Ok, it's ready for you to try.

Ok, thanks. I think ignoring err:6 and err:10 should work fine since the LCD display control mode doesn't stop generating when receives these errors. Since the manufacturer of these inverters didn't release any documentation on the data between the Display and Control boards, I can only change the SunBeam's firmware to behave the same way as how the Display board reacts as people are experiencing them just like what you did so I really appreciate your help. However, this doesn't solve the issue of why you are getting these errors. It might be indicative of something is going bad or there's something probably on the AC side it doesn't like (the occasional 0 on the AC voltage). Anyways, I'll make the change to the firmware as verion 1.54 in about 5 minutes. I'll let you know and you can download it immediately using the debug method I mentioned earlier.

Hi Johan, Can you do a search in your MQTT data for all the error codes that is not 14? I think it's safe not to stop generating if LCD screen control mode doesn't stop either when those type of errors occur. I can make an update based on all the error codes you get. Thanks.

Ok, it's ready for you to download. The new version is 1.53 You can wait and it will automatically update within a 5 hours. If you don't want to wait, you can manually check for updates and it will download immediate if there is one. To do this, you need to go to a hidden page. Open a browser and add /dbg to the end of the address you use use for sunbeam. For example, 10.0.1.33/dbg or sunbeam0.local/dbg. You will see a debug page and the manual check is near the end of the page.

Hi Johan, Interesting....so did the inverter stop generating shortly after you took the picture? The AC voltage value is a pass through value to the LCD screen. In fact all data from the control board to the LCD screen are pass through. There is direct connection between the TX line of the Control Board to the Rx line of the LCD Board. Also the Tx line is also connected to SunBeam's Rx line. This means the 0.0 V should show up in LCD Screen Control mode as well because SunBeam doesn't directly touch the data. The AC voltage is read by the motherboard and is an input to the Control Board without SunBeam in the loop. It's read from the transformer U2 on the mother board along with R4 which is a 330 ohm resistor. There are two lines that feed into the control board on pins 7 and 8 on the Dctrl2 connector (one of the long and tall connectors raising the control board above the motherboard). I mention this so that you can check the components and path and connection to make sure there nothing loose. If this does trigger err:6, then I think it's okay to ignore because it's only for information purpose because the inverter doesn't use this reading when doing the inverting. It actually uses a different method from sampling resistors R6-R9. I can make this change quickly and you can test it out. I'll let you know in 10 minutes when it's ready for you to download and tell you how to do this. Bobby

At least we know it's not a software bug. If we can't figure out what err:6 means, I can temporarily disable in SunBeam. meaning SunBeam can ignore this error. SunBeam only reads the error from your unit but I think it's ok for SunBeam to ignore because since your inverter doesn't have a native off command, it will stop generating on it's own if the error warrants a shut down. If we ignore err:6, it may still turn off if the inverter requires it to shut down on it's own without sunbeam. Please let me know what you think. Thanks.

That's fine. It means you have an older version which SunBeam handles the Ion differently because there is not a native command to turn off inverter like the units with the work timer so SunBeam improvises the off command by raising the cutoff voltage to max. This just allows us to trace the portion of the code relating to you version. While we were doing this we did notice that an error was tripped when the unit stop generating. You can see it in the status you sent me when the ion:0 as err:6. Normally, for no errors the err:14. I'm not sure what err:6 means as we are still decoding all the errors since all the errors are not published so we haven't been able to simulate all the errors. I'm assuming err:6 will display on the LCD screen but it may not.

Looks like an alarm clock.

Thanks for the MQTT status packets. I looks like none of the conditions were met so there's probably a SW bug so no need to lower the cut off voltage since 52 is way over 48. One question before we send you a debug version to test, does your Sun1000 have the Work Timer icon in the LCD Screen?

Ok, Here are the conditions the generation can turn off while in remote control mode. 1. A remote control timer is enabled and when the current time becomes outside the timer's stop time. 2. Switching to LCD Screen Control Mode. 3. If there is a configuration error with the inverter. The LCD screen will show a configuration menu (all text) instead of the usual graphics display. 4. If any of the errors like starting voltage too low, over temperature or grid error, etc (there are 6 of them) occurs which should also be displayed on the LCD screen. 5. if the DC voltage is below the set cut off voltage in remote control mode. This is different than the one set via the LCD Screen. 6. Obviously, when it gets change from the browser UI. Note. Each time the generating state is changed (indicated by the MQTT ion), the state is saved into SunBeam's flash memory. This means even if the software for SunBeam reboots for whatever reason, it will not change the state to a default value upon startup.

