MPPT 60 Live View and data log

Jose263
Jose263 Registered Users Posts: 6 ✭✭
My system MPPT 60, Aims 60 amp inverter/charger, 6 agm 12v wired as 24v, 8  Kyocera solar panels
Installed by local company in Sept and they finally got the Aims internal transfer working correctly 4 days ago. 'I think'
I do not have meters on the system - only the controller blinking leds - So, I connected to the Tri-Star MPPT via ethernet and can monitor live view/data log on my PC.  Looking for help understanding the data log display items- events, alarms, hour meter, etc. 
example:  what does hour meter display "92d4h" mean?  Alarms 'RTS open' and 'control was reset' mean - anything to worry about? Is there a data sheet somewhere that explains the live view and data log items?
Thanks

Comments

  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,431 admin
    92 Days + 4 Hours ?

    RTS Open should be Remote Temperature Sensor is not connected/used (if you do not have an RTS, then there should be no problem).

    Hopefully somebody else can help you with the alarm/monitor questions.

    -Bill
    Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset
  • kamchuka
    kamchuka Registered Users Posts: 65 ✭✭
    http://www.morningstarcorp.com/products/tristar-mppt/
    Chapter 5 in the manual should have most of your answers.
    900 watts pv (building on) on poles, off grid 60a mppt, magnum 2k 12v msw, 1400 ah forklift battery (rewired to 12v), 8k diesel gen for house. honda eu6500, 2x 8D, coleman 800w inv for shop, honda 5k for well (pumps to 1000g cistern), ryobi 2k suitcase for mobile ops. 
  • Jose263
    Jose263 Registered Users Posts: 6 ✭✭
    BB. said:
    92 Days + 4 Hours ?

    RTS Open should be Remote Temperature Sensor is not connected/used (if you do not have an RTS, then there should be no problem).

    Hopefully somebody else can help you with the alarm/monitor questions.

    -Bill
    BB Thanks - that makes sense - I'll go with that

    kamchuka said:
    http://www.morningstarcorp.com/products/tristar-mppt/
    Chapter 5 in the manual should have most of your answers.
    Thanks for the suggestion but Chapter 5 doesn't cover Live View or the data log.kamchuka said:
    http://www.morningstarcorp.com/products/tristar-mppt/
    Chapter 5 in the manual should have most of your answers.
    kamchuka said:
    http://www.morningstarcorp.com/products/tristar-mppt/
    Chapter 5 in the manual should have most of your answers.

  • mike95490
    mike95490 Solar Expert Posts: 9,583 ✭✭✭✭✭
    The live view  - most of all that is pretty self explanatory
    The Data Log, everyting is spelled out,  in windows, if you let the mouse pointer linger over the red  Events digit, you get a pop-up explaining the event.  
    What they don't do well, is if there is an over current event (cloud edge lens effect) they have a generic Current Warning
    Powerfab top of pole PV mount | Listeroid 6/1 w/st5 gen head | XW6048 inverter/chgr | Iota 48V/15A charger | Morningstar 60A MPPT | 48V, 800A NiFe Battery (in series)| 15, Evergreen 205w "12V" PV array on pole | Midnight ePanel | Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV ||
    || Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
    || VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A

    solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
    gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister ,

  • Jose263
    Jose263 Registered Users Posts: 6 ✭✭
    mike95490 said:
    The live view  - most of all that is pretty self explanatory
    The Data Log, everyting is spelled out,  in windows, if you let the mouse pointer linger over the red  Events digit, you get a pop-up explaining the event.  
    What they don't do well, is if there is an over current event (cloud edge lens effect) they have a generic Current Warning

    BB. said:
    92 Days + 4 Hours ?

    RTS Open should be Remote Temperature Sensor is not connected/used (if you do not have an RTS, then there should be no problem).

    Hopefully somebody else can help you with the alarm/monitor questions.

    -Bill
    BB Thanks - that makes sense
    kamchuka said:
    http://www.morningstarcorp.com/products/tristar-mppt/
    Chapter 5 in the manual should have most of your answers.
    Thanks for the suggestion but Chapter 5 doesn't cover Live View or the data log.kamchuka said:
    http://www.morningstarcorp.com/products/tristar-mppt/
    Chapter 5 in the manual should have most of your answers.
    kamchuka said:
    http://www.morningstarcorp.com/products/tristar-mppt/
    Chapter 5 in the manual should have most of your answers.

