8 minutes ago, fhocorp said:

Also a way to generate a custom serial number for the inverter could be very useful

Check your private messages.

37 minutes ago, Coulomb said:

Check your private messages.

Thank you @Coulomb 🙏

12 hours ago, Coulomb said:

If this update has the same result, then the clone maker has reserved their own reflash command, and it's not practical to discover what that is.

Sadly the update does not work with serial communication error. Tried on physical RS232 port on my computer.

For the inverter for parts, i have replaced U10 and no changes 😮‍💨  If i force the device power up for a long time, the Q36 get very hot and die in short circuit. I am tired of that issue on the board. Replaced everything and nothing work. Seems the board is definively died 😰

 

But is COM1 the right serial port? If by "physical port" you mean an actual D9 connector on your very old ir very unusual computer, then that is probably right. But if you are using a USB to serial adapter, then it might turn up on another port, like COM5. Also, the USB to serial adapter might not be one that works with the Voltronic reflash tools. 

Edited January 24, 20251 yr by Coulomb

10 minutes ago, Coulomb said:

But is COM1 the right serial port? If by "physical port" you mean an actual D9 connector on your very old ir very unusual computer, then that is probably right

Yes COM1 is a physical port on my computer.

@Coulomb So the communication error is only due to the incompatible firmware upgrade ? The wiring is not the problem since i can view the device with WatchPower. 

Maybe a have to try to flash a lower custom firmware version first ? (And the others version after) ?

6 hours ago, fhocorp said:

For the inverter for parts, i have replaced U10 and no changes 😮‍💨  If i force the device power up for a long time, the Q36 get very hot and die in short circuit. I am tired of that issue on the board. Replaced everything and nothing work. Seems the board is definively died

You can confirm that the motherboard is dead ? 

1 hour ago, fhocorp said:

Maybe a have to try to flash a lower custom firmware version first ? (And the others version after)?

No. I'd say it must be using a custom reflash command. So you may have to get an update from Superwatt or their distributor.

1 hour ago, fhocorp said:

You can confirm that the motherboard is dead ? 

It's starting to look like it must be the inductor. I'd want to see the voltage across the source resistor on an oscilloscope; that gives the current though the inductor/transformer. Either the inductor is faulty (e.g. shorted turns), or the source resistor is the wrong value and the transistor is over-driving the inductor. If it is the inductor, then unless you happen to have a spares board, then it's not worth trying to fix that board. Such a waste that a $5 inductor can doom a $500 board.

1 hour ago, Coulomb said:

No. I'd say it must be using a custom reflash command. So you may have to get an update from Superwatt or their distributor.

Ok. The distributor of SuperWatt inverters disapeared from the market so it will be very difficult to have an update from them 😥

1 hour ago, Coulomb said:

It's starting to look like it must be the inductor. I'd want to see the voltage across the source resistor on an oscilloscope; that gives the current though the inductor/transformer. Either the inductor is faulty (e.g. shorted turns), or the source resistor is the wrong value and the transistor is over-driving the inductor. If it is the inductor, then unless you happen to have a spares board, then it's not worth trying to fix that board. Such a waste that a $5 inductor can doom a $500 board.

Ok. For all the time and money i have wasted on it the board will go for parts. Thank for all your valuable support on the case.

Best Regards

@Coulomb After dig research on the AVEA forum, the upgrade failure at startup could be due to the opto-isolators on the communication board (cf : https://forums.aeva.asn.au/viewtopic.php?p=76413#p76413) I will try to connect directly to the MB without the communication board and retry a flash. A tricky operation but i want to have parrallel fonction working. Since the inverters are second hand this is not a shame if i brick one of them 🤐

Edited January 25, 20251 yr by fhocorp

@Coulomb Sorry to restart the topic, but i have a new inverter that comes at my lab and that have the same issue on the SMPS part : The TX9 transformer make noise (same result as the other faulty inverter at the beginning of this topic) but also on this one the diode D54 get very very hot 😱 The diode may be faulty ?

Did you know the type and reference of the diode D54 for replacing ? 

Also you have information about the resistors R205/R215, R211, R224 ?

Also i will replace the cms zener diodes ZD7, ZD2 and ZD4 that seem's burnt. The marking "BC W77" on the zener diode is difficult to understood.

 

The failure of the SMPS seems to be an common issue on theses inverters 🥺

 

Edited February 11, 20251 yr by fhocorp

7 hours ago, fhocorp said:

the diode D54 get very very hot 😱 The diode may be faulty ?

