must be something thermal surely, but what? :twisted: The control unit is in direct contact with the underside of the sunroof so gets very hot very quickly. I've inserted a couple of felt pads to give a few mm of spacing.
I also noticed the system still works if the sunroof is left open tilted ...

I think my "damp grunge" theory is looking very plausible. We had a measurable (just) amount of rain this afternoon and humidity went up a lot.
Unlocking the car (testing my resynced remote :roll: ) I could hear the pump running longer than usual; I then opened the boot to get something out and ...

So you should be able to resync the second key with the usual procedure then, which I think is...
So my recent key sync issues, which resurfaced again today, seem to just be down to failing batteries.
After fitting fresh ones it still didn't work, but this AI-suggested procedure (subtly different ...

I think the same guy in Germany does them, or parts of them. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/126314927892

Not working now. :twisted: But this cool morning in the bright sun it's whirring away happily. :?
But by 11:30am it's stopped - must be something thermal surely, but what? :twisted:
And working again a few minutes later, though we do have intermittent clouds so it might be cooling down when shaded ...

Just opened up the roof lining and tested it.
Didn't fire up at all until there was a bit of sun, so I suspect there may be a trigger level of input. But then kept going behind cloud.
Input voltage was varying but typically somewhat over 12V and output just slightly under 3V to the fan.
If we get ...

Sod's law says it will then work! :lol: And it does! :o :?
Who knows, bad contact somewhere, dry joint remade by being disturbed? Fan is humming quietly in partial sun. :!:

It doesn't make much sense as I thought I tested everything at every stage...
BUT, thinking carefully I ONLY tested the ...

MikkiJayne wrote: Tue Aug 18, 2026 4:49 pmNormal for a solar panel I think

Indeed, I was thinking the same.
Going onto the back burner for a while given the lack of sunny days forecast for when I have some spare time.
I might just pop the failed controller back in to tidy up the loose cables. Sod's law says it will then work!

I'm never quite sure about (remote) key syncing, I get occasional weirdness with mine, in fact it happened again yesterday!
I "think" due to accidental in-pocket button presses (buttons do seem very sensitive on my key) my key gets "out of sync" with the car, so I have to revert to manually ...

Hmm, not looking so good now. Connected up fully the panel voltage input to the unit drops to 3V and the output to the fan is minimal though there's a sort of small clunk/thump from that area when completing the circuit.
I've tried different voltage settings, down to 3V BUT the unit still gets warm ...