Good day. I have a Sunsynk 8.8kW inverter. My solarman wifi dongle died, and I purchased a Sunsynk wifi dongle/logger. The new dongle however does not work at all and no lights come on, on the dongle. Does anyone perhaps have a suggestion? 

My installer recommends I remove the inverter and send it away for testing, but that would be an absolute last resort. 

Edited March 1, 20242 yr by Jacques86
Issue solved

If it were me, I would firstly be suspicious as to why the first Solarman dongle died. Did it really die, or is it the serial port on the SS that is dead? If you are sure that the Solarman dongle is dead (only way to test would be on another inverter), then it could be the serial port that caused it to go faulty, so you must proceed with caution. You can buy an LED debugger from Aliexpress, but before you waste money, first try and see of you can get about 5V power from the female port on the inverter, this is usually from the Data Terminal Ready (DTR) and Request to Send (RTS) pins. Easiest to use 9pin male DB9 connector, wire it up and plug it in, put a voltmeter across the wires coming from pins 4 and 7. 

 

If it's dead, then you know that the UART / port is blown and best to send it in. 

 

Thank you very much for your reply. I will certainly try above. Another option would probably be to leave the WiFi/RS232 port empty and use an Orange Pi with Solar Assistant via the RS485 port. Would this be an option, or rather not?

 

I'm not sure on that topic, but quite a few members here are, and they may be along shortly to comment.

The only problem with not having a Solarman or Sunsynk dongle is firmware updates, you will need to update if you need support, and with no way to update it, you get no support. Personally, I'd grit my teeth and buy a 5K Solis S6 to replace it with, then flog the Sunsynk in the classifieds when it comes back from RMA.     

5 hours ago, Jacques86 said:

The new dongle however does not work at all and no lights come on

Your communications board in the inverter is dead. Get it replaced under warranty

Update: Sunsynk have advised that I must power everything off and remove the wifi card and courier it to them. Will advise when I get feedback after they had a look at the card.

Update: It turns out the wifi card was broken. Sunsynk sent me a new card which I installed and I am back online again. Much less of a hassle than sending the whole inverter to them.

This is much better than sending in the whole inverter. Did you follow the Sunsynk RMA instructions online or contact them another way?

My 5kW has the same problem after a lightning strike.

I sent them an email and had to call when they did not reply. The card is easy to remove, but took me about 30min as I was very careful not to cause damage when I removed the white glue/silicone on the card.

Just now, Jacques86 said:

I sent them an email and had to call when they did not reply. The card is easy to remove, but took me about 30min as I was very careful not to cause damage when I removed the white glue/silicone on the card.

Pics?

2 minutes ago, Yellow Measure said:

Pics?

 

20 minutes ago, Jacques86 said:

 

Many thanks!

On 2024/02/20 at 2:41 PM, Jacques86 said:

Update: Sunsynk have advised that I must power everything off and remove the wifi card and courier it to them. Will advise when I get feedback after they had a look at the card.

Was this Sunsynk in South Africa?

I suspect I have the same issue with a blown wifi card inside the inverter.  This thread really helps, especially the fact that you mentioned that you had to call Sunsynk as emails were unanswered.  Sunsynk will get a call from me tomorrow - I will update on this thread if it was the same issue.

 

@Contact1980 Was your issue resolved when you contacted Sunsynk

On 2024/03/02 at 4:50 AM, GVC said:

This is much better than sending in the whole inverter. Did you follow the Sunsynk RMA instructions online or contact them another way?

My 5kW has the same problem after a lightning strike.

Hi, did you get this resolved?

I think I have the same issue.

Yes, Sunsynk sent me a new card which I replaced and sent them the old one back. They made it clear that the onus was on me to replace it correctly.

I had the same problem with a data logger. No lights. Apparently a common problem. If you don't measure 12 volts across C9 then there is a short on the board.

I followed the procedure below to get it working again.

Edited March 6, 20251 yr by slipx

Have the same issue, sent the wifi plug PCB to Sunsynk JHB on 21 February 2025, they had stock of the PCBs then, but still have not heard back from them. And I still have not received a replacement PCB from them.

If you opt to remove C9, then surely you must replace it with another, as it must have a function on the PCB?

Edited March 13, 20251 yr by snoops

Interesting to see that some of the Sunsynk inverters have a small glass/perspex panel covering the PCB while others don't?

Mine didn’t have that. 5Kw inverter.

I have the same problem with the card --I am going to remove C9 as a first step--its currently so sunny I dont want to shut down the system and leave the array unloaded so Ill do it one evening--this umits has done about 750 days sincefirst install--two more are working fine noi issues--I use a DG , 12KW array & 30KW stotage--grid connected system--this is a great thread Michael in Ireland

My data logger failed back in Feb 2026. The installation is 3 years old so the installer was not interested. they wanted £250.00 just for the call out then more fees???? in fairness the installation of the solar panels, battery and inverter were only covered by them for 2 years. Contacted Sunsynk who advised me to cut off the C9 capacitor or have the inverter sent back to them. their 10 year warranty is therefore worthless. I have made several calls to their helpline but they insist this is not their problem. From what I can see on the internet Sunsynk know about this problem but fail to offer any real support. I would definitely not recommend Sunsynk or any of their products to anyone thinking about a solar panel installation.