Axpert 5k Relay clicking and flashing lights. Won't Start.

[TheGhid]

Hi PowerForum

I decided to upgrade my battery setup from 8x lead acid 105Ah to a lithium unit. I disconnected and setup the Lithium battery (Dyness A48100), however on restarting the inverter all I hear is a clicking noise with all the lights flashing (incl screen backlight). The inverter never boots. The clicking noise sounds like a relay (clicks twice in a second).

I have tried reconnecting the lead acid batteries but the same problem now persists. I have seen other installs with the exact same setup so compatibility doesn't seem to be the issue. Voltage is correct at the inverter terminals and the battery fuse is still intact. No obvious physical damage to other components (capacitors, fans etc) within the unit.

Please let me know if you have any ideas of what could be wrong and potential fixes.

 

[Coulomb]

I assume that there is no chance that you reversed the polarity.

There is a small chance  that neither battery has enough charge to start the inverter. There is a moderate current surge (over and above charging the battery capacitors), but both batteries would have to be nearly dead flat for this to be the issue. You were presumably replacing the lead-acid because it was on its last legs, so that one's not as hard to believe.

Since it no longer works on the original lead acid battery, I can only think that the inverter and its power supply capacitors are getting old, and it's coincidentally just started doing the classic failed start routine.

In this post, BritishRacingGreen has a video of an inverter not starting. See if it seems the same to you. I believe that the fix is a 1000μF capacitor in the power supply.

[TheGhid]

Thanks. 

Lead acid batteries are actually in good condition, fortunate circumstances, let's just put it that way. 

Polarity was definitely NOT reversed. 

Inverter is almost 8 years old and at the beach, so probally on its last legs. 

Going to just have to bite bullet and upgrade as I'm going to be using Lithium going forward anyway. 

Thanks for the advice, I'll keep the forum updated if there are any easy fixes I come up with. 

[Coulomb]

22 hours ago, TheGhid said:

Inverter is almost 8 years old and at the beach, so probably on its last legs.

Could well be. But a few dollars in parts and a few hours of time might bring it back to life. Perhaps when you have more time (and a replacement inverter to keep the lights on), you or someone else could have a go, and possibly save it from landfill. And maybe keep some other lights on for a few more years.

[TheGhid]

Please send me a picture of the capacitors location on the inverter if you have one handy. I have looked through the above post mentioned and think I have a good idea of what needs to be replaced.

I'd Rather be sure as I'm not too handy with this stuff and there are no great options for a repair centre near my location.

[BritishRacingGreen]

10 minutes ago, TheGhid said:

Please send me a picture of the capacitors location on the inverter if you have one handy. I have looked through the above post mentioned and think I have a good idea of what needs to be replaced.

I'd Rather be sure as I'm not too handy with this stuff and there are no great options for a repair centre near my location.

@TheGhid Have a look at this thread, i have had 5 machines with same problem since december. 

Replace at the least the two 1000uF 16V capacitors with new ones, but they must be rated at 105 degrees C. 

Edited March 7, 2023 by BritishRacingGreen

[TheGhid]

Thanks guys, will try get this done and report back.

[TheGhid]

Congratulations @BritishRacingGreen and @Coulomb!!! Thanks for the advice.

Bought a couple capacitors and got the local TV repair guys to do the replacement. Inverter back online for a few bucks. Hopefully other find this thread useful.

It's a fairly easy disassemble and reassemble process (take pictures along the way). I can't comment on the actual capacitor replacement but the guys had it done in less than 10 minutes. Definitely worth giving this fix a shot if you are experiencing the same symptoms.

 

 

[Brushless]

Same issue suddenly with my inverter.

I can't see any 1000uF 16V caps on the board, is it perhaps the 470uF 500V caps that need to be replaced?

Edited July 23, 2023 by Brushless

[Coulomb]

2 hours ago, Brushless said:

is it perhaps the 470uF 500V caps that need to be replaced?

No, those are giant in comparison. These are about 10 mm diameter and perhaps 16 mm tall. There should be a cluster of them around a squarish transformer with bright yellow tape.

When I was a lad, these things would have been twice the diameter and at least twice the length.

[Brushless]

Thanks @Coulomb I found them and have replaced the 1000uF's and the 47uF.

My 5Kw inverter now powers on and charges with no errors but AC is not starting. Any ideas why?

[Brushless]

It has started up, thankfully! Not sure why it took so long to start up, about 30 mins before AC came on. It was at around 52V but that seems a bit high for recovery?

[Coulomb]

1 hour ago, Brushless said:

Not sure why it took so long to start up, about 30 mins before AC came on.

Do you mean AC output took that long to turn on? That's certainly way too long.

Quote

It was at around 52V but that seems a bit high for recovery?

Do you mean a battery voltage of 52 V? Certainly even a 64 V model should be generating AC-out at well below a battery voltage of 52 V.

[Brushless]

Yes, way too long I thought, was sitting reading the manual to try see why when suddenly it turned on by itself (I had of course turned the switch on after powering up). When the AC eventually turned on the battery had reached 52V (battery is a 16 cell LFP, with charge cut-off set to 56V.) so I wondered if it wasn't the recovery voltage set to that.

