pilotfish

I just had a glance through the Infini 10kW user guide and there is definitely terminals available for a battery thermal sensor, but then no further mention of it. Even the section to do with battery charging algorithm doesn't mention temp adjustments. So either it is there just for additional info in Watch Power, or they may plan some future firmware update using temp input.

I guess this is two different complainants - @Chris Hobson complainant has parasitic grid consumption of 250W, @SilverNodashi complainant has parasitic battery drain of 2.65A.

I see smoke on the horizon You should only have 1x live and 1x neutral (and 1 by earth) to each outlet, these are wired back to your Inverter DB. The inverter DB is supplied by your inverter. The inverter will send grid power to this DB when in Grid mode, or Inverter power when in battery mode. Good luck!

The same 4mm2 wiring carries the current in line mode and battery mode so the problem is not with the wiring (even though I would have used 6mm2 at least), it must be slow regulation by the inverter.

It wont go back to batt until [full] again.

Axpert is an excellent product when used in conjunction with ICC [edit: + a BMV], and junk without it. The cost to use it while developing your own ICC alternative will pay for itself in protecting your batteries from damage in the interim.

[12] = 50V is extremely high and will cause the system to switch back to grid when the batteries are still very high. I recommend a setting between 46V and 48V (48V is still quite high). In the above example you can see my batteries sitting just under 55V while charging at about 40amps, then a high load came on and my batteries started discharging at 40amps causing the battery voltage to drop from 55V tp 50V - the SOC was around 80% at the time. I use 46V as a safety net in case ICC fails, because ICC switches my system from battery to grid at 60% SOC. At this time my batteries would be at about 49V with my base load of 750watts, but if a fridge or something kicks in it will drop momentarily to 47/48V then pick up again. If I set 48V my system would switch when not yet necessary.

I had the similar issue at one stage and so dropped [29] from 46V to 44v which solved the issue for me, I didn't want to go down to 42V, because if I have a grid failure I don't want my batteries reaching 42V before shut down. It only ever reached 46V for a fraction of a second during inrush currents for high load startup, but was enough to cause the problem.

Solar Warehouse are selling the 4kW MPPT model under R10k right now. https://www.inverter-warehouse.co.za/products/axpert-inverter-mks-5k-48v-4000w-mppt?utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=googlepla&variant=5189341839397&gclid=CjwKCAjw6djYBRB8EiwAoAF6oTfAysx8y6TrYqcLO5kM85GcEffEkLWl53dxCnk_6PbBpTry1hXJ8RoCQX8QAvD_BwE I would suggest getting one of these units and installing it and then have the other unit repaired. If you have a problem again you will have a unit in reserve. I have a reserve unit that I bought off @Mike and it gives a lot of piece of mind while sitting in the garage doing nothing.

Tecsa (now TecsaReco) is the best place to go for appliance parts. https://www.tecsareco.co.za/branch-locator/ There are no real discounts available in this catergory, so HiFi Corp (oddly), Builders Warehouse, Game, Makro etc.

...just a thumbsuck... [Error 08] = [bus voltage too high] - is it possible that the Pylontech BMS protection is kicking in and disconnecting the charge input to the battery which causes a voltage surge in the Axpert as the charge current suddenly has "nowhere to go"? I guess it would be similar to dropping the battery CB. By "grid' i assume you mean generator as I was under the impression that you are off-grid. If I am correct could you not change [Menu 16 = CUT], so that when you run the gennie it uses only the gennie as charge source and not solar, then when you reach about 90% SOC you shut off the gennie and continue on solar/battery only? The above might be garbage as I have never worked with Pylontech batteries, and I dont know if you would have access to a control output at 90% SOC (BMV still in operation?)

...and both will normally arrive at the destination.

...or a cabling issue - measure the voltage at the battery terminals and at the inverter under constant load (like a kettle).

I seems that most people on this site who have gone the LiFePo4 route have found the Pylontech at around USD500/kWh (with a warranty) to be good value when compared to importing and self assembly, but if you do go down this path I think everyone would be very interested to hear about your experience.

I have 2 flat plate collectors on a 200L geyser and it is great (only 2 people in the home though), I get 50' in mid winter and 75' in mid summer - maybe it is something else in your installation that is at fault. Is it thermo-syphon, direct, or indirect (glycol)?