Hi Johan, I can try to help you. The debug process is basically our interaction. I'll work with until we get it resolved. If there is a bug, then we can update an updated version. If it is a hardware fault, then we will need to send you a new Sunbeam. First, I have read you inputs. I'm looking through the code to let you know under what conditions can change the state of the generation internally. It doesn't sound like hardware because all the changes for everything done is via a single serial port. Since it doesn't seem like other commands are messing up, it's probably not the serial port or noise on the serial port line so I'll be focused on it being a software bug. Hang on while I compile my list of changing the state of generation. Please give me about 5 minutes while I look it up. Bobby

Yes, that would be fine.

Hi Johan, Definately not, but it might extend its life. Here's why. The inverter is a high frequency inverter meaning it relies on transistors that switch on and off at high frequency (thousands of times per sec) in order to generate the AC power. It is during the switching of on and off that can generate the most amount of heat which is what makes them fail if there is too much heat generated. By having it 'restart' when a change is made, gives the transistors a chance to cool down. The 'restart' behavior is something that is built into the inverter's firmware (not by SunBeam) whenever it receives a new command which is exactly what happens when you change a setting on the LCD screen. Since this behavior is a designed in behavior, we are sure it's okay for the inverter. You are correct that to getting the smoothest transition (and most accurate tracking), the CT is better because it is connected directly to the control board which communicates to the inverter's motherboard at a much faster rate and doesen't have the 'reset' feature as it is not treated as a command from the LCD Screen. SunBeam taps into the communication between the LCD Screen and Control Board and not the Control Board to the inverter's motherboard. The communication between the LCD Screen and Control Board is only updated once every 1.1 seconds (0.91 Hz) which is probably much slower than what is needed between the control board and inverter's motherboard. My guess is it needs to be as fast or faster than 60 Hz (16.7 milliseconds or 0.0167 sec).

That is strange. It worked for me. Make sure all occurances of battery are change to voltage and I think I selected restart first and then select the 'manually configured MQTT entities'. You can check to see if each entity was changed by going to Settings, Devices & Services, select the entities tab and look for the entity.. The icon should be a sine wave to indicate voltage class instead of the battery icon. If it is still the battery icon, then something didn't update.

Looks like the new version changed the allowed unit of measure for the device class battery to be percentage only so you'll to manually edit the configuration.yaml file to change the device class battery to voltage. The easiest way to do this is (use the search tool) search for the word 'battery' and replace it with 'voltage'. There is also a change in the device class temperature. Do a search for the word 'temperature' and look in that section for the unit of measure,. you will need to change C to °C or F to °F. After you made the changes to all the occurances, then save. Then go to Developer Tools and select restart. Once restarted, select the 'manually configured MQTT entities' in the YAML configuration reloading section.

Hi Andy, We can send you another one at no charge in case the problem is with the bundle. If the new one doesn't fix it, then most likely the fault is elsewhere. Please confirm if the shipping address is the same as when you purchased the original one in Feb 2023. If different, please email me at bobby@2muchsun.com. Thanks!

v1.46 is now ready to download

Actually, it’s not 89.5 but rather 85. I subtract 50 from 900. I better change it to not subtract any amount to give you the full range. This will be the only change so it should be safe. It will be v1.46 and be in the server in 5 min. I’ll let you know if you want to force update.

Hi Lael, I was looking through the code and nothing was changed wrt the pseudo ion. Recall, that the implementation of the pseudo ion = 0 is by changing the cutoff voltage to the max dc input voltage so that the inverter will detect the cutoff voltage has been reached and turn off. However, for some reason, I have the cutoff voltage changed to 0.5 V lower than the max dc input. For example, on a 45-90V inverter the max dc input is supposed to be 90V, but it's actually set it to 89.5V. Is it possible your DC input is greater than 89.5V and that is why ion = 0 isn't working? If so, I can change it 90V.

Hi Lael, Just pushed out v1.45 which includes LWT. The topic is 2ms/SB/x/st where x is the device number. The payload is ’connect:offline’. The keep alive time is 60s. Retain flag is set and QOS of 1.