Re: [RE-wrenches] SMA phantom arc faults

[Dave Tedeyan]

I am fairly certain you cannot reset through the portal, unfortunately. I
have done the "rapid whack method" many times. Feels kind of strange, but
works well. The message must be displayed for that to work though. So if
you already reset the inverter, you have to wait for the error to show up
again.
Cheers,
Dave

On Sun, Sep 15, 2019, 20:33 frenergy  wrote:

> I've only had the "tapping" method work on SB-22 inverters, not on -40
> inverters.  You gotta log on to the machine which I think you can only do
> onsite.  Has anyone ever done a reset of the 8206 from the portal?
>
> Bill
>
> Feather River Solar Electric
> Bill Battagin, Owner
> 4291 Nelson St.
> Taylorsville, CA 95983
> 530.284.7849
> CA Lic 874049www.frenergy.net
>
> On 9/15/2019 12:36 PM, Jeff Clearwater wrote:
>
> Hey Folks,
>
> How do you clear an 8206 from a SB7.7-US?  the manual says tap on the
> cover within 10 seconds of error message.  That's not working.
>
> Does that tap then set it up for the next restart or is it supposed to
> clear it right away - I've tried restarting again to no avail.
>
> When I tap right after the message appears it simply toggles to the next
> screen.
>
> Jeff Clearwater
> Village Power Design
>
> Mac Lewis wrote on 9/6/19 7:14 AM:
>
> Hello Wrenches,
>
> You may be aware of this but the -92R firmware supposedly has addressed
> the arc fault issue for the US-40 inverters.  See here for the download:
> https://www.sma-america.com/service-support/downloads.html  It fixed an
> arc fault issue for me yesterday at least.  Bring a thumb drive, the update
> process took about an hour to perform.
>
> On Tue, Sep 3, 2019 at 10:40 AM Dave Angelini Offgrid Solar <
> offgridso...@sti.net> wrote:
>
>> Same up here in the southern sierra. I get calls from ABB and a few from
>> SMA to look at systems that people far away installed and as a local 3rd
>> party it can save some money. Whatever they quote me I triple the price.
>> 1/3 up front and the rest when it is done. ABB is really slow with payment.
>> I think they sold their inverter business?  Sunpower is a great panel but
>> they have had some bad runs. Probably why there are so many new/used panels
>> on the secondary market. They are great for Offgrid ground arrays and no
>> AFD.
>>
>> On Tue, 3 Sep 2019 09:52:19 -0400, Dave Tedeyan 
>> wrote:
>>
>> Chris,
>> Sunpower has taken some responsibility on some of our older Sunpower
>> systems that are arc faulting. We tell them that a system is arc faulting,
>> and then they insist on sending up a 3rd party contractor to inspect the
>> system and potentially install what they call "Tigo Diodes". I am still not
>> exactly sure what that is. It also seems to take them months to send anyone
>> to upstate NY, as we have a bunch of customers that have been waiting
>> months for the 3rd party contractor to come take a look. You likely could
>> only follow this route though if the system was installed by a Sunpower
>> dealer and you are a Sunpower dealer yourself. If the original system was
>> from a Sunpower dealer, you can also have the customer call Sunpower
>> directly.
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Dave
>>
>> *Dave Tedeyan, PE*
>> Senior Engineer | Taitem Engineering, PC
>>
>> 110 South Albany Street | Ithaca, NY 14850
>> o. 607.277.1118 x121  f. 607.277.2119
>> www.taitem.com
>>
>>
>> Feather River Solar Electric
> Bill Battagin, Owner
> 4291 Nelson St.
> Taylorsville, CA 95983
> 530.284.7849
> CA Lic 874049www.frenergy.net
>
>
>
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Re: [RE-wrenches] SMA phantom arc faults

[Jeff Clearwater]

I did finally get it to clear using taps but it was a lot of tapping. 3 
taps after the second restart with blue light blinking did it - or maybe 
that was a coincidence - and it just decided to clear then.


Bill - I did try clearing it through the Data Manager M (EnnexOS) but 
there didn't appear to be any place to clear it - nor update the 
firmware either that I could find.


I was in the process of logging into the machine itself onsite when I 
tried the taps - good thing cause I misplaced the installer log-in! Next 
step was PUK - yuk!


And the "source" of the arc-fault was not wiring or connectors - it was 
I had turned on and off the DC disconnect as I was making sure Neurio 
worked - a guick on and off again inadvertently (changed my mind 
midstream as to which I wanted)  That was enough to trip the arc-fault!
SMA if you are listening - can't you make this a bit easier? Having to 
reset passwords by contacting SMA - that's a major on top of all the 
arc-fault pain we are feeling!


Thanks all,

Jeff


frenergy wrote on 9/15/19 8:38 PM:

I've only had the "tapping" method work on SB-22 inverters, not on -40 
inverters.  You gotta log on to the machine which I think you can only 
do onsite.  Has anyone ever done a reset of the 8206 from the portal?


Bill

Feather River Solar Electric
Bill Battagin, Owner
4291 Nelson St.
Taylorsville, CA 95983
530.284.7849
CA Lic 874049
www.frenergy.net
On 9/15/2019 12:36 PM, Jeff Clearwater wrote:

Hey Folks,

How do you clear an 8206 from a SB7.7-US?  the manual says tap on the 
cover within 10 seconds of error message.  That's not working.