Yes and Yes. If you have the space then add 3 more panels to each inverter so that you are running 4 strings of 3 (or 3s4p). That will put you at 3060W per Axpert which is great.

I wonder if my U1-72-40 can be upgraded and if they will provide the firmware?

My Axpert MKS5k doesn't have a Menu 32 sadly as I am still using stock firmware - maybe time to upgrade firmware using Coulomb/Weber patch

Also note the following; Panel capacity = 9 x 255 x x5 = 11.5kW (at 100%) Absorb req = 200A x 58.4V = 11.7kW So the panels will seldom (if ever) provide the full 200amps suggested with 40amps per inverter set in AxMenu [02] and [11]. When solar charging the system will send [panel power - load power] to the batteries, so final power provided to the batteries is very load dependent. It sounds like you may be Off-Grid from your comment regarding charging with a generator, if so your gennie will need to be a beast (like 15kVA would be good) - also make sure Menu [01] is set to Uti, (off grid only, for grid assist use SBU). Good luck, hope it works out well for you.

Hi George, You will get a number of different opinions here, so you may well finish reading the thread being more confused than when you started I agree with Mark that your bulk voltage (AxMenu 26) should be set to the Max which is 58.4V, however I don't agree with float voltage settings (AxMenu 27) of 54.4V, and here is why; Your batteries have the following manufacturers recommendations (at 25'): Bulk AND Absorb = 2.5x24 = 60V, Float = 2.25x24 = 54V, Equalize = 2.6x24 = 62.4V Firstly you can forget about equalizing, you will never get there. The Bulk/Absorb/Float is what we need to think about. Bulk is the period where you system will raise the bank voltage over time from wherever it landed up overnight to the Bulk setting in Menu26 (58.4V), at this time your bank voltage will continue to charge at Float setting in Menu 27 (54V). This arrangement completely skips the Absorb period recommended by your manufacturer, which is an amount of time where your bank should be held at the Bulk voltage (this is when real work is done by your charger!). Your manual gives an Absorb time calculation as follows; T=0.42 x C/I T = Absorb time C = 20hr rated capacity (or 1288) I = Charging current (recommended 10% - 20% of C20) - I suggest 200 Amps T = 0.42 x 1288 x 200 = 2.7hr (call it 3 hours at 200amps or 40amps/Ax) Given that Bulk charge will take a few hours in the morning, you can comfortably use the rest of the solar day at absorb voltage, and forget about float charging which is more important for standby batteries than cycling batteries. So to summarize - set BOTH Menu 26 and 27 to 58.4V, and then accept the result - which will be acceptable Rolls_Battery_Manual_Flooded.pdf

Head over to ICC webpage where you can download software for your RasPI to monitor and control your 5x parallel Axperts; http://iccsoftware.co.za/ ICC will also take the info from your BMV which greatly improves the allround operation of the system. I use the ICC-Win version so others would need to assist you with further setup advice.

I worked at Tutuka Power Station for a short stint in the mid 80's. In the control room the station manager had two wall clocks with second hands, one driven from the 50Hz grid and the other by a separate accurate source. Part of the station managers responsibility was to co-ordinate (with other stations on the national grid) speeding and slowing of the grid so that the second hands of the two clocks remained in sync.

all good, just explaining my weird comment from nowhere.

Interesting question, I was thinking about this the other day and a way of doing it on the dirt cheap. Say for example you have a [16s??p] bank; rely on the Axpert/ICC upper charge limits at 3.6x16 = 57.6V (I know Axpert overshoots but these anomalies are of very short duration and very unlikely to cause damage), use ICC switch to grid at your chosen SOC (say 30% for example), use relay contact on Victron BMV to disconnect battery at a lower level than above for safety margin (say 20% SOC for example), set Axpert Menu29 (low DC cutoff) to the absolute cutoff voltage as per battery spec (it should never get there), use 4x HA-02 for battery balancing of the series sets (maybe a 5th one to balance the 4x HA's). Any reason why the above cant be done? The HA-02 will start working at 2.4V and 4 of them will set you back around EUR200. I have used them on a number of AGM banks and had no problems to date (except that I DONT recommend using them on 2V cells).

Checkout Mantech as well - they have a very comprehensive (and competitive) website.