Gary

Ok So reflashing the SCC with 4.10 doesn't work - comes up on the screen as U2 00 00 and doesn't register a PV input. Only hope appears a manufacturer update. I have 5 of these machines out there all doing the same thing...

Ok so a little progress (not good either!) in among'st very busy days.... Took the second inverter that was installed for a client and put it in at my place - exactly the same results, PV dropping out intermittently and particularly when a load goes on or off so we can rule out a one off "buggy" MPPT. Same U1 and U2 firmware initially. Ran this initially on factory firmware (with PV dropping out) then thought I'd update to the LF1_72.20e to see what it did (same inverter same factory firmware version etc etc) - update went all the way through no problem. As soon as I added a load it tripped and wont restart at all and now trips the batteries on restart...any ideas here? Had to obviously replace inverter for client at new cost which is very annoying. I have tried to email MPP solar but their contact us link doesn't appear to be working - trying to order an new control card to see if that sorts....Have email voltronic but don't hold much hope they will reply. Any contact links you guys have? Today my inverter PV musta tripped whilst I was out on site and maid hit the borehole to the extent that at dark I'm at 50% depletion - very annoying since I'm never sure if utility will actually return - remember we only getting (if we're very lucky) 4 to 5 hrs a night of utility power. So I need to find a way forward: Either fit my old 09 error inverter to do the charging which isn't ideal or since I have a dead (new) inverter of exactly same model etc try flashing scc of my inverter back to 4.10 from 4.12 as I can theoretically change scc (since I have a new one sitting in a dead inverter) if that doesn't work and see if this solves the PV tripping out or try changing out the old 3kw scc into my "new" (4kW scc) inverter and see how that works Any input appreciated

@rootThanks much that's something I hadn't considered. I do a few solar installations here as well and actually have another unit of exactly the same model etc which I purchased a week after this one - its been temporarily installed with a pylon so that they can have lounge lights and tv and Monday due to be installed into the DB. I think I will take that one and try here for a few days. I can't believe I never thought of that thank you. Zim - we're born survivors but it gets a tad tiresome now....

Hi Weber Confusion reigns supreme I'm afraid. Yesterday tripping continuously and so far this morning not even one! I'm running LF1_72.20e My batteries are Huawei ESM 48-100A1 (by 2 units in parallel) LFP or NMC?

Hi Coloumb Yes its enabled

Thanks Jaco I have experience with the Microcare and do like them a lot however I opted some 8 years back to "upgrade" to the axpert and have really enjoyed my old 5kva/4kW version which performed flawlessly until I changed from lead acid to lithium about 3 months ago - then the unexplained tripping started when a largish load came on even though still below the inverter maximum watts. My unit has worked VERY hard during its life so I am of the conclusion that it was at the end of its life. There are a group of us here using the axperts or variants so we are in close comms with whats going on with each other. All the "old" although most fairly new 5kva/4kW units have exhibited trip problems with the move from lead acid to lithium. I was forced to upgrade to the 5KVa/5kW pf1.0 unit as that's all that's available here for the moment and with an inverter down and no utility there was simply no choice - victron is just too overpriced here at around 3 times the price just for the inverter. I am from an irrigation background with extensive experience in both Eldar Shany and Netafim Priva units both in terms of irrigation and climate control so I have some experience with troubleshooting why things do what they do - and don't! And I don't like things that don't work correctly - I will beat this or change trying, I simply cannot accept a half working piece of equipment. I have greatly enjoyed using Coloumbs patched firmware on my old 5kva/4kW unit which made an immense difference in how my system dealt with lead acid in the past. Over the next day or two time allowing I will be changing the SCC (if it can be done) from my old 5Kva/4kW unit (3kW SCC) into the new 5Kva/5kW unit (4kW SCC). If this works then I will swap the 4kW SCC back into the new inverter and "downdate" the U2 SCC from 4.12 to 4.10 - if this works then great - if it bricks the SCC then I have lost nothing since the 3kW SCC will work. In any case hopefully it gives others a little more insight as to where the problems lie within this new inverter. Other than that things are very difficult here at the moment and money is very scarce. I paid USD 1050 for my new Voltex MKS 5KVA pf1.0 - a Victron MPPT charge controller is USD 650 here - more than half the cost of the inverter! Crazy so I don't like that option at the moment. Gary

Eish Coulomb thanks for all your input I'll have a go at swapping out the SCC tomorrow and let you know how that goes - I only have 3kW of panels so the old SCC is perfectly adequate for my needs. Affect people day to day - pretty radically. I hear some factories (the few we have left) are getting their staff to go in at 22.00hrs until 05.00hrs when utility is available - not a lot of fun. We have huge unemployment here and getting worse. Symptom of a failed economy / bad governance. Even the farms are getting load shed so I guess their production is down since they cant irrigate...

Thanks guys Have considered external charge controller but as you said finding stuff here not so easy at mo. I quite like the idea of using the old inverter to charge and splitting the pv tho I need to check if with an error 09 the old inverter will still charge.....

Hi Coulomb Things are pretty dire here so I'm getting desperate! Just to put you in the picture we are on a severe load shedding schedule here with no end in sight certainly for the foreseeable future - utility is mostly off (from 05.00 to 22.00 as a minimum). There are also continuous faults appearing in the utility grid one of which I'm experiencing now so we only had 2hrs of utility last night and my batteries are at 60% at 11.00. Trying to charge them up for tonight is a nightmare with the continuous tripping of the SCC when a little load comes in or out (as a matter of interest with ref. to previous question asked there are 2 clicks each time....) I put in this 5KVa (pf1.0) because my previous 5KVa (pf0.80) died yesterday with an error 09 which won't go away (previously over the last couple of months when this came up I could reset it by rebooting the inverter) - it was about 8 years old and has worked hard in its life so I have no grudges against it. I have 200AHrs of Lithium which if I get 4 to 5 hours of utility a night and with the solar feed in is adequate for my needs. A few questions if you don't mind...And I am far from an expert so please forgive what might be considered stupid questions. I have the old inverter in which I assume the SCC is OK (3kW SCC) - can I swap this out into the new unit - are they compatible? Any ideas The new SCC is the 4kW 80A unit with the 04.12 software. Having flashed the new 72.20e firmware into the inverter with no change in behaviour of the SCC I can only assume the fault / glitch lies within the SCC firmware 04.12. If swapping SCC's is not an option (from the new 4kW to the old 3kW) what are the chances that downgrading the SCC firmware to 04.10 will work as a guess? Whats the worst that can happen, brick the SCC? In the future if it is bricked what do you think the chances of flashing the new version software in are? Any ideas you have would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks Coulomb - yes very frustrating! BTW your work on patched firmware is excellent - and the aussieview brilliant

Greetings from a very dark Zim! Has anyone tried / thought about updating (downdating!) the SCC to 4.10 (from 4.12) to try resolve the PV dropping out issue? I have updated the main cpu to 72.20e from 72.30 with no change in PV behaviour...With large loads the PV continuosly drops in and out