question

paul-holtslag avatar image
paul-holtslag asked

Phoenix inverter 24/1200 alternately blinking red &green

Handcarried this inverter to Philippines for my solar plant (24V, 200Ah lead-acid battery, min 25.2V max 28V, PWM controller, new battery, 50mm2 cables 1.5 meter). Worked brilliantly for 2 weeks at 60Hz, 230V. There was no internet connection.
2 days ago, there was an internet connection and the software updated automatically, no problem. The unit powered an inverter washing machine @ 650W max.
The inverter gets shutdown for the night. Next morning, the red/green lights started blinking alternately in 1 second tact. No output. The input voltage is min 25.2V and max 28V (measured with a Fluke at the inverter connections.
I cannot take the inverter to the dealer, a bit too far. Can somebody please give an indication what the blinking lights might mean and how to correct it? Thank you!

Phoenix Inverter
4 comments
2 |3000

Up to 8 attachments (including images) can be used with a maximum of 190.8 MiB each and 286.6 MiB total.

vandwelleur avatar image vandwelleur commented ·

I am also having this issue. It was working fine last night, then I woke up this morning and I cannot get it to function regardless of fiddling with settings, hard reset on all systems etc. I am out on the road avoiding COVID and need this to function for me to work. I suspect its a firmware update issue, but I cannot rollback the version from what I can tell.

0 Likes 0 ·
Daniël Boekel (Victron Energy Staff) avatar image Daniël Boekel (Victron Energy Staff) ♦♦ vandwelleur commented ·

Hi @VanDwelleur

What is the led blinking sequence?

Can you still connect to it with Victron Connect?

0 Likes 0 ·
vandwelleur avatar image vandwelleur Daniël Boekel (Victron Energy Staff) ♦♦ commented ·

Its the slow Red/Green alternating sequence. Its speed corresponds to the "CALIBRATION OR PARAMETER ERROR" Led Definition shown in the Victron Toolkit app. Firmware v1.19

For context I am using a 7s18p 18650 bank for my battery.

0 Likes 0 ·
Daniël Boekel (Victron Energy Staff) avatar image Daniël Boekel (Victron Energy Staff) ♦♦ vandwelleur commented ·

Ok @VanDwelleur

I've sent you an email.

0 Likes 0 ·
7 Answers
Daniël Boekel (Victron Energy Staff) avatar image
Daniël Boekel (Victron Energy Staff) answered ·

Hi @VanDwelleur

I've got an answer already:

Its solved in v1.20 - available for now only on Victron Professional. So download it there, and then follow the manual update procedure as explained in the VictronConnect manual.

Approx. week from now we’ll release a new VictronConnect in which it will be included - then there is no more need for manually looking for the file and such.


I'll email you the fimware file, you can install it with VictronConnect.

Please let me know the result.

2 |3000

Up to 8 attachments (including images) can be used with a maximum of 190.8 MiB each and 286.6 MiB total.

Justin Cook avatar image
Justin Cook answered ·

@Paul Holtslag, what the lights mean depends entirely upon their particular blink pattern, so without seeing it firsthand I can't tell you what they're indicating... but I can tell you where to find the tool that you can use to diagnose this :)

Go to https://www.victronenergy.com/support-and-downloads/software and scroll down until you see the "Victron Toolkit App", and there are links to downloads both for Android and iOS devices; once you've downloaded and installed the app, open it and you'll see three options: "Cable calc", "LED definitions", and "Temp derating"... obviously you'll want to open "LED definitions", then you'll select your device family -in this case, it should be "Phoenix Inverter 800VA-1200VA"- and then you can scroll through all the different LED code definitions, presented very realistically as you're looking at the back of your unit. Once you've found the flashing code that matches what you're seeing, you can press the orange bar at the bottom for a more detailed explanation of what's happening and one or more suggestions of how to remedy it.

1 comment
2 |3000

Up to 8 attachments (including images) can be used with a maximum of 190.8 MiB each and 286.6 MiB total.

paul-holtslag avatar image paul-holtslag commented ·

@Justin Cook

Thank you for the answer, please see the issue below.

