ok got my dremmel out and FINALLY got the track and pad isolated  





So one happy camper anyway the tummy bones are screaming so after lunch let the fun start.

I am not a QC guy but it seems that on most components, solder did not wick the component pins to the top side of the PCB.

I would touch them up with solder again to avoid future problems. Maybe let the tip of the soldering iron heat the joint a little bit longer but just enough so solder will flow better.

Also, to be safe, do the 10 steps in my earlier post.
Edited 2026-03-11 13:32 by tinyt

Ok took your advise Tinyt and soldered in from the top side to ensure every component connected, now I have soldered the caps back in and tied VS1 and VS2 to Gnd turned the unit on and after the caps had charged the idle current was 59mA  

So I do think it's safe to say I can now solder in the new TIP41 and TIP42 chips back in so I can do all those tests again.

HI Bryan, great to hear that you have found a short. I hope that the board runs well after putting it all back together.
Was the short a fault in manufacturing , or a solder bridge?
Anyway good luck, it has been a long project, I am sure you will be a happy fellow when it fires up.
Pete

Ok here is the first scope pic

VS1 and VS2 tied to ground

Ch1 to D1 VS1 low
Ch2 to D7 VS2 low




Next scope test
Edited 2026-03-11 15:51 by Bryan1

Test 6. CH1 to R1 Ch2 to D1




Test 7. CH1 to R26 CH2 to D7




Test 8. CH1 to R27 CH2 to D18





Test 9. CH1 to R52 CH2 to D19




So still got a problem there somewhere

Ok this is plain weird

D26 anode voltage measurement




D26 Cathode voltage measurement




They do say a picture says a 1,000 words like If I said D26 anode was 30 volts from a 24 volt supply some question may of been raised.

I don't have the circuit diagram so just guessing.
The high-side MOSFET gates need to be higher than the V+ rail so perhaps D26 is part of a high-side bootstrap circuit that provides the boosted voltage.

  Bryan1 said  

Ok here is the first scope pic

VS1 and VS2 tied to ground

Ch1 to D1 VS1 low
Ch2 to D7 VS2 low




Next scope test

Both signals look good.

  Bryan1 said  

Test 6. CH1 to R1 Ch2 to D1




Test 7. CH1 to R26 CH2 to D7





So still got a problem there somewhere

Test 6. What happened here? Peak to peak for D1 shows about 1.3 volts while previous post shows peak to peak of 13 volts.

Test 7. What happened here? Peak to peak for D7 shows about 1.3 volts while previous post shows peak to peak of 13 volts.

Any setup changed from the previous post?
Edited 2026-03-11 23:01 by tinyt

  Bryan1 said  

Test 6. CH1 to R1 Ch2 to D1

Test 8. CH1 to R27 CH2 to D18





So still got a problem there somewhere

H01 signal from picoverter missing, hopefully just loose connection in the ribbon cable or mating sockets. With power off, ohm out H01 signal from picoverter to power board R27

Footnote added 2026-03-11 23:14 by tinyt
Do not disconnect ribbon cable, leave it as is until you have ohm'ed out the H01 signal. If you disconnect prior, the problem might disappear.

  Bryan1 said  

Test 9. CH1 to R52 CH2 to D19




So still got a problem there somewhere

This looks good.

Morning Guy's well with those scope pic's yesterday got egg on my face   as the earth lead for the scope wasn't connected.

So this morning used the scope and found L01, L02 and H02 all showed the correct waveforms but H01 is still offline.

Now trying to ohm the pin for H02 on the 10 pin connector on the power board to the 20 ohm resistor(R27) is in the kilo ohm range. Now as this pin does have it's track on the top layer I'm sure my soldering isn't going all the way up.

Also checking the IR2184 to R27 was open circuit so changed the chip and found it was in the kilo ohm range not open circuit, now with with L01, L02 and H02 the ohm check was in the low ohm range.

OK I may of found a fix   soldered in a jumper wire from the H01 pin on the 10 pin connector to the base of R27 so it now a solid connection.

Time to test this hack out  
Edited 2026-03-12 10:18 by Bryan1

Ok scope pic's

Ch1 L01
CH2 L02




Ch1 L01
Ch2 H01




Ch1 L02
Ch2 H02




Ch1 H01
Ch2 H02





So I do think it's time to add a mosfet to each leg and see if this energy meter works  

Good luck with it Bryan. I hope it works this time.
Pete

If the mosfets you are going to install are not new, I suggest you do the gate charge test prior to soldering.

  tinyt said  

If the mosfets you are going to install are not new, I suggest you do the gate charge test prior to soldering.

Well just soldered one mosfet on each leg and on setting up for the first test so I will soon see if the fets are bad  

Well got the first glimpse of the energy meter for a few seconds   so took the toroid output off the AC board and connected my DMM where I got to see 25 volts AC then this ticking was heard from the inverter box.

So looks like new mosfets are going in

  Bryan1 said  

Well got the first glimpse of the energy meter for a few seconds   so took the toroid output off the AC board and connected my DMM where I got to see 25 volts AC then this ticking was heard from the inverter box.

So looks like new mosfets are going in

I suggest you scope all signals again to make sure none of the TIPs are damaged.

  tinyt said  

  Bryan1 said  

Well got the first glimpse of the energy meter for a few seconds   so took the toroid output off the AC board and connected my DMM where I got to see 25 volts AC then this ticking was heard from the inverter box.

So looks like new mosfets are going in

I suggest you scope all signals again to make sure none of the TIPs are damaged.

That was good idea mate as the H02 TIP's are showing zero voltage on all pins, now the other 3 legs are showing the correct waveforms.