Friends:
I keep discovering systems with this error message. I have not drawn any conclusion as to the ramifications of this problem. Will this cause a system shut down? I did identify this problem with a dual Radian system recently. The problem disappeared with a Mate3 firmware update. Two days later the system shut down. The client rebooted the system to restore power. While examining the firmware screen on the Mate3 for a two Radian system, one Radian showed correct firmware version and one indicated 000.000.000. So this is the way to discover which device is not communicating correctly. In speaking with Adam at Outback Tech support, I was told the repair is addressed in this order: 1. Replace cables 2. Replace Hub 3. Replace control board(s) These repair steps seem rather vague which leads me to speculate that Outback does know exactly what is going on. In an ideal world the Outback representative to this forum would respond and tell us Outback recognizes this problem and has identified a specific repair strategy. Here is another question: I know the green Outback data cables have a non-standard wiring scheme as compared to standard Ethernet cables. You can check this visually or with an Ethernet cable tester. If the Outback cables are failing, I would like to replace them with high quality, factory made cables. I hesitate to do this since the third party cables are wired differently. Does anyone have any experience with using standard Cat5 cables in an Outback Hub system? Thanks to all who responded. If we can verify the scale of this problem maybe Outback will address it. William Miller Miller Solar 17395 Oak Road, Atascadero, CA 93422 805-438-5600 www.millersolar.com CA Lic. 773985 Quote of the month: “As they age, batteries transition from energy storage devices to energy consuming devices.“ W. Miller *From:* RE-wrenches [mailto:[email protected]] *On Behalf Of *Bruce Geddes *Sent:* Wednesday, June 5, 2019 2:19 PM *To:* 'RE-wrenches' *Subject:* Re: [RE-wrenches] Outback inverter firmware mismatch In my case it was definitely NOT a case of the wrong ports being used. *From:* RE-wrenches [mailto:[email protected]] *On Behalf Of *Kienan Maxfield *Sent:* Thursday, 6 June 2019 5:25 a.m. *To:* RE-wrenches *Subject:* Re: [RE-wrenches] Outback inverter firmware mismatch I have seen this problem and other similar problems many times. I saw one just last month that someone else was having trouble with. And with every single case that I’ve seen, the installer had accidentally neglected to ensure that the inverters are plugged into the correct ports. One of the Outback instruction manuals does say that the master inverter must be plugged into port one of the hub. In my own experience, if it’s not plugged into port one, all kinds of weird and strange problems arise. I would be only slightly surprised if Outback tech-support did not have you check that. I think that some of their techs don’t know the little details like that. On the Radian last month, I went over and switched the cables so that the Radian was plugged into port one, and it worked great after that. Just to keep things organized, I always ensure to put the master inverter in Port 1, the second inverter (first slave) in Port 2, etc., then put all the charge controllers after that. I don’t understand it, I just know that this is a good way to prevent strange and frustrating errors. Sometimes the ever occurs immediately, sometimes the error waits and happens after running a while. I have found this same issue with all Outback products, FX, Radian, FXR, etc. Thanks, Kienan 801-631-5584 On Jun 5, 2019, at 10:47 AM, William Miller <[email protected]> wrote: Bill: I am not sure how your point applies. This occurs on systems that have been running for some time. I would hope equipment in this price range and this application does not need frequent rebooting. William On Jun 4, 2019, at 9:32 PM, frenergy <[email protected]> wrote: Besides all the good info from Mac, there may be something to gain from following OB's sequence procedure for a proper complete system (all devices) shutdown and reboot. Bill Feather River Solar Electric Bill Battagin, Owner 4291 Nelson St. Taylorsville, CA 95983 530.284.7849 CA Lic 874049 www.frenergy.net On 6/4/2019 4:04 PM, Bruce Geddes wrote: Don’t know about Radian but I had this issue with a dual stack VFXR system. After five visits to site (3 hours drive one way) Tech support eventually told me there had been a bad batch of comms boards on FXR’s but I had already swapped inverters out for VFX’s at last visit and issue ceased. Definitely some sort of comms glitch causing the Mate3 to loose info on devices. Best of luck from down under. Bruce Geddes PowerOn *From:* RE-wrenches [mailto:[email protected] <[email protected]>] *On Behalf Of *Mac Lewis *Sent:* Tuesday, 4 June 2019 3:00 p.m. *To:* RE-wrenches *Subject:* Re: [RE-wrenches] Outback inverter firmware mismatch William, We have experienced this same issue on various Outback systems, mainly on multi-stack fxr systems. I can't say I know or understand why this happens. To me, it makes sense that it's a communication error of some kind. What I've done with success: 1. Update all firmware, Mate, devices etc. 2. If a certain device (s) seems to have an issue, replace cables. 3. Apply terminal grease to all devices connections and Hub connections. So far, this approach has worked, but will eat a lot of man hours. Good luck, and please let us know if you find anything deeper out about this. On Mon, Jun 3, 2019, 8:49 PM William Miller <[email protected]> wrote: Friends: As part of my ongoing love/hate relationship with Outback, I have been occasionally receiving “Inverter firmware mismatch” warnings on some Radian systems. The firmware has not been changed. I was told it was bad data cables. I replaced all cables on one system only to receive more of the same warnings. Then, suddenly the error warnings quit. Now today another system is experiencing the same warnings. Does anyone know what this means and how to fix it? Thanks in advance. 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