Hi all,

I had quite an interesting but satisfying journey hunting down the cause of Error 02 on a Growatt inverter and share the story to spare you future pain.

It started with the inverter starting up with warning 02 (overheat) despite ambient showing 25 on the display.

I noticed that when it rains, or there is high humidity, the warning turned into an Error and the inverter would just cut out for safety reasons. It would then magically repair itself after a while and work again.

Until the other night the Error 02 kicked in with vengeance and no more Netflix during load shedding for me.

This is a second hand unit I picked up from someone that lives close to the sea and clearly got fed up with it.

The proximity to the ocean is a big clue. I noticed right off the bat the build-up around the fans and white spots on the PCB inside. I'm presuming these are salt deposits, but could also be some other acid carried on the ocean breeze.

This is AFTER cleaning!

To cut a long story short, the cause of the Error 02 was the thermistor connector on the MPPT board was eaten away and the pin crumbled into rusty dust when I touched it.

Here's a pic of the offending part...

And after a quick repair...

I was ecstatic to find the fault and quickly replaced the connector, put everything back together and fired the inverter back up.

Wha, wha, whaaaaa.... *FAIL*

Ag no man... what now?

After stripping the whole thing again, cleaning every piece of build-up off the boards with a toothbrush and alcohol, I noticed that in some places the track would just crumble and fall off the board! I should have noticed it in the pic above already, but was blinded by the first and obvious fault, like so often happens.

I noticed the big trace from the one connector to the other side of the board but when I tested it, it was not conducting. A little more cleaning revealed a the trace has disintegrated.

The fix was quick and easy... although the same cannot be said about finding the problem in the first place... I was so annoyed I forgot to take a picture of the fix, but all it is, is a jumper wire across the broken trace.

So all back together it goes and soak test on the bench.

I call that a win!

So back to the root cause...

The fans seem to pump an awful lot of caustic moisture over a sensitive part of the board. There is a plastic coating sprayed over the components but on this inverter, it wasn't done very well and the rust got in everywhere the barrier was weak. Growatt really needs to have a look at this.

So the moral of the story is, if you are going to install a budget inverter at your huisie by die see, put it where the salty breeze can't get to it, put a filter over the fans, or put in a waterproof inverter.

I hope this helps someone.

Epilogue... The story didn't end here.. Fixing this fault exposed yet another... have a look at the post about the 350V AC problem for more fault finding fables.

3 hours ago, RudShep said:

Hi all,

I had quite an interesting but satisfying journey hunting down the cause of Error 02 on a Growatt inverter and share the story to spare you future pain.

It started with the inverter starting up with warning 02 (overheat) despite ambient showing 25 on the display.

I noticed that when it rains, or there is high humidity, the warning turned into an Error and the inverter would just cut out for safety reasons. It would then magically repair itself after a while and work again.

Until the other night the Error 02 kicked in with vengeance and no more Netflix during load shedding for me.

This is a second hand unit I picked up from someone that lives close to the sea and clearly got fed up with it.

The proximity to the ocean is a big clue. I noticed right off the bat the build-up around the fans and white spots on the PCB inside. I'm presuming these are salt deposits, but could also be some other acid carried on the ocean breeze.

This is AFTER cleaning!

To cut a long story short, the cause of the Error 02 was the thermistor connector on the MPPT board was eaten away and the pin crumbled into rusty dust when I touched it.

Here's a pic of the offending part...

And after a quick repair...

I was ecstatic to find the fault and quickly replaced the connector, put everything back together and fired the inverter back up.

Wha, wha, whaaaaa.... *FAIL*

Ag no man... what now?

After stripping the whole thing again, cleaning every piece of build-up off the boards with a toothbrush and alcohol, I noticed that in some places the track would just crumble and fall off the board! I should have noticed it in the pic above already, but was blinded by the first and obvious fault, like so often happens.

I noticed the big trace from the one connector to the other side of the board but when I tested it, it was not conducting. A little more cleaning revealed a the trace has disintegrated.

The fix was quick and easy... although the same cannot be said about finding the problem in the first place... I was so annoyed I forgot to take a picture of the fix, but all it is, is a jumper wire across the broken trace.

So all back together it goes and soak test on the bench.

I call that a win!

So back to the root cause...

The fans seem to pump an awful lot of caustic moisture over a sensitive part of the board. There is a plastic coating sprayed over the components but on this inverter, it wasn't done very well and the rust got in everywhere the barrier was weak. Growatt really needs to have a look at this.

So the moral of the story is, if you are going to install a budget inverter at your huisie by die see, put it where the salty breeze can't get to it, put a filter over the fans, or put in a waterproof inverter.

I hope this helps someone.

Epilogue... The story didn't end here.. Fixing this fault exposed yet another... have a look at the post about the 350V AC problem for more fault finding fables.

Hi @RudShepvery interesting and well done. There appears to be missing images in your post for which there only appear a placeholder icon. 

