October 11, 20187 yr Author 57 minutes ago, Jaco de Jongh said: That is very strange Chris, I also had a lengthy discussion with them, and our conversation went in a totally different direction. The problems they had was blown MPPT's around that time. We had a discussion of what the cause could be as they are receiving more BLOWN Axperts than normal. Their question to me was, could solar flare have any effect in this, and we discussed a few different possibilities. They did mention having to deal with error 51 in the past, and from their experience, error 51 normally shows that something internally is failing and are more than often followed by a more serious error like error 9 over a period of time. When I saw this post, I phoned them again to make sure I have my facts correct. I guess they misrepresented the facts then... A direct quote from their email to me: "We had a customer who’s unit blew 3 times between 12h00 and 13h00, someone suggested that it may be caused by solar bursts causing the excess wattage and voltage to go into the inverter. We reduced from 3 panels in series to 2 panels in series and so far so good." Ok... So, someone's talking BS then. Probably FCS as he pretty much tried to sell me a new inverter before even attempting to assist with my problem.... Typical South Africa. 57 minutes ago, Jaco de Jongh said: Chris you need to understand that heat is not good for production, the hotter it gets, the less your panels produce, in your setup it is virtually impossible to exceed your panel wattage when its hot and the panels are under load. Voltronic will definitely build in some kind of safety factor to absorb accidental VOC, it will not just blow components once it senses 146VOC, I guess it needs 10 to 15% more before you should start damaging stuff, and then there is the build n safety that I will touch later. If however it was 2 degrees outside and you experienced cloud edge effect you might exceed the wattage of your panels, but not when it is excessively hot. Just one question, you have never experienced similar conditions over the last 7-8 years, its only this year that the weather does this? I agree, two in series is the safer option and will take some strain/stresses of your components. It is even one of the recommendations FCS makes to all their Axpert users. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You are misunderstanding the facts... ANY PV generation, will be SIGNIFICANTLY less in the morning, vs. during mid day. That is why at night time, we have ZERO VOLTS on our panels, there is ZERO SUN. As the day starts and the wonderful sun starts rising, we , the PV panels, generate MORE AND MORE POWER because we get MORE AND MORE SUN! ANY PV graph, will CLEARLY indicate how the days' generation starts at pretty much 0W (watts, which is the result of Amps & Volts). As the day progresses, the Watts being generated, becomes MORE AND MORE up to a point, determined by the amount of SUNLIGHT the panels receive. Yes, cold weather / warm weather has an effect. I am not denying this. The FACT remains, ANY PV panel, will generate SIGNIFICANTLY more power at noon on a sunny day, vs. at dusk and dawn. Please, don't tell me otherwise. At noon, when the sun is at it's highest, my VOLTS are through the roof. It's through the roof because I have 3 panels in series, where I should only have two in series. Because I have three in series, my volts are high, and my amps are low. The inverter does not like this, because the high amount of volts, exceeds the limits of the inverter. Moving the panels and putting only 2 in series, I can REDUCE the volts, but also INCREASE the amps. Thus, I still generate the same amount of watts, but with a lower voltage, and a higher amperage, which is more in line and acceptable to the limits and specifications of the inverter. Again, please go and look at ANY PV Generation graph, and by all means, show me ONE graph, where the WATTS GENERATED IN THE MORNING is more than the watts generated at NOON. 57 minutes ago, Jaco de Jongh said: My last thought on this. Maybe the years of running that close to max VOC took its toll and combined with age weakened one or two components. As mentioned by a few, electronic components that is busy failing normally acts up under hotter conditions. So, now 7-8 years down the line only, because of a weakened component the Array voltage is to much for the machine to handle, and under hot conditions this component flashes over causing error. Reducing your PV array volts treats the symptoms, not the problem. I am not disputing that. But until you, or someone else can DEFINITIVELY TELL ME what is broken, what the hell am I suppose to do and think? I am not taking my entire inverter, and replacing components left, right, and center, because of an ASSUMPTION. The very service manuals, state that a certain measurement over a certain mosfet, is indicative of a FAILED mosfet. Yet, people here believe otherwise? If I can't even trust the manufacturers OWN DOCUMENTATION, who am I supposed to trust? Everyone has an opinion, everyone believes their opinion is right. The fact of the matter is no one knows.
