David Tinker

Thanks. I never got to try this out. It turns out that part of my inverter is blown and it is putting a dead short across the batteries. So no surprise they aren't happy.

Hi All I have a Kodak (Axpert) 7.2 kW inverter with solar panels and 3 Shoto 4.8 kW batteries. I used an electric chainsaw while the system was in solar/battery/grid mode and the batteries all tripped (red ALM showing) and the inverter switched to grid mode. The chainsaw is only 2000W but presumably draws a lot more when it starts up. I can reset the batteries while connected to the inverted but they immediately trip. I disconnected the batteries from the inverter, reset all of them and they are happy. However re-connecting immediately trips them. I remember reading somewhere that a capacitor in the inverter charges up when they connect and the inrush current trips the batteries. Does anyone know how to solve this problem? Some way to limit the current or pre-charge the capacitor? Thanks

I eventually got mine to communicate with Solar Assistant using the RS232 port and SA controls the inverter. SA had to make some changes to the software. I could not get the batteries to do anything with the RS485 port. So now I have SA monitoring just one of my 3 batteries but they stay more or less in sync so thats fine. The system is working well.

Thanks! That did the trick. We were using 5.8kW at the time and its a hot day + garage gets quite warm. Will have to be careful. Getting aircon for the inverter will be kinda ironic.

Hi Guys My inverter turned off earlier today with F02 which is "Internal temp too high" according to the manual. I have switched over to Eskom and disconnected the PV. It is still showing F02 and the fans are on full blast. The on/off button the panel doesn't seem to do anything. How to I get it to turn on again? I am assuming it should have cooled down by now. Tx.

Ok thanks. My s/w is only talking to one of the batteries anyway so thats not a problem.

I have 2 x Shoto SDA10 4.8's (15S version) that are approximately 6 months old. Am I likely to have problems if I add another brand new one to this setup? Tx.

This is a great opportunity to upgrade to one of the 5.12's!

I have 2 of these and have finally managed to get them sort of working. Mine have done approx 100 cycles each and I could do with a 3rd battery with similar usage. Tx. I am in Cape Town.

I managed to get RS232 communication working with my batteries but only to one or the other, the cascade using RS485 does not seem to work. I also have software from Shoto that communicates with the batteries and Solar Assistant is also working (to one battery but thats ok as they are now in sync .. see below). I had more problems with uneven charging. Basically one of the batteries would stop charging at something less than 100% when the other one was full. This got worse every day until one was stopping at only 72% after only a week. Shoto advised me to set the battery bulk charge voltage to 57.6 V which finally sorted this out. That is above what it says on the side of the battery but that assured me that the BMS would protect the battery.

I also have 2 of those batteries (15S version). I have managed to get them to communicate with Solar-Assistant using the RS232 port and a RS232 USB adapter purchased from Solar-Assistant. The catch is comms only work with one battery at a time. I have not managed to get the RS485 ports to do anything and the communication between the batteries does not work. Please let me know if you get further than this! I have software from Shoto that will communicate with the battery and show all sorts of info. Mail me if you need this ([email protected]).

Yes I think I have the 15s version. I have an RS485 to USB cable for the connection to the Solar Assistant Raspberry Pi. As far as I am aware the cable between the batteries is simple straight LAN cable (no crossover) which is what I have.

I am not at all certain that that part of the system is working. I do have them connected with a LAN cable. However I have not managed to get them to communicate with Solar Assistant using an RS485 to USB or RS232 to USB cable. Nothing seems to work.

That did the trick. Tx!

Thanks. I will have a look at that.

Tx. The inverter stops charging them. I hadn't thought that not charging completely might be the issue. I have it setup as follows: Battery float charge voltage 51.8 V Battery bulk charge voltage 52.5 V I found those settings on these forums.

I have now had the batteries correctly wired up for 4 days and its better but one still drains considerably faster that the other. If I run things conservatively one battery will be showing 2 or 3 out of 4 state of charge LEDs on in the morning and the other one less. If I am more aggressive then one battery will be on 1 or 2 LEDs and the other flashing alarm. This is after both batteries ended the previous day fully charged. Is this "normal" or is something wrong? How do I figure out if there is a problem with the battery that goes flat quicker? Tx.

His diagram. He also said the wires marked in red need to be the same length.

Thanks. Here it is. I also sent that to my supplier and he said it's not correct.

I have two of these in parallel. Yesterday at the end of the day they were fully charged (all SOC LEDs lit). This morning one of them has 2 SOC LEDs lit and the other is flashing RED in alarm mode which I believe indicates it is flat. Do I have to cascade them to get them to discharge evenly? Tx.

No such luck unfortunately. I also tried a powered USB hub and again only the inverter is recognized. Tx for all the help.

I have a USB to RS485 and a USB to RS232.

Tx. The inverter is connected using the micro USB port. That worked straight away and I have has no issues.

I have two of these and am struggling to get Solar Assistant to communicate with them. Pierre (from SA) has been very helpful but there is only so much someone in PTA can do to help with battery issues in CTN. I have tried two different RS485 USB cables and a RS232 USB cable (all from SA), on both batteries (no connection between them), with various dip switch settings (all off, one on left, one on right, resetting battery after each change) connected to the Solar Assistant Raspberry Pi (tried different USB ports). Anyone know what might be wrong? Anyone know where I might be able to get some other software to test with or some info on the communication protocol so I can do that myself (I write s/w)? I have a Kodak (Axpert) 7.2 inverter and as far as I know that does not support Shoto batteries so thats not an option. Thanks David