February 20, 20242 yr My Axpert got wet during the storm over the weekend and shut down completely. I've done a complete power down on all source and started up again, pressing the breaker reset button as well, but the inverter is confirmed dead. I could see water on the power switch after opening the bottom panel but I'm not sure where else. My best guess is that the circuit board to the left of the power switch was shorted out. The battery still powers on but the alarm light is showing. I've logged a claim with my insurance and the electrician who came out to do the assessment pointed out that the battery also needs replacement. I'm still awaiting the outcome of the assessment, but I would like to know if these inverters are repairable, and would it be worth it to do so? I was surprised that the battery got damaged as well as there was no water close to it, or to the contacts on the inverter side. Would the circuit board shorting out also cause damage to the battery, and would the battery be worth repairing? I'm hoping the actual cells are still ok and just needs some new circuitry.
February 20, 20242 yr 3 hours ago, JVS said: The battery still powers on but the alarm light is showing. My guess is that the battery's BMS is not allowing the battery to power the inverter. So the inverter may be OK. Can you check if there is voltage at the battery terminals? Does the battery have State Of Charge LEDs? If so, do they show the battery as being very low? You might just need something to bootstrap the battery into turning on. 3 hours ago, JVS said: I would like to know if these inverters are repairable, and would it be worth it to do so? Yes, if you can find someone who can do component level repairs. Most of the high voltage stuff is well inside the inverter, except for the AC-in and AC-out terminals, and perhaps the PV terminals if it's a high PV voltage model (you didn't say). If it's a low PV voltage model (these are getting rare these days), then I'd say that there is a reasonable chance that nothing too expensive has blown up. 3 hours ago, JVS said: Would the circuit board shorting out also cause damage to the battery, and would the battery be worth repairing? The battery would almost certainly be worth repairing, if it needs any repair at all. My wild guess is that the inverter went somewhat crazy and discharged the battery very low. Usually the BMS would protect against it going too low, but some don't. If you can get someone around with a highish voltage power supply (I have a dual 30 V unit that can be put in series, this would be ideal), then they can probably get the battery bootstrapped up if it's not actually damaged. Then you can see what if any faults show up on the inverter. It might only need a long press on the battery's reset button or similar to allow it to power the inverter, at least for a short time.
March 22, 20242 yr Author Just to close the loop, I got the inverter repaired as the insurance rejected the claim. The battery just needed a charge. One month later it's up and running again. I can't seem to access it via USB anymore but it was fine when I got it back so maybe we just dislodged something during the installation. In the long run I'll probably get somebody to move everything inside the house as the insurance refuses to cover it while it's outside in a shed.
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