What caused my SE7600 to shut off?

[sorka]

It was about an hour before I realized I wasn't getting any solar. Apparently I'm going to need to write a watch dog API to send me a notification since the app doesn't.

The top led was solid red. I was able to restart it manually but its making an unhappy humming noise that I've never heard before. Any ideas? Could the utility have raised the line frequency? At any rate, it didn't recover on it's own and the line frequency was fine before I restarted it.

 

[sorka]

Logging directly into the inverter, there was "Error 18xB: Vcap21 Surge", but that was on May 3rd. Nothing today at all.

 

[jhn_]

I just had my SE10000 stop producing Monday with a similar error. Mine was 18xB5: Vcap11 Surge". Called SE supported and then logged in looked around and RMA’d a new unit. Give SE support a call if you haven’t already.

Do you know if you have one or two strings? I’ve been trying to figure out if my “11” was referring to string 1 or not.

 

[sorka]

I just had my SE10000 stop producing Monday with a similar error. Mine was 18xB5: Vcap11 Surge". Called SE supported and then logged in looked around and RMA’d a new unit. Give SE support a call if you haven’t already.

Do you know if you have one or two strings? I’ve been trying to figure out if my “11” was referring to string 1 or not.

I also had an 18xB5 Vcap11 surge back in the middle of march which resulted in a hicup in production now that I look back on that day.

I did call SE and they opened a support case but said that a new firmware update should fix the issue. I've seen this mentioned in various other threads only for said firmware updates to not make any difference and those inverters finally failing entirely.

How did you get SE to issue you an RMA? Are you the installer?

 

[h2ofun]

I also had an 18xB5 Vcap11 surge back in the middle of march which resulted in a hicup in production now that I look back on that day.

I did call SE and they opened a support case but said that a new firmware update should fix the issue. I've seen this mentioned in various other threads only for said firmware updates to not make any difference and those inverters finally failing entirely.

How did you get SE to issue you an RMA? Are you the installer?

First thing we did is get the FW updated, always a standard process. Then when did not fix, RMA. Technically, your installer has to do all of this!!

 

[Electrph]

I just had my SE10000 stop producing Monday with a similar error. Mine was 18xB5: Vcap11 Surge". Called SE supported and then logged in looked around and RMA’d a new unit. Give SE support a call if you haven’t already.

Do you know if you have one or two strings? I’ve been trying to figure out if my “11” was referring to string 1 or not.

Support still has not given you any further info on what exactly was wrong other than they will replace it ?

 

[jhn_]

I also had an 18xB5 Vcap11 surge back in the middle of march which resulted in a hicup in production now that I look back on that day.

I did call SE and they opened a support case but said that a new firmware update should fix the issue. I've seen this mentioned in various other threads only for said firmware updates to not make any difference and those inverters finally failing entirely.

How did you get SE to issue you an RMA? Are you the installer?

Not the installer, Tesla is the installer. I just contacted them (as well as Tesla) and they opened a ticket and said engineering would look at it. I got another email a few hours later saying they were recommending RMA, then another email a few hours after that saying the RMA was approved and that it should ship to the service address in 5-7 days and I’ll get another email when it ships.

Not really sure how this is going to play out once Tesla finally gets back to me.

One other detail with mine is that it seems to be stuck in a reboot loop, where after rebooting it generates that error about five minutes later and reboots itself, repeat…

@sorka Does your light stay red or in five to ten minutes does it reboot?

 

[h2ofun]

Not the installer, Tesla is the installer. I just contacted them (as well as Tesla) and they opened a ticket and said engineering would look at it. I got another email a few hours later saying they were recommending RMA, then another email a few hours after that saying the RMA was approved and that it should ship to the service address in 5-7 days and I’ll get another email when it ships.

Not really sure how this is going to play out once Tesla finally gets back to me.

One other detail with mine is that it seems to be stuck in a reboot loop, where after rebooting it generates that error about five minutes later and reboots itself, repeat…

@sorka Does your light stay red or in five to ten minutes does it reboot?