October 11, 20187 yr 5 hours ago, Chris Knipe said: So spoke to Full Circle Solar as @Jaco de Jongh suggested. Except for the normal "ventilation, be sure it's grounded, surge protection, etc" something interesting came out... They had a fair amount of customers, suffering from Error 51s. ONLY during 12:00 and 13:00 (Note, they are in JHB, I am in CPT). In ALL these cases, they reduced the PV generation on the Inverter and the issue went away, immediately. Never to return. Chris, how did you get what you said above from what they really said. It is worlds apart. The inverters did not show error 51 , it BLEW. You say a fair amount of customers, they said a customer. You say Error 51s, they say the Units Blew. You say in ALL cases, they never used that word ALL nor did they imply more than one case Please Chris, I am not sure what you are trying here ,but I respect the people at FCS and dont appreciate you putting words in their mouth. 2 hours ago, Chris Knipe said: I guess they misrepresented the facts then... A direct quote from their email to me: "We had a customer who’s unit blew 3 times between 12h00 and 13h00, someone suggested that it may be caused by solar bursts causing the excess wattage and voltage to go into the inverter. We reduced from 3 panels in series to 2 panels in series and so far so good." 2 hours ago, Chris Knipe said: You are misunderstanding the facts... No Chris, you are the one misunderstanding the facts, this is the last time I will try and explain it to you, and if you dont believe me, get on the internet and start searching. Firstly before we can go on VOC is the voltage measured at the panel when it is not connected to load. There is a another rating on your panel called Opt. Operating Voltage (Vmp), that is the voltage you can expect under load. On a canadien solar 300 watt panel used as reference the VOC is 39.7 V and Vmp is 32.5 volt. Three of them in series will produce 97.5 volt. So under load can you see how far you are from 145Volt, not take the rest into consideration. Firstly if VOC of your panels is 135 volt and you connect it to the load, it will drop with at least 20 volts, the higher the load the lower the volts, so under full load the volts might fall to 100 volts for example. So you are 45 volts away from VOC. What kind of spike do you expect to push the volts pass 145V Now if you have a 3kw array you can expect 80% of that array as average production. So if in your case you have 2700 watt of panels , you could expect 2160 watts on average. Watts is volts x amps. Do you agree? So in this case something dropped, either amps or volts. and you will always produce less than what the array can offer. So when you produce less it means the volts is lower than specked. So you can not exceed VOC. The graph you posted has got nothing to do with the temperature of day, its got to do with the angle the sun hits your panels. so the best production is close to mid day when the sun hits your panel at almost 90 degrees. Do you understand that? So at mid day, you will have the highest voltage and the best production, but it wont necessarily exceed voc, because its under load the hotter the panel gets the less it can produce, so on a very hot day the estimated 2160 watt at mid day might drop to 2000 watts but on a cold day it might rise to 2400 watt and combine that with cloud edge effect you might even exceed the capacity of your panels and produce 2900 watts. Only when it exceeds its rating it will exceed VOC So for your system to exceed the VOC it must be cooler (not earlier in the day) but cooler and under very special conditions, because your panels is under load. The changes of exceeding VOC is greater in cooler conditions and smaller in hotter conditions. Do you catch this? ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chris a friendly request. You came to us for help, please take the time to analyze the info we give you, if its not clear, please ask, we will try to explain it again, if you still feel you don't want to believe us, please google some more and read up, but in the process please also drop the attitude. Its not appreciated on this forum.
October 12, 20187 yr @Chris Knipe do you collect the data from the inverter? As the Solar Volts might be the culprit a graph will almost certainly show that. You will be able to check what your system did at the moment that you got the error. If the data does not give you an indication I don't think anything will. I realize that fault finding is a mission and at best frustrating and might even drive a man to insanity but keep to the system. As there is millions of opinions out there , now more then ever , I like to ask the same question all over the place. The answer's that get repeated most likely is the "truth" the rest needs to be further investigated. We also live in a Google age where by all problems must be solved within the first 10 results and within the first 2 paragraphs , unfortunately not every thing works that way. There is a song "the Class of 99 - wear Sunscreen" there is part where is says "be careful whose ADVISE you buy but be patient with those who supply it " - for free - words to live by . If you have some data logged on your system before the error post it , there could be some lessons there. Best of luck..