Does that tap then set it up for the next restart or is it supposed 
to clear it right away - I've tried restarting again to no avail.


When I tap right after the message appears it simply toggles to the 
next screen.


Jeff Clearwater
Village Power Design

Mac Lewis wrote on 9/6/19 7:14 AM:


Hello Wrenches,

You may be aware of this but the -92R firmware supposedly has 
addressed the arc fault issue for the US-40 inverters. See here for 
the download: 
https://www.sma-america.com/service-support/downloads.html  It fixed 
an arc fault issue for me yesterday at least.  Bring a thumb drive, 
the update process took about an hour to perform.


On Tue, Sep 3, 2019 at 10:40 AM Dave Angelini Offgrid Solar 
mailto:offgridso...@sti.net>> wrote:


Same up here in the southern sierra. I get calls from ABB and a
few from SMA to look at systems that people far away installed
and as a local 3rd party it can save some money. Whatever they
quote me I triple the price. 1/3 up front and the rest when it
is done. ABB is really slow with payment. I think they sold
their inverter business? Sunpower is a great panel but they have
had some bad runs. Probably why there are so many new/used
panels on the secondary market. They are great for Offgrid
ground arrays and no AFD.

On Tue, 3 Sep 2019 09:52:19 -0400, Dave Tedeyan
mailto:dtede...@taitem.com>> wrote:


Chris,
Sunpower has taken some responsibility on some of our older
Sunpower systems that are arc faulting. We tell them that a
system is arc faulting, and then they insist on sending up a
3rd party contractor to inspect the system and potentially
install what they call "Tigo Diodes". I am still not exactly
sure what that is. It also seems to take them months to send
anyone to upstate NY, as we have a bunch of customers that have
been waiting months for the 3rd party contractor to come take a
look. You likely could only follow this route though if the
system was installed by a Sunpower dealer and you are a
Sunpower dealer yourself. If the original system was from a
Sunpower dealer, you can also have the customer call Sunpower
directly.
Cheers,
Dave
*Dave Tedeyan, PE*
Senior Engineer | Taitem Engineering, PC

110 South Albany Street | Ithaca, NY 14850
o. 607.277.1118 x121  f. 607.277.2119
www.taitem.com 


Feather River Solar Electric
Bill Battagin, Owner
4291 Nelson St.
Taylorsville, CA 95983
530.284.7849
CA Lic 874049
www.frenergy.net



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Re: [RE-wrenches] SMA phantom arc faults

[frenergy]

I've only had the "tapping" method work on SB-22 inverters, not on -40 
inverters.  You gotta log on to the machine which I think you can only 
do onsite.  Has anyone ever done a reset of the 8206 from the portal?


Bill

Feather River Solar Electric
Bill Battagin, Owner
4291 Nelson St.
Taylorsville, CA 95983
530.284.7849
CA Lic 874049
www.frenergy.net

On 9/15/2019 12:36 PM, Jeff Clearwater wrote:

Hey Folks,

How do you clear an 8206 from a SB7.7-US?  the manual says tap on the 
cover within 10 seconds of error message.  That's not working.


Does that tap then set it up for the next restart or is it supposed to 
clear it right away - I've tried restarting again to no avail.


When I tap right after the message appears it simply toggles to the 
next screen.


Jeff Clearwater
Village Power Design

Mac Lewis wrote on 9/6/19 7:14 AM:


Hello Wrenches,

You may be aware of this but the -92R firmware supposedly has 
addressed the arc fault issue for the US-40 inverters. See here for 
the download: 
https://www.sma-america.com/service-support/downloads.html  It fixed 
an arc fault issue for me yesterday at least.  Bring a thumb drive, 
the update process took about an hour to perform.


On Tue, Sep 3, 2019 at 10:40 AM Dave Angelini Offgrid Solar 
mailto:offgridso...@sti.net>> wrote:


Same up here in the southern sierra. I get calls from ABB and a
few from SMA to look at systems that people far away installed
and as a local 3rd party it can save some money. Whatever they
quote me I triple the price. 1/3 up front and the rest when it is
done. ABB is really slow with payment. I think they sold their
inverter business? Sunpower is a great panel but they have had
some bad runs. Probably why there are so many new/used panels on
the secondary market. They are great for Offgrid ground arrays
and no AFD.

On Tue, 3 Sep 2019 09:52:19 -0400, Dave Tedeyan
mailto:dtede...@taitem.com>> wrote:


Chris,
Sunpower has taken some responsibility on some of our older
Sunpower systems that are arc faulting. We tell them that a
system is arc faulting, and then they insist on sending up a 3rd
party contractor to inspect the system and potentially install
what they call "Tigo Diodes". I am still not exactly sure what
that is. It also seems to take them months to send anyone to
upstate NY, as we have a bunch of customers that have been
waiting months for the 3rd party contractor to come take a look.
You likely could only follow this route though if the system was
installed by a Sunpower dealer and you are a Sunpower dealer
yourself. If the original system was from a Sunpower dealer, you
can also have the customer call Sunpower directly.
Cheers,
Dave
*Dave Tedeyan, PE*
Senior Engineer | Taitem Engineering, PC

110 South Albany Street | Ithaca, NY 14850
o. 607.277.1118 x121  f. 607.277.2119
www.taitem.com 


Feather River Solar Electric
Bill Battagin, Owner
4291 Nelson St.
Taylorsville, CA 95983
530.284.7849
CA Lic 874049
www.frenergy.net



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[RE-wrenches] Fwd: Re: Communications using the Conext Gateway

[Dave Angelini Offgrid Solar]

You are welcome Howie! 

