fhocorp

Hi. Thanks for your answer. Actually, i have placed a Axpert King 5000W for grid input. I have installed a "custom" ATS system for switching to grid or to battery input.
The system is composed of 2 relay :
one for AC GRID input
one for the AC Output of the 2 Axpert 8000W i use for solar and battery mode that works

The relays are controlled by each AC input comming to the breakers. When the system is on battery, the output relay is ON, and the Grid Relay is OFF, so the house appliances are feed by the 2 Axpert 8000W (max 16Kw output because they are in parrallel).

When the batteries are low, the 2 Axpert 8000W inverters will shut down. The AC ouput of the inverters is shutdown so the Inverter AC output relay in my system gos the the OFF position. The grid output relay is activated and AC output is feed by the grid (the Axpert King 5000W is wired in bypass mode for grid input to direct output, the usage of axpert King 5000W here is just for having the metrics of the grid usage only and since the Axpert King also have solar panels connected to him it reduces my grid usage).
I have add a timer for switching from grid to inverter output (3 seconds timer, during this time the house is completely with no AC, for allowing the relay to completely moving without spikes) since i am not very confident in my system and i don't want to risk a reverse current flow from the grid back to the inverters and burn them out.
Yes, this is a clumsy system but it is the only solution i have found actually for automating this system. The wiring of my house allow only 20A max for grid and we have to rewire completely the house but the owners don't want to make this at this time 😔

Hi. Thanks for your answer. Actually, i have placed a Axpert King 5000W for grid input. I have installed a "custom" ATS system for switching to grid or to battery input.
The system is composed of 2 relay :
one for AC GRID input
one for the AC Output of the 2 Axpert 8000W i use for solar and battery mode that works

The relays are controlled by each AC input comming to the breakers. When the system is on battery, the output relay is ON, and the Grid Relay is OFF, so the house appliances are feed by the 2 Axpert 8000W (max 16Kw output because they are in parrallel).

When the batteries are low, the 2 Axpert 8000W inverters will shut down. The AC ouput of the inverters is shutdown so the Inverter AC output relay in my system gos the the OFF position. The grid output relay is activated and AC output is feed by the grid (the Axpert King 5000W is wired in bypass mode for grid input to direct output, the usage of axpert King 5000W here is just for having the metrics of the grid usage only and since the Axpert King also have solar panels connected to him it reduces my grid usage).
I have add a timer for switching from grid to inverter output (3 seconds timer, during this time the house is completely with no AC, for allowing the relay to completely moving without spikes) since i am not very confident in my system and i don't want to risk a reverse current flow from the grid back to the inverters and burn them out.
Yes, this is a clumsy system but it is the only solution i have found actually for automating this system. The wiring of my house allow only 20A max for grid and we have to rewire completely the house but the owners don't want to make this at this time 😔

Yeah, I saw issues just like this in the past - RCD on the input side of inverter tripping when switching between modes. Not on every try, but pretty often.
Just to emphasize, these are RCDs, not MCBs. So it's not a spike or overcurrent, but in most cases the RDCs trip because of imbalance in current passing thru L vs N line. Which is normally caused by leakage current, or by shorting PE+N after the RCD.
Root cause:
Internal grounding relay (PE+N) of the inverter must be closed in the off-grid mode, but open in the grid mode.
When inverter is switching between modes and connects AC input to the grid before disconnecting internal PE+N relay, then RCD trips.
Since it is unsafe to run off-grid mode with the internal relay open, the inverters are trying to minimize the time with PE+N relay open - and sometimes it happens that AC input is already connected while the PE+N relay is not fully opened yet. Then RCD trips.
For inverters running in parallel it's even worse, as their mode switching logic is much more complicated.
The behavior depends on the logic incorporated in the inverter's firmware. Some models are doing OK, others are causing troubles.
The working solution is to put RCD at the inverter output, not at the input. RCD installed at the inverter input, especially when more inverters are running in parallel, is a free ticket for these troubles.
PS: For example, in my country, RCDs are mandatory for output circuits, like light, sockets, domestic appliances, water pumps, in order to protect users. If these circuits/devices are being fed by the inverters, then there's even more strict requirement - must use Type B RCD, the one that can detect DC currents. But, AFAIK, we have no requirement here to use RCDs for inverter inputs - just MCBs are sufficient.

