[RE-wrenches] Outback Mate3 programming issues

Wed Dec 14 17:09:31 PST 2016

Hi Roy and others,

A very worrisome situation.

I’m wondering if anyone who’s had this problem has not been using OpticsRE.
IE is the problem somehow related to RE?

Thanks

jay

peltz power

> On Dec 14, 2016, at 2:19 PM, Roy Rakobitsch <windsine at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Hello William, Its very frustrating to deal with this sort of thing. I have been running a Mate3 with Optics and I have to say, Its gotten a lot better than it was in the beginning! (however, there are still a few bugs, specifically with 3.015.003.
> 
> I have been running 3.015.001 and its been mostly solid (with the exception of small one or two hour windows of data that go missing. This doesnt always happen, but every once in a while it does.  
> 
> When I ran 3.015.000 (If I recall)  That is when I had exactly what you described: Upon plugging in (to reboot) Mate3, it would remove stacking parameters and make multiple inverters Master. Ive seen it happen on my home system. Upgrading to 3.015.001 seems to have fixed that issue for me. 
> 
> If you have your doubts about what firmware you should be running, I would check out the Outback user forum, members seem pretty fast to make a stink about new bugs and issues found. 
> 
> Good luck
> 
> RoyR
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Roy Rakobitsch
> NABCEP Certified Small Wind Installer®
> Certified Advanced Tower Climbing, Safety & Rescue
> Wind/PV Design Engineer
> Windsine LLC
> 631-514-4166
> www.windsine.org <http://www.windsine.org/>
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On Tue, Dec 13, 2016 at 8:00 PM, William Miller <william at millersolar.com <mailto:william at millersolar.com>> wrote:
> 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
> 
>  
>  
> <image003.jpg>
> Lic 773985
> millersolar.com <http://www.millersolar.com/>
> 805-438-5600 <tel:(805)%20438-5600>
>  
> 
> _______________________________________________
> List sponsored by Redwood Alliance
> 
> List Address: RE-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org <mailto:RE-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org>
> 
> Change listserver email address & settings:
> http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org <http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org>
> 
> List-Archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/maillist.html <http://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/maillist.html>
> 
> List rules & etiquette:
> www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm <http://www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm>
> 
> Check out or update participant bios:
> www.members.re-wrenches.org <http://www.members.re-wrenches.org/>
> 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> List sponsored by Redwood Alliance
> 
> List Address: RE-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org
> 
> Change listserver email address & settings:
> http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org
> 
> List-Archive: http://www.mail-archive.com/re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org/maillist.html
> 
> List rules & etiquette:
> www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm
> 
> Check out or update participant bios:
> www.members.re-wrenches.org
> 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org/attachments/20161214/63ddf73d/attachment-0002.html>