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A customer of mine just unboxed his new sealed Smartsolar 75/15 and this is what came out of the box. A certain RMA for me, but has anyone else experienced this? I have never seen one inside but it sure looks like there has been some degradation of the plastic possibly?
@ejrossouw, yes, this is the "sand" - thermal conductor/dissipator used in the small 75/10s and 75/15s that don't have heatsinks built-in. I've seen this quite a few times; usually after a customer has fried their controller but occasionally right out of the box.
Other than the failure of the bottom plate adhesive to keep the "sand" isolated to where it's supposed to be, there's nothing to be too worried about - it's not degradation or anything, it's just a failure of the bottom plate adhesive to keep the plate and the sand in place.
Haha you're welcome... the first time I saw it I had the same reaction, like where the **** did this sand come from... then after extensive research - and additional instances - I established what it was.
Pretty sure it's literally silica sand... there aren't a lot of components around that seem to use this method, but it's a great thermal insulator/dissipator, and given the (usually) tight seal between the 75/xx base and the potting of the components inside, it's a great way to accomplish heat dissipation without resorting to heatsinks on those little MPPTs.
Is it a RMA as 'sand' is now much lost and I cannot expect the customer to glue it it back together and neither do I have the means to return it to a proper state? It came like this out of sealed packaging.
Same issue, however the granules are escaping from the gap between the cover and the base plate. I hardly use this controller...
It doesn't come out during use. Usually if it has been dropped or opened this happens. They are designed to be permanently mounted.
That is alot of sand out... I would not use it In that state.
If you are a person who repairs, you can open up and put it back.