Hi @sethmad i have experienced the same problem. But in user mode, if you have not many batteries and juste 3 or 4 batteries, you will have problems like me when the batteries are low the inverter does'nt cut the batteries and the BMS will cut instead. So when the inverter have no batteries voltage it will not restart (experienced with Axpert King inverters, newer models works without but display "BP" error and does not charge the batteries). In USER mode, the inverters calculate the SoC based on batteri voltages, that doesn't represent correctly the real battery SoC.
I recommend you to update to the latest Pylontech firmware (for US2000C, 3000C and newer) that modify the charging and floating voltage to 52,8V instead of 53,2V. Sadly, this update is not available for older US2000 batteries (asked pylontech staff but no answer from them) so you have to use a US2000C as master battery if you have one or keeping the USER mode.

Best Regards

Hi thanks for your answer. Yes, tripping happen when inverter switch to grid mode, when no load on it. One of the inverters even show a F09 error that could be solved by restarting completely the inverter (disconnect loads, battery and grid).
The input grid wire is 2,5mm3. Replacement to 6mm3 is planned next month

Sorry for the very late reply.
That appears to be a clone, so it's impossible to know what is in there, and hence what it might need.
Your best bet might be to try the latest available Axpert VM III firmware, 41.18. The latest 02.xx display firmware for Axpert VM IIIs is 02.89, available here:
This is main (U1) factory firmware version 41.18 for the older Axpert VM III 1.5/3.0/3.2/5.0/5.2kW '28062 non-Twin. Do not use with any other model or version.
Use at your own risk. The hex file is dated 15/Aug/2023.
Firmware upload instructions for models with a removable display.
This firmware does not process the QDOP command, so even with suitably recent display firmware, it will not support SoC% for settings 12,13, and 29.
VMIII MAIN_4118.7z

Yes, by running suitably patched firmware. Georg594 pioneered this for the Axpert Max 8kW, I and a very few others continue it for other models.
Once you decide on a main firmware that suits your needs, I can patch it and post the patched firmware here. The patched firmware is not perfect, but my many accounts is vastly improved in low light conditions, and even some shading conditions.
For completeness, factory main firmware version 55.10 can be found here:

Speaking of community, I am offering free EV charging already (as described somewhere on the previous pages). Originally it's meant as a help to those with a flat battery, but some drivers even made a habbit of comming and charging their EVs regularly here 😁

