I've had a King III inverter for years - always worked perfectly.
It's a cloudy day in Spain today. Batteries were low. 
I started the generator and took the kids to school, went to the shops.
Came back to find inverter displaying F06 - output voltage out of limits.
🤔
No PV input - clouds. Ok no problem.
Went out started genny.
Inverter coupled genny power through to output and started charging the batteries.
🤔

Went out to turn off the genny. Inverter switched to inverter mode and worked perfectly.

I can't make it reproduce the fault now.

So what was that all about?

1 hour ago, Greg Ford said:

I've had a King III inverter for years - always worked perfectly.
It's a cloudy day in Spain today. Batteries were low. 
I started the generator and took the kids to school, went to the shops.
Came back to find inverter displaying F06 - output voltage out of limits.
🤔
No PV input - clouds. Ok no problem.
Went out started genny.
Inverter coupled genny power through to output and started charging the batteries.
🤔

Went out to turn off the genny. Inverter switched to inverter mode and worked perfectly.

I can't make it reproduce the fault now.

So what was that all about?

The fault code F06 normally occur if output voltage is >20v of nominal setpoint value 220v or 230v. Below manual description and remedy of this fault.

 

Edited September 20, 20241 yr by TaliaB

On 2024/09/20 at 7:14 PM, Greg Ford said:

I've had a King III inverter for years

Do you mean an Axpert VMIII?

On 2024/09/20 at 7:14 PM, Greg Ford said:

I can't make it reproduce the fault now.

So what was that all about?

I looked up the links at the start of the AEVA repair thread, and the only reference to fault code 06 says that it was solved by replacing one of the power supply capacitors. Since you have used this inverter "for years", it's likely that some of the power supply capacitors have dried up. My guess is that the fault will gradually reappear, perhaps in other forms, as the capacitors continue to age.

 See the index for details on which ones to replace, and suitable reasonable quality replacements.

I think you may be right Coulomb. It played up again yesterday. It felt a bit "dry-jointy", so I gave is a thump and it switched on. 
It's Sunday, the kids are at home, it switched on this morning to I'll leave it be today and take it apart tomorrow.

..See the index for details on which ones to replace...  which index and where is it?
Also, is there a full circuit diagram for this inverter somewhere to hand? It's the unbranded 5kW version

2 hours ago, Coulomb said:

Do you mean an Axpert VMIII?

I looked up the links at the start of the AEVA repair thread, and the only reference to fault code 06 says that it was solved by replacing one of the power supply capacitors. Since you have used this inverter "for years", it's likely that some of the power supply capacitors have dried up. My guess is that the fault will gradually reappear, perhaps in other forms, as the capacitors continue to age.

 See the index for details on which ones to replace, and suitable reasonable quality replacements.

Hi Coulomb, a bit offtopic. Your AUS site has a very  attractive looking appearance. Is that a new engine or merely a config/cosmetic update? 

8 hours ago, Greg Ford said:

..See the index for details on which ones to replace...  which index and where is it?

In the one link I posted. That whole post is an index into a giant repair thread, with contributors from all over the world. 

8 hours ago, Greg Ford said:

Also, is there a full circuit diagram for this inverter somewhere to hand?

The closest thing is Maxo's full schematic trace for an earlier model, available from the schematic section of that link. 

Your model looks to me like a genuine VM III (because of the location of the removable display), or a close clone thereof. Usually genuine models have at least some branding. 

14 hours ago, BritishRacingGreen said:

Your AUS site has a very  attractive looking appearance. Is that a new engine or merely a config/cosmetic update? 

It's not my site, though I'm a moderator there and do occasional tweaks. It's still running phpBB, and recently a new board style was added and was made the default. It's called damaïo, and was used because it reasonably matches the AEVA main site (the forum is a separate web site to the main site, hosted on a different server for historic reasons). They even crafted a new AEVA logo, better matching the appearance of the main site; this logo is currently applied only when that board style is used. 

I trialled it for a few days, but then went back to the ne-blackgreen style, a green and orange scheme that somehow appeals to me alone.

The plot thickens....
I pulled the main board and checked it for dry joints, I found many dryish joints. Wacked it back together again only to find that it now gives me the 32 Warning.
I've tried everything I think of. Rechecked my joint re-soldering work 10 times. Looks perfect to me. 
One point of interest, we discovered the first winter we had the inverter that it will not switch on from the battery only. That's odd isn't it? I solved that (perhaps not in the best way) by using little 30W 12v inverter into a bridge and cap to kick the PV input. It has worked perfectly for four winters now.

So I can apply PV or Gen and the panel will boot up. It goes through the countdown and then flicks to Warning 32. One point, perhaps an important one, I remember that usually the moment the panel comes on and starts counting down, the fans come on. They are not doing that now. 

If only I had a schematic I could at least check the rails... How is it possible that we don't have thefull schematics for these inverters?

 

Edited October 13, 20241 yr by Greg Ford

On 2024/10/13 at 10:10 PM, Greg Ford said:

we discovered the first winter we had the inverter that it will not switch on from the battery only. That's odd isn't it?

That sounds like a problem with the power supply circuit where the switch turning on causes the power supply to bootstrap itself on. Or you forgot to press the on button; when the inverter sees a charging source (PV-in or AC-in), it turns on even if the load switch is off.

On 2024/10/13 at 10:10 PM, Greg Ford said:

So I can apply PV or Gen and the panel will boot up. It goes through the countdown and then flicks to Warning 32.

That means that the display isn't talking to the DSP. Check the small comms board that connects the display to the processor. The power switch also goes through that board. But the display gets its power from that board too, so for you to see warning code 32, it must be getting power through that board. So it can't be completely faulty or unconnected. Could you have plugged the serial comms into the wrong port on the control board or the comms board? I can't recall if power comes through that same connector or a separate one. Power comes as HFPWR (High Frequency PoWeR) from the main power supply (near the large yellow-taped squarish transformer).

I've bought a new inverter!
A most definitely real-deal Axpert King II

The power switch on the new inverter is latching, on the old one it's PTM only.

Anyway, I'll have a look at the old again next week. Busy weekend ahead...