maximizer

[witsender]

Hi guys
I am trying to repair a number of AERL "MAXIMIZER" (sic) units. These units are used in photovoltaic/lead-acid installations, where they convert the output of the photovoltaic generators to voltages and currents suitable to maintain lead acid batteries.
A major difficulty with the repair is that we have no circuit diagrams; also the numbers have been scraped off the chips on the controller boards.
Can anyone can help me find the needed information please?

 

[davenn]

hi there
welcome to the forums

have you tried their homepage ?


cheers
Dave

 

[KrisBlueNZ]

Hi witsender and welcome to Electronics Point

Cool nick!

Some in-focus, well-illuminated photos would be a good start.

Best lighting is outside on a bright overcast day, where the clouds scatter the light so it's coming from all angles. Avoid direct sunlight because it reflects off the board.

Take photos of both sides. For the underside, one straight-on view is enough. For the top, take one straight-on view and four views from a slight angle. Also a top side view with bright back-lighting can be helpful.

Annotate all connectors with a description of what they connect to.
Annotate any components that are large and/or have three or more terminals with their markings, if they haven't been removed.

That should give us a general idea of the circuit flow. It's likely at least some of the ICs will be common types and we may be able to recognise them by looking at how they're connected.

How do you feel about tracing out the schematic?

Can you recognise basic components like resistors, capacitors, inductors, transistors? Do you know the resistor colour code?

How many units do you have? What faults are on them?

What equipment do you have to test them with? A variable voltage power supply to simulate a solar panel? A battery?

Anything else that might be relevant?