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amander avatar image
amander asked

BlueSolar MPPT 150/70 weird hunting behaviour

Hi all, I believe my off-grid charge controller is experiencing the same issue as seen in this post:

https://community.victronenergy.com/questions/7329/bluesolar-15045-weird-behavior.html

Unfortunately I don't have a spare controller to swap out for testing. I don't currently have logging but plan to in the future. I've only caught it doing this type of thing when I'm physically looking at the unit. The system usually runs as expected but I've seen it do this several times a day to not noticing it happen for a week or so.

The watts coming from the panels and going to the batteries fluctuates from 0 to the max watts available at the time, stays there for a second and then falls back to 0 and starts that cycle again. The battery voltages rise and lower accordingly.

I've yet to see it "fix" itself or stop doing it on it's own. I stop the rise/fall/rise cycle by going into the set up menu and then back out. This resets it back to bulk and the charge cycle operates as normal. Any help would be appreciated!

System specs: 4x400w panels (1600w), 4x190ah SLA batteries (48v), firmware version 2.03.



MPPT Controllersoffgrid
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5 Answers
Guy Stewart (Victron Community Manager) avatar image
Guy Stewart (Victron Community Manager) answered ·

Hi Amanda,

The best thing to do with a potentially misbehaving unit is contact your dealer for support.

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amander avatar image amander commented ·

Hi Guy, thanks for the reply. I've emailed the dealer requesting support. The unit was purchased in April of 2015 so hopefully it can still be replace or serviced under warranty. Is this issue rare? I've searched the forums here and could only find the one post about it (linked above). Do you feel that upgrading the firmware might help to resolve the misbehaviour?

@Guy Stewart (Victron Energy Staff)

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Guy Stewart (Victron Community Manager) avatar image Guy Stewart (Victron Community Manager) ♦♦ amander commented ·

Firmware updates on MPPTs are so easy that it would always be the first thing to try.

I am not familiar with this kind of error, but I can't say if it is rare or not. It is not common to me, I only know of these two cases, I have never seen it from personally dealing with 100's of MPPTs, but Victron sells many more than thousands.

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amander avatar image amander commented ·

Hi again Guy, I tried to contact my dealer via email last Friday (05/07/19) with no reply, so I tried to call today and unfortunately the number has been disconnected. Can you tell me who I contact for support at Victron if the dealer seems to be no longer in business?

I've looked into updating the firmware and did some searching for the necessary CANUSB interface. About $650AU is the lowest cost I found online and that is a bit cost prohibitive for me, especially if I don't know if it'll fix the issue. Is it really necessary to spend this amount of money to update the firmware?

@Guy Stewart (Victron Energy Staff)

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Daniël Boekel (Victron Energy Staff) avatar image Daniël Boekel (Victron Energy Staff) ♦♦ amander commented ·

Hi @Amander

You can find your nearest dealer here:

https://www.victronenergy.com/where-to-buy

The dealer can update the firmware for you, and help you with support if the unit is defective.

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amander avatar image amander Daniël Boekel (Victron Energy Staff) ♦♦ commented ·

Hi @Daniël Boekel (Victron Energy Staff), I'll contact our closest dealer on Monday (it's Saturday here today). Thanks for your assistance.

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amander avatar image amander Daniël Boekel (Victron Energy Staff) ♦♦ commented ·

Hi again @Daniël Boekel (Victron Energy Staff),

I've contacted the 2 closest dealers. The first said they are wholesalers and would not be able to assist with the firmware update. They also said they do not have or stock the required CANUSB interface.

The second said they do not have the CANUSB interface, and did not offer to order one in to assist with the update.

The next closest dealers are in Sydney or Melbourne, which are 430 & 380 kilometers away respectively. If I sent the unit to one of these dealers then I'd be without power until it returns.

Any suggestions on how to proceed with the firmware update would be appreciated.

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amander avatar image amander Daniël Boekel (Victron Energy Staff) ♦♦ commented ·

Hi again, do you have any recommendations for who I should contact in Sydney or Melbourne that can assist with the warranty issue? I'm assuming the unit needs to be sent back to Victron or can it be repaired in AU? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

@Daniël Boekel (Victron Energy Staff) @Guy Stewart (Victron Community Manager)

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Daniël Boekel (Victron Energy Staff) avatar image Daniël Boekel (Victron Energy Staff) ♦♦ amander commented ·

Hi @Amander

an official way to connect to a 'missing' dealer is this form:
https://professional.victronenergy.com/support/?is_next=www.victronenergy.com

but giving the fact that the dealer seems MIA, you might try any other, like:

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natebert avatar image
natebert answered ·

@Amander
Are there any other Victron components in the system such as a SBS, or CCGX, or BMV?

Have you power cycled the MPPT?

  • Disconnect PV
  • Disconnect Battery

Then

  • Reconnect Battery
  • Reconnect PV
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amander avatar image amander commented ·

Hi @Natebert, thanks for the help. We only have a BMV-700. It is not connected to the 150/70.

The system was last power cycled in June of 2018 when we had new panels installed. The rise/fall/rise misbehaviour was present before that shutdown and is still present afterwards. We were hoping the new panels would help alleviate the issue but they did not.


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Daniël Boekel (Victron Energy Staff) avatar image
Daniël Boekel (Victron Energy Staff) answered ·

Hi @Amander

Ok, a couple of options:

-use a Venus device connected to internet to update the firmware


Use this new support form to get 'local' support:

https://professional.victronenergy.com/support/?is_next=www.victronenergy.com

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nigelfxs avatar image
nigelfxs answered ·

Hi Amander

Out of interest, are the panels wired as 4 in series or 2 parallel strings of 2-in-series?

Edit: The reason I ask is that having 4 panels in series will trigger the over-voltage protection circuit in the MPPT which will collapse the power output to zero.

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amander avatar image amander commented ·

Hi Nigel, I hadn't noticed this question earlier, apologies. The panels are 2 parallel strings of 2-in-series. They have a Voc of 49V and I've never seen then put in much over 100V.

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amander avatar image
amander answered ·

Hi, thought I'd update. The charge controller has been replaced under warranty. It cost $45 for shipping the unit. We uploaded a video to show the problem:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96rqwwuT6Nk&feature=youtu.be

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