Not dead just yet - EVE 280Ah LFP cells in a Goal Zero Yeti 1250

[BiduleOhm]

It looks half decent. Can't promise it'll work again but you can try to clean it (water and soap is fine, avoid harsh solvents like acetone), dry it (an hair dryer is great for that), then clean it and dry it again with some 99 % IPA

Avoid putting liquids in the transformers (the blocks with the yellow tape around) as they would take a long time to dry (lots of layers, etc...).

What's really irritating is that you can see they put some conformal coating on the board but not everywhere (really looks like a case of "let's quickly swipe the brush here and here, done!"...), if they would have then the board would be fine

Unless that got very wet, or you live near salt water, I would scour the board with a microscope and find the blown capacitor that caused the corrosion…

It's not a cap, the whole thing took a bath because of an hurricane.

 

[Bob142]

It looks half decent. Can't promise it'll work again but you can try to clean it (water and soap is fine, avoid harsh solvents like acetone), dry it (an hair dryer is great for that), then clean it and dry it again with some 99 % IPA

Avoid putting liquids in the transformers (the blocks with the yellow tape around) as they would take a long time to dry (lots of layers, etc...).

What's really irritating is that you can see they put some conformal coating on the board but not everywhere (really looks like a case of "let's quickly swipe the brush here and here, done!"...), if they would have then the board would be fine




It's not a cap, the whole thing took a bath because of an hurricane.

Thanks @BiduleOhm. I appreciate your input. I'll take care to keep the transformers dry as I work to clean it up. If nothing else, we've learned a little about Goal Zero's manufacturing attention to detail back in the day. I wonder if they've improved.

I'm hoping to get to this in the next few days. ?

 

[Bob142]

I cleaned up everywhere that looked like it needed it as well as I could. Connected up a battery and... no joy.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained. In this case, something ventured, nothing gained. Time to cook up a new plan for this shell...

 

[curiouscarbon]

all experiments with a log of results are successful ? thank you for sharing the outcome.

best of luck with the next experiment! ?️

 

[Bob142]

For those of you keeping score at home, the Yeti 1250 has a combined nearly 9 lbs (4.078 kg) of aluminum heat sinks. Most of it being the massive slab that forms the back of the unit. Not sure what to do with it at this point.

 

[Bob142]

The story of my modified Yeti 1250 has sadly come to an abrupt and unexpected end.

It now seems ridiculous that I wrote that after the flood. Of course this story isn't over!

I hollowed out the Yeti and have started planning how to use the shell for a new build. After removing the electronics and heat sink from the back, it looks like I can get a couple 20A SCCs and a 1200W inverter in that space. I'll need to fashion a new back panel with some additional ventilation holes but that shouldn't be a big deal. I also expect to be able to use most of the front panel I/O ports, and am still pondering how to use the display window.

Here are a few pics. I'll document as I go rather than waiting until the end as I usually do.