RedRok solar tracker questions

adamlinn13
adamlinn13 Registered Users Posts: 4
Hi, first post!

I was asked by someone to make the RedRok solar tracker listed on Duane's Web page. I contacted Duane with some technical questions and he answered them right away. I then tried to contact him to place an order, tried contacted him many times to place an order but never received any answers. No answers to repeated calls either. So, I started getting the parts myself. I got all the parts and was going to start designing the circuit board from the pictures I've found online as well as the board designs and schematic from RedRok's Web page.

That's where I ran into problems. Looking for the circuit board pictures I've found online I was able to get a front (with only a few parts on it) and back view of it. But I'm having problems identifying where the VIN goes. Mainly because of the Polyfuse thing. When I look at the schematic and the circuit board (front and back) it appears that the Polyfuse has a sort of short around it.

Attachment not found.
Looking at the picture above, the surface of the board is on the bottom and the back of the board is on top.

Attachment not found.
Here is the schematic from RedRok's page.

ANY help is greatly appreciated as I am out of hair to rip out. Especially if it's a photo of the surface of the board without any parts on it.

Thank you,
Adam

Comments

  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,431 admin
    Re: RedRok solar tracker questions

    I really don't have much to help you with--There are some threads here that you can find with Google and search "redrok site:wind-sun.com" (google click search here).

    One thread seems to be pretty detailed:

    http://forum.solar-electric.com/showthread.php?13726-RedRok-Trackers-No-Delivery

    -Bill
    Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset
  • adamlinn13
    adamlinn13 Registered Users Posts: 4
    Re: RedRok solar tracker questions

    With the help of user Volvo Farmer, I was able to figure out the problem and the way to "work around" Duane. I kept wracking my brain trying to figure out why the pictures of the circuit boards I could find online and the schematic that Duane provides on his Web page did not match. Mainly having to deal with the polyfuze.

    Volvo Farmer sent me a completed RedRok solar tracker that wasn't working anymore and I removed some of the parts so I could figure out where the problem was. With the help of my Father (an engineer) we hypothesized that the reason we couldn't find the correct placement of the polyfuze on the schematic and the placement of the polyfuze on the circuit board was that the schematic that Duane provides is version 1, but the pictures of the circuit boards I could find were version 3!

    The circuit board and the friggin' schematic Duane provided aren't 100% the same because they are different versions!!!

    Keeping that in mind and using Duane's version 1 schematic as a reference, I re-created the version 3 schematic. I haven't checked all the connections, I just wanted to figure out how the polyfuze fit into the schematic.

    Here is the unverified version 3 schematic. I apologize for the crudeness when it comes to the VDD and VCC, but I made it that way for my own partial sanity.
    Attachment not found.

    Now that I know the schematic Duane provided and the circuit board aren't the same version, I will go finish verifying the parts and their placement and probably re-post the version 3 schematic.

    Thank you for your help :)
  • Volvo Farmer
    Volvo Farmer Solar Expert Posts: 209 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Re: RedRok solar tracker questions

    Thanks for the update! That circuit you posted is surely going to help someone trying to recreate one of these things in the future. Are you planning to fabricate a one-off circuit board for your project? That board looked pretty complicated to me, having traces on both sides.
  • adamlinn13
    adamlinn13 Registered Users Posts: 4
    Re: RedRok solar tracker questions

    I will be using the board you sent to model the double-sided board I will be making :)
  • adamlinn13
    adamlinn13 Registered Users Posts: 4
    Re: RedRok solar tracker questions

    I was putting the components into the board I made, and it appears that the schematic and the board layout Duane made definitely aren't 100% the same. I was putting in D9 and D10 and I realized that either the schematic is wrong or the component direction is wrong. Schematic has D9's cathode going to one connection of the potentiometer and D10's cathode going to the backend of D9 with the backend of D10 going to another connection on the potentiometer. Board layout has D9's cathode going to the backend of D10 and D9's backend going to the potentiometer and D10's cathode going to one connection on the potentiometer.

    Hope that's not confusing.

    I am assuming the schematic is wrong, otherwise the board wouldn't function correctly.
  • daxkamala
    daxkamala Registered Users Posts: 1
    Re: RedRok solar tracker questions

    I've given up trying to order from Duane also.
    Having done a few Arduino projects I will have a go at making a tracker using a very low cost Arduino clone at about $8 and an LN298 H bridge dual motor driver for about the same. The technique of using an LEDs parasitic capacitance to measure light is well documented and I've used it before as a basic light level meter. A dual axis tracker should cost under $15 and be pretty easy to assemble as the boards are already made up.
    http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/140743762410 lists an H bridge drive beefy enough for the sat jacks I use
    http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/221120483974 processor board
  • Volvo Farmer
    Volvo Farmer Solar Expert Posts: 209 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Re: RedRok solar tracker questions

    Duane can be a frustrating guy to deal with, especially if you want something right now. Personally, I have never been able to beat the time+materials cost on a homebrew tracker vs what he is offering, but I value my time at a premium. I am currently tracking 4 arrays with his products. I have had some of them fail because of my modifications or locked up motors (my fault) and I've had them fail for no apparent reason. I have a box with about a half dozen failed trackers over the last four years. However, I always got what I ordered, it just took a little more time sometimes. I have ordered over a dozen trackers from him over four different occasions and he has always come through. Ya, you got to call and remind him sometimes, but Duane has a good heart and an ingenious mind, maybe he ain't the best businessman in the world, but I don't believe he is out to cheat anyone.