  • Raj174
    Raj174 Solar Expert Posts: 795 ✭✭✭✭
    edited January 2017 #7
    4480W PV, MNE175DR-TR, MN Classic 150, Outback Radian GS4048A, Mate3, 51.2V 360AH nominal LiFePO4, Kohler Pro 5.2E genset.
  • _OS_
    _OS_ Solar Expert Posts: 207 ✭✭✭

    I am also experiencing the "Control was reset" alarm from time to time. Lately it has happened three times in two weeks. I contacted Morningstar about this last year but they where unable to find any issues.



  • mcgivor
    mcgivor Solar Expert Posts: 3,854 ✭✭✭✭✭✭
    Looks  like the controller was shut down or battery disconnected, also the battery max temperature, reset seems to to occur when 25°C appears, do you have some max temperature shut down programed?  Seems like a large swing in temperatures, perhaps a loose RTS wire, or faulty sensor,  some thoughts........
    1500W, 6× Schutten 250W Poly panels , Schneider MPPT 60 150 CC, Schneider SW 2524 inverter, 400Ah LFP 24V nominal battery with Battery Bodyguard BMS 
    Second system 1890W  3 × 300W No name brand poly, 3×330 Sunsolar Poly panels, Morningstar TS 60 PWM controller, no name 2000W inverter 400Ah LFP 24V nominal battery with Daly BMS, used for water pumping and day time air conditioning.  
    5Kw Yanmar clone single cylinder air cooled diesel generator for rare emergency charging and welding.
  • _OS_
    _OS_ Solar Expert Posts: 207 ✭✭✭
    mcgivor said:
    Looks  like the controller was shut down or battery disconnected, also the battery max temperature, reset seems to to occur when 25°C appears, do you have some max temperature shut down programed?  Seems like a large swing in temperatures, perhaps a loose RTS wire, or faulty sensor,  some thoughts........
    Thanks.
    It is winter here now and the batteries are in my tool shed at my cabin and they are cold. I have not been there in a while so it is not because of a battery disconnect. I will double check the RTS connections again the next time I am at my cabin. 
  • mike95490
    mike95490 Solar Expert Posts: 9,583 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I too have had resets on my ts-mppt-60  and always get 25c battery temps with 6c actual.  Have not figured out what's doing it about every 14 days    Sometimes cloudy, sometimes sunny, sometimes when running genset  no pattern yet, and I am running the latest 2017 FIRMWARE.
    Powerfab top of pole PV mount | Listeroid 6/1 w/st5 gen head | XW6048 inverter/chgr | Iota 48V/15A charger | Morningstar 60A MPPT | 48V, 800A NiFe Battery (in series)| 15, Evergreen 205w "12V" PV array on pole | Midnight ePanel | Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV ||
    || Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
    || VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A

    solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
    gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister ,

  • _OS_
    _OS_ Solar Expert Posts: 207 ✭✭✭
    edited March 2017 #12
    I have contacted Morningstar Tech support again today about the "control was reset" problem. I also gave them a link to this discussion. There are two more people on a Norwegian discussion forum that experience the same issue.

    EDIT: I got a reply from Morningstar Tech support now:
    I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.  We are aware of this issue and engineering is currently looking into a solution.  This solution will likely be a firmware update.  I do not currently have a timetable for when the new firmware will be available.


  • _OS_
    _OS_ Solar Expert Posts: 207 ✭✭✭
    I got an update from Morningstar a couple of days ago:

    Our engineers are still making adjustments and testing new code for this issue.  Basically it is a timing issue in the instruction sets the microprocessor is handling.  The problem shows up more frequently if you are using Email or Trap notifications, or also are connected to ethernet.  Until the code can be adjusted, perhaps you can scale back on the communications your controller is performing and this will help reduce the occurrences.  I will keep your contact information and will reach out to you when new code is available for this issue.