It will be worth replacing, but its likely a symptom not a cause. Likely, something is loading the +12 V rail that this diode supplies.

The noise it likely the transformer saturating, which will cause the current to increase a lot. The chip will sense the overload, pull back the current, the transformer stops saturating, and the cycle repeats, hence the noise.

7 hours ago, fhocorp said:

Did you know the type and reference of the diode D54 for replacing ? 

It's likely a UF202, Ultra Fast 2A 100 V. You might want to buy a few of these 😧

With a bench supply on the +12 V rail, look for any chips or other parts using that supply getting hot. You may need to supply -12 V as well, as some parts like the SG3525 use both. A non-contact thermometer is useful for this.

7 hours ago, fhocorp said:

Also i will replace the cms zener diodes ZD7, ZD2 and ZD4 that seem's burnt. The marking "BC W77" on the zener diode is difficult to understood.

BC is the marking code. It's a short code that they write on SMD parts because if the full part number and other info would not fit. These are 5.6 V zeners, likely whatever power you can get in that small package will do. These dying is likely symptomatic of high voltage getting through the gates of the IGBTs. Check all the gate driver parts, obviously as well as the IGBTs for gate shorted to drain or source.

This one looks like one of those nightmare repairs, sadly.

2 hours ago, Coulomb said:

It will be worth replacing, but its likely a symptom not a cause. Likely, something is loading the +12 V rail that this diode supplies.

The noise it likely the transformer saturating, which will cause the current to increase a lot. The chip will sense the overload, pull back the current, the transformer stops saturating, and the cycle repeats, hence the noise.

Ok, on the 12V line i have replaced all the caps and the L7912CV regulator, so i don't know what is trying to get too much power. The removable firmware board is ok since i have tested it on another inverter.

2 hours ago, Coulomb said:

It's likely a UF202, Ultra Fast 2A 100 V. You might want to buy a few of these 😧

Ok thanks, i will replace them for the case 😐

3 hours ago, Coulomb said:

With a bench supply on the +12 V rail, look for any chips or other parts using that supply getting hot. You may need to supply -12 V as well, as some parts like the SG3525 use both. A non-contact thermometer is useful for this.

Great idea but where i can plug my testing cables on the bord without risk of breaking other parts ? On the transformer input pins ? I am not very fashion on this method since i have burned a board like this.... If you have more informations about that...🤔

3 hours ago, Coulomb said:

This one looks like one of those nightmare repairs, sadly.

Yes, completely agree with this but i receive more and more inverters that have this issue so i have to find a solution for that 🥺

Thanks for your help @Coulomb 😉

19 hours ago, fhocorp said:

Great idea but where i can plug my testing cables on the bord without risk of breaking other parts ?

I often have to solder on short wires to clip DSO or multimeter leads onto, or sometimes longer insulated wires. You have to watch where they all are before you power up, obviously!

1 hour ago, Coulomb said:

You have to watch where they all are before you power up, obviously!

Ok, based on where is the wire the voltage to apply is different ? 

On 2025/02/13 at 3:34 PM, fhocorp said:

based on where is the wire the voltage to apply is different ? 

I was thinking only of measurement points, but yes, sometimes I need to solder short wires to power supply lines to apply power, usually +12 V, -12 V, and the centre of those, one of the grounds. Don't skimp on the GND connection, as the current drawn by the -12 V rail is way less than the current drawn by the +12 V rail.

My apologies if I've misunderstood your question.

2 hours ago, Coulomb said:

I was thinking only of measurement points, but yes, sometimes I need to solder short wires to power supply lines to apply power, usually +12 V, -12 V, and the centre of those, one of the grounds. Don't skimp on the GND connection, as the current drawn by the -12 V rail is way less than the current drawn by the +12 V rail.

My apologies if I've misunderstood your question.

Thank @Coulomb 👍

From y end i have bought the UF202 diodes and zener diodes. I have also ordered some 450uF 500V capacitors since i have repaired some models that this capacitors failed.

One question, the PSU SMPS of the inverter could have an issue like mine if the battery capacitors are out of order ?  I think replace battery capacitors as well if they are out or shorted in resistive current.

14 hours ago, fhocorp said:

One question, the PSU SMPS of the inverter could have an issue like mine if the battery capacitors are out of order ?

