Misbehaving PD9280 - A Bit Long
So, here's a good one. DW and I decide we're going camping Feb 8-11. I have the weekend off (amazing!), DW can clear her calendar that weekend, and the kids have Monday off due to the Family Day holiday. So we load up and head for Rathtrevor Provincial Park. I leave first as the kids get out of school 2pm Friday. Buddy of ours follows me down in his little Tracker and tiny trailer. We get camp setup, family finishes the trailer when they arrive. Now, it's just barely 0C (32F) out, so I have the heater going to start warming the trailer up.
Come to find out that we can't use the 35 odd gallons of water as I can't get flow via the pump. Pump's working, but almost no flow. Like this at both the inside sink and the outside valve. Hmm, line from pump to first Tee must be frozen. Leave the pump off. I do get full flow later Saturday, once the heater has managed (after a mighty struggle) to warm things up a little.
So, Saturday afternoon I look at the XBM, wow we've used some serious juice. Time to fire up Lil Red (Honda eu2000i). Well, Lil Red is a bit cranky due to the cold and not having been run in a long time. But, finally, after what must be 3 dozen yanks on the rope, she starts. Runs fine for a moment, but stalls just before I can apply loads. Yep, she's cranky all right. Get going again, and this time, she holds. Go inside and close the main breaker followed by the charger breaker. Pendent say PD9280 is in BOOST mode.
Look at the XBM - only 30Amps flowing into the battery bank. WTF?!?! :h We've used over 120Ah so far, this thing should be pushing out 80+ Amps!!!! I've even flipped the inverter off and her loads to shorepower. My first thought is the charger is uber cold and something may not be happy.
SO, it takes 2 hours, and we barely clear 60Ah back to the bank. And it wasn't an overloaded Lil Red, even with 2 chargers, fridge (That didn't even run once), space heater on low (750W). I'm starting to think Lil Red has an inverter issue - poor waveform as I've seen this behaviour with the PD9280 on other generators.
Sunday rolls around, XBM indicating 145Ah used. Yup, time to recharge. So, I flash up Lil Red, only takes 3 pulls this time. Don't think she likes the cold weather! Engage the charger, only to find again, at best 30Amps output?!? :h OK, something is really not happy.
So, fast forward to this past Tuesday (Feb 18). I have the morning to myself so I decide to head out and look at the charger. It did the same 30Amp output with the trailer connected to shorepower at home. So, now I'm thinking it's the charger.
First job, check the 3 30Amp fuses in case one or two of them popped. But, nope, all 3 are good. OK, so I guess it's time to bench the charger. That was a chore to get out of where it's mounted. I've already cut a 1ft square hole in the DS's bed to get to the thing. I find out real quick that the negative is grounded to the unit's case (and have a nice blister on my middle finger from where Alan Key burned me! :E:E). Get the unit through the hole, and the first thing I notice is something large is rattling around inside. Hmm, didn't do that when I installed it 6 years ago.:?
So, now the PD9280 is on the work bench. I still haven't got the case apart as there's a part of the bottom curled up and around the bottom of the heatsink. Kinda tough to move it. But, I did manage to pry the top open enough to peak inside and see that there are 2 large filter capacitors rolling around inside, completely disconnected from anything.:E Well, no wonder the thing isn't working right!
Now, if I can get that blasted case opened up I can either re-solder the caps into their respective spots, or I can get new ones and solder them in.
BTW, does anyone know how to open a PD9280 case?
Cheers!
Mike
Come to find out that we can't use the 35 odd gallons of water as I can't get flow via the pump. Pump's working, but almost no flow. Like this at both the inside sink and the outside valve. Hmm, line from pump to first Tee must be frozen. Leave the pump off. I do get full flow later Saturday, once the heater has managed (after a mighty struggle) to warm things up a little.
So, Saturday afternoon I look at the XBM, wow we've used some serious juice. Time to fire up Lil Red (Honda eu2000i). Well, Lil Red is a bit cranky due to the cold and not having been run in a long time. But, finally, after what must be 3 dozen yanks on the rope, she starts. Runs fine for a moment, but stalls just before I can apply loads. Yep, she's cranky all right. Get going again, and this time, she holds. Go inside and close the main breaker followed by the charger breaker. Pendent say PD9280 is in BOOST mode.
Look at the XBM - only 30Amps flowing into the battery bank. WTF?!?! :h We've used over 120Ah so far, this thing should be pushing out 80+ Amps!!!! I've even flipped the inverter off and her loads to shorepower. My first thought is the charger is uber cold and something may not be happy.
SO, it takes 2 hours, and we barely clear 60Ah back to the bank. And it wasn't an overloaded Lil Red, even with 2 chargers, fridge (That didn't even run once), space heater on low (750W). I'm starting to think Lil Red has an inverter issue - poor waveform as I've seen this behaviour with the PD9280 on other generators.
Sunday rolls around, XBM indicating 145Ah used. Yup, time to recharge. So, I flash up Lil Red, only takes 3 pulls this time. Don't think she likes the cold weather! Engage the charger, only to find again, at best 30Amps output?!? :h OK, something is really not happy.
So, fast forward to this past Tuesday (Feb 18). I have the morning to myself so I decide to head out and look at the charger. It did the same 30Amp output with the trailer connected to shorepower at home. So, now I'm thinking it's the charger.
First job, check the 3 30Amp fuses in case one or two of them popped. But, nope, all 3 are good. OK, so I guess it's time to bench the charger. That was a chore to get out of where it's mounted. I've already cut a 1ft square hole in the DS's bed to get to the thing. I find out real quick that the negative is grounded to the unit's case (and have a nice blister on my middle finger from where Alan Key burned me! :E:E). Get the unit through the hole, and the first thing I notice is something large is rattling around inside. Hmm, didn't do that when I installed it 6 years ago.:?
So, now the PD9280 is on the work bench. I still haven't got the case apart as there's a part of the bottom curled up and around the bottom of the heatsink. Kinda tough to move it. But, I did manage to pry the top open enough to peak inside and see that there are 2 large filter capacitors rolling around inside, completely disconnected from anything.:E Well, no wonder the thing isn't working right!
Now, if I can get that blasted case opened up I can either re-solder the caps into their respective spots, or I can get new ones and solder them in.
BTW, does anyone know how to open a PD9280 case?
Cheers!
Mike
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