  • mike95490
    mike95490 Solar Expert Posts: 9,583 ✭✭✭✭✭
    They goofed up something in the last firmware, I've been running the same controller for a couple years, and when the FW was updated, now I get the errors.  Guess they can figure it out.... i hope
    Powerfab top of pole PV mount | Listeroid 6/1 w/st5 gen head | XW6048 inverter/chgr | Iota 48V/15A charger | Morningstar 60A MPPT | 48V, 800A NiFe Battery (in series)| 15, Evergreen 205w "12V" PV array on pole | Midnight ePanel | Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV ||
    || Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
    || VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A

    solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
    gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister ,

  • Estragon
    Estragon Registered Users Posts: 4,496 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I've written a bit of software, and have to say this sort of thing happens.

    It can be really frustrating for both customers and the coders. Something happens, possibly hardware related, but only relatively rarely. You can't test every possible circumstance before putting a beta into production, you can only test for problems you can anticipate. Sometimes hardware is supposed to do something, but sometimes doesn't. Sometimes functions don't fail properly.

    I suspect with helpful real-world feedback they'll get a handle on the issue.
    Off-grid.  
    Main daytime system ~4kw panels into 2xMNClassic150 370ah 48v bank 2xOutback 3548 inverter 120v + 240v autotransformer
    Night system ~1kw panels into 1xMNClassic150 700ah 12v bank morningstar 300w inverter
  • _OS_
    _OS_ Solar Expert Posts: 207 ✭✭✭
    I got an update from Morningstar last week:

    Just a s a quick update.  Engineering has written code for this issue.  We are testing internally at this time.  As a reminder, not all controllers exhibit this symptom, it seems to be limited to controllers with heavy communications input/output.

  • mryimmers
    mryimmers Solar Expert Posts: 117 ✭✭✭
    I've just been running my new TS MPPT 60 only for a few days and the log shows a max battery temp of 25C from couple days ago, impossibly high at this point. Don't remember if it said it was reset.
    510 watt pv, TS-MPPT 60, Exeltech XP1100, XP600 & XP250 @ 24V, 4x Trojan 105RE, Trimetric 2030, Yamaha EF2400i gen.
  • mike95490
    mike95490 Solar Expert Posts: 9,583 ✭✭✭✭✭
    the 25c temp happens when there is a reset on the TS-MPPT 60.
    Powerfab top of pole PV mount | Listeroid 6/1 w/st5 gen head | XW6048 inverter/chgr | Iota 48V/15A charger | Morningstar 60A MPPT | 48V, 800A NiFe Battery (in series)| 15, Evergreen 205w "12V" PV array on pole | Midnight ePanel | Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV ||
    || Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
    || VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A

    solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
    gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister ,

  • mryimmers
    mryimmers Solar Expert Posts: 117 ✭✭✭
    OK, that was probably from the day I re-programmed it.
    Also, Mike, in the logging on the remote display there is a screen with "Battery W max" I've not seen mention of it in the instructions or on the meter map, I have numbers like: today 245, Day -01 2815, Day-02 3202,  what does that mean?
    510 watt pv, TS-MPPT 60, Exeltech XP1100, XP600 & XP250 @ 24V, 4x Trojan 105RE, Trimetric 2030, Yamaha EF2400i gen.
  • mcgivor
    mcgivor Solar Expert Posts: 3,854 ✭✭✭✭✭✭
    Day 245, number of days in service
    -01 2815 , previous days total Wh for that day
    -02 3202, 2 days  previous total Wh for that day

