Arandoza

Morning, I have a Pstar-80, purchased but never been used, am also in the centurion area, originally purchased for around R1200.00 message if interested? want to view etc. Pstar_30-60-80_Controller_Brochure-1.pdf Pstar_30-60-80_Controller_User_manual-1.pdf

Not sure if you have seen this link on the forum ? from Page 16 of the manual ; Uploading Attachment...

My take on geysers is that the thicker the polyurethane in the geyser the better, 60mm, preferred or more, but have not found geysers with more. And then pipe lagging, on all the pipes, cold inlet, hot outlet (for at least 2-4 meters, maybe even better, if it can be almost to the tap and overflow/TP valve and pipe to reduce losses. One problem I have with lagging to the tap is the pipes are not lagged in the walls and hot water pipe loses a large amount of heat to the walls in winter. Timers make no difference, has been my experience, or so little it's negligible. However if you are going to be away for for few days, turn the geyser off, it will save some power, as the geyser will not have try and maintain the geyser temp. The amount of energy used to heat the geyser from, is pretty consistent, but obviously variable based on the starting temp and resultant temperature. So all a timer allows for is remote control or a way to load shift, not really reduce the energy required? One larger geyser is better than many, but can cause more water wastage? due to initial cold water in the pipes? unless you are draining the water into grey water tanks and using it in the garden? or if you have a diverter valve under the counter with each tap that drains the cold water to an alternative pipe which go's to a JOJO tank which can then be used for other uses, once the water heats up the valve allows the hot water out the tap rather than diverting it. Can't recall what the diverter valve is called but saw them some years back. as a water saving otion. Downside Is one has to have a third pip for the initial cold water diversion, at each tap, and or bathroom etc. so best if you are planning to build or do renovations / upgrades. Last thought is to charge batteries first, keep load low, until fully charged, especially in winter, and then only start heating the geyser with "excess / available" pv power :)

For good monitoring software that typically works with Voltronic / Axpert inverters as well as pylontech, one can look at http://www.multisibcontrol.net/ . one then sets the inverter battery settings to user with recommended charge / discharge / float values etc. There are also several articles on the forum to make up the USB - Serial cable for the UP2000 and UP5000 series pylontech cables. One can also use RS485 but with multisib it can only report on a limited number of battery's (8?10? via rs485 I think?) where as with the up5000 you can have up to 16, and on serial it can detect all of them. Or multisib can also do two packs of 16 if UP5000's, via serial or (8? 10? ) on rs485. Serial is preferred for the battery's as it can see all of them. CANBUS will only work with an inverter if the inverter knows how to read the received data. On the topic of firmware for the voltronics, one has to be very careful :) You really have to be sure that you have the correct firmware(s), as from what I have seen they can have multiple firmwares for the inverter, in other words one part for the display, and another for the main board all in one update package, and you have to be sure of what display / mainboard you have etc. search the forum for it and you may get some ideas. However it maybe best to get your supplier involved. As it's somewhat easy to potentially BRICK the inverter, when trying to upgrade versions that are not compatible. Chipsets seem to play a big part here. You could add specifics of the inverter as per the "boiler plate" to the post for the inverter, batteries, panels details voc etc? Photos maybe with the details, it may assist anyone else who can give suggestions on what to look for. You can blank out serial details.

On my Hexing prepaid meter (plugged into a socket before the inverters and main off, one can enter code 808 <enter> and get an instant load reading, which is typically 1-3 watts being drawn by the indoor unit of the hexing prepaid meter I expect. Maybe your indoor meter or customer display has a similar feature to get the instant load reading?

Last thought is, are both inverters showing for menu 28 - PAL (for parallel use) ?? if you need to change this turn off the inverting of BOTH inverters before changing. When paralleled, if settings changes are made, on either inverter, they should reflect to be the same on both master and slave, But i would manually check and verify this, as well. Also assume you have one battery bank ( 2 x volta's) connected to both inverters so the inverters share the bank. Also that you are using the user defined battery setting on both the inverters ? or do the inverters understand the comms (canbus or serial data) from the battery bank? If your inverters have a lithium option they may not understand the battery bank, but this would cause issues more with charging than with one of the units not inverting? I would expect?