They'd have to be very weak, but yes I suppose it's possible. It's probably worth having a stock of power supply electrolytics; they fail often and can cause all sorts of problems. This post has a list of part numbers. 

7 hours ago, Coulomb said:

They'd have to be very weak, but yes I suppose it's possible. It's probably worth having a stock of power supply electrolytics; they fail often and can cause all sorts of problems. This post has a list of part numbers. 

Ok thanks for your answer. On my inverter D54 is MUR460 and D67 / D70 are UF302 diodes for information. I will replace them all.

 

Hi @Coulomb Replaced D67, D70, D54 and also the UF202 diodes and no changes. I have received another one with the same issue on the SMPS side.

So, this not the diodes, not the oscillator, not the caps, not the L7812CV or LM7805 regulators, not the IRF mosfets......it must be only the transformer TX9 that is probably faulty 😕

17 hours ago, fhocorp said:

.it must be only the transformer TX9 that is probably faulty 😕

Hmmm. How are your transformer winding skills?

I always thought of transformers as non-repairable, but I keep coming across stories of people fixing them.

Maybe someone should start a transformer repair business, if they have the skills required?

17 hours ago, fhocorp said:

not the caps,

Have you replaced the 1000μF capacitors? See for example this recent post:

Just now, Coulomb said:

Hmmm. How are your transformer winding skills?

Hmm, well not very good on this part 😑

1 minute ago, Coulomb said:

I always thought of transformers as non-repairable, but I keep coming across stories of people fixing them.

Maybe someone should start a transformer repair business, if they have the skills required?

Yes, sure, and i will hell him for work on my inverters 😇

At this time, i have no idea of things to do on theses faulty board. Since i have more and more of theses issues on my inverters repairs i have to find a solution for this. Powering directly the control board via and external way could do the device working ? (Ex: Using external board for powering the control board +12V, -12V relay and +5V)

1 minute ago, fhocorp said:

Using external board for powering the control board +12V, -12V relay and +5V)

I guess that could work. It will be a bit of effort finding a suitable one, figuring out how to mount it, etc. You'll probably need to leave the bypass capacitors there, so you'll also ned to figure out strategic places to cut tracks. It would have to be a moderately large unit, since most of the idle power will be supplied from this supply (a little will be the original power supply's losses). So you'd be looking at about a 75 W unit for MAX models. It should also be able to be turned on and off like the original. And isolated input to output. Tricky.

18 hours ago, fhocorp said:

must be only the transformer TX9 that is probably faulty

Have you checked the bus soft start circuit? I have had the UC3845 and surrounding components fail and this has overloaded tx9 and caused the SMPS to shutdown. The cause of failure for this as far as I can tell is after a catastrophic failure the user tries to restart and beause the bus is shorted the bus soft start is damaged. Worth a look at least before replacing transformer.

Have you tried starting the SPS without the control card in place by powering it with 30V between the cathode of D53 and battery negative ( AC start switch has to be on) ? I just clip the 30V positive to the switch pin 1.

If you do this you can safely check your +12V, -12V and +5V power rails without high voltage present on the board and if they are stable your bus soft start is likely the problem. You can also check the buck, H-Bridge and PF correction (if present) IGBTS by measuring between gate and emitter, you should see ~-5.6V.

Edited March 10, 20251 yr by Shadders
Highlighted that the main control card must be out of the board for testing

2 hours ago, Coulomb said:

Have you replaced the 1000μF capacitors?

Yes, but i have done plenty of tests after, did they died during my tests ? They are not swolen

1 hour ago, Shadders said:

Have you checked the bus soft start circuit? I have had the UC3845 and surrounding components fail and this has overloaded tx9 and caused the SMPS to shutdown. The cause of failure for this as far as I can tell is after a catastrophic failure the user tries to restart and beause the bus is shorted the bus soft start is damaged. Worth a look at least before replacing transformer.

Have you tried starting the SPS without the control card in place by powering it with 30V between the cathode of D53 and battery negative ( AC start switch has to be on) ? I just clip the 30V positive to the switch pin 1.

If you do this you can safely check your +12V, -12V and +5V power rails without high voltage present on the board and if they are stable your bus soft start is likely the problem. You can also check the buck, H-Bridge and PF correction (if present) IGBTS by measuring between gate and emitter, you should see ~-5.6V.

@Shadders Nice approach 👍 I will check that when i return to my lab and i keep you informed 😄🤘