I sent some screenshots out to the list. Drop
me an e-mail off list and I will get them to you. As it stands now I doubt
that you should be having the issue that Sandra stated. I just have too
many of these working just fine. There are some config quirks with the
gateway config but it and Insight2 are working just fine. Itest it daily
and monitor/config remotely. 

Sandra is from Outback and she knows about
how good the Outback Forum is for dealing with this kind of stuff.
Schneider just does not want to do that anymore. They also have said that
they will do a useable interactive FAQ and get the support up to speed. I
just have not seen any progress to that goal since December. 

I have 4
different clients with open support case numbers and no response for 15
working days. I think they are worth the wait but others here have there
own mind to make up on this. 

I think they are a bit short on being right
about their support decisions. They do care so tell them. It is reliable
once running.


https://solar.schneider-electric.com/conext-gateway-conext-insight-2-product-feedback/
[1] 

 DAVE ANGELINI OFFGRID SOLAR 
"we go where powerlines
don't"
http://members.sti.net/offgridsolar/ [2]
e-mail offgridso...@sti.net
[3]
text 209 813 0060

On Sun, 15 Sep 2019 13:03:57 -0400, Howie Michaelson
wrote:Thanks Dave et al for chiming in on this issue, and getting
Sandra's attention. The Gateway is set to use DHCP, I hardly ever set a
static IP for just the reasons stated. I didn't put together the firmware
upgrade with the failure of communication - the process has been so tedious
i"ve lost track of the order of events at this point, but the current
firmware is 1.04. As Sandra confirmed, the firmware update is likely to be
the route of the lack of communication. I guess I can only wait for the new
update.. I will update the list after things settle out (hopefully).
Howie 
  On Fri, Sep 13, 2019 at 10:32 AM Dave Angelini Offgrid Solar 
wrote:  

Howie, 

So CI2 worked until you did a gateway firmware update?


Can you verify that 1.04 firmware is running on the gateway and check my
screenshot. I cc'd Sandra on this. 
Dave Angelini Offgrid Solar
"we go
where powerlines don't"
http://members.sti.net/offgridsolar/ [5]
e-mail
offgridso...@sti.net [6]
text 209 813 0060

On Thu, 12 Sep 2019 23:07:11
-0400, Howie Michaelson  wrote:   I have a net metered battery backup Dual
stack XW Pro with a Conext Gateway. The Gateway is communicating on the
Xanbus netwark and I'm able to read and write to the inverters through the
gateway as long as I'm connected to it through the local area network. I
was also able to register the Gateway on the Insight2 website which has
retained some of the iniial data. However, shortly thereafter the gateway
seems to have stopped communicating with the insight server, or at least
the server has stopped showing the gateway as connected. I know there is
internet access because everything else on the LAN has connectivity. 
Schneider support not only has been having ridiculously impossible wait
times, but when I do get through to them, they are of no help with this
issue. I've made my way to tier 3 support, but that has not helped in this
matter. Does anyone know if there is a trick or some reason why the gateway
would stop communicating out to the Insight2 server. I've updated all the
firmware of the schneider products. This has allowed me to actually have
the gateway start working properly, based on the most recent firmware
update this past week. I've really been happy with the XW+ inverters as
well as this relatively new communication and remote programming capability
that the gateway promises. I would like to continue to use them, however,
the difficulty of getting to Tech Support, no less someone that can
actually help is starting to affect my decision process. Any suggestions
are welcome. Thanks, Howie Howie Michaelson
SUN CATCHER
 NABCEP
Certified Solar PV Installer(tm)

Solar Electric Systems Sales
">802-272-0004   -- 

 
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 List rules ">Dave Angelini Offgrid Solar
"we go where powerlines
don't"
http://members.sti.net/offgridsolar/ [13]
e-mail
offgridso...@sti.net [14]
text 209 813 0060
  -- 

Dave Angelini Offgrid
Solar
"we go where powerlines don't"
http://members.sti.net/offgridsolar/
[15]
e-mail offgridso...@sti.net [16]
text 209 813 0060



Links:
--
[1]
https://solar.schneider-electric.com/conext-gateway-conext-insight-2-product-feedback/
[2]
http://members.sti.net/offgridsolar/
[3] mailto:offgridso...@sti.net
[4]
mailto:offgridso...@sti.net
[5] http://members.sti.net/offgridsolar/

Re: [RE-wrenches] Communications using the Conext Gateway

[Mac Lewis]

Hi Drake,

In response to your questions:
This is a residential application, so it is likely that we already are set
up on DHCP, although this is not verified. If this was set up on static,
would it cause the disconnection issues?  *Hard to know, there are a lot of
pitfalls for static IP addressing, most of which I don't understand.  If
there were devices with the same IP address they would interfere with each
other and could cause disconnection issues.*

Is it the router that is set to DHCP? * Its actually the device is set up
as DHCP.  It is handing over control of its networking parameters to the
router (including the IP address).  Routers will have the ability to
perform the DHCP operation..*

Doesn't the router assign the Gateway the IP addresses? * If you are
talking about the Conext Gateway (not the network gateway) as long as you
set the Gateway to DHCP, yes you've given the IP addressing duty to the
router.*

Im thinking that since Schneider is experiencing so many issues, its
probably a software issue on their end.