October 12, 20187 yr I'm just curious what you mean by Voc. There is a Maximum open circuit voltage specification for the MPPT, which I think is 145V for the Axpert. Usually the MPPT will shut down to protect itself when it approaches this voltage, so it will probably shut down around 140V. Thumbsuck. The Victron controllers are rated at 150V (absolute max) and stop working around 145V. If error 51 means you exceeded the 145V limit... well then yes... fix that array! The other thing that could also happen, that actually has to do with solar conditions, is where there is a sudden increase in incoming insolation (not to be confused with insulation :-) ). The MPPT is a buck converter with a closed-loop adjusted mark/space ratio, and usually the adjustment of the ratio is dampened, for stability it won't adjust too fast. Sudden increases in insolation can lead to large power increases at the same PWM ratio, causing an overcurrent event. Again, this is a well known issue in MPPTs and designers usually handle it by shutting down and doing a new scan for the MPP (though high end MPPTs do slightly more sophisticated things). Again... I seriously doubt the MPPT in this device will raise an error due to a mild overcurrent event, otherwise this would have shown up a long time ago. I'm not ruling it out... I'm just skeptical. Finally, none of this rules out heat as the cause, or even components that are just a little worn. At noon the heat is at peak, solar is at peak, equipment is working at peak... :-)
October 12, 20187 yr I think what gets me most... is how there just isn't a maintained list of errors. It's almost as if someone said... What is this talk of 'release'? We do not make software 'releases'. Our software 'escapes' leaving a bloody trail of designers and quality assurance people in its wake! Our users will know fear and cower before our software! Ship it! Ship it and let them flee like the dogs they are!
October 13, 20187 yr On 2018/10/10 at 11:37 AM, The Terrible Triplett said: Not that easy with DB connected solar systems (all MAKES). They take hits when the power comes back on. I have a 10 second time delay between the generator starting and power being supplied to the inverter perhaps one could do the same on a grid supply and have it only switch on after a few minutes.
October 13, 20187 yr I am not sure the problems Chris is having is PV related. I have 3kW on my Axpert and have run like that for years. I have a geyser element that comes on at 9:30 and off at 14:30. Now with enough Pylontech I run pretty much full tilt most of the day. I don't think a solar flare is going to do it. Yes you like going to get more than 1000W/m2 but panels get that anyway with cloud edge effect. Admittedly a solar flare is like to increase this value for longer. I would just expect wholesale problems and there have not been widespread issues.
December 10, 20187 yr Author Ok, so my Axpert just had it's last Error 51... Out of the blue, nothing out of the ordinary, one big bang, error 51, and all power off (first one in over a month too). Inverter blew so bad that it even tripped that AC Circuit Breaker (40A) in the DB board. Strangely, the Inverter's own circuit breaker didn't pop. Bypassed, removed the inverter and opened her up. I've lost Q28 and Q27 (DC/DC IGBTs). The cap in front of it has been broken off the PC board by the explosion. These are all DC/DC IGBTs. I'm not sure whether this is the CAUSE, or rather a symptom of the result of the error. The IGBTs are repairable (covered in the service manual) provided there isn't too much other damage, but the question remains as to what is causing this. Me personally, I will never in my life buy an Axpert like inverter again. Not because of the strange error, but the fact that it's completely unknown, and undocumented... Even the manufacturer just pulls up their shoulders saying "sorry, if it's not in the manuals, we can't help you". Guess it's time to start saving for some Victrons. Those getting Error 51s (I know I am not the only one), please, tread carefully... Just resetting / restarting, isn't the solution. Edited December 10, 20187 yr by Chris Knipe
December 10, 20187 yr 12 minutes ago, Chris Knipe said: Ok, so my Axpert just had it's last Error 51... Out of the blue, nothing out of the ordinary, one big bang, error 51, and all power off (first one in over a month too). Inverter blew so bad that it even tripped that AC Circuit Breaker (40A) in the DB board. Strangely, the Inverter's own circuit breaker didn't pop. Bypassed, removed the inverter and opened her up. I've lost Q28 and Q27 (DC/DC IGBTs). The cap in front of it has been broken off the PC board by the explosion. These are all DC/DC IGBTs. I'm not sure whether this is the CAUSE, or rather a symptom of the result of the error. The IGBTs are repairable (covered in the service manual) provided there isn't too much other damage, but the question remains as to what is causing this. Me personally, I will never in my life buy an Axpert like inverter again. Not because of the strange error, but the fact that it's completely unknown, and undocumented... Even the manufacturer just pulls up their shoulders saying "sorry, if it's not in the manuals, we can't help you". Guess it's time to start saving for some Victrons. Those getting Error 51s (I know I am not the only one), please, tread carefully... Just resetting / restarting, isn't the solution. Did you revise Mosfets of Low Side?