Hi guys,
I've realized that my first Pylontech battery will be 6 years old this March, so I've pulled some stats on the SOH and Cycles to share together with my thoughts.
CC = 52.5V
CV = 52.5V
8x US3000
System SOH : 96 % Power Volt Curr Tempr Tlow Thigh Vlow Vhigh Base.St Volt.St Curr.St Temp.St Coulomb Time B.V.St B.T.St 1 50955 -260 23000 20000 21000 3390 3399 Dischg Normal Normal Normal 100% 2025-01-30 22:16:53 Normal Normal 2 50965 -256 23000 20000 21000 3390 3400 Dischg Normal Normal Normal 100% 2025-01-30 22:16:52 Normal Normal 3 50970 -260 23000 20000 20000 3392 3402 Dischg Normal Normal Normal 100% 2025-01-30 22:16:52 Normal Normal 4 50948 -252 23000 20000 20000 3387 3399 Dischg Normal Normal Normal 100% 2025-01-30 22:16:52 Normal Normal 5 50969 -256 23000 20000 20000 3389 3399 Dischg Normal Normal Normal 100% 2025-01-30 22:16:52 Normal Normal 6 50975 -262 22000 20000 20000 3392 3400 Dischg Normal Normal Normal 100% 2025-01-30 22:16:52 Normal Normal 7 50959 -268 22000 19000 19000 3391 3399 Dischg Normal Normal Normal 100% 2025-01-30 22:16:52 Normal Normal 8 50945 -260 21000 18000 18000 3388 3398 Dischg Normal Normal Normal 100% 2025-01-30 22:16:52 Normal Normal CYCLE Times : 267 CYCLE Times : 518 CYCLE Times : 521 CYCLE Times : 523 CYCLE Times : 529 CYCLE Times : 520 CYCLE Times : 511 CYCLE Times : 501  
8x US3000C
System SOH : 98 % Power Volt Curr Tempr Tlow Thigh Vlow Vhigh Base.St Volt.St Curr.St Temp.St Coulomb Time B.V.St B.T.St MosTempr M.T.St 1 50890 0 22100 19900 19900 3387 3396 Idle Normal Normal Normal 100% 2025-01-30 23:52:12 Normal Normal 20600 Normal 2 50903 -203 22300 19900 20200 3378 3397 Dischg Normal Normal Normal 100% 2025-01-30 23:52:10 Normal Normal 21000 Normal 3 50897 -256 23300 19700 20100 3386 3396 Dischg Normal Normal Normal 100% 2025-01-30 23:52:08 Normal Normal 21300 Normal 4 50906 -256 22300 18900 19300 3386 3396 Dischg Normal Normal Normal 100% 2025-01-30 23:52:08 Normal Normal 20600 Normal 5 50895 -258 22000 19000 19400 3385 3395 Dischg Normal Normal Normal 100% 2025-01-30 23:52:08 Normal Normal 20200 Normal 6 50896 -266 21900 18300 18600 3385 3397 Dischg Normal Normal Normal 100% 2025-01-30 23:52:08 Normal Normal 19900 Normal 7 50896 -260 20900 17900 18200 3386 3395 Dischg Normal Normal Normal 100% 2025-01-30 23:52:08 Normal Normal 19200 Normal 8 50901 -264 20600 17100 17500 3387 3397 Dischg Normal Normal Normal 100% 2025-01-30 23:52:08 Normal Normal 18900 Normal 9 - - - - - - - Absent - - - - - - - 10 - - - - - - - Absent - - - - - - - 11 - - - - - - - Absent - - - - - - - 12 - - - - - - - Absent - - - - - - - 13 - - - - - - - Absent - - - - - - - 14 - - - - - - - Absent - - - - - - - 15 - - - - - - - Absent - - - - - - - 16 - - - - - - - Absent - - - - - - - CYCLE Times : 140 CYCLE Times : 141 CYCLE Times : 246 CYCLE Times : 233 CYCLE Times : 240 CYCLE Times : 249 CYCLE Times : 249 CYCLE Times : 247  
At a first look, it's not that bad with 96% SOH on a 6yrs old battery. But on the other hand, it's been 4% down for just roughly 500 cycles it made in that time. If linear, then after around 2500 cycles made in total, it will be at 80% SOH. If 500 cycles took me 6yrs then after 2500 cycles done in total the battery will be 30 years old. No way the battery will last for that long. Based on this, I would say that the battery will die of age well before it dies on cycles.
What do you think?
Youda

Hi @jamila
To be honest, 6 panels for a family of five is almost nothing. 
Assuming cca 500Wp per panel, that would be just 3kWp, which translates to roughly 15kWh per day in SA. Not so bad on a first sight, but there's a lot of gotchas:
If the system is connected to the grid, and you start any load higher than 2,5kW and it's not perfect noon, then you will be drawing that missing power from the grid (or batteries.) On a cloudy/rainy day the power drops quickly. Next day, you have to satisfy the loads, but to charge the flat battery at the same time. If your house wiring is 3-phase, but the PV system is 1-phase, then the benefit is minimal. Etc. If you are not electrician, installer or PV geek, then I would advise you to get in touch with a reputable PV installer (or company) in your area, have them check your current PV system, loads, house wiring, family needs and then design a detailed plan of PV system upgrade based on the calculations.
If you want a quick answer, then from my experience the reasonable solar for a family house starts at 10kWp of PV (cca 20 panels), 20kWh of lithium battery, 10kW of inverter power. For offgrid use, 1-phase wiring and inverter makes sense most of the time. But like I said - check your situation with an installer.
 
