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"Freedom and Democracy" in all it's glory. As intended. And they stand in queues to vote for more of the same. 🤡

Are you using a standard LAN cable for the comms? You will need to verify the pinouts for both the Inverter and Battery to make up a cable if both are not standard pin outs. You will have to get a similar schematic for battery and Inverter.

Do you have a weblink for that offer?

Was your's installed without a Geyserwise control, as that manages the exact issue that you are now experiencing. It activates the pump conditionally, i.e. you set it to a differential temp trigger. Once that set value is reached, the pump starts until the temps are equal again.

Thank you for the progress reports @Scorp007 Wish you a speedy and permanent recovery from this re-occurring ailment @TaliaB

Trust that will solve the issue. Looking at your log, the big jump was from 51% to 78% in 1 minute. With that size battery that is virtually impossible. I would run that battery down to shut off and then do a full recharge. That should reset the SOC.

My current solar installation had one prime reason only. Independence, i.e. not to have to rely on a government service that may or may not work. Even if the costs of the system and maintenance over a 10 year period happens to end up to cost the same as what I would have paid Eskom, having uninterrupted supply is a blessing. Of course their kWh prices will inflate every year, thus the longer my system is in use, the bigger the saving becomes. The capital outlay is not cheap, but it's a lot cheaper than the new shiny 4 X 4 that is not really needed.

As said, I had two failures in 5 years and the pumps only have a 1 year warranty. All of them had strainers and there was no evidence of dirt. The last pump I now have worked well until the panel became an ornament. This pump actually has a brass housing.

As said, I only stated my experience which was not up to expectations unfortunately. Others may have had different mileage. In hindsight I regret not paying the extra and getting an evacuated tube panel rather than the flat panel. Anyhow @Lucang the unit my friend had installed is this one https://www.pi2r.co.za/product-page/pi2r-micro and https://www.telemetric.co.za/micro.html which is fed in his case by 6 X 250W panels which he actually bought second hand from someone that was upgrading panels. This unit targets 90-200VDC. Thus if you were to get lets say typical 3 X 550W panels that currently go for around R1600, then you are looking at R4800 for the panels, and in series around 150V, right in the ballpark. He also added a timer on his DB to set time windows when he allows the Grid to heat the element. He mostly has the Geyser Grid fed CB switched off and actually switches it on manually on the occasions of low solar input. His installer was a Leon Erlank. If you want you can contact him to see how much info he is prepared to give you for a DIY job. 081 024 1683

Some considerations just based on personal experience. My first solar path started with a flat plate solar collector. Installation was done with the pump and Geyserwise controller. You need the pump. That flat panel only has a volume of around 1 to 2 litres of water. Once the differential temp between panel and geyser reaches the differential as set then pump circulates the water from the geyser into the panel and the hotter water in the panel goes back into the geyser. Works wonders in summer but winters have been mediocre. It works, but it's a compromise. Had to get a new pump twice in the 5 years I had it. The Panel had a 5 year guarantee. At 5 years and 2 months it started leaking internally. This thing has no user serviceable parts except for the electronic temp probe which feeds the Geyserwise controller. Suffice to say it was out of guarantee and @SolarGuru advised I need to buy a new one. Since that flat plate conversion in 2017, I have expanded to a full PV off grid system with enough energy to power the Geyser element via AC. Much more efficient and quicker in heating the water. After the disappointing flat plate lifetime I regard is a bad investment and it's now just an ornament on the roof. The Geyserwise controller at least still provides me with the temp data and ability to set the timer for the heating periods. A friend of mine had a PV to Geyser direct installation done. He will send me the photo of the box later on. That sounds like a basic Inverter which selects between grid or Solar. He is running 6 X 250W panels which give him about 180-200VDC which then heat the element directly. I don't know the cost of that "Inverter" box but he paid around R7500 for the full electrical installation with that box, but had to supply his own panels. I'll post more info for that "inverter" box once I get it and also the details of the Installer that may be able to provide you with further info.

Think about removing your panels and wiring only. Leave the brackets and rails in place. The new owner could then use them for their own installation. Will be a lot less work and cost in my opinion.

Faulty comms could cause numerous issues I would assume, but I cannot answer whether the slow charge is one of the side effects. Do a test without comms to determine if the BMS is working as it should. If it does, then check all the pinouts for the Inverter comms RJ45 (I assume it's an RJ connector) and also the Battery pinouts for comms. Furthermore check the Inverter comms protocol matches the Battery protocol. I don't what BMS is used but if it's Pace, then the Pylontech protocol will in all probabilty be the one to use.

It could be a faulty cable, or that the pionouts do not match either on the Inverter or Battery BMS side, or the BMS Protocol mismatch Remove the comms cable for the User mode test

Have you tried "USE"(manual user mode for dumb batteries without BMS) mode and set you all your battery parameters manually to see if it then behaves differently?

Raspberry Pi4

On the matter of 2 vs 1, I recommend 2 in parallel. If one fails you still have half your supply working and can continue albeit at reduced available power.

see this thread https://powerforum.co.za/topic/32621-discontinuation-of-dyness-a48100-lifepo4-lithium-iron-phosphate-who-is-next/

If the only thing that changed was the RMA repair, then I would think that to be sudden cause, as you had no issues before.

Heater blankets for geysers may be efficient if you have one that's mounted on an outside wall. I am not convinced it makes much of a difference inside the roof . Pipe insulation on the other hand will make a bigger difference as the pipes themselves will heat up quicker whilst eliminating radiative losses to the surrounding cooler air.

This won't help your predicament, but this is one of the big gaps in our country's regulations regarding the import, distribution and sales of products, where none of the entities involved in that supply chain take any responsibility to support the product. With solar batteries it has become really apparent. There are so many brands at reasonable prices and all of them have mostly reliable cells and BMS. But once sold, there is no one to be found in SA that takes responsibility to support the product. Ecco, Fivestar and so many others. They will be there with a big stick when it comes to installation and are even quicker to point out their fine print, and the resellers are the ones acting on the distributer's/importer's behalf, but try and contact them via the reseller for a simple request like the Firmware and suddenly they seem to be a virtual entity. These rebranded products should at least state the OEM, then one can go directly to the support of the OEM, but without regulation that won't happen. When will the day come where such products are supported like the PC manufacturing industry where you go to the site and download any firmware up to the latest, whether it's Asus, Gigabyte or any of the many others. It's just a sad state when the suppliers sell for profits only and don't give a damn about support. Feel sorry for the independent resellers that end up trying to sort it out. I am actually surprised that these resellers don't check the support capabilities of these companies before going into such resale agreements. Perhaps they should agree on a set of standards before opting to offer such unsupported products. end of rant

A Christmas bargain indeed.

My two Growatt SPF5000ES when in idle, i.e. AC output disconnected consume around 110W, i.e. about 55W per inverter. This is as reported by the BMS via SA. I have connected the Battery to PBMS tools as well via the RS232 port and it shows a draw as well of around 110W.

Check the date, the original post is from 2017.

Just had confirmation that the Bluetooth and WiFi are part of the BMS on this Battery. Still trying to establish whats up with the RS232 port that they don't list in the spec sheet.

@Tag11 @Sidewinder @I84RiS Took a couple of days, but the owner of NovaCraft passed on the question of the RS232 port on the Esener 16kWh battery They then sent him a photo of the ports. Standard Pace BMS, including the RS232 port. Also noticed a plastic pouch with Bluetooth and WiFi QR code attached. That would be a bonus too. I asked him to communicate with Esener and request that they update their concise spec sheet accordingly if indeed this is the Esener 16kWh