Hope that helps.




On Sat, Sep 14, 2019 at 9:24 AM 
wrote:

> Hi Mac,
>
> This is a residential application, so it is likely that we already are set
> up on DHCP, although this is not verified. If this was set up on static,
> would it cause the disconnection issues?
>
> Is it the router that is set to DHCP?  Doesn't the router assign the
> Gateway the IP addresses?
>
> The internet seems stable. I've used it a lot.
>
> Your help is very much appreciated.
>
> Thank you,
>
> Drake
>
>
> - Original Message -
> From:
> "RE-wrenches" 
>
> To:
> "RE-wrenches" 
> Cc:
>
> Sent:
> Fri, 13 Sep 2019 09:01:38 -0600
> Subject:
> Re: [RE-wrenches] Communications using the Conext Gateway
>
>
> Hi Drake,
>
> In general, you want to use DHCP unless its an unusual network.  You would
> typically enter this into the network page of the device.  This gives the
> router control of the IP address and all of the other networking parameters
> of the device on the network.  Static is more common in a
> commercial environment.
>
> If you need to do static for some reason, you would want to talk to the IT
> person who set up the network.  Otherwise, if you choose an IP address
> already used, it will cause problems and might kick the other device off
> the network.
>
> On Fri, Sep 13, 2019 at 8:32 AM Drake <
> drake.chamber...@redwoodalliance.org> wrote:
>
>> I have very similar issues. The Gateway connects and disconnects
>> continually. I have 14,370 events listed, mostly the Gateway connected and
>> disconnected.
>>
>> The first few weeks it was running, the Insight 2 (the Gateway web site)
>> scrolled repeatedly through all the error messages it could throw out. I
>> went out to the site thinking that the system would be in smoldering ruin,
>> but it was working perfectly.
>>
>> The Gateway - Insight 2 system does not seem market ready. Tech support
>> seems to have dried up. The last information I got was:
>>
>> "Are you using DHCP or static IP?. If static, make sure the DNS server
>> and gateway server are correctly manually entered. Also make sure the IP
>> address you chose is appropriate for the subnet range of your router"
>>
>>- Is the connection and disconnection an issue of  static IP vs DHCP?
>>   - How are corrections make?
>>- How does one correctly enter the DNS server and Gateway.
>>   - Where is it entered?
>>- How do we know what IP address is appropriate for the subnet range
>>of the router?
>>
>> Thanks in advance.
>>
>> Drake
>>
>> Drake Chamberlin
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> *Athens Electric LLC OH License 44810 CO License 3773 NABCEP Certified
>> Solar PV 740-448-7328*http://athens-electric.com/
>>
>>
>> At 11:07 PM 9/12/2019, you wrote:
>>
>> I have a net metered battery backup Dual stack XW Pro with a Conext
>> Gateway. The Gateway is communicating on the Xanbus netwark and I'm able to
>> read and write to the inverters through the gateway as long as I'm
>> connected to it through the local area network.
>> I was also able to register the Gateway on the Insight2 website which has
>> retained some of the iniial data. However, shortly thereafter the gateway
>> seems to have stopped communicating with the insight server, or at least
>> the server has stopped showing the gateway as connected.  I know there is
>> internet access because everything else on the LAN has connectivity.Â
>> Schneider support not only has been having ridiculously impossible wait
>> times, but when I do get through to them, they are of no help with this
>> issue.  I've made my way to tier 3 support, but that has not helped in
>> this matter.
>> Does anyone know if there is a trick or some reason why the gateway would
>> stop communicating out to the Insight2 server.  I've updated all the
>> firmware of the schneider products.  This has allowed me to actually have
>> the gateway start working properly, based on the most recent firmware
>> update this past week.
>> I've really been happy 

Re: [RE-wrenches] SMA phantom arc faults

[Glenn Burt]

I have been told the restart and tap works if you constantly tap it when the 
message appears; support says like you are going for a record number of hits in 
the time window.I used the Ethernet login to reset one last week, seemed to be 
straightforward once I got through the 45m SMA wait.-GlennSent from my 
'smart'phone, so please excuse typos and spelling errors.-- Original 
message--From: Jeff ClearwaterDate: Sun, Sep 15, 2019 3:36 PMTo: 
RE-wrenches;Mac Lewis;Cc: Subject:Re: [RE-wrenches] SMA phantom arc faultsHey 
Folks,
  
How do you clear an 8206 from a SB7.7-US?  the manual says tap on the 
cover within 10 seconds of error message.  That's not working.
  
Does that tap then set it up for the next restart or is it supposed to 
clear it right away - I've tried restarting again to no avail.
  
When I tap right after the message appears it simply toggles to the next
 screen.
  
Jeff Clearwater
Village Power Design
  
Mac Lewis wrote on 9/6/19 7:14 AM:


  
  Hello Wrenches,You may be aware of 
this but the -92R firmware supposedly has addressed the arc fault issue 
for the US-40 inverters.  See here for the download: 
https://www.sma-america.com/service-support/downloads.html  It
 fixed an arc fault issue for me yesterday at least.  Bring a thumb 
drive, the update process took about an hour to perform.
  
