[RE-wrenches] Firmware, Firmware, Firmaware was Outback Programming Ghost

Sat Nov 12 13:42:45 PST 2016

When they work the new programming options/features are really cool and if I may be so bold (or nerdy) to say Fun.

However, when they don't work and instead shut down the system...@&$! Absolutely Frustrating. Somehow I feel we are the constant guinea pigs.

I hope the firmware update glitches are remedied soon.

Wayne Irwin,
President
License #CVC56695
State Licensed Solar Contractor
Pure Energy Solar International Inc.
Wayne at PureEnergySolar.com
http://PureEnergySolar.com
http://SolarChargingStation.net
352 377-6527 Office
352 336-3299 Fax

The Sun Is Always Shining!

The content of this message is Pure Energy Solar Confidential. If you are not the intended recipient and have received this message in error, any use or distribution is prohibited. Please notify me immediately by reply e-mail and delete this message from your computer system. Thank you.
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From: RE-wrenches <re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org> on behalf of William Miller <william at millersolar.com>
Sent: Saturday, November 12, 2016 12:17:11 PM
To: RE-wrenches
Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Firmware, Firmware, Firmaware was Outback Programming Ghost

 Ray:

Upgrading firmware on inverters and Mates requires either a board swap for inverters or a trip to the factory for a standard Mate. Only the Mate3 can be field upgraded.

Then, if you have mixed inverter firmware, there can be unintended consequences. For example, we upgraded a fourth inverter because of a failure. We were told to make it the master. When we did, the gen would disconnect after 20 minutes. We changed it back to a slave and problem resolved.

In our society, the price for added features is added frustration.

William

On Nov 12, 2016, at 8:32 AM, Ray Walters <ray at solarray.com<mailto:ray at solarray.com>> wrote:

I second uprading all firmware on all devices.  I had a recent FXR install that was dropping one of the inverters (and its leg) whenever the system tried to sell.  Latest firmware cured the issues.
The industry is moving from us being electricians to becoming computer techs.  Retirement looks better each day.

R.Ray Walters
CTO, Solarray, Inc
Nabcep Certified PV Installer,
Licensed Master Electrician
Solar Design Engineer
303 505-8760

On 11/12/2016 6:08 AM, Wayne Irwin wrote:

Very strange that all the programming is scrambled.

Recently we had a FXR system which had been working fine for nearly six months come up with an incompatibility error with the slave inverter even though the firmware was the most recent and the same for both inverters. After several failed attempts to re-upgrade the inverter firmware, we took a shot at upgrading the Mate 3 firmware which did work. We then again tried the inverters and it worked. System is now working again (for now) and the programming is all still valid.

Wayne Irwin,
President
License #CVC56695
State Licensed Solar Contractor
Pure Energy Solar International Inc.
Wayne at PureEnergySolar.com<mailto:PureEnergySolar at hotmail.com>
http://PureEnergySolar.com
http://SolarChargingStation.net<https://solarchargingstation.net>
352 377-6527 Office
352 336-3299 Fax

The Sun Is Always Shining!

The content of this message is Pure Energy Solar Confidential. If you are not the intended recipient and have received this message in error, any use or distribution is prohibited. Please notify me immediately by reply e-mail and delete this message from your computer system. Thank you.

________________________________
From: RE-wrenches <re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org><mailto:re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org> on behalf of William Miller <william at millersolar.com><mailto:william at millersolar.com>
Sent: Thursday, November 10, 2016 11:26 PM
To: RE-wrenches
Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Outback Programming Ghost

Ray:

I have no reason to believe anyone has been meddling. No one knows the password. It does look like some serious glitch.

William

On Nov 10, 2016, at 6:25 PM, Ray Walters <ray at solarray.com<mailto:ray at solarray.com>> wrote:

It almost sounds like someone got in there and tried to reprogram stuff themselves.  Have you installed the proper anti-Gremlin devices?

R.Ray Walters
CTO, Solarray, Inc
Nabcep Certified PV Installer,
Licensed Master Electrician
Solar Design Engineer
303 505-8760

On 11/10/2016 12:34 PM, William Miller wrote:
Colleagues:

I maintain an off-grid, 8 stack FX Outback system with 3 charge controllers.  The system has been on line for about 6 years.  It got upgraded about 7 months ago with 2 Mate3s.

About a week ago the system shutdown, leaving the customer without power.  A maintenance worker started a generator and power was restored.  I did not hear about the situation for several days.

A maintenance supervisor was dispatched yesterday to work with me over the telephone to see if we could restart the system.  The system would only run if the inverter output breakers were all off.

I examined the system via Optics.  I was very surprised to see that the system programming was absolutely scrambled.  This was so much so that even the stacking settings were wrong.  For example, inverter 2 was set as a Master, which we all know will crash any system.  Other settings were also found with very random values.

This system was running prior to last Friday, so the stacking at least must have been right prior to the outage.  I am completely mystified as to how this could have happened.

I am in conversation with Outback who is taking this seriously.  I have not heard back from them yet but I am curious if anyone else has experienced this or anything similar.  I'd like to broaden my knowledge on this situation to enhance my understanding and to share any findings with the group.

Thank you in advance for any input.

William Miller

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