Probably best to check with the supplier that supplied the first three units and also with the supplier of the last three units. Hopefully the same supplier? The models of the inverters typically need to be identical, and maybe they only updated firmware? on the 3 new ones? You may find the new inverters even though they look the same are not compatible with the already installed units? possibly due to changes of hardware internally, especially if they months or a year apart? Maybe someone else can assist on the forum, but you would probably have to have to post the spec plate from one of the older and one of the newer inverters with respective versions of firmware installed on them for someone to be able to assist. I had the same issue a few years back and had to buy 4 newer units and sell off the 3 older units, when i wanted to migrate to 4 x inverters for better generation. As firmware updating can brick your unit? The models were significantly different, and did not want to take the risk.

Have you turned on the second inverter ? Usually the small switch under the unit on the right hand side? This turns on the inverting mode? Otherwise if the inverter is connected to batteries and or mains, and has PV power it will turn on and only charge the battery, and night when the PV is off it will turn off completely if no mains supply, to the second unit.

I would turn ECO mode (power Saving) off on both if it's enabled, I expect it could also create a few challenges :) especially if the load is low. Also as you no longer have the pylontechs talking directly to the inverter you may have to set both units to user defined ? As the pylontechs are all talking to SA? Be sure to use the recommended pylontech settings for user defined. The unit that still has pylontech defined, i would it to giving errors regarding the battery as it is no longer connected, directly to the inverter?

Maybe check your parallel cables? maybe they got disturbed and hence the problem? Also check your axpert settings for charging the batteries? Maybe one is on mains and solar and the other one is on mains only or solar only? (charging mode and related settings) Am not familiar with SA so it's possible it may have changed them on the inverter(s)? The axpert inverters when working in parallel will sort of share the PV input load, depending on state of charge and how large the household load is at the time. Once the batteries are full, it will only make a bit more PV than what you need between the two. So one may idle while the other one does a bit of work generating pv?

Tshwane 2025-07 to 2026-06 prepaid, single phase, 60amp, for comparison? The tables from the middle to right, were to get a understanding of average hourly consumption, based on units purchased per month. For example if you only buy 100 units a month, your hourly avg consumption would be 137 watts per hour, maybe enough to operate one or two residential, energy efficient fridges?

More info on the solaredge website : https://www.solaredge.com/za/products/residential/power-optimizers Seems that ARB electrical and Solar edge South Africa are the distributors.

One of the challenges with generator is their duty cycles and actual output. Typically you will find they are rated much higher, but only like to be run at about 50% of rated for limited number of hours. The additional capacity is so they can handle spikes when things are turned on or off etc From a safety perspective you would cable / have breakers etc for 16a per socket from the generator, (combined 32a) but I suspect you would only be able to get about 10-12 amps usable, per outlet. Or at least this was my experience, when using only one of the outputs, as I found the overload breaker would eventually warm up after running at about 10-12 amps, for an hour or so, and then the generators 16a circuit breaker for the used connection would trip. One could possibly combine the two 16amp inputs to a single 32 amp input plug and cable, however if one of the 16a circuits on the generator trips, then the remaining 16a generator circuit would take the full draw for a second or so, before it might trip, due to overload, and I am not sure how safe this is? The AI google response below does not advise combining 2 x 16a into a single 32a output, without proper protection? See below, hopefully others will pickup on your topic and give better information? A single generator with dual 16A outputs cannot be directly connected to a single 32A output. To achieve a 32A output from a 16A generator, you'd need a suitable power distribution device, like a Y-splitter or a power distribution box with the correct configurations. Elaboration: 1. Understanding the Problem: A 32A output requires a higher current capacity than a 16A output. Simply wiring two 16A outputs together without proper protection can be dangerous and may overload the generator or the connected equipment. 2. Solutions: Y-splitter: These devices are designed to split a 32A output into two 16A outputs (or vice versa). Power distribution box: These boxes are designed for more complex power distribution, allowing for multiple inputs and outputs with proper protection. 3. Safety Considerations: Overload protection: Ensure any distribution device you use has appropriate overload protection, such as circuit breakers, to prevent damage to the generator or connected equipment. Proper wiring: Use appropriate wiring and connectors to ensure safe and reliable power transfer. Professional advice: If you are unsure about any aspect of power distribution, consult with a qualified electrician. 4. Example: Some generators are designed with both 16A and 32A outputs. In this case, you would directly connect your 32A load to the 32A outlet and your 16A load to the 16A outlet. If your generator only has 16A outputs, you would need a Y-splitter or power distribution box to achieve a 32A output. In conclusion, while you can't directly connect two 16A outputs into a 32A output, you can use specialized devices like Y-splitters or power distribution boxes to achieve the desired 32A output from a single generator with 16A outputs, while ensuring proper safety and protection.