December 10, 20187 yr Author Can't remember to be honest. if I did say mosfets initially then yes I changed it through one of the edits. Q30, Q29, Q27, and Q28 are IGBTs (Insulated-gate Bipolar Transistor), not MOSFETs. Provided there's no other damage, I should be good by just replacing all 4 IGBTs.
December 11, 20187 yr On 2018/12/10 at 5:39 PM, Chris Knipe said: Ok, so my Axpert just had it's last Error 51... Out of the blue, nothing out of the ordinary, one big bang, error 51, and all power off (first one in over a month too). Inverter blew so bad that it even tripped that AC Circuit Breaker (40A) in the DB board. Strangely, the Inverter's own circuit breaker didn't pop. Bypassed, removed the inverter and opened her up. I've lost Q28 and Q27 (DC/DC IGBTs). The cap in front of it has been broken off the PC board by the explosion. These are all DC/DC IGBTs. I'm not sure whether this is the CAUSE, or rather a symptom of the result of the error. The IGBTs are repairable (covered in the service manual) provided there isn't too much other damage, but the question remains as to what is causing this. Me personally, I will never in my life buy an Axpert like inverter again. Not because of the strange error, but the fact that it's completely unknown, and undocumented... Even the manufacturer just pulls up their shoulders saying "sorry, if it's not in the manuals, we can't help you". Guess it's time to start saving for some Victrons. Those getting Error 51s (I know I am not the only one), please, tread carefully... Just resetting / restarting, isn't the solution. I suspect you ran the MPPT at the close to the maximum and had one surge to many that pushed it over the edge. At least based on your accounts from before. I don't blame you, I blame the manufacturer for not obviously stating this is the danger of running components at pretty much their maximum ratings. Considering the price range of the product and how long it has been running (and you have one of the very early models), I consider it a testament to the product. Cheap and held up for a long time. Edited December 11, 20187 yr by Gnome
December 11, 20187 yr 2 hours ago, Gnome said: I consider it a testament to the product. Cheap and held up for a long time. Bang for buck I suppose. Pun intended :-)
May 11, 20197 yr Hello I am french . Sorry for my English! I am a user of Voltronic Axpert 5kva in Alicante Spain with a house completely autonomus in electricity I had big problems of error 51 with electricity cut everyday To day a technician came to solve the problem. I wait to see if it's effective, and i will say to you the result Have you again problem of this error . Friendly Gérard
March 16, 20206 yr On 2020/03/16 at 10:36 PM, elisol said: in solve to this problem for 5K MKS, change the C74 + D 26 Thanks! Can you tell us the rough size of these parts, what part of the circuit, roughly where on the main board? Edit: these are associated with the primary of the gate driver "transformers": TX5, TX8, TX10, TX11. I believe that C74 is about 0.47 μF, but I can't measure it satisfactorily. [ Edit: I now believe that these should be 10 μF, 50 V M3216 (1206) ceramic. ] Edited January 22, 20224 yr by Coulomb
June 18, 20206 yr Hi Coulomb Just info (Elisol does not react to your last post), where he is written: "in solve to this problem for 5K MKS, change the C74 + D 26", just be good to know, what fault he had - error 51 or ?? I have checked today on my old main board: this is on back side of main board, just opposite side of MOSFET DC - SIDE Q44, Q45,Q58 and Q42 (IRFB3006G) and small TO-92 NPN and PNP transistors Q46, Q47, Q48 and Q49, look attached photo (lower left corner on photo).
