RegGuheert said:
But I did just think of something else to try: My SingBox Pro HD has not been working these past few days and I just put two-and-two together enough to realize that the power supply for that unit MIGHT just be the culprit. Those SlingBox power supplies only last about two years before they need replacement. I'm on the FOURTH one so far. However, those failures never caused a problem with the Enphase communications before. But this failure is different. Normally, the LED on the SlingBox goes off and the power supply gets cool. But this time the LED is still lit, the power supply is warm but the SingBox cannot communicate over the network. In any case, I have now unplugged that power supply. If that was the cause of the problems, I will know pretty soon after the Sun comes up this morning.
That was it! Proper communications with the microinverters has been restored by simply unplugging the power supply for the SlingBox Pro HD. As of right now, all 12 of the M215IGs which had out-of-date firmware have been successfully updated and 8 of the 9 (used) M250s have also been successfully updated. I'm confident the last M250 will be updated today or tomorrow. Once that is complete, I will switch back to the old Envoy overnight so that no data is lost.
Interestingly, the improvement in signal quality was not detected by the Envoy: It showed TWO bars of signal quality both before and after I unplugged the offending power supply. That partially explains why I did not pick up on this when I turned off breakers one at a time on Monday.
As it turns out, the updates were to the same version of firmware that most of the other fourth-generation inverters currently have installed. The commands used looked like this:
For the M215IGs, first:
"Starting download of parm0, part number 540-00067-r01-v01.20.01
Completed download of parm0, part number 540-00067-r01-v01.20.01"
For the M250s, first:
"Completed download of parm1, part number 540-00060-r01-v01.20.01
Completed download of parm1, part number 540-00060-r01-v01.20.01"
For both types, then:
"Starting download of procload, part number 520-00044-r01-v01.20.00
Completed download of procload, part number 520-00044-r01-v01.20.00"
Assuming the last M250 successfully updates to this version, the system now contains the following inverters and Envoys Along with the version of firmware they have installed:
12: M190s (Operating): 520-00008-r01-v01.08.01
23: M190s (Cold spares): 520-00008-r01-v01.08.01
1: M190IG (Operating, Plastic case, 48Vmax): 520-00044-r01-v01.20.00
2: M190IG (Cold spares, Metal case, 60Vmax): Firmware unknown since these have never been installed
24: M215IGs (Operating, Plastic case): 520-00044-r01-v01.20.00
4: M215IGs (Operating, Metal case): 520-00044-r01-v01.22.00
13: M250s (Operating, plastic case): 520-00044-r01-v01.20.00
1: Envoy (Operating, Single USB): R3.7.28 (88072d)
1: Envoy-R-NA (Cold spare, Dual USB): R3.12.45 (f9b2fc)
Totals:
Microinverters:
Operating:
- 42-Fourth-generation (1-M190IG-48V, 28-M215IGs and 13-M250s)
- 12-Third-generation (12-M190s)
Cold Spares:
- 2-Fourth-generation (2-M190IG-60V)
- 23-Third-generation (23-M190s)
Envoys:
Operating:
- 1-Envoy (Single USB)
Cold spare:
- 1-Envoy-R-NA (Dual USB)
Thanks again for your help debugging this issue! Kudos to Tim at Enphase for calling this issue correctly within about one minute of the first and only support call.