Micro Minnie FLX Xantrex/Go Power! Parameters - Page 9

Bobby-D · 05-01-2023, 08:19 PM

Thanks Steve.
Apparently, the dealer ordered a remote panel directly from Xantrex when the original wasn't working instead of putting in a warranty claim with Winnebago. They ordered the wrong remote panel (one without Bluetooth). I didn't notice until I got home (totally my fault for not checking while I was at the dealership). After talking with the dealership and Winnebago towables, a warranty claim has been put in, and the dealership has agreed to send a tech to me to install it (I live over an hour away from the dealership). I'm still waiting on it, hopefully the fix happens soon. I'll update once it's done.

-Bobby

Bobby-D · 05-01-2023, 08:22 PM

Another quick question for all of you.
Has anyone else added a solar panel through the Go Charge Solar on the Side port?
If so, have you had better luck than iRanduMi?
Thanks in advance!

Downytide · 05-03-2023, 09:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bobby-D

Another quick question for all of you.
Has anyone else added a solar panel through the Go Charge Solar on the Side port?
If so, have you had better luck than iRanduMi?
Thanks in advance!

RovingMedics had good experience with Renogy.

https://www.winnieowners.com/forums/...ml#post3934004

I need feedback on this, so through my inverter issue, Xantrex has proven again to be the only party that's competent in helping me out.

As I was removing the inverter to be send to Xantrex, I noticed my Gopower panel is still reading but indicate this:

is this a concern? everything has been switched off, the main breaker and the battery.

**creativepart** · 05-03-2023, 10:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bobby-D

Another quick question for all of you.
Has anyone else added a solar panel through the Go Charge Solar on the Side port?
If so, have you had better luck than iRanduMi?
Thanks in advance!

Just some things in general to comment on this reported issue.

When adding a portable solar panel to your existing setup you need to be sure that the portable panel does NOT have a built in solar controller when using the TT's side solar input. Since that is wired directly into your solar controller on the FLX you don't want to connect another solar controller to your OEM solar controller.

If your panel does have a solar controller built in or attached to the back of the panels. You should connect that output directly to your batteries, not the side port input. Some portable panels come with controllers and others do not. And a third type comes with a controller that can be turned off or put in bypass mode.

The other thing to be mindful of is the polarity of both the portable panel's wiring... and the TT's side solar input. With a multi-meter test the + and - connections of side input and with the portable panel in the sun test the same things. Make sure they are the same. If the external side input uses an SAE style connector there is no "one way" to wire these plugs. Some companies wire the positive connection on the sheathed side and some wire the positive on the unsheathed side.

NOTE, the input on the trailer should be wired to be compatible with what ever the solar panel is set up for. If the wiring is wrong then you'd change the polarity on the solar panel, not generally the RV.

You can find "SAE Polarity Reverse Adapter Plugs" on Amazon to fix this, as it's a common issue.

Downytide · 05-15-2023, 05:41 PM

Fellas, need help here.

After the inverter had a "thermal event" (as described by the dealer), I was told pretty much handle this by myself from Winnebago and the dealer, so Xantrex had sent me a new inverter, install was a breeze, their tech support had help to set it up properly so the inverter would stop turning itself off.

Now, problem.

- The Go Power controller constantly read the battery at 36.5v with error code of B1: OVP (over voltage protection).
- I've reached out to Go Power, they asked me to measure the voltage at the controller (one in the belly), the wires from battery into the controller read 0v on the voltmeter, while Lithionics and Xantrex both read 13.3v.
- I've tried to hard reset the controller by unplug the solar panel to solar controller wire and left it unplugged by nearly 1hr, still read 36.5v with same error code.
- Tried to switch the batter to controller wires into Battery 2 position, doesn't read it on the control panel.
- 30A fuse looks good

I'm bit at a loss here, does the controller charge the battery directly? or is there another wire/fuse somewhere along the route? I've been study the diagram Steve has posted but I think I'm missing something.

SactoSteve · 05-15-2023, 06:49 PM

Yeah🤔 I included that non FLX diagram in hopes it might help figure this out. I believe we now know the solar on the side is wired directly to the controller? Since separate controller not required. I’d be curious what the side port voltage is. The folks who are using that port have quite a bit of troubleshooting knowledge. I’m also curious where you are reading the 36v inside panel or app? But if you are reading 0 at the input to the GoPower obviously something’s not connected. But you knew that. 😜. Grasping here but the breaker is on.

- stev

Downytide · 05-15-2023, 07:05 PM

Hi Steve,

the solar panels are wired directly to the controller, I'm told that the battery is also wired directly to the controller, BUT, like your posts have indicated, I can't find rest of the wires, and I do not know how it's connected to the battery, nor if there's more breaker/fuse along the way.

I'm told by GoPower that when there's a fault in the system, in this case, where no batteries are detected, it automatically reads solar panel voltage minus expected value, hence the 36.5v, which trigger over voltage protection.

So that means between the battery and the controller, there's gotta be something that's broken, but what and where is keeping me awake at night.

SactoSteve · 05-15-2023, 08:55 PM

The 2 Breaker photos show the "mystery" connections to the breaker. Since when the breaker is in the disconnect position we still have power in the trailer when Xnatrex is off and/or no shore power I believe one of the lower amperage wires is the connection to the 12v distribution and the other is from the GoPower controller. I have not found how they are connected.

The solar on the side Photo Red Black wires I believe connect to the GoPower controller. The GoPower photo is what's behind the GoPower Controller.

The Non FLX diagram may not be of any value here but the "alway on equipment" and the Solar on the side connections, in the diagram all seem to meet in the junction box on the frame on the "driver" side of the Microminnie.

