JacquesVDM

Thanks Coulomb.

Hi guys. Need help for a friend. 3x axpert inverters in parallel, firmware of one is 72.30 and two is 74.40. The slaves are having an issue due to the firmware not being the same