Not to mention that I've seen 1-phase solar in a 3-phase house.
Or a PV system, that was configured as backup only, not helping the house loads at all.

Oh my, that's really 25-30kWh every day! What are you doing with all that electricity?
Mining Bitcoin? Charging EV? Or is it the Air Condition maybe?
If that's A/C, then your consumption should go down in the winter, I suppose.
Anyway, I would suggest to try being disconnected from the grid for as long as possible, and get some consumption stats for the 1st year. Then you can decide what to upgrade, if anything.
Just remember - speaking of solar, the only thing that generates electricity are the panels. So there's no point in increasing capacity of batteries if you lack PV generation each and every day for a week or two. Batteries will help you bridge a day or two, but not a week or month.

Just an update: There was not enough power for Raspi 2B. I did not measure exactly how much was available, but while booting voltage was sagging to roughly 10.5v (staying at 12 where idle) and I saw one of SMD elements on RS232 board getting visibly warm on thermal camera (iirc something in sot-23, since it was obvious it won't handle it I didn't check closely).
Anyway, it seems this should be enough for something like ESP32 or Pi Pico (which is not surprising if the port is dedicated for WiFi module) but entire SBC is too much.

@fhocorp I've run with it for a while now just to see how it works as one of the Pylontech cells is fcked ... but I realized the passive BMS not good enough for balancing so I started going the other way around. Installed JK BMS on the Pylontech pouches ... that goes a bit better :)
Although JK is not the best when measuring SOC it still better to balance.
Now I am in the process of replacing ALL the Pylontech BMS boards with JK.
In order to be able to control both JK and Pylontech at the same time , I have installed one iBMS for JK batteries and one iBMS for the Pylontech, this way I sum up the data and send one stream to the inverter so everything works together.
Link to iBMS : https://shop.jamestronics.com/

Will make a review in a short time :) and explain the functions and how all works together.

@moolmanj I am totally off grid, like no connection to my house. I am on a farm, with the following setup:
15kw inverter
30kw battery capacity
30 x 450w panels
3 geysers on timers
3 fridges
2 deep freezers
2 borehole pumps x 750w
 
This works for me, but I still have to manage this. My batteries are full at about 1 PM, but when it is raining or cloudy this sometimes does not even reach full capacity. 
I would say Eskom is still the cheapest, but I never know of any outages or cable failures.
Right now I am on 84%, and tomorrow morning it will be at 60%, but sometimes on rainy days I have to start the generator to charge up to 60% before going to bed. 
Solar is not cheap, but it makes life easier, and then again, you will have to maintain and maybe replace in a few years. Sorry, back to your question, I definitely save because I had to pay connection rent of R3500 per month just for the connection. But in town Eskom stays the cheapest way, for now.
It all depends if you need hot water at night and in the morning, because these are the big energy eaters, geysers!

Good morning @Coulomb
yes, of course, the sponsorship offer i still valid
Personally, I have InfiniSolar in my setup, but I have a past experience with an Axpert too and I know that it's a good value for the money. Since thousands of people all around the world are using Axpert flavours, it makes me a sense to support the improvement of the machine.
While the logic about waiting for a stable firmware first is reasonable, I would say that it might be a bit uncomfortable for you and @weber to come back to me later and say "Hey Youda, the firmware looks stable now, please send us the funds." That's the situation I do not want to put you in. Therefore, I would prefer to fund you right now. I perfectly understand that you will wait a month or two with the actual HW purchase, and I am okay with that. Like I said before - there are no other conditions, nor strings attached.
I will PM you right now....

Thank you. Very kind.

I dont think the control boards are interchangable, when you get an F09 Error (soft start failed), it usualy means that the IGBT bridge that converts the High Voltage DC into AC have faulty component or short, but in your case where you get 111V on the PV without PV panels connected, the problem will most probably be on the MPPT board (the PV input board). I should also mention that you wont always see faulty components, the inverter will go into protection, such as and IGBT short unless in severe cases you will see blown components.