If I may here's the photo of the caps from the Axpert Repair thread hopefully saving anyone else in the same boat having to look for it in that (long) thread.
As a minimum replace C79 and C78 (1000uF 16V electrolytic) - (ref Coulomb & BritishRacingGreen).

[OzzyMozzy]

Hi there @TheGhid and @Coulomb

I have 2 of the MECER SOL-I-AX-5M inverters, as luck would have it I'm overseas and my wife sent me the video attached just before midnight... Would this be the same issue and should I get it disconnected ASAP?

[Coulomb]

On 2023/11/29 at 9:10 AM, OzzyMozzy said:

Would this be the same issue and should I get it disconnected ASAP?

Yes and yes.

Perhaps your wife can have those capacitors replaced before you get back

[BritishRacingGreen]

On 2023/11/29 at 1:10 AM, OzzyMozzy said:

Hi there @TheGhid and @Coulomb

I have 2 of the MECER SOL-I-AX-5M inverters, as luck would have it I'm overseas and my wife sent me the video attached just before midnight... Would this be the same issue and should I get it disconnected ASAP?

Where are you located.? 

[OzzyMozzy]

@Coulomb now that would be amazing 

@TheGhid I'm in Pretoria East. My wife is taking the unit to Mustek in Midrand as I couldn't find anyone who repairs them. Their service is pretty good tbh, had the same unit in there a few years back and they sorted it.

On a side note, would either of you have a recommendation for your preferred brand of Hybrid inverter? Am thinking of replacing mine next year so your thoughts on this would be appreciated.

[Plaasjapie]

On 2023/03/07 at 5:18 PM, TheGhid said:

Congratulations @BritishRacingGreen and @Coulomb!!! Thanks for the advice.

Bought a couple capacitors and got the local TV repair guys to do the replacement. Inverter back online for a few bucks. Hopefully other find this thread useful.

It's a fairly easy disassemble and reassemble process (take pictures along the way). I can't comment on the actual capacitor replacement but the guys had it done in less than 10 minutes. Definitely worth giving this fix a shot if you are experiencing the same symptoms.

 

 

Also just want to say thanks to all the contributors of this thread. 

My E&E engineering son returned back to his flat in Stellenbosch this week only to find the 4 year old Axpert King 1 inverter won't start up after the holiday.  As this specific inverter requires a connected battery before it will startup, we originally thought it was just the battery which ran flat (he left it on ...).    He first borrowed a 48V charger and charged the battery to 51V which then started the inverter , but with the same flashing LCD and LED lights problem as shown in this thread.  

Showed him this thread with the possible solution and he then proceeded to take apart the whole inverter, bought 2 new CAPs, soldered them in as replacements  and put the whole inverter back together the next day.  No screws left behind, he was hopeful ..., and VOILÀ (!) ,  inverter started back up functioning perfectly as before.  Hopefully fit for a good few more years of service.

R10 for the CAPs vs R12 000 for a new inverter, now that's a good deal.  Reminded me of my days when I was his age when I fixed my PC's by just replacing the busted caps on the motherboard .  It's a good feeling !

 

 

[IWK]

Replaced the C79 and C78 (1000uF 16V electrolytic) on my Sol-I-AX-5M today fixed my issues, thank you all.

[Coulomb]

2 hours ago, IWK said:

Replaced the C79 and C78 (1000uF 16V electrolytic) on my Sol-I-AX-5M today fixed my issues,

Heh, they seem to be the main culprits.

[Riyad179]

For me I prefer to replace the whole set of capacitors around the regulator 7912 , as each time I face this fault and measure those capacitors they give lower uF value than real value even if  not bulged.  

[Scorp007]

On 2024/02/01 at 5:24 PM, Coulomb said:

Heh, they seem to be the main culprits.

Would it not be better to up the voltage of those caps to 25V during replacement? 

[Coulomb]

16 hours ago, Scorp007 said:

Would it not be better to up the voltage of those caps to 25V during replacement? 

I read somewhere that it's best to operate electrolytic capacitors at roughly 80% of their rated voltage. Too high a voltage rating and they will never get to this value, and that can somehow affect their life. The ones around the 7912 regulator are already 25 V parts.

Having said that, I see that C95 at the output of the 5 V regulator on my spare board and the traced schematic is 100μF 25V! So it's running at 20% of rated voltage. I wonder if that's causing problems. On BritishRacingGreen's schematic, it's shown as a 50 V part!!

Electros are strange beasts, and easily the least reliable of electronic components.

It's certainly worth replacing with longer rated life parts where possible.

[Scorp007]

4 hours ago, Coulomb said:

I read somewhere that it's best to operate electrolytic capacitors at roughly 80% of their rated voltage. Too high a voltage rating and they will never get to this value, and that can somehow affect their life. The ones around the 7912 regulator are already 25 V parts.

Having said that, I see that C95 at the output of the 5 V regulator on my spare board and the traced schematic is 100μF 25V! So it's running at 20% of rated voltage. I wonder if that's causing problems. On BritishRacingGreen's schematic, it's shown as a 50 V. 

I will ask my boss later today. He has a lot of experience as a electronic engineer and is constantly coding PICS and designing PCBs that we build. 

What is interesting for me is that a 10 uF cap weighs less than a 1 uF.