Use battery view to pull the event and history logs for each of the batteries. Assuming the batteries are correctly connected to each other so you get an even draw thru them, either via each battery feeding a common busbar or by connecting the positive from the inverter to the first battery and negative to the last one? They may need balancing for a prolonged period (24 hours?), maybe connect to mains to fully charge overnight? but if this fails to help it could be a faulty cell in the third pack? Battery view history and event logs will give clues about this, and your supplier will probably ask for these or for the battery to be taken in? Having the same type of issue with 2 x up5000's, (around 500 cycles each) of 11, that will need replacement all the others are working well. Using Multisib control to log full details of charge and discharge and seeing the same type of behavior with 2 of the 11 battery's.

Sounds like the inverter and or battery is overloaded / undersized to be able to carry the load? This is maybe why it shuts down? or the max discharge rate of the battery(s) is being exceeded, and thus the inverter and battery are turning off? Also is the solar producing at the same time? or is it purely a ups config, no solar panels? battery and inverter only? if so max discharge rate will limit you and also inverter output limits? What size /rating / type of aircons? 24000btu? 18000 bth 12000btu? Traditional aircon, or inverter type of aircon? Startup currents required by each aircon? What is the load that's being carried by the inverter and battery, before turning on the aircon? Aircon startup loads could be exceeding the inverter / battery max output, also if a traditional aircon, when the compressor turns on and off and on, the power needs can spike briefly and overload the inverter & or battery. If you have the comms cable connected from the battery to Inverter, it may disable you being able to set the battery type on the inverter. However it you overstate these settings, on the inverter, you could possibly damage your battery and its warranty. Probably the best will be to check with your installer/supplier, share your design docs etc and they will probably be able to advise best.

@JohanS You could try charging the entire bank up to 100% SOC with mains power, for 24 hours. If it fails to fully charge, then I would also think it sounds like two of your units are suspect. If you contact your installer / supplier and pull all the logs via battery view for the 8 units, (has to be done individually, using each batteries console port, for its logs), both history and event logs for each of the 8 units, they will probably be able to advise. Also if you can pull any graphs from SMH that show the volts /amps/Temp / soc for each of your 8 units, one can typically see which of the 8 are behaving differently, for example you will probably see 2 of the 8 units have different SOC and the other 6 units trend similarly in the graphs. Again the Event and History logs will contain info to gain insight. Are the units under warranty?

With multisib you will be able to graph the performance of the batteries (Charging / Discharging) and also see what the loads, generation etc are that are being used and these graphs should give you very good insight to whether the problem is pylontech or inverter related? Once you have collected some data from multisib, maybe post the graphs? If still not sure then pull the logs with battery view and supply them to your supplier, they will be able to check & advise what each battery's log is telling them. The spec sheet for the Pylontech 3000c suggests >6000 cycles, which is around 5.5 years assuming you only cycle once a day, don't exceed operation temperatures, charge and discharge rate are normal, ie don't abuse them. However if you cycle them 10 times a day, then they will only last 600 days about 1.7 years. Which would probably point to a undersized bank? I think with Lithium battery brands it's important to be able to get after sales support, due to anticipated long service life of the units. The two main parts that can give issue are the BMS and or the Cells. If the event of a cell failure or BMS replacement, after sales service are replacement / repair are important. For this reason, I would stick to brands that offer these and which have good sales volumes in your country, with the hope that there will be more folks who can support the product and will potentially have parts? But there are no guarantees :) as the BMS tech is changing rapidly as well as the Cell tech.