July 1, 20205 yr Hi again This time, some more about my findings around the Error 08, Error 51 and Error 09. Meanwhile, since my last post back from June 17 2020, I have occasionally Erorr 08, or sometimes error 51 and finally error 09 on my Axpert 5kVA (main board produced in 2017 with SN. 16-500449-00G). I have decided to describe in details about the findings and repair after the Error 09, it could help to somebody here with the same or similar problems. It happened aprox. 6 days ago, and there after error 09, only the battery charger still works OK (MPPT chrager with PV suppl), all the rest was dead and have short to utility power supply (circuit breaker out). In mean time I have almost finished the complete circuit diagram of the old main board (produced back in 2014), so it will be published here when will be really finished with all details, just break this and start to repair actual Axpert. After dissasembly , on first look there could be seen: 1. exploded IGBT's QB2, QD2, QA1 and QC1 (type IRGP 4066D) 2. after complete check and measuring of all elements on main board (front and back side), the following was concluded: - C6 (47 uF, 25V) - big internal reistance - C2, C24, C25 (22uF, 25V) (around TX7) have internal resistance on upper acceptable limit - C116, C132 (power supply around TX9) : big internal resistance - IGBT gate drivers ACPL- T350 (U12, U4, and another one = in total 3 of 5 on board) have short between leg 8 (Vcc) and leg 7,6 (output) - gate resistors R140, R152 (47R0) -no continuity - gate resistors R48, R132 (47R) - show 52,3 Ohm - diode D40 (type RS1J) -could be seen overheating around it on the board)- was still OK, but later replaced - zener diode ZD3 (18V)- no continuity 3. All other parts shows appropriate and expected measured values, except diodes D65,D12, D44, D4 and D45, so I have firherest desolder out IGBT's and measured again the mentioned parts here and they was OK. 4. I have ordered all needed spares , got them in 1 day and already replaced yesterday. Today I have assembled all back and installed the unit. It works as expected, still OK after 5 hours in operation, all normal. 5. VERY IMPORTANT ADVICE (from my expiriences in electronics and findings here ) FOR ALL AXPERT USERS: 1) when you get error 08, or even error 51 and it repeated several times: first and the most important advice: ASAP detach the unit from operation and put it into the nearest service shop. !! Do no start to repair it, if you do not have enough acknowledge and needed test equipment.!!! With upper given advice: possibly you have much lower repair costs than I have in my case (you will save money for costly spares like IGBT's and etc.) 2. Or even better if you are familiar with electronics- dissasemble the unit and make first visual and later also the complete measuring check for potential faults. - check all around the TX9 power supply and TX 2 power supply, especially the electrolytic capacitors, diodes, resitors. - check also all other electrolytic capacitors on the board (measure internal resistance) and if is out of the limits or close to them- replace them all . Use only ELKO's with low ESR!!, due all power supplies here are switching types which require elko's with low ESR and of coarse with appropriate switching current capability.
