 8 attachments (including images) can be used with a maximum of 190.8 MiB each and 286.6 MiB total.

3 Answers
wkirby avatar image
wkirby answered ·

That's pretty weird. Without an error code it's kind of difficult to say what could have happened.
Keep an eye on it and if it happens again in the near future then perhaps there would be something amiss. Then have your dealer replace the unit if it's going to act like that.
Sorry, no definitive answer, but no definitive error either.

2 |3000
Toggle Comment visibility. Current Visibility: Viewable by all users

Up to 8 attachments (including images) can be used with a maximum of 190.8 MiB each and 286.6 MiB total.

3dclassen avatar image
3dclassen answered ·

Hi @Thomas G,

I have exactly the same problem with a single MPPT 100/30.

My system ran smoothly last year and for some reason a month ago the charger didn´t charge. Nothing was changed, the system is exactly the same as a year ago. I didn´t know the hack to change the charger enabled to disabled, so I dismounted the solar cable and put it back on. After that it also charges again, like your system but with only one MPPT charger.

So I have exactly the same issue. Firmware is also up to date at version 1.59. The venus version I am not aware of at the moment.


Any other people experiencing the same issue? The more the better, as at the moment it´s almost impossible to track down the error!!!

Greetings,

Daniel

2 comments
2 |3000
Toggle Comment visibility. Current Visibility: Viewable by all users

Up to 8 attachments (including images) can be used with a maximum of 190.8 MiB each and 286.6 MiB total.

thomas-g avatar image thomas-g commented ·
Thankfully I've had no issues since it did it once about 6 months ago - so can't add anything new to the topic.
0 Likes 0 ·
brian-norwick avatar image brian-norwick commented ·
I'm in a similar situation where a previously functioning MPPT 100/30 has randomly stopped charging. Firmware is updated.

Daniel, Were you able to solve the issue?

0 Likes 0 ·
Nick avatar image
Nick answered ·

I'm going to go with a stupid question here just from an info perspective. Are all your MPPTs networked together as you mentioned they usually behave similar and do you have remote battery temp monitoring via Smart Sense or similar for the controllers to access.

After you cycled charger off/charger on what did you other devices do load wise when the 100/50 came online?

2 |3000
Toggle Comment visibility. Current Visibility: Viewable by all users

Up to 8 attachments (including images) can be used with a maximum of 190.8 MiB each and 286.6 MiB total.