I am using the Axpert type inverters without a BMS port and make use of the USE - user defined battery setting on the axperts, with lithium cv / fv / max charge etc settings appropriate for the 12 x Pylontech UP5000 batteries, as per pylontech :) When I used lead acid, about 4 years ago (Trojan TE35's x 8 (6v) also about 230ah), I used 25mm2 squared cable from the inverters to the battery bank and between the batteries, connected to positive on the first battery and then the negative on the last battery. I kept the cables to the each inverter the same thickness 25mm2 but connected all the inverters to bus bars, and then connected the up5000's in pairs of 3 to the same busbars, each pair of 3 up5000's with a suitably fused connection max160amp, although 3 x up5000's could give recommended max 50amps x 3 continuously, or 80amp x 3 for a few seconds. To monitor the axperts and Lithium batteries I use a free software called multisib, ( http://www.multisibcontrol.net )which can read the pylontech BMS and the info from the inverters. As the Axpert battery info is totally incorrect regardless of what battery type you use, as it does not make use of a shunt to accurately measure the power used, but rather it uses the voltage it detects as a representation of charge level, and when one puts on a big load, especially with lead acid, the voltage can drop suddenly, then the inverter thinks the batteries are fully discharged and it can drop the load. Which is why as they aged I had to adjust my maximum load at night during load shedding. However during the day while the solar was pumping it was not really a problem. So currently my axperts flash a 04 code when they think the lithium batteries are low, however with the reporting on the Multisib software from pylontech BMS info, one can see SOC and SOH etc which is operating normally, so I totally disregard the axperts battery reporting as it is incorrect, however the axperts still flash 04 - battery low on the display :) Other suggestions, one could check your batteries for hot spots? touch them on the sides, they maybe cooler than your hand but not warm, when charging, if they seem a bit warmer this maybe normal but may also suggest overcharging, equalizing too often? should only be done occasionally, maybe at most once a month (lead acid) or every 6-8 weeks etc. not daily. Equalisation does not always apply to lithium banks? And It seems one would keep it off, unless specified by the lithium to turn to it on? Have you done voltage measurements of the bank when its charging? and/ or, once it appears full? Again the Spec sheets for the battery make/model will include C-rates in other words the expected run time at a certain amp loading for the model of battery? The lower the load the longer the run time, and its not a straight line discharge rate ( Peukerts Law - for lead acid). Last thought is that Mixing old and new lead acid batteries does not work, at all. A bit like having a one flat battery and one good battery in a TV remote? :) and it will likely to damage the new batteries as they will dicharge continuously trying to balance or charge the other 2 seemingly ok batteries. I trust you replaced a 4 batteries at the same time did not use any of them with the 2 older seemingly ok batteries? I think if one did this and left them for 12 or 24 hours there's a good chance of damaging the 2 new ones? Running out of ideas :0 Final thoughts, if the inverter(s) are supplying a charge, but the bank is not holding the charge, it typically points to bad batteries or higher loads than the bank can not support? For lead acid, folks used to use the Victron BMV700 / BMV702 / BMV712 battery monitor which used a shunt and could accurately measure lead acid, agm, sla or lithium, and you can calibrate them as well. See the link below they have some videos as well for more info on how they work, how to connect etc. very good products. https://www.victronenergy.com/battery-monitors

Do you have specifications on the new lead acid batteries? How many amp hours rating, max discharge rate / max charge rate, charging voltages, equalisation voltage etc? Do you have battery balancers installed etc? I would have opted to replace the lead acid batteries for lithium batteries rather, as they outperform lead acid and have a much longer life, as well as they can be discharged down to about 30% without negatively affecting the overall expected cycle life. Lead Acid on the other hand, many are "standby type" batteries and don't have a high cycle life, and if discharged to 50% of capacity, regularly, will dramatically reduce the number of cycles they can do. Basically the deeper you discharge them, will end up giving you very low cycle life, maybe 1/6th of what they are rated at, compared to if they are discharged by only 25% or less. Also you have to check the water levels in the lead acid batteries, regularly and ensure the plates inside the battery are covered with battery acid/water at all times, and only use distilled water, do not overfill, or you damage / destroy the batteries. A typical 12v battery when fully charged should be around 13.2 - 13.4 volts or maybe more depends on the battery chemistry and specs. So you bank should be at a voltage of around 54-55 volts when fully charged. Check the inverter battery settings are appropriate for the new batteries, float charge, constant charge, low battery cutoff voltage, and max charging amps etc. If not set correctly these settings can damage your lead acid batteries. Also my first 5kva axpert, in its manual, recommended a minimum of a 200a/h battery bank? With a typical max discharge of around 10% -15% of the ah capacity, which would give me around 1-2 hours run time at around 24 amp (48v) load, when new. As they aged this dropped dramatically to around an hour and the load also had to be lowered as they would trip out as they got closer to the end of life. So far the problem you describe above, makes me think that either the inverter battery settings are incorrect, the batteries are not suitable for the application, or damaged?