For the 800VA-1200VA, the tool does not describe the alarm, but for the smaller Phoenix, the tool says:

Calibration - The inverter is not calibrated. Return it to Victron service for repair.

That is my problem... How come the unit suddenly runs out of calibration (possibly a link with the automatic update during the last run??).
The Phoenix is often used in boats travelling out of reach of service centers.
A unit which runs out of calibration and cannot be fixed locally is pretty useless if you are offshore or abroad and got good hardware installed. So, I hope to find a way to fix the issue without having to book a ticket halfway around the world.

0 Likes 0 ·
mvader (Victron Energy) avatar image
mvader (Victron Energy) answered ·

Hi Paul, did you solve this in the end? How?

2 |3000

Up to 8 attachments (including images) can be used with a maximum of 190.8 MiB each and 286.6 MiB total.

Robert avatar image
Robert answered ·

Hello,


I have the same problem : Phoenix inverter 24/1200 alternately blinking red &green.

The unit was just bought, but it came from a shop in Slovakia and I am in France, so returning it would incur rather expensive postage.

Is there any way to correct it via re-flashing the firmware?

Victron Connect says it is on the latest V1.22, and the firmware download page only offers V1.21. Downgrading seems not to be supported, in any case the attempt gives error D90.

Is there any way to obtain a new copy of V1.22 to be able to re-flash it?

Many thanks!

Robert

1 comment
2 |3000

Up to 8 attachments (including images) can be used with a maximum of 190.8 MiB each and 286.6 MiB total.

Robert avatar image Robert commented ·

p.s.: The D90 error came with the file phoenix_inverter_A272_v01.21.dup which should be the correct file for the Phoenix 24/1200

0 Likes 0 ·
GaMe YoU avatar image
GaMe YoU answered ·

I have the same problem degree symbol: Phoenix inverter 24/1200 alternately blinking red &green.

The unit was just bought, but it came from a shop in Slovakia and I am in France, so returning it would incur rather expensive postage.

Is there any way to correct it via re-flashing the firmware?

Victron Connect says it is on the latest V1.22, and the firmware download page only offers V1.21. Downgrading seems not to be supported, in any case the attempt gives error D90.

Is there any way to obtain a new copy of V1.22 to be able to re-flash it?

2 |3000

Up to 8 attachments (including images) can be used with a maximum of 190.8 MiB each and 286.6 MiB total.

kennedy-kyalo avatar image
kennedy-kyalo answered ·

8FB8377E-8C34-4C45-9319-D756DC90DA4A.pngF0F63922-AFCD-49FD-ABEB-12B7F642D756.png@Daniël Boekel (Victron Energy Staff)

Kindly help me with a similar issue. My phoenix 12 | 800 is experiencing the same error. Red and Green alternative blinking. I cannot update the firmware because I am running v1.21. Shows a low voltage even when connected to new 12 v 100ah battery. I have connected it to 3 other batteries but the problem won’t go away. How can I recalibrate this unit?


4 comments
2 |3000

Up to 8 attachments (including images) can be used with a maximum of 190.8 MiB each and 286.6 MiB total.

Hi @Kevin Windrem

Can you measure the voltage at the input of the inverter please? can you make a picture of that?

0 Likes 0 ·
Kevin Windrem avatar image Kevin Windrem Daniël Boekel (Victron Energy Staff) ♦♦ commented ·
was this for me? I haven't been invokved in this thread so not sure what you are asking of me.
0 Likes 0 ·
wjf avatar image wjf Daniël Boekel (Victron Energy Staff) ♦♦ commented ·
@Daniël Boekel (Victron Energy Staff) Did this ever come to a conclusion? If so, what is the answer?
0 Likes 0 ·
Robert avatar image Robert wjf commented ·
In my case it had to be returned to the vendor for replacement ...
0 Likes 0 ·
paul-holtslag avatar image
paul-holtslag answered ·

In my case: find WiFi, connect with MK3-USB and update the software. Problem resolved.

2 |3000

Up to 8 attachments (including images) can be used with a maximum of 190.8 MiB each and 286.6 MiB total.