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Post by pkelly517 on Oct 17, 2017 14:20:14 GMT -8
I've finally got my solar project live (yay!), but I've found a problem. The USB output is disabled if the solar cell output gets too high. This happens whenever the battery is full, and there is no load on the cell.
Basically, I've got a full battery, but no output to the project microcontroller (ESP8266), because the battery is full. The solar cell is the Voltaic 3.5 W panel from Adafruit. The SunControl was purchased on the Kickstarter campaign, so the firmware may be old.
Shouldn't the USB output be on as long as there is battery power? I assume that this is related to the hysteresis function of the output, but the solar cell input voltage shouldn't be a factor. The battery is at 4.16 volts, as reported by the SunControl. The battery charger should be affected by the solar input, but not the USB output.
I can add graphs, it it helps.
Thanks.
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Post by SDL on Oct 18, 2017 9:22:46 GMT -8
Pkelly,
USB Hysterisis: Battery 3.7V turn on, 3.3 turn off
Do you have anything plugged into the Grove USB connector? The states on that plug will override the hysteresis control.
When you say the Solar Cell Output gets too high, have you measured that? We have SunControl hooked up to the Voltaic cells down on Project Curacao2 and it is working fine.
I'll give you a few more tests to perform after you answer these questions. I'm wondering this has something to do with the enable line on the Grove USB Connector.
BP
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Post by pkelly517 on Oct 18, 2017 13:56:39 GMT -8
There is nothing hooked up to the USB control. The only Grove connector is the I2C bus. In the span of 24 hours, the board has gotten worse. The 5V Booster LED has turned off. There is no 5V output. It has stopped communicating over I2C. It doesn't show when I scan_i2c_devices(); I can see the RTC at 0x68. I can see the AM2315 at 0x5C. Nothing at 0x40 (or 0x41-43). See the attached data I was sending this morning. From the printSunControlVoltagesAndCurrents() routine in the SunControl driver, the blue line is loadvoltage1 = SunControl.readChannelVoltage(LIPO_BATTERY_CHANNEL); The green line is loadvoltage2 = SunControl.readChannelVoltage(SOLAR_CELL_CHANNEL); You can see the higher solar panel voltage I was writing about yesterday being reported by the SunControl. That was when the USB output turned off. Attaching a USB-mini cable to the USB Input port lights up the Charge and Power Good LEDs. There is no battery or solar cell connected. It still does not answer the I2C scanning. If I attach a USB cable to the output, the USB Out Power On LED will light up. It's getting power from the downstream ESP8266 (Adafruit Feather HUZZAH). I think it's time to start a return with customer service. I assume that is still available for those who purchased through Kickstarter.
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Post by SDL on Oct 24, 2017 8:44:09 GMT -8
Peter,
We have been in touch with you about getting your board back for a failure analysis. Strange results for sure!
Let us know when you get the new board.
BP
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Post by pkelly517 on Oct 24, 2017 12:39:13 GMT -8
I'll be sure to update when it arrives. By the way, the defective board is on the way, too. It should arrive by end of day Monday.
Thanks again
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Post by pkelly517 on Nov 22, 2017 10:45:16 GMT -8
The defective board was delivered October 30th, but I still haven't received a replacement. I received a note from customer service stating one would be sent, but that was over two weeks ago. Has the replacement been lost? Is it being tracked?
Happy Thanksgiving!
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Post by SDL on Nov 24, 2017 8:53:51 GMT -8
pKelly,
I'll follow up on it. Do you have your RMA #? I'll give it cindy and we can see what we have.
BP
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Post by pkelly517 on Nov 25, 2017 14:53:08 GMT -8
pKelly, I'll follow up on it. Do you have your RMA #? I'll give it cindy and we can see what we have. BP RMA #102417-01-A Thanks
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Post by pkelly517 on Dec 11, 2017 19:13:25 GMT -8
I'll be sure to update when it arrives. By the way, the defective board is on the way, too. It should arrive by end of day Monday. Thanks again I finally received the replacement board the middle of last week. I got it installed over the weekend, and it appears to be working. 3 days and charging, solar voltage and current are reporting nominally. Thanks.
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Post by SDL on Dec 17, 2017 16:10:51 GMT -8
Glad you are back on line!
BP
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