  On Tue, Sep
 3, 2019 at 10:40 AM Dave Angelini Offgrid Solar 
 wrote:Same
 up here in the southern sierra. I get calls from ABB and a few from SMA
 to look at systems that people far away installed and as a local 3rd 
party it can save some money. Whatever they quote me I triple the price.
 1/3 up front and the rest when it is done. ABB is really slow with 
payment. I think they sold their inverter business?  Sunpower is a great
 panel but they have had some bad runs. Probably why there are so many 
new/used panels on the secondary market. They are great for Offgrid 
ground arrays and no AFD.
On Tue, 3 Sep 2019 09:52:19 -0400, Dave Tedeyan 
 wrote:
Chris,
Sunpower has taken some responsibility on some of our older 
Sunpower systems that are arc faulting. We tell them that a system is 
arc faulting, and then they insist on sending up a 3rd party contractor 
to inspect the system and potentially install what they call "Tigo 
Diodes". I am still not exactly sure what that is. It also seems to take
 them months to send anyone to upstate NY, as we have a bunch of 
customers that have been waiting months for the 3rd party contractor to 
come take a look. You likely could only follow this route though if the 
system was installed by a Sunpower dealer and you are a Sunpower dealer 
yourself. If the original system was from a Sunpower dealer, you can 
also have the customer call Sunpower directly.
 
Cheers,
Dave













 
Dave Tedeyan, 
PE
Senior Engineer | 
Taitem Engineering, PC

110 South Albany Street | Ithaca, NY 14850
o. 607.277.1118 x121  f. 
607.277.2119
www.taitem.com
 
Solar • Sustainability • Energy • Design
B-Corporation Best for the World 2018 
Honoree

















On Tue, Sep 3, 2019 at 9:43 AM Chris 
Schaefer  wrote:
Got called in by another peer to debug that infamous SMA error
 8206 on a 2 year old 5kw unit.  The array is roof mounted on composite 
shingles with 14 SunPower 345w modules. First time ever seeing this 
error on this project. I'd love to hear from others as to what they've 
found or better yet hear from an SMA rep as to what they suggest. Not a 
whole lot of detail in the SMA users manual.
 
Thanks,
Christopher

Chris Schaefer'sTel/Fax 585-229-2083 or Cell 585-748-1870 5115
 South Hill Road ~ Canandaigua New York 14424www.solarandwindfx.com ~
 E-mail: ch...@solarandwindfx.com

Thomas 
Jefferson, the author of our great Constitution, once said, "democracy" 
will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to 
work and give to those who would not."




On Mon, Sep 2, 2019 at 12:03 PM Jerry 
Shafer  wrote:
Wrenches
I have had chiller pump contactor along with wells, shop
 air compressors all create enough of an arc to trigger the inverters. 
ABB inverters only pick up off the DC but even there l had arc welders 
trip the inverters. 
Jerry



On Mon, Sep 2, 2019, 8:14 AM frenergy 
 wrote:


Interestingly, the problems I've had with the SMA -40 AFCI faults 
have been on Comp roofs.  When I've gone "inside" a -40 with my laptop, 
I'm pretty sure I've seen where you can disable it?
Bill
On
 9/2/2019 7:12 AM, drake.chamber...@redwoodalliance.org wrote:

At least with the TL-22s, the AFCI function can be turned off. You 
need a Web connect speed wire module. .I don't know if this 
same protocol will work for the TL 40s or not.  
 
Metal roofing can apparently be affected by radio waves and by 
other factors that create a disturbance that can trigger the AFCI.The TL
 40 was supposed to overcome this problem. 
 

 - Original Message -

From:
"RE-wrenches" 

To:
"RE-wrenches" 
Cc:

Sent:
Sun, 1 Sep 2019 07:42:14 -1000
Subject:
[RE-wrenches] SMA 

Re: [RE-wrenches] SMA phantom arc faults

[Mac Lewis]

Hi Jeff,

Yes, that doesn't seem to work well.  Best way is to log into the machine
and clear it with the browser interface.

Here are my notes from this process because its not inuitive:

Double tap cover
Blue Light Blinks
Find Network Called SMA[Serial Number Here]
Connect to this Wifi network
Open Browser
Plug into address bar 192.168.12.3
Log in as installer
Password is ___(Im not sure)


Select Device Parameters
Push On Edit Parameter button
Device>Operation>Reset Operating Data
You must Save these changes.

This will clear the device and allow it to restart.  I would also verify
that you have the -92R firmware otherwise it may happen again.

Good luck

On Sun, Sep 15, 2019 at 1:36 PM Jeff Clearwater <
je...@villagepowerdesign.com> wrote:

> Hey Folks,
>
> How do you clear an 8206 from a SB7.7-US?  the manual says tap on the
> cover within 10 seconds of error message.  That's not working.
>
> Does that tap then set it up for the next restart or is it supposed to
> clear it right away - I've tried restarting again to no avail.
>
> When I tap right after the message appears it simply toggles to the next
> screen.
>
> Jeff Clearwater
> Village Power Design
>
> Mac Lewis wrote on 9/6/19 7:14 AM:
>
> Hello Wrenches,
>
> You may be aware of this but the -92R firmware supposedly has addressed
> the arc fault issue for the US-40 inverters.  See here for the download:
> https://www.sma-america.com/service-support/downloads.html  It fixed an
> arc fault issue for me yesterday at least.  Bring a thumb drive, the update
> process took about an hour to perform.
>
> On Tue, Sep 3, 2019 at 10:40 AM Dave Angelini Offgrid Solar <
> offgridso...@sti.net> wrote:
>
>> Same up here in the southern sierra. I get calls from ABB and a few from
>> SMA to look at systems that people far away installed and as a local 3rd
>> party it can save some money. Whatever they quote me I triple the price.
>> 1/3 up front and the rest when it is done. ABB is really slow with payment.
>> I think they sold their inverter business?  Sunpower is a great panel but
>> they have had some bad runs. Probably why there are so many new/used panels
>> on the secondary market. They are great for Offgrid ground arrays and no
>> AFD.
>>
>> On Tue, 3 Sep 2019 09:52:19 -0400, Dave Tedeyan 
>> wrote:
>>
>> Chris,
>> Sunpower has taken some responsibility on some of our older Sunpower
>> systems that are arc faulting. We tell them that a system is arc faulting,
>> and then they insist on sending up a 3rd party contractor to inspect the
>> system and potentially install what they call "Tigo Diodes". I am still not
>> exactly sure what that is. It also seems to take them months to send anyone
>> to upstate NY, as we have a bunch of customers that have been waiting
>> months for the 3rd party contractor to come take a look. You likely could
>> only follow this route though if the system was installed by a Sunpower
>> dealer and you are a Sunpower dealer yourself. If the original system was
>> from a Sunpower dealer, you can also have the customer call Sunpower
>> directly.
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Dave
>>
>> *Dave Tedeyan, PE*
>> Senior Engineer | Taitem Engineering, PC
>>
>> 110 South Albany Street | Ithaca, NY 14850
>> o. 607.277.1118 x121  f. 607.277.2119
>> www.taitem.com
>>
>> Solar • Sustainability • Energy • Design
>> B-Corporation Best for the World 2018 Honoree
>>
>> On Tue, Sep 3, 2019 at 9:43 AM Chris Schaefer 
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Got called in by another peer to debug that infamous SMA error 8206 on a
>>> 2 year old 5kw unit.  The array is roof mounted on composite shingles with
>>> 14 SunPower 345w modules. First time ever seeing this error on this
>>> project. I'd love to hear from others as to what they've found or better
>>> yet hear from an SMA rep as to what they suggest. Not a whole lot of detail
>>> in the SMA users manual.
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>> Christopher
>>>
>>> Chris Schaefer's
>>> 
>>>
>>> *Tel/Fax 585-229-2083 or Cell 585-748-1870 *
>>> *5115 South Hill Road ~ Canandaigua New York 14424**www.solarandwindfx.com
>>>  ~ E-mail: ch...@solarandwindfx.com
>>> *
>>>
>>>
>>> Thomas Jefferson, the author of our great Constitution, once said,
>>> "democracy" will cease to exist when you take away from those who are
>>> willing to work and give to those who would not."
>>>
>>> On Mon, Sep 2, 2019 at 12:03 PM Jerry Shafer 
>>> wrote:
>>>
 Wrenches
 I have had chiller pump contactor along with wells, shop air
 compressors all create enough of an arc to trigger the inverters. ABB
 inverters only pick up off the DC but even there l had arc welders trip the
 inverters.
 Jerry

 On Mon, Sep 2, 2019, 8:14 AM frenergy  wrote:

> Interestingly, the problems I've had with the SMA -40 AFCI faults have
> been on Comp roofs.  When I've gone "inside" a -40 with my laptop, I'm
> pretty sure I've seen where you can disable it?
>
> Bill
> 

Re: [RE-wrenches] SMA phantom arc faults

[Jeff Clearwater]

Hey Folks,

How do you clear an 8206 from a SB7.7-US?  the manual says tap on the 
cover within 10 seconds of error message.  That's not working.


Does that tap then set it up for the next restart or is it supposed to 
clear it right away - I've tried restarting again to no avail.


When I tap right after the message appears it simply toggles to the next 
screen.


Jeff Clearwater
Village Power Design

Mac Lewis wrote on 9/6/19 7:14 AM:


Hello Wrenches,

You may be aware of this but the -92R firmware supposedly has 
addressed the arc fault issue for the US-40 inverters.  See here for 
the download: 
https://www.sma-america.com/service-support/downloads.html  It fixed 
an arc fault issue for me yesterday at least.  Bring a thumb drive, 
the update process took about an hour to perform.


On Tue, Sep 3, 2019 at 10:40 AM Dave Angelini Offgrid Solar 
mailto:offgridso...@sti.net>> wrote:


Same up here in the southern sierra. I get calls from ABB and a
few from SMA to look at systems that people far away installed and
as a local 3rd party it can save some money. Whatever they quote
me I triple the price. 1/3 up front and the rest when it is done.
ABB is really slow with payment. I think they sold their inverter
business?  Sunpower is a great panel but they have had some bad
runs. Probably why there are so many new/used panels on the
secondary market. They are great for Offgrid ground arrays and no AFD.