Since the original post above, dozens of hybrids and EV's stopped by my solar charger for a few kWh's. Here's a couple of them:








The last one was funny:
Renault was charging for an hour or so, then the Merc arrived and queued-up...on a slow solar charger
The Renault let him to and the Merc was charging for 2,5hrs.
Later that day, Renault arrived once again - as seen on the chart bellow:


 

Hi Horse,
the inverter should work and no need for an external charger. Are you completely off-grid or do you have also some AC input from a provider just to test? The AC input should be somewhere in the range of 170V-250V ac 50Hz. The generator output should be also standardized 230Vac 50Hz. You have to measure at least the generator output voltage with an AC voltmeter prior to connect it to the inverter. Also the ON power button below the inverter case should be turned on.

@BritishRacingGreen yes I do repair units but methinks Harare, Zimbabwe might be a bridge too far for you 😁

I have found that water ingress isn't too bad unless it has burnt tracks. I find the biggest issue for me is the DC caps, they are not easy to come by and my parts supplier can't source them. I've had to pull from several old machines to get good enough ones.

If the machines are less than 8 months old and weren't running at high power conditions you will most likely get away with the repair not having to replace the caps. Message me if you need any help and I'll try my best.

You don't want to try only replace the faulty ones, it's asking for trouble. I unscrew the IGBTs from the heat sink using a Z screwdriver and then desolder them. Removing the heatsink is a lot of effort. You might have to remove a capacitor or two to get good access but I normally manage without having to do so. Once the faulty componenst are off check the DC mosfets and all driver circuits again. To be honest if the inverter is more than a year old I don't recommend repair unless you replace the DC capacitors as well because I've had several repaired inverters fail again soon after repair. They passed full load tests so I can only think that capacitor aging is not buffering the surges well enough.
 

Hi all,
I looked at the code and I can confirm that the de-rating conditions are there and that they are only two-state - on/off, The only little difference from the chart that robert1968 posted on AEVA forum is in temperature derating. It only activates when inside temperature exceeds 45 and heatsink temperature exceeds 65 at the same time. It deactivates when both inside temperature drops below 40 and heatsink temperature below 55.
One solution may be splitting the strings to get around 300-350V and connecting the rest of the panels to another inverter that would serve only as a charger, connected in parallel to the same battery.

@Shadders this is not the soft start circuit. Values are correct. Here in attachements the soud of TX9 after powering on the circuit via the power button. Also D54 get very hot just in few seconds after powering on via the power button.
31 mars à 00.18​.aac

The RS232 is safer than USB. USB could have sometimes connection issues. Use always RS232 for firmware flashing.

Yes, the 24 V Kings have exactly half (3 of 6, as of display firmware version 02.83) of the protocols that the 48 V models support. The 48 V models also support protocols WEC, SOL, and LIA. I'm pretty sure that these 3 extra protocols are the CAN bus protocols. Presumably the 24 V models' main firmware therefore doesn't need to support CAN bus interrupts, so they can presumably get away with a cheaper DSP chip (at a wild guess).
Your BMS protocol seems to have a protocol that starts with a DD byte and ends with a 07 byte, and uses a simple 16 bit checksum. That doesn't match any of PYL, LIC (which are very similar and share a lot of code), and LIB. LIB uses an 8-bit CRC as far as I can tell. PYL (and I assume therefore also LIC) has a quite different command structure.
As an aside, it's scary when the protocol manual uses "bit" where it obviously means "byte", says "if zero" when it's obviously "if non-zero", to mention two errors that I noticed immediately. But full marks @fhocorp for finding the protocol document at all.
So sorry, I'm 98% sure that none of the three available protocols matches (but you pretty much knew that already), and yes, it would be a huge messy job to implement it ☹️.
One protocol that Voltronic seems to be reserving the later is the SH (Shoto) protocol, and it's possible that future firmwares will implement it. From a brief search, this seems to start with a 07 byte and end with a 0D byte. So that's different to the JBD  protocol.