    Would this be a reasonable total?
    1500W, 6× Schutten 250W Poly panels , Schneider MPPT 60 150 CC, Schneider SW 2524 inverter, 400Ah LFP 24V nominal battery with Battery Bodyguard BMS 
    Second system 1890W  3 × 300W No name brand poly, 3×330 Sunsolar Poly panels, Morningstar TS 60 PWM controller, no name 2000W inverter 400Ah LFP 24V nominal battery with Daly BMS, used for water pumping and day time air conditioning.  
    5Kw Yanmar clone single cylinder air cooled diesel generator for rare emergency charging and welding.
  • mryimmers
    mryimmers Solar Expert Posts: 117 ✭✭✭
    I don't think so, as that would be 2.815 kwh, 3.202 kwh, that is already recorded elsewhere, and my system does not make near that amount of power
    510 watt pv, TS-MPPT 60, Exeltech XP1100, XP600 & XP250 @ 24V, 4x Trojan 105RE, Trimetric 2030, Yamaha EF2400i gen.
  • Estragon
    Estragon Registered Users Posts: 4,496 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Maybe cumulative WH? So day2wh -day1wh = day2 production?
    Off-grid.  
    Main daytime system ~4kw panels into 2xMNClassic150 370ah 48v bank 2xOutback 3548 inverter 120v + 240v autotransformer
    Night system ~1kw panels into 1xMNClassic150 700ah 12v bank morningstar 300w inverter
  • mryimmers
    mryimmers Solar Expert Posts: 117 ✭✭✭
      I emailed Morningstar Tech Support  today asking about the "Battery W max" in the data logging and a tech support guy called me 2 or 3 hours later. He said he looked into it and talked to someone in the engineering department about it and nobody knows what it is, he said his best, honest answer would be that it may be some "unfinished" programming that should not have been released.
      He said that they were going to look further into it but to just disregard that information at this point. I appreciate an honest answer. That is 3 times that I have contacted Morningstar Tech Support with different questions and have every time gotten a reply in a very timely fashion, I am quite happy with that.
      
    510 watt pv, TS-MPPT 60, Exeltech XP1100, XP600 & XP250 @ 24V, 4x Trojan 105RE, Trimetric 2030, Yamaha EF2400i gen.
  • mryimmers
    mryimmers Solar Expert Posts: 117 ✭✭✭
    edited May 2017 #24
      what does hour meter display "92d4h" mean? 
    Looks to me like it is 92 days X 24 hours in a day + 4 hours =  2212 hours.  If you have the TS-M-2 or TS-RM-2 meter, this number, or close to it, should be in there, under diagnostics.  It's the total hours the CC has been running.  
    510 watt pv, TS-MPPT 60, Exeltech XP1100, XP600 & XP250 @ 24V, 4x Trojan 105RE, Trimetric 2030, Yamaha EF2400i gen.
  • Jose263
    Jose263 Registered Users Posts: 6 ✭✭
    mryimmers said:
      what does hour meter display "92d4h" mean? 
    Looks to me like it is 92 days X 24 hours in a day + 4 hours =  2212 hours.  If you have the TS-M-2 or TS-RM-2 meter, this number, or close to it, should be in there, under diagnostics.  It's the total hours the CC has been running.  

    mike95490 said:
    The live view  - most of all that is pretty self explanatory
    The Data Log, everyting is spelled out,  in windows, if you let the mouse pointer linger over the red  Events digit, you get a pop-up explaining the event.  
    What they don't do well, is if there is an over current event (cloud edge lens effect) they have a generic Current Warning
    Mike05....  I now see how the data log displays the event description in pop ups.  Also,I Googled cloud edge effect.  
    The aims 60 amp inverter has been auto switching between battery and grid for a full week as of today - the data log has recorded two overcurrent faults during that time and the system didn't shut down. However the data log has recorded zero Charging Duration minutes in all rows (equalize, float  absorption) during this last week. But in live view.it shows the MPPT charging during sunlight. 
    The MPPT manual says over current faults are very rare. Is this overcurrent fault and charging minutes readfing something that I should worry about or investigate further?  
    Thanks to everyone 
  • mryimmers
    mryimmers Solar Expert Posts: 117 ✭✭✭
    When you set up your charge controller with MSview, in the Tristar MPPT Set up wizard, you have to check off those items you want to log (time in absorb, float and EQ) to record them and then it will record the time in each mode in minutes. By default it only records min and max battery voltage and daily "events", eq entered, float entered, faults and alarms. 

    If you like, check out a guy on youtube that goes by the name of   Commsprepper    he has several videos on setting the TS-MPPT 60 up, I found them very helpful. 
    510 watt pv, TS-MPPT 60, Exeltech XP1100, XP600 & XP250 @ 24V, 4x Trojan 105RE, Trimetric 2030, Yamaha EF2400i gen.