On Tue, 3 Sep 2019 09:52:19 -0400, Dave Tedeyan
mailto:dtede...@taitem.com>> wrote:


Chris,
Sunpower has taken some responsibility on some of our older
Sunpower systems that are arc faulting. We tell them that a
system is arc faulting, and then they insist on sending up a 3rd
party contractor to inspect the system and potentially install
what they call "Tigo Diodes". I am still not exactly sure what
that is. It also seems to take them months to send anyone to
upstate NY, as we have a bunch of customers that have been
waiting months for the 3rd party contractor to come take a look.
You likely could only follow this route though if the system was
installed by a Sunpower dealer and you are a Sunpower dealer
yourself. If the original system was from a Sunpower dealer, you
can also have the customer call Sunpower directly.
Cheers,
Dave
*Dave Tedeyan, PE*
Senior Engineer | Taitem Engineering, PC

110 South Albany Street | Ithaca, NY 14850
o. 607.277.1118 x121  f. 607.277.2119
www.taitem.com 
Solar •Sustainability • Energy • Design
B-Corporation Best for the World 2018 Honoree

On Tue, Sep 3, 2019 at 9:43 AM Chris Schaefer
mailto:ch...@solarandwindfx.com>> wrote:

Got called in by another peer to debug that infamous SMA
error 8206 on a 2 year old 5kw unit.  The array is roof
mounted on composite shingles with 14 SunPower 345w
modules. First time ever seeing this error on this project.
I'd love to hear from others as to what they've found or
better yet hear from an SMA rep as to what they suggest. Not
a whole lot of detail in the SMA users manual.
Thanks,
Christopher

Chris Schaefer's

/Tel/Fax 585-229-2083 or Cell 585-748-1870
//5115 South Hill Road ~ Canandaigua New York 14424
//www.solarandwindfx.com  ~
E-mail: ch...@solarandwindfx.com
/

/
/

Thomas Jefferson, the author of our great Constitution, once
said, "democracy" will cease to exist when you take away from
those who are willing to work and give to those who would not."


On Mon, Sep 2, 2019 at 12:03 PM Jerry Shafer
mailto:jerrysgarag...@gmail.com>>
wrote:

Wrenches
I have had chiller pump contactor along with wells, shop
air compressors all create enough of an arc to trigger
the inverters. ABB inverters only pick up off the DC but
even there l had arc welders trip the inverters.
Jerry

On Mon, Sep 2, 2019, 8:14 AM frenergy mailto:frene...@psln.com>> wrote:

Interestingly, the problems I've had with the SMA -40
AFCI faults have been on Comp roofs.  When I've gone
"inside" a -40 with my laptop, I'm pretty sure I've
seen where you can disable it?

Bill

On 9/2/2019 7:12 AM,
drake.chamber...@redwoodalliance.org
 wrote:

At least with the TL-22s, the AFCI function can be
turned off. You need a/Web connect speed wire
module/. .I don't know if this same protocol will
work for the TL 40s or not.
 

Re: [RE-wrenches] Communications using the Conext Gateway

[Kevin Pegg]

Howie, I share much of your frustration.

I have dozens of clients using the Combox / Insight platform. The comboxes are 
generally solid, but insight has not been reliable for at least a year. All 
sorts of randomly scrambled and contradictory data from insight - wastes the 
installers time when we don't have reliable data.

The gateway / Insight2 looks promising, but the software has a long way to go. 
Reliability issues are one, but I find the layout and overall design and 
ability to view and extract performance data is poor.

So we have two communications options for this platform, neither are fully 
reliable at this time.

Challenging.

Kevin

From: RE-wrenches [mailto:re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org] On Behalf 
Of Howie Michaelson
Sent: September-15-19 9:45 AM
To: RE-wrenches 
Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] Communications using the Conext Gateway

Sandra,
Thank you very much for getting back to me.  I really want to use Schneider 
equipment, but the tech support delays alone are incredibly infuriating!  Good 
to know that you are working on it, and I understand the slow training issue.
On the other hand, this is an incredibly unfair and unwise way to treat your 
installer base!  I have wasted all told probably a week of my time waiting on 
the phone and trying solutions that tech support has offered or suggested 
without the needed information about the current state of various devices.  And 
to release equipment onto us that hasn't been vetted enough is costly to us, 
and degrades my confidence in all the equipment, not to mention my clients 
confidence and satisfaction with me.  Schneider is obviously not the first 
company to experience these type of challenges, but I thought they had learned 
from others, including their Xantrex predecessor - now I'm not so sure. I look 
forward to a significant improvement in tech support.  I would think Schneider 
has the resources to make this happen quickly.
Best,
Howie

On Fri, Sep 13, 2019 at 11:55 AM Sandra Herrera 
mailto:sandra.herr...@se.com>> wrote:
Howie,
I am sorry to hear about the issues with Insight2 as well as communications 
with our technical support department.
We have identified connectivity issues between some gateways and Insight2, in 
some cases:

  1.  The Gateway stops sending data to Insight2 after firmware update
  2.  If the time setting on Gateway is different than time on Isight2, this 
will cause the no communication issue
  3.  Customer network connectivity, this one usually shows an intermittent 
connection
We are working on a new framework application that should resolve most of the 
problems, and this will be a firmware update for Gateway 1.05 as well as the 
server update, scheduled this month.

As far as technical support, we are still experiencing growing pains since the 
move from Costa Mesa, California to Denver. However, we are hiring two new 
technicians for the team in Denver, which will reduce the hold time. 
Unfortunately, the learning curve for a technical support representative is 
steep, and it usually takes several months for a new hire to get to a level of 
knowledge.
I will reach out to you directly with specific troubleshooting steps to 
identify the communication issues for the system.

