POWEROPTIMAL Elon 100 Water Heating Unit Instruction Manual

Elon® 100 Troubleshooting
Basics for Technicians V1.0

NOTE: This Troubleshooting Guide is intended for technicians and not general users. Users should please refer to the User Manual, which can be found at www.poweroptimal.com/manuals. Please see page 7 for a summary of the Elon®’s controller and LED lights. You will need an AC & DC Multimeter with clamp adapter.

Information about the Site

Unit no.| | Development name| | Elon® serial no.|
---|---|---|---|---|---
Date| | Name: 1 st level  support person|
Unit construction status
(Works OR Final Completion)| | Resident name|
Reported issue (customer)| | Reported issue (Level 1 Support)|

A Few Notes Before You Start

• If you have a test / extra remote control (little black box with the control dial & lights), plug it into the Elon® unit.
• If you identify the problem at a specific step, you can stop there and write your conclusion.
• If you replace an Elon®, thermostat, element or wiring, you should commission the system again as per the Installation Manual.

On Arrival at Site – Preparation Checks

1

| Talk to Client / Manager to find out what the issue is.| Was it a new install or a retrofit? Was the issue present from the start, or did the issue start some time after installation?|
2| Is geyser AC on at house DB?| Check that the geyser is switched on at the main house DB. Is there power in the house (i.e. it’s not loadshedding or no prepaid credits)?|

When You are at the Geyser & Elon unit

(unscrew) the lid of the Elon 100 unit.
See the wiring diagram on the previous page for reference. Confirm that:
1.  Solar panels are connected to Elon terminals 1 & 2 (marked “SOLAR PANEL”)
2. Terminals marked “ELEMENT” on green element adapter (plugged into geyser element) are connected to Elon terminals 3 & 4 (marked “ELEMENT”)
3. Thermostat is connected to Elon terminals 5 & 6 (marked “THERMOSTAT”)
4. Grid power (neutral, line, earth) is connected to Elon terminals 7, 8 and 9 (marked “NEUTRAL”, “LINE” and “EARTH”)|
3| Set thermostat to 10 °C and turn Elon remote control dial to “SOLAR ONLY”| |
4| Confirm correct polarity and check voltage of solar power (DC) input| Use your multimeter to check polarity at terminals 1 & 2. (Set multimeter to DC voltage measurement. You should measure a positive voltage with the red probe touching terminal 1.) Check the DC voltage – it should be between 70 and 240V DC in good sunlight, depending on the number of solar panels.|
_V DC
5| Check voltage of grid power (AC) input| Set multimeter to AC voltage measurement. Check the AC voltage on terminals 7 & 8 – it should be between 200 and 250V AC.|
V AC
6| Confirm that thermostat is open| Set multimeter to DC voltage. Check DC voltage on terminals 5 & 6 – it should be  between 11.5 and 13.5V DC. Polarity is not important.|
_ V DC
---|---|---|---
7| Confirm no power output to geyser| Confirm 0V DC and 0V AC on terminals 3 & 4 using your multimeter.|
8| Confirm steady red & green lights on remote control| Both the red and green lights should be on. (Note that it will take 5 min from switching on AC power to the Elon before the red light will come on.)|
9| Set thermostat to 70 °C| The green LED should now switch off (indicating water temperature below thermostat set point temperature)|
10| Check that thermostat is closed| Set multimeter to DC voltage. Check DC voltage on terminals 5 & 6 – it should be 0V (zero V). Polarity is not important. If not 0V now, thermostat might be faulty.|
11| Check that solar power is feeding to geyser| Green light on remote control should be flashing. Confirm presence of DC voltage on terminals 3 & 4. It should be the same DC voltage as on terminals 1 & 2.|
12| Turn Elon remote control dial to “AC only”| |
13| Check that grid power is feeding to geyser| Red light on remote control should be flashing & green light should be off. Confirm presence of AC voltage on terminals 3 & 4. It should be the same AC voltage as on terminals 7 & 8.|
14| Set Elon remote control dial back to original setting (setting “3” or “SOLAR ONLY”)| |
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15| Set the thermostat to 10 °C for about 10 seconds and then set it to original set point (e.g. 55 °C or 60 °C)| Check that unit switches back to solar mode in daytime.
If customer needs hot water immediately, you can request one cycle of grid heating by turning the remote control dial to “MAINS ONLY” for a few seconds (until the red light starts flashing) and then turning it back to original set point.|
What was the issue?|
---|---
What did you do to fix it?|

Things to Remember

Note: Once the dial has been turned to “MAINS ONLY”, it will complete a full mains heating cycle (until the thermostat opens). Turning the control back to “SOLAR ONLY” at this point will not immediately switch the unit back to solar power.
It will only switch back again after the mains heating cycle is completed (i.e. the thermostat opens) and the thermostat then closes again. You can finish the mains heating cycle faster by reducing the thermostat temperature setting until the thermostat opens. Test solar power first.
Fast flashing red / green LEDs indicate either:
a. a short between a PV (photovoltaic) lead and earth – this condition prevents solar power to the element;
b. a partial short of the element to earth, e.g., a puncture exposing element to water. This condition can be ruled out by disconnecting both wires to the element. If the LEDs stop flashing, the element is faulty. If the LEDs continue flashing, then the cause is likely as per item a. above.

The Mains & Solar indicator lights (LEDs) indicate the following conditions:

available (mains power to Elon® unit on)
**| Red light ON &  Green light flashing| Heating with solar. Mains power available (mains power to Elon® unit on)
**| Red & Green light  flashing fast| Isolation fault (contact electrician)
| Both lights OFF| No power to unit (e.g. no sun + power failure, or no sun + geyser breaker at DB board is switched off) OR supply voltage outside specifications

The control dial sets the mains & solar times as follows:

Dial Setting| Time on Mains| Time on Solar| 24-Hour Clock
---|---|---|---
MAINS ONLY| 24 hr| Never|
1| 12:00 to 08:00| 08:00 to 12:00|
2| 14:30 to 05:30| 05:30 to 14:30|
3| 17:00 to 03:00| 03:00 to 17:00|
SOLAR ONLY| Never| 24 hr|

• Times are approximate – will vary slightly with season and location

Pictures of main items

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