July 1, 20205 yr Hi again This time, some more about my findings around the Error 08, Error 51 and Error 09. Meanwhile, since my last post back from June 17 2020, I have occasionally Erorr 08, or sometimes error 51 and finally error 09 on my Axpert 5kVA (main board produced in 2017 with SN. 16-500449-00G). I have decided to describe in details about the findings and repair after the Error 09, it could help to somebody here with the same or similar problems. It happened aprox. 6 days ago, and there after error 09, only the battery charger still works OK (MPPT chrager with PV suppl), all the rest was dead and have short to utility power supply (circuit breaker out). In mean time I have almost finished the complete circuit diagram of the old main board (produced back in 2014), so it will be published here when will be really finished with all details, just break this and start to repair actual Axpert. After dissasembly , on first look there could be seen: 1. exploded IGBT's QB2, QD2, QA1 and QC1 (type IRGP 4066D) 2. after complete check and measuring of all elements on main board (front and back side), the following was concluded: - C6 (47 uF, 25V) - big internal reistance - C2, C24, C25 (22uF, 25V) (around TX7) have internal resistance on upper acceptable limit - C116, C132 (power supply around TX9) : big internal resistance - IGBT gate drivers ACPL- T350 (U12, U4, and another one = in total 3 of 5 on board) have short between leg 8 (Vcc) and leg 7,6 (output) - gate resistors R140, R152 (47R0) -no continuity - gate resistors R48, R132 (47R) - show 52,3 Ohm - diode D40 (type RS1J) -could be seen overheating around it on the board)- was still OK, but later replaced - zener diode ZD3 (18V)- no continuity 3. All other parts shows appropriate and expected measured values, except diodes D65,D12, D44, D4 and D45, so I have firherest desolder out IGBT's and measured again the mentioned parts here and they was OK. 4. I have ordered all needed spares , got them in 1 day and already replaced yesterday. Today I have assembled all back and installed the unit. It works as expected, still OK after 5 hours in operation, all normal. 5. VERY IMPORTANT ADVICE (from my knowledge in electronics and findings here ) FOR ALL AXPERT USERS: 1) when you get error 08, or even error 51 and it repeated several times: first and the most important advice: ASAP detach the unit from operation and put it into the nearest service shop. !! Do no start to repair it, if you do not have enough acknowledge and needed test equipment.!!! With upper given advice: possibly you have much lower repair costs than I have in my case (you will save money for costly spares like IGBT's and etc.) 2. Or even better if you are familiar with electronics- disasemble the unit and make first visual and later also the complete measuring check for potential faults. - check all around the TX9 power supply and TX 2 power supply, especially the electrolytic capacitors, diodes, resistors. - check also all other electrolytic capacitors on the board (measure internal resistance) and if is out of the limits or close to them- replace them all . Use only ELCO's with low ESR!!, due all power supplies here are switching types which require elko's with low ESR and of coarse with appropriate switching current capability. Sorry I have not finished writings before: In short, my findings here are very similar like elsewhere in switching power supplies: first problems (after just 3 years in operation 24/7)- are very close connected with dry, ripped or very high ESR on ELCO's, what consequently produce overheating around the side elements and finally not correct voltages on it's output (in my case on +15V, on +5V and on -12V). Due to not correct voltages, we have error 08 (bus overvoltage) and also error 51 (current surge) - meanwhile I'm sure it was not the case in reality, but due to incorrect voltages we get this wrong errors (OP-07 for current control) and also UC3845 current IC's can not work correct with to low or with unbalanced supply voltages. Additionally - elco's around the TX7 have made also the mess with + PS voltage for ACPL-T350 gate IGBT drivers and when they was not any more in correct cycle- bang on IGBT's was obvious. Hope all this will help to somebody here or elsewhere on other forums to AXPERT users. maxo
July 2, 20205 yr 10 hours ago, maxo said: I have almost finished the complete circuit diagram of the old main board (produced back in 2014), so it will be published here Excellent, thanks! 10 hours ago, maxo said: - C6 (47 uF, 25V) - big internal reistance - C2, C24, C25 (22uF, 25V) (around TX7) have internal resistance on upper acceptable limit Were these measured in-circuit? With a multimeter on ohms range or an actual impedance checker? Edit: and thanks for the comprehensive repair report. Edited July 2, 20205 yr by Coulomb