Regards

Sandra Herrera
sandra.herr...@se.com




From: RE-wrenches 
mailto:re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org>>
 On Behalf Of Howie Michaelson
Sent: Thursday, September 12, 2019 8:07 PM
To: RE-wrenches 
mailto:re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org>>
Subject: [RE-wrenches] Communications using the Conext Gateway


[External email: Use caution with links and attachments]




I have a net metered battery backup Dual stack XW Pro with a Conext Gateway. 
The Gateway is communicating on the Xanbus netwark and I'm able to read and 
write to the inverters through the gateway as long as I'm connected to it 
through the local area network.
I was also able to register the Gateway on the Insight2 website which has 
retained some of the iniial data. However, shortly thereafter the gateway seems 
to have stopped communicating with the insight server, or at least the server 
has stopped showing the gateway as connected.  I know there is internet access 
because everything else on the LAN has connectivity.
Schneider support not only has been having ridiculously impossible wait times, 
but when I do get through to them, they are of no help with this issue.  I've 
made my way to tier 3 support, but that has not helped in this matter.
Does anyone know if there is a trick or some reason why the gateway would stop 
communicating out to the Insight2 server.  I've updated all the firmware of the 
schneider products.  This has allowed me to actually have the gateway start 
working properly, based on the most recent firmware update this past week.
I've really been happy with the XW+ inverters as well as this relatively new 
communication and remote programming capability that the 

Re: [RE-wrenches] Communications using the Conext Gateway

[Howie Michaelson]

Sandra,
Thank you very much for getting back to me.  I really want to use Schneider
equipment, but the tech support delays alone are incredibly infuriating!
Good to know that you are working on it, and I understand the slow training
issue.
On the other hand, this is an incredibly unfair and unwise way to treat
your installer base!  I have wasted all told probably a week of my time
waiting on the phone and trying solutions that tech support has offered or
suggested without the needed information about the current state of various
devices.  And to release equipment onto us that hasn't been vetted enough
is costly to us, and degrades my confidence in all the equipment, not to
mention my clients confidence and satisfaction with me.  Schneider is
obviously not the first company to experience these type of challenges, but
I thought they had learned from others, including their Xantrex predecessor
- now I'm not so sure. I look forward to a significant improvement in tech
support.  I would think Schneider has the resources to make this happen
quickly.
Best,
Howie

On Fri, Sep 13, 2019 at 11:55 AM Sandra Herrera 
wrote:

> Howie,
>
> I am sorry to hear about the issues with Insight2 as well as
> communications with our technical support department.
>
> We have identified connectivity issues between some gateways and Insight2,
> in some cases:
>
>1. The Gateway stops sending data to Insight2 after firmware update
>2. If the time setting on Gateway is different than time on Isight2,
>this will cause the no communication issue
>3. Customer network connectivity, this one usually shows an
>intermittent connection
>
> We are working on a new framework application that should resolve most of
> the problems, and this will be a firmware update for Gateway 1.05 as well
> as the server update, scheduled this month.
>
>
>
> As far as technical support, we are still experiencing growing pains since
> the move from Costa Mesa, California to Denver. However, we are hiring two
> new technicians for the team in Denver, which will reduce the hold time.
> Unfortunately, the learning curve for a technical support representative is
> steep, and it usually takes several months for a new hire to get to a level
> of knowledge.
>
> I will reach out to you directly with specific troubleshooting steps to
> identify the communication issues for the system.
>
>
>
> Regards
>
>
>
> Sandra Herrera
>
> sandra.herr...@se.com
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> *From:* RE-wrenches  *On
> Behalf Of *Howie Michaelson
> *Sent:* Thursday, September 12, 2019 8:07 PM
> *To:* RE-wrenches 
> *Subject:* [RE-wrenches] Communications using the Conext Gateway
>
>
>
> [External email: Use caution with links and attachments]
> --
>
>
>
> I have a net metered battery backup Dual stack XW Pro with a Conext
> Gateway. The Gateway is communicating on the Xanbus netwark and I'm able to
> read and write to the inverters through the gateway as long as I'm
> connected to it through the local area network.
>
> I was also able to register the Gateway on the Insight2 website which has
> retained some of the iniial data. However, shortly thereafter the gateway
> seems to have stopped communicating with the insight server, or at least
> the server has stopped showing the gateway as connected.  I know there is
> internet access because everything else on the LAN has connectivity.
>
> Schneider support not only has been having ridiculously impossible wait
> times, but when I do get through to them, they are of no help with this
> issue.  I've made my way to tier 3 support, but that has not helped in this
> matter.
>
> Does anyone know if there is a trick or some reason why the gateway would
> stop communicating out to the Insight2 server.  I've updated all the
> firmware of the schneider products.  This has allowed me to actually have
> the gateway start working properly, based on the most recent firmware
> update this past week.
>
> I've really been happy with the XW+ inverters as well as this relatively
> new communication and remote programming capability that the gateway
> promises. I would like to continue to use them, however, the difficulty of
> getting to Tech Support, no less someone that can actually help is starting
> to affect my decision process.  Any suggestions are welcome.
>
> Thanks, Howie
>
>
> *Howie Michaelson **Sun Catcher*
>
> *NABCEP Certified Solar PV Installer™ *
>
> *Solar Electric Systems Sales & Service **802-272-0004*
>
>
> __
> This email has been scanned by the Symantec Email Security.cloud service.
> __
> ___
> List sponsored by Redwood Alliance
>
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