question

Aaron Sullivan avatar image
Aaron Sullivan asked

MPPT controller suddenly not working

I have an MPPT 100|50 charge controller which has suddenly stopped working. This morning it simply never supplied power. The PV voltage reads ~22 volts, as usual, in direct sun. The battery reads 13.13, right on target. Using a multimeter confirms both. Nothing else seems off. No settings have changed recently. No updates have recently occurred, and I'm on the latest version as of the time of writing. I can't remember the last time it updated, probably at least two weeks ago. Yesterday's history looks perfect within the charge controller's trends tab, as all days before.


I've cycled the power by disconnecting the panels, then the battery, waiting ~5 minutes, then connecting the batteries, then the panels. No change.


When all connected, the blue bulk light reads on for ~3 seconds, then it blinks off briefly, then back on for the 3, etc.


I love this product and rely on it. Currently I'm in a bit of trouble without it.


What's going on here? How can I fix this?


EDIT: I'm seeing that it's incorrectly reporting a temperature of -18°C, could this be what's wrong? Is it refusing to charge because of that?


UPDATE: Yes, that was it! I don't know what changed, but somehow it started getting a temperature read. In the trends tab, that seems to have only started being reported today. I have no idea why that started. And it's wildly inaccurate - it's about 60°F outside and inside and in all compartments.


I turned off the setting which disables charge at low temps, and sure enough, the power is back. Woohoo!

MPPT Controllers
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.

snoobler avatar image snoobler commented ·

Glad you got it sorted!

1 Like 1 ·
snoobler avatar image snoobler commented ·
The MPPTs operation influences temperature. The MPPT takes a snapshot of the temperature at time of startup and reacts that way all day. It really needs an external sensor to operate reliably with regards to temperature.


Sounds like it took a bad snapshot or malfunctioned. Worth checking tomorrow morning.

1 Like 1 ·
1 Answer
mkuiken avatar image
mkuiken answered ·

Hi @Aaron Sullivan,

I'm sorry to hear you ran into this issue. Good to hear you were able to workaround it yourself though.

May I assume you also have a SmartBmv or SmartShunt in your system and both devices are in a VE.Smart Network? The incorrect temperature seems to be coming from the SmartBmv/SmartShunt in this case.

As of yesterday we've released a fix for this issue. It requires an update of the SmartBmv/SmartShunt Bluetooth Interface to v2.46. The latest VictronConnect (v5.97) will give you the option to update the Bluetooth Interface to v2.46.

4 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.

Aaron Sullivan avatar image Aaron Sullivan commented ·
I do have a shunt! And I see the update is available. I'll install that.


Update: ok, it's installed onto the shunt, but the temperature reading on the controller still reads -18. Maybe as the other user suggested, it took a snapshot in the morning, and it'll change tomorrow? That doesn't seem like good behavior since it warms up during the day. But I can wait till tomorrow.


One thing to note is that the shunt reports that it's broadcasting two items into the ve smart network: current and voltage. If the temp is coming from it as well, it should probably report that there.

0 Likes 0 ·
mkuiken avatar image mkuiken Aaron Sullivan commented ·

The erroneous temperature in the MPPT controller may take some time to timeout (max 20 minutes).

In case it's still reading -18C in the MPPT 20 minutes after the update of the SmartShunt, can you make a service report for the SmartShunt? See here if you don't know how to make a service report.

0 Likes 0 ·
snoobler avatar image snoobler Aaron Sullivan commented ·

As I mentioned, the operation of the MPPT influences the reading. It's an internal sensor. The unit produces heat, so it will influence the temperature. The only time the unit can read an accurate-ish temperature is at first power on when it hasn't generated any heat.


You must have a temperature sensor on the shunt. They are not included by default. If you do not have a temperature sensor, it can't send temperature data to the MPPT.

https://www.victronenergy.com/live/temperature_sensors

ASS000100000

0 Likes 0 ·
Show more comments