Looking at @RudShepimage of Growatt internal, its got Voltronics written all over it. Yet it is not reffered to as rebranded Axpert. What distinguishes this machine from the Axpert.? 

Edited January 25, 20233 yr by BritishRacingGreen

42 minutes ago, BritishRacingGreen said:

What distinguishes this machine from the Axpert

Although there is no definitive reports to be found, I suspect they started off with using the Voltronic designs.
They have since got their own inhouse R&D and I believe their HV inverters are a branch off which probably still has the base design concepts of the Voltronic brands.
With the launch of their Growcol range, it seems that these units may just be licensed reproductions of Voltronics/Axpert/Kodak.
The SAColar Inverter range that TheSunPays has also seem to be rebranded  Growcol Inverters which are definite Axpert type Inverters.

https://cyanergy.com.au/blog/growatt-inverters-review/

https://onlineshop.gcsolar.co.za/product-category/inverters-ups/growcol/inverter/

 

Edited January 25, 20233 yr by zsde

On 2023/01/25 at 9:43 PM, zsde said:

Although there is no definitive reports to be found, I suspect they started off with using the Voltronic designs.
They have since got their own inhouse R&D and I believe their HV inverters are a branch off which probably still has the base design concepts of the Voltronic brands.
With the launch of their Growcol range, it seems that these units may just be licensed reproductions of Voltronics/Axpert/Kodak.
The SAColar Inverter range that TheSunPays has also seem to be rebranded  Growcol Inverters which are definite Axpert type Inverters.

https://cyanergy.com.au/blog/growatt-inverters-review/

https://onlineshop.gcsolar.co.za/product-category/inverters-ups/growcol/inverter/

 

Sacolar is not necessarily rebranded as it's produced under the same roof as Growatt.

Sacolar is a subsidiary of Growatt

On 2023/01/25 at 5:45 AM, RudShep said:

Hi all,

I had quite an interesting but satisfying journey hunting down the cause of Error 02 on a Growatt inverter and share the story to spare you future pain.

It started with the inverter starting up with warning 02 (overheat) despite ambient showing 25 on the display.

I noticed that when it rains, or there is high humidity, the warning turned into an Error and the inverter would just cut out for safety reasons. It would then magically repair itself after a while and work again.

Until the other night the Error 02 kicked in with vengeance and no more Netflix during load shedding for me.

This is a second hand unit I picked up from someone that lives close to the sea and clearly got fed up with it.

The proximity to the ocean is a big clue. I noticed right off the bat the build-up around the fans and white spots on the PCB inside. I'm presuming these are salt deposits, but could also be some other acid carried on the ocean breeze.

This is AFTER cleaning!

To cut a long story short, the cause of the Error 02 was the thermistor connector on the MPPT board was eaten away and the pin crumbled into rusty dust when I touched it.

Here's a pic of the offending part...

And after a quick repair...

I was ecstatic to find the fault and quickly replaced the connector, put everything back together and fired the inverter back up.

Wha, wha, whaaaaa.... *FAIL*

Ag no man... what now?

After stripping the whole thing again, cleaning every piece of build-up off the boards with a toothbrush and alcohol, I noticed that in some places the track would just crumble and fall off the board! I should have noticed it in the pic above already, but was blinded by the first and obvious fault, like so often happens.

I noticed the big trace from the one connector to the other side of the board but when I tested it, it was not conducting. A little more cleaning revealed a the trace has disintegrated.

The fix was quick and easy... although the same cannot be said about finding the problem in the first place... I was so annoyed I forgot to take a picture of the fix, but all it is, is a jumper wire across the broken trace.

So all back together it goes and soak test on the bench.

I call that a win!

So back to the root cause...

The fans seem to pump an awful lot of caustic moisture over a sensitive part of the board. There is a plastic coating sprayed over the components but on this inverter, it wasn't done very well and the rust got in everywhere the barrier was weak. Growatt really needs to have a look at this.

So the moral of the story is, if you are going to install a budget inverter at your huisie by die see, put it where the salty breeze can't get to it, put a filter over the fans, or put in a waterproof inverter.

I hope this helps someone.

Epilogue... The story didn't end here.. Fixing this fault exposed yet another... have a look at the post about the 350V AC problem for more fault finding fables.

Hi @RudShep

I had exactly the same problem at the same place with a Growatt SPF-5000TL

I fixed it thanks to your post.

 

 

Please pardon the mild necropost.

On 2023/01/26 at 5:43 AM, zsde said:

With the launch of their Growcol range, it seems that these units may just be licensed reproductions of Voltronics/Axpert/Kodak.

... TheSunPays...

I wonder about other brands like EASun which were obvious clones at one point, and now appear in the Voltronic FTP site, and the latest EASun models appear to be totally genuine.

My guess was that the lawyers at Voltronic found and sued them. There are ways of making an Axpert firmware spit out a Voltronic copyright message. That would look particularly damning in court, I would think.

My guess is that as reparation they have to stop being a clone manufacturer, but have the option of continuing their business as a reseller rather than a cloner. Or it might be more that they become official manufacturers and get access to the proper firmware, board designs, tooling, test procedures, etc. But they pay a fee for each unit manufactured to Voltronic.