July 2, 20205 yr Hi Coulomb All measured in- circuit first (must have some skill to know where the parts are in parallel connection, especially in case of diodes and small value resitors; or in case of BJT and resistors or chokes), but it could be done with no problems. Resistors check was done by precise multimeter with automatic range in Ohms/kOhms/MOhms range; btw diodes, zener diode, BJT, mosfets and IGBT was checked in diodes range. For ELCO's check I'm using analog (home made) ESR meter (Homo Ludens circuit), used already for a long time and have skill to work with it. I was built it with two measuring ranges (0-2 Ohm) and (0-20 Ohm), it operates at 100 kHz and is really very usefull instrument. I have also digital ESR meter (PIC chip operation), but analog indication works better for me, I have also RC3563 low ESR meter, works best on Li-ion batterys for very low internal resistance check, but it works just on 1kHz, what is a little bit low frequency for good in-circuit elco's internal resistance testing. On main board is more than one point or areas, where in circuit measuring is tricky, for me there was with great help old main board (2014 version), to check or compare measured values on it and on actual board under repair. One of such a point is D40 diode- it shows complete short on diodes range, on resistance range shows very small resistance (about 0,4 Ohms or something around), just because its wiring- after desodering and measure out of circuit shows it is OK. With great help was also partial scetches done by Coulomb and Weber published on Aeva forum and also my circuit diagram made recently on old board - like I said in previous email - will be shortly published here when finished- still working on it. Just another word about IGBT testing - in circuit is almoast immpossible except if you have another good board like I have to make comparision. Best is to desolder them out off (if you are not sure what is real) and check them out of circuit with one of quick method, methods are published on web all around- best way for me is very simple circuit with DC supply 7-15V and with few resistors and two tact switches and one led disode for visual control if IGBT works properly (on- off) check. The internal diode could be checked with no problem in-circuit too, the IGBT funcionality is best to check out of circuit like written. Last word about the board check: version 2017 was factory laquired by transparent spray, especially on back side of the main board on high-voltage part with thick layer. For in circuit check you need to use very sharp tips to come through this laquired layer and have appropriate connection with the measuring tips- it is not easy somethimes and took a lot of time and nerves. Have fun maxo
July 23, 20205 yr I also had an error 51 on a VM model, the power supply is the same as on the MKS models. Changed C78, C79, C132 and U20. Error 51 did not occur again. What I also saw was that the output voltage fluctuated between 229V and 231V, this only happens when the battery voltage is below 51.5V. If the battery is 51.5V or above the output voltage is constant 230V.
July 23, 20205 yr Hi Christo Good to hear that you were able to put it back in operation. So, you have changed just the ELCO's on power supply lines +12V, +5 V and -12V DC and negative voltage regulator LM7912, (I assume you have the same part designation on your board, like are on mine mainboard). Check if you have stable voltage on this outputs, possibly yes, check also C117 in front of LM7912. For voltage fluctuations described in case when battery voltage is under 51,5V could be several reasons (output power level fluctuation or some bad part on other supply lines). Advice: Check also all other ELCO's on board (dry, leakage, high ESR), especially around TX7, check possible hot areas (changed color of the board around any part is possible bad point ), but the mot possible reason could be ELCO's or even cold solder spot somewhere. Have fun maxo
April 17, 20215 yr Nice posts MAXO. All is true. ERROR 51 are from big chips from left side. ERROR 52 - low bus voltage are from small chips on right. ERROR 51 come when you overload the invertor. ERROR 52 come when your generator is defective and the load phase is grounded. I changed chips to three inverters. Repair costs about 25% of the inverter's price. The inverters went on for a few months until I had another overload or short circuit. That's when they were completely burned. They didn't even have a bright screen. Another repaired inverter I went until I loaded it at 3 KW. A well pump started burned it. It before it was defective it worked routinely with the pump and some lights. There are probably several defective parts when ERROR 51 appears. But it's too expensive to replace everything. It is best to put a protection on the current or to avoid overloading it. In my opinion. The factory was supposed to include amperage protection. As they're built, if someone tries to weld on a solar outlet, they burned the inverter. If the generator is older and a wire touches the casing, the inverter is burned again. I think it's best to put a protection on the current. First of all, the current doesn't go up very fast. And then not exceed the power of the inverter.
April 21, 20215 yr Hi Chris Are you still strugeling with the error 51 if so disconnect your earth on the main feed to inverter and see if the error comes back. If it does nit it means there is a earth connected to a neutral wire
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