Troubleshooting

Start with what you see:

Where problems show up

When something needs attention, Power Manifold says so in several places:

a red line near the top of the web interface;
the Problem sensor in Home Assistant, whose detail attribute says what is wrong;
the lights: a red, fast-blinking light for a port that faulted, the chassis light (left of port 1) blinking red when the input voltage is out of range, and the chassis light breathing red when there’s no network.

The web interface’s Fault log keeps a history of past faults.

A port blinks red

The port shut itself off to protect your device or the blade. The usual causes are a device drawing more current than the port offers, a short in the cable or device, or a blade that got too hot. The fault log entry says which one.

The port tries again by itself after 5 seconds. If the cause is still there, it faults again, and the light keeps blinking.

What to try:

Unplug the device, wait for the light to turn white, and plug it back in.
Try a different cable. A damaged cable is a common cause.
If the log says plug-hot or converter-hot, check that nothing blocks the vents, especially the fan’s on the right side, and that the fan is on auto. Let it cool down.
If the same device faults on every port, the device is the problem.

A device doesn’t charge, or charges slowly

Light white with the device plugged in: the port doesn’t see the device. Reseat the cable at both ends, or try another cable. Some cheap USB-A to USB-C adapters and cables don’t work with USB-C chargers.
Light off: the port is switched off. Turn it on with the switch on its card on the web interface or in Home Assistant. If you didn’t switch it off, check whether switch off once charged or the sleep timer is on, or whether the port is set to stay off at power-up.
Light pulsing slowly: the port is turned down because the chassis is at its budget. See Sharing power.
Laptop charges slower than expected: check the port’s voltage cap and current limit. Laptops need 20 V, and more than 60 W needs a 5 A cable.

Ports capped at 3 A

The problem line says bus voltage sagging, ports capped at 3 A. The input voltage from your power supply fell below 20 V, so every port was limited to 60 W to take load off it. It lifts by itself 30 seconds after the voltage recovers.

If it happens often:

your supply is too small for your devices, so lower the budget to match it, or use a bigger supply;
or the cable from the supply is too long or too thin, so use a shorter, thicker one.

If the voltage keeps falling, Power Manifold disconnects all ports at about 17.7 V and reconnects them when the voltage returns. The fault log records the low voltage.

Bus voltage out of range

The chassis light, left of port 1, blinks red, and the problem line says bus voltage low or bus voltage high. The input voltage from your power supply is outside Power Manifold’s rating of 24 V +20 %/−15 %. The ports keep their power, but check the power supply, its output setting and its cable. The light goes back to dim green once the voltage is back in range.

A port shows silent or not answering

The blade stopped responding to the controller. The port keeps its power and the controller keeps asking. The readings you see are the last ones it got. This usually clears by itself. If it doesn’t, switch the port off and on again. If that doesn’t help, switch the power supply off and on again.

No network

The chassis light, left of port 1, breathing red means the controller has no network address.

Wi-Fi: check that the network is up. After five minutes off the network the controller opens Bluetooth, so you can enter new Wi-Fi details if your network changed.
Ethernet: check the cable and that your router hands out addresses. If you set a fixed address, check that it is still free and correct.

The ports keep working with no network. Only the web interface, Home Assistant and the API are unavailable.

Can’t reach the web interface

Try the IP address from your router instead of pwrman.local. Some networks and older Android phones don’t resolve .local names.
If you renamed the device, the address is http://<new-name>.local/.

Forgot the API token

You can’t recover the token. To set a new one, do a factory reset and repeat first-time setup. If you have a settings export that includes secrets, you can import it after the reset.

Message	What it means
trial firmware uncommitted	A firmware update is on trial. It clears within a few seconds when the update succeeds. See Updates.
wired link down	The Ethernet cable is unplugged or the switch is off. Wi-Fi is carrying traffic for now.
on battery / UPS battery fault	Your UPS power supply lost mains power or reports a battery problem.
bus voltage out of range	The input voltage is outside the rated range. See Bus voltage out of range.