They and others may have chosen to take up this option, resulting in the EASuns becoming genuine at a particular point in time.

 

 

Très happy with sacolar and rosen solar.

 

Hi, I seem to be missing some of you photos in this interesting fix. Please post all the photos? Thanks!

On 2023/01/25 at 5:45 PM, RudShep said:

So the moral of the story is, if you are going to install a budget inverter at your huisie by die see, put it where the salty breeze can't get to it, put a filter over the fans, or put in a waterproof inverter.

The same could happen with fluid lead-acid batteries in the same enclosed room as the inverters. The sulfur vapor is very aggressive. One can observe this on the terminals of the car battery.

Hi @RudShep,

 

Very interesting article and fault finding.

I currently have a Sacolar 5kw installed, all within specifications with a split DB(small loads), only 6 panels, so 3300W max at around 300V DC. AC and PV sides are on SPD’s so as safe as I can get. According to some internet research this inverter is the same as the Growatt 5000ES.

My inverter has been back in under warranty twice in about 8 months. First for the high voltage spike you mention, and also picks up voltage on the AC side with no AC connected, only on the display and not really present. I also repeatedly get the error 02 with ambients being low and directly on startup eliminating the possibility of it actually being hot.

I live in East London, and as the crow flies probably 300-400 metres from the ocean.  Humidity can get so bad that my floors, bedding and clothes in the cupboards wet themselves.

I am currently experiencing the intermittent fault number 2 again. And I could not reset it the last time.  I did some fault finding again before stumbling onto your posts.  I managed to get rid of the problem by isolating the solar panels from the inverter. So currently only a battery backup again.

My inverter is still under warranty until January 2024, so I will contact the supplier in next week.

Hopefully they can sort it out under warranty, if not where can I find specification of the components so that I can carry out the repair myself, as I won’t fork out for new boards if I can solder in some new components.

regards

Werner

On 2023/01/25 at 5:45 PM, RudShep said:

Hi all,

I had quite an interesting but satisfying journey hunting down the cause of Error 02 on a Growatt inverter and share the story to spare you future pain.

It started with the inverter starting up with warning 02 (overheat) despite ambient showing 25 on the display.

I noticed that when it rains, or there is high humidity, the warning turned into an Error and the inverter would just cut out for safety reasons. It would then magically repair itself after a while and work again.

Until the other night the Error 02 kicked in with vengeance and no more Netflix during load shedding for me.

This is a second hand unit I picked up from someone that lives close to the sea and clearly got fed up with it.

The proximity to the ocean is a big clue. I noticed right off the bat the build-up around the fans and white spots on the PCB inside. I'm presuming these are salt deposits, but could also be some other acid carried on the ocean breeze.

This is AFTER cleaning!

To cut a long story short, the cause of the Error 02 was the thermistor connector on the MPPT board was eaten away and the pin crumbled into rusty dust when I touched it.

Here's a pic of the offending part...

And after a quick repair...

I was ecstatic to find the fault and quickly replaced the connector, put everything back together and fired the inverter back up.

Wha, wha, whaaaaa.... *FAIL*

Ag no man... what now?

After stripping the whole thing again, cleaning every piece of build-up off the boards with a toothbrush and alcohol, I noticed that in some places the track would just crumble and fall off the board! I should have noticed it in the pic above already, but was blinded by the first and obvious fault, like so often happens.

I noticed the big trace from the one connector to the other side of the board but when I tested it, it was not conducting. A little more cleaning revealed a the trace has disintegrated.

The fix was quick and easy... although the same cannot be said about finding the problem in the first place... I was so annoyed I forgot to take a picture of the fix, but all it is, is a jumper wire across the broken trace.

So all back together it goes and soak test on the bench.

I call that a win!

So back to the root cause...

The fans seem to pump an awful lot of caustic moisture over a sensitive part of the board. There is a plastic coating sprayed over the components but on this inverter, it wasn't done very well and the rust got in everywhere the barrier was weak. Growatt really needs to have a look at this.

So the moral of the story is, if you are going to install a budget inverter at your huisie by die see, put it where the salty breeze can't get to it, put a filter over the fans, or put in a waterproof inverter.

I hope this helps someone.

Epilogue... The story didn't end here.. Fixing this fault exposed yet another... have a look at the post about the 350V AC problem for more fault finding fables.

Hi @RudShep, I have the exact same issue, can you please re-share the images of the work down as only two are showing or send me the images to [email protected]. We have a house in Uvongo KZn and the Growatt inverter we have has the exact same issue. It progressed now to a error 53 and then the battery did not charge at all and then progressed back to the error 2. The unit is installed in our garage

 

What can be applied to the boards to stop this a spray of soem type that stops the rust or abrasion and protects the boards against humidity  

Hi RUDSHEP;

thank a lot for your explanation . for me i can't show your picture for my understanding.

Please can you send me ?

regards

PE