I would just turn it off, red light is bad. Until Tesla comes and and replaces, ......

 

[jhn_]

Support still has not given you any further info on what exactly was wrong other than they will replace it ?

Nope. That was the only disappointing part of the SolarEdge support. They were nice, and prompt. But couldn’t or wouldn’t for some reason tell me what this error meant.

 

[Electrph]

Nope. That was the only disappointing part of the SolarEdge support. They were nice, and prompt. But couldn’t or wouldn’t for some reason tell me what this error meant.

prob like a lot of companies / products no longer cost effective to have ppl that can diag / repair items .. more cost effective to replace unit .. majority customers happy with that .. but some of us still curious what goes wrong esp if same issue happens relatively frequently

 

[sorka]

Not the installer, Tesla is the installer. I just contacted them (as well as Tesla) and they opened a ticket and said engineering would look at it. I got another email a few hours later saying they were recommending RMA, then another email a few hours after that saying the RMA was approved and that it should ship to the service address in 5-7 days and I’ll get another email when it ships.

Not really sure how this is going to play out once Tesla finally gets back to me.

One other detail with mine is that it seems to be stuck in a reboot loop, where after rebooting it generates that error about five minutes later and reboots itself, repeat…

@sorka Does your light stay red or in five to ten minutes does it reboot?

When it went out today, it was solid when I discovered it was no longer producing which was an hour later. I had to reboot it manually. It did not reset itself.

 

[sorka]

My SE DSP1 Version went from 1.0.970 to 1.0.1032 at 3:05 and then the unit restarted resulting in another small production outage. I assume that was because of the firmware update.

 

[sorka]

FYI, I called Tesla yesterday again after reinstalling the zigbee and after I already talked with SE. The Tesla support person said that if I'm having issues, I can call SE directly (even though SE says you need a case number from your installer *unless* you can't get ahold of your installer). So I lied and said I couldn't get ahold of my installer. SE answered immediately and pushed a firmware update within in hour that they said should resolve these vcap surge errors. My guess is that this is firmware they push out to units that actually have mild hardware issues that will push them along a bit longer before they finally fail.

But when I spoke with Tesla, they said that if I speak directly to SE and SE says I need a replacement to let Tesla know and they'll ask SE to issue an RMA without sending a tech out to the site. I asked so do I need to call Tesla back with an SE case number and he replied that all I need to do is just relay the results of the conversation with SE and they're basically taking my word for it that they told me to ask Tesla for an RMA. SE didn't say it needs to be replaced so I didn't tell Tesla that as much as I wanted to.

But for those where it's taking 10 to 12 weeks to get Tesla to replace the inverters, call SE first. If you call Tesla and your production is down, they'll send a tech out which could take many weeks. If your inverter is down and you call SE directly and they determine remotely it needs to be replaced, then this will start the process a lot faster.

A key point here is that Tesla does NOT have access the device error log like Tesla does. It's not even visible on the installer site and those errors don't show up in the account alert page. My alert page has zero alerts but I have 7 hardware errors over the last few months.

 

[h2ofun]

FYI, I called Tesla yesterday again after reinstalling the zigbee and after I already talked with SE. The Tesla support person said that if I'm having issues, I can call SE directly (even though SE says you need a case number from your installer *unless* you can't get ahold of your installer). So I lied and said I couldn't get ahold of my installer. SE answered immediately and pushed a firmware update within in hour that they said should resolve these vcap surge errors. My guess is that this is firmware they push out to units that actually have mild hardware issues that will push them along a bit longer before they finally fail.

But when I spoke with Tesla, they said that if I speak directly to SE and SE says I need a replacement to let Tesla know and they'll ask SE to issue an RMA without sending a tech out to the site. I asked so do I need to call Tesla back with an SE case number and he replied that all I need to do is just relay the results of the conversation with SE and they're basically taking my word for it that they told me to ask Tesla for an RMA. SE didn't say it needs to be replaced so I didn't tell Tesla that as much as I wanted to.

But for those where it's taking 10 to 12 weeks to get Tesla to replace the inverters, call SE first. If you call Tesla and your production is down, they'll send a tech out which could take many weeks. If your inverter is down and you call SE directly and they determine remotely it needs to be replaced, then this will start the process a lot faster.

A key point here is that Tesla does NOT have access the device error log like Tesla does. It's not even visible on the installer site and those errors don't show up in the account alert page. My alert page has zero alerts but I have 7 hardware errors over the last few months.

So lets say you get SE to say bad, and the send a RMA unit. Who puts it in? I sure was not going to instill the RMA unit I got, since that would imply
my warranty was gone with my installer.

 

[SMAlset]

….A key point here is that Tesla does NOT have access the device error log like Tesla does. It's not even visible on the installer site and those errors don't show up in the account alert page. My alert page has zero alerts but I have 7 hardware errors over the last few months.

Assume you meant “like SolarEdge does”?

How long have you had your SE unit.

Where by the way are you seeing this info about the error code coming up? Husband did get access to our SE account thru Tesla back after install to see the production of our panels (in linear form). Is it through that SE app?

Also curious when a unit does start to go bad what do you notice? Tesla app indicators on the solar graph? Obviously the change in colored LED light, although we aren’t in our garage that often with cars parked outside in driveway and charged occasionally during covid and limited driving needed.

 

[sorka]

So lets say you get SE to say bad, and the send a RMA unit. Who puts it in? I sure was not going to instill the RMA unit I got, since that would imply
my warranty was gone with my installer.

I never said SE would send YOU and RMA unit. Tesla needs to call SE to get the RMA issued and then Tesla installs the unit when they get it. The point is if you want to move the process along faster, call SE directly and let them determine first that the unit is bad and then call Tesla to tell them. Otherwise you have to wait for Tesla to send out a tech before anything else happens.

 

[sorka]

Assume you meant “like SolarEdge does”?

How long have you had your SE unit.

Where by the way are you seeing this info about the error code coming up? Husband did get access to our SE account thru Tesla back after install to see the production of our panels (in linear form). Is it through that SE app?

Also curious when a unit does start to go bad what do you notice? Tesla app indicators on the solar graph? Obviously the change in colored LED light, although we aren’t in our garage that often with cars parked outside in driveway and charged occasionally during covid and limited driving needed.

Yes. Thanks for the catch on the typo

Run the solar edge app. Goto the menu on the upper left(may be different on iOS) and click "Inverter Status". Do this while next to the inverter and follow the instructions in the app.

After you're logged into the inverter, goto the advanced installer view and click on the error log.

 

[jhn_]

I never said SE would send YOU and RMA unit. Tesla needs to call SE to get the RMA issued and then Tesla installs the unit when they get it. The point is if you want to move the process along faster, call SE directly and let them determine first that the unit is bad and then call Tesla to tell them. Otherwise you have to wait for Tesla to send out a tech before anything else happens.

We’ll just like everything else, the answer is, it depends. My call to SolarEdge before Tesla resulted in the RMA inverter getting shipped to me. Gets here middle of next week. Tesla still hasn’t scheduled or troubleshot anything. They’ve just taken my calls and said someone will call back in three days. No one does and I call back on the fourth day… repeat.

 

[sorka]

We’ll just like everything else, the answer is, it depends. My call to SolarEdge before Tesla resulted in the RMA inverter getting shipped to me. Gets here middle of next week. Tesla still hasn’t scheduled or troubleshot anything. They’ve just taken my calls and said someone will call back in three days. No one does and I call back on the fourth day… repeat.

If mine failed, having SE send it to me directly would be ideal. I wonder what Tesla would do if I installed it myself and didn't wait for their tech? Do you think the RMA unit will come pre-provisioned?

 

[h2ofun]

If mine failed, having SE send it to me directly would be ideal. I wonder what Tesla would do if I installed it myself and didn't wait for their tech? Do you think the RMA unit will come pre-provisioned?

If you installed, I guess you not longer have warranty.

I watched as my installer put my replacement one in. One just then has to go through the steps to configure it! no short cuts there.