Considering the Pi is no longer working, one can use Multisib to monitor both the axpert and Pylontech hardware. Its free to use and runs on windows. You will need two serial ports, one the axpert and then pylontechs. http://www.multisibcontrol.net/ This will enable you to see the SOH and other details for the system and will give some insight as to loads, SOH, number of cycles per pack, pack balancing etc. Considering the age of the bank, +/- 7 years, and depending on load, when they discharge quickly, how balanced they are and SOH etc, it sounds like its pointing to possible replacement of the pylontechs ?or maybe one of the pylontechs? Again Multisib will help give insight as to whats happening with the batteries, and maybe able to help you find out if one or more of the packs is the problem? It has good reports. Depending on the model of Pylontech batteries, one could use something like pylontech battery view to pull the logs for each battery pack, which will be useful to your installer / supplier in determining if they need replacement etc One has to connect to one battery at a time and pull each of the logs via each batteries console port. Also be careful with battery view as there are admin features which can break things, so don't recommend using these, as they meant for pylontech / installers who if they brick the battery will have to sort it out.

Also ran into this a long time back. If not mistaken they are meant to soldered onto the cable as per the supplier which decided to supply solder rather than the crimp on type. rather get the crimp type.

We are also using 12 x UP5000's and had one where during the brakfontein blackout had an alarm (red Light), but just left the batteries to re-charge, maybe not fully, and then powered down the entire system and then backup, and the alarm cleared. The Overall bank was down to 7% the lowest its ever been. Maybe charge your bank first, us3000 and Up5000's and then shutdown and restart, and the fault may clear, you may need to get your batteries all to a near full condition, due to the different capacities? if not charging, then maybe also lower your max charge rate to 1 to 2 amps per battery, 10%? of the capacity of the batteries, as usually when they are nearly empty they may take a limited charge until they get to around 15-20% when one can increase the charge rate. Also as your battery bank is communication with the inverter it may be telling the inverter to not charge?, and so one may have to disconnect the comms to the inverter and set a very low charging rate. You may even have to power down the inverter for it to begin charging at a low amp rate? My axpert inverters were not connected to the Battery comms, which is monitored by Multisib. So i did not have the potential comms issue with the inverter, being told not to charge by the bank? I would probably reduce the max amp rate on the inverter, and try to disconnect the comms cable from it and see if it starts charging? You may also have to change your battery settings over to "user defined" and manually enter the correct settings for pylontech ? If these options don't work, then i would restart the inverter with the low charge amps & battery type change settings applied. Remember to make notes of all the settings before changing them, so you can revert back later. Good Luck :)

Unable to comment on the MPPT? However I feel that it is better to have solar PV, that I can use anywhere rather than dedicating it just to a geyser for limited use only? Possibly rather consider installing PV solar for the house etc. and use solar PV or the excess solar PV to heat the geyser as well? This way you get maximum payback on the solar. You may have to change the element to a 2kw heating element? Dependent on the size of pv system you install? It also depends on your overall use case and personal considerations. To reduce power consumption, heat pumps are also favored, if that's the goal.

Some inverters are able to carry a limited load with only panels connected, no batteries and no grid. For example maybe you have 4kw of panels on a inverter, it maybe able to carry 25% of what the PV is generating, at most?, in good sun conditions, if the clouds come past, the pv will drop and so would the load as there would be no battery or grid. I think this is the scenario they are referring to not being able to use in parallel, so that only one of the inverters would give you some power if the sun is shining? or nothing until you manually break it away from the other paralleled units? Maybe useful in case of emergency. probably worthwhile checking with your supplier or installer on exactly how it behaves.

Tshwane prices excluding vat per kwh. applies to pre and postpaid. stepped tariff per month, the more units used a month the higher the price per unit as you then move to the next most expensive tariff. if you buy power and load it in the prepaid meter, it accumulates your units, if not used. So just buy maybe the cheapest units, the first 100 kWh for about R320 (incl vat) and load on your meter, they will accumulate and for days where there is little solar you can then use the units accumulated over time. This should also reduce the risk of being flagged. remember to add vat to fugues in the table attached and also that the vat rate will go up? Possibly from april2025? By 0.5 percent?