Sure seems like the GoPower controller is not connected. As you have said.

Downytide · 05-15-2023, 10:05 PM

Hi Steve, thank you for the photos, I need to chase winnebago /gopower for a wiring diagram and report back.

Since my situation was not caused by anything unique, I'm sure this would happen again on other flx trailers.

Downytide · 05-16-2023, 11:46 AM

Winnebago has forward drawing on the junction box on the chassis, these may be useful for folks in the future.

Downytide · 05-16-2023, 05:30 PM

Alright, problem solved, Norco seems to deliver the chassis the same between FLX and none-FLX, that means there's a 30amp breaker between solar controller and the battery, in this case, it's mounted on the chassis for FLX model.

Hit the reset button, everything is back to normal:

SactoSteve · 05-16-2023, 05:37 PM

The importance of that breaker for the “always on” stuff had been identified. I wondered if it included the solar controller. Good to know.
It’s really ridiculous how much important information Winnebago fails to provide!
Thanks for ferreting this out!
-Steve

Downytide · 05-16-2023, 06:15 PM

What is wild to me is these things costs pretty penny, and when there are problems, Winnebago said they don't know since they didn't produce the components, imagine when a brand new car needs warranty work on stereo, and dealership tell you to call JBL.

Overall, Xantrex, top notch, I'd buy stuff as a consumer, Go Power provided very good support, I think our next trailer I'm going to have it built.

tcavana55 · 05-23-2023, 07:27 AM

I purchased my FLX last year, and the power combination of the Lithionics Battery, GoPower Solar Controller, and Xantrex Inverter seemed to be functioning properly all season. After reinstalling the battery this spring after winter storage everything still seems to still be operating properly. I then installed the GoPower app for the first time and found that the battery type setting is set on "Gel". Of course this has me concerned. Will the system continue to work properly, or do I need to have the settings set properly? It seems that there is no Lithium Battery setting option for the battery type.

SactoSteve · 05-23-2023, 09:37 AM

The gel setting is incorrect for the Lithionics battery.
The GoPower controller should be set for a Lithium battery the setting are made on the settings page in the app. Other settings may also need to be updated
More info here

tcavana55 · 05-23-2023, 12:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SactoSteve

The gel setting is incorrect for the Lithionics battery.
The GoPower controller should be set for a Lithium battery the setting are made on the settings page in the app. Other settings may also need to be updated
More info here

Thanks Steve. I see now that I can change it to Lithium, but I'm bit nervous about doing it since I don't know what other settings also need to be changed. Are there specific instructions somewhere that go through the settings for each battery type? (sorry if it's here somewhere and I just couldn't find it)

tcavana55 · 05-23-2023, 12:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tcavana55

Thanks Steve. I see now that I can change it to Lithium, but I'm bit nervous about doing it since I don't know what other settings also need to be changed. Are there specific instructions somewhere that go through the settings for each battery type? (sorry if it's here somewhere and I just couldn't find it)

Thanks again Steve, I found the settings chart in the operator's manual and made all the changes. It's still working.

SactoSteve · 05-23-2023, 01:15 PM

Great 😄 glad this was helpful.
- steve

tcaudle2001 · 05-23-2023, 06:59 PM

I wanted to chime in here and say thanks to SactoSteve for all of the hours and hours and hours of time spent to figure this out for everyone.

After a subpar maiden trip this past weekend with our FLX, I turned to the interwebs after having a not super helpful conversation with a rep at Winnebago Towables.

This morning, I implemented all of the settings corrections (honestly there really aren't that many things to adjust) to the system, and it has been dutifully charging via solar throughout the day. I am at about 60%, but that's not too bad given that the sun didn't come out until noon.

My aim is to get it up to 100%... microwave clock and TV standby being the only load on the system. Fridge is off. Then, my hope and expectation is that I won't see any drop in charge percentage over night.

Then, it's on to seeing how long we can use the a/c on a trip...how long the kids can watch the tv... can we make a couple of bags of popcorn... can we keep the fridge on cool...etc.

My fear is that even with what I would consider to be mild usage...and even in the warm California sun throughout the day... we're not going to get anywhere near 5 days of off rid capability.

Of course companies are going to puff up their claims... but this is from the horse's mouth... "With a full suite of factory-installed, integrated technology to provide at home comfort when connected and for up to five days when disconnected."...

No asterisk. No small print. No disclaimers. If it'll go 4 days... okay, then maybe its a colorable claim. But if we users are not getting even a single day out of modest usage off the grid... well, I'm no lawyer (wait...actually I am a lawyer)...that sounds like false advertising to me. it's really no different in substance than Porsche/VW's false claims about their gas mileage.

So, setting aside the horrible customer service side of things in terms of putting out this supposedly integrated system to the public in a half-a$$ manner and relying on SactoSteve and his merry band of electrical engineers...I think Winnebago potentially has a real problem on their hands.

Simply put, had I known that I would only get a day or even two days (and not 5) of off-grid usage from the FLX, I would not have purchased it. I would have purchased a cheaper unit and had a proper system installed by an after market shop. For the delta in cost between the FLX series and the lesser models, this could have easily been done with more power and no need for the hands-on troubleshooting.

Okay...sorry...just super annoyed - yet, again, incredibly thankful to SactoSteve and the others for sussing all of this stuff out...

SactoSteve · 05-23-2023, 09:56 PM

Thanks for the thanks. You are right there weren’t that many changes required but they are key. Xantrex and GoPower were very helpful!

Anxious to hear your findings. (I wouldn’t be too optimistic about the use of the AC) 😉

Thanks, again,
Steve