Barcelona charge controller and Rosie Inverter went down

[Weldman]

Went into -40° temperatures sending the VOC way past the 600VDC threshold on the charge controller which sent it into rest mode. Remedy the problem by taking two panels offline and restarted the unit which I also restarted the inverter. Now I got solar coming in and inverter is down, will not be seen by the charge controller. I like to think it's cause temperatures are too low for the unit to come on since they are in a unheated garage. Only way I got lights on with internet is pair of jumper cables and a old Aims inverter hooked up. Power is going to the unit since there is a blinking yellow/amber light on.

 

[seneysolar]

"Only way I got lights on with internet is pair of jumper cables and a old Aims inverter hooked up."

Good ol Aims! ?

Dang, the Rosie was going to be my next inverter if i ever needed one for my U.P. house, but cold weather ops is a must. Ill be curious to see what happens with yours. Hopefully it just starts working when it warms enough.

 

[400bird]

Ouch, that's cold! Do you see -40 regularly?
I suppose it doesn't matter and that you should require the array to stay under the 600 volt limit year round.

Have you power cycled both through inverter and charge controller? I wonder if the CC communicated and error to the invert and the inverter didn't get the "all clear" type of message.
I'm just guessing, because I don't know if anything like this happens.

 

[Weldman]

Good ol Aims! ?

Dang, the Rosie was going to be my next inverter if i ever needed one for my U.P. house, but cold weather ops is a must. Ill be curious to see what happens with yours. Hopefully it just starts working when it warms enough.

It followed the Barcelona down to -40°, but when I restarted it is when it had problems. Got to be a way to get the unit to operate without Barcelona and I'm not seeing it. I have welded with inverter welder up to quarter inch thick steel with it. I wouldn't look down on this moment, seems its more of my fault for not knowing.

 

[Weldman]

Ouch, that's cold! Do you see -40 regularly?
I suppose it doesn't matter and that you should require the array to stay under the 600 volt limit year round.

Have you power cycled both through inverter and charge controller? I wonder if the CC communicated and error to the invert and the inverter didn't get the "all clear" type of message.
I'm just guessing, because I don't know if anything like this happens.

Yes it's regular out here in January/February. I've cycled multiple times different ways, bypass on/inverter off vice versus, AC In off/off, turn one unit one before the other and vice versus. Yeah I tried it.

 

[seneysolar]

What are Battery volts measured at inverter?

Did you run batteries down too far when charge controller quit?

 

[Weldman]

What are Battery volts measured at inverter?

Did you run batteries down too far when charge controller quit?

Measure 51.2VDC and nope. I went downstairs seen the CC was in rest mode, put tester on and registered 690VDC at initial contact and 560VDC after it settle. Figured was one panel too much, but didn't expect to take two panels offline. Auto genset when battery gets too low is a feature on this unit that I use along with auto shutdown too when past 48.1VDC.

 

[seneysolar]

Are you able to warm it up?

 

[Weldman]

Are you able to warm it up?

Not till Tuesday when temperatures lift back up above 0°

 

[Weldman]

This is what is keeping the lights on and ability to reach out for help. Without it cell phone signal doesn't exist, internet lines don't exist and town is 49.2 miles away down a rock/dirt road covered in snow/ice. Dirtiest hack I have done in a long time, you can see the light blink on above the bypass/invert breaker.

 

[seneysolar]

If you really think the cold has something to do with it not working, try to warm it up. Propane heater?
The unit probably generates enough heat to stay warm once running.

How are they communicating with each other? Disconnect from each other? 400bird might be on to something.

Will it take generator input? That should generate some heat...

Battery temp sensor? Battery type select program with temp threshold? Just darts at the wall here

 

[Weldman]

If you really think the cold has something to do with it not working, try to warm it up. Propane heater?
The unit probably generates enough heat to stay warm once running.

How are they communicating with each other? Disconnect from each other? 400bird might be on to something.

Will it take generator input? That should generate some heat...

Battery temp sensor? Battery type select program with temp threshold? Just darts at the wall here

It's as if nothing is there, lights are on, but no one is home.
To control anything, to see anything or do anything on the Rosie require the MNGP2 that has the controls on the Barcelona. Right now the MNGP2 says there is no inverter there so it won't take any input,output, battery temp sensor, and whatever else sensors.

 

[rhino]

@SpongeboB Sinewave ^

 

[Weldman]

I got the unit back online. Anything below -4°F even if you just turn the unit off and turn it back on will put it in safe mode and not power back up. Don't know where it senses the temperature, but when it does that is it if you turn it off. Soon as it hits the 30's I'm putting this unit underground in a bunker with the battery in a separate area for it to breathe and stay warm.

 

[Brucey]

I got the unit back online. Anything below -4°F even if you just turn the unit off and turn it back on will put it in safe mode and not power back up. Don't know where it senses the temperature, but when it does that is it if you turn it off. Soon as it hits the 30's I'm putting this unit underground in a bunker with the battery in a separate area for it to breathe and stay warm.View attachment 188943

Glad you didn't let the magic smoke out with your voltage excursion into the high 600Vs

 

[Weldman]

Glad you didn't let the magic smoke out with your voltage excursion into the high 600Vs

I'm surprised the breakers didn't flip either.

 

[400bird]

Breakers trip for over current. They could care less about voltage. That is, unless you need them to open and you've spec'd the wrong voltage ?

 

[zanydroid]

Glad you didn't let the magic smoke out with your voltage excursion into the high 600Vs

Was it beyond the protection level of HyperVOC? (If not then the system performed as designed, if so then OP dodged an expensive bit of pain)

 

[400bird]

I believe that's a feature unique to the classic. The Barcelona and Hawk's Bay list hard voltage max limits of 600 volts.
I could be wrong, but I think the OP got lucky the CC survived.
The inverter shutting down below freezing is just plain annoying, hopefully Midnight can address that with a software update.

 

[400bird]

From the manual: