[RE-wrenches] Outback Mate3 programming issues

William Miller william at millersolar.com
Tue Dec 13 18:00:54 PST 2016


Friends:



I apologize for not reporting in sooner.  As most of you remember, we have
seen a few Outback systems with Mate3 controllers experience apparent
self-reprogramming.  I experienced it and several others reported on it.
Many have requested updates, on-line and off.



I have discussed this at length with a couple Outback employees.  We have
reached no definite conclusions but we do have a theory:  About 2 weeks
prior to this failure, I had a Mate3 fail.  There are two in this system
and of course the more important of the two failed.



I swapped the less critical Mate3 for the failed unit.  We stored the
configuration of the failed unit onto the SD card and applied that
programming to the replacement unit.  We spot checked a few settings and
assumed the programming was good. It is possible that corruption occurred
during this process.  The system ran fine for about 2 weeks and then
failed. The failure mode was that 4 of the 8 inverters became Masters.



The site is, of course, a long ways from my shop.  On my last visit I
copied the data from the card I thought was pertinent, but I find that to
be conclusive, I need the data from the other SD card.  Once I retrieve
that data, I can hopefully prove or disprove this theory.  I will keep you
posted.



There are a couple of Outback employees that are taking this seriously, and
I am most grateful to them.  In reading between the lines, it appears to me
that they don’t have a lot of support from management to pursue problems
like this.  It was never said directly, so I apologize if I misunderstood.
However, if this problem is causing more than one or two of us
consternation and inconvenience, we need to be vocal with Outback wo they
can dedicate resources.  I don’t fault Outback, we all have to set
priorities.  As consumers, we need to request higher priorities to issues
if they are causing serious problems.



There is also other issues: “partially disconnected” systems, gaps in the
data and connection reliability issues..  The partial issue cropped up
recently.  There is a new firmware that supposedly deals with these
issues.   Check It out.



I was told that since Optics was a free service, there was limited
responsibility from Outback for reliability.  I can’t agree with this
point.  We spent a lot of money on communications infrastructure and pay
monthly for internet to use this service.  I think Outback released the
Optics system a wee bit prematurely.  The pace of firmware upgrades
confirms this.  I respect Outback people and the product line, but I think
expectations might have been more realistic if Optics had been deemed a
“beta” release when it first came out.  The value and promise of the system
is obvious and I will hang in there with Outback and help any way I can to
make the product better.  One way I can help is remain optimistic that
these problems will be solved.



More soon.



William





[image: Gradient Cap_mini]
Lic 773985
millersolar.com <http://www.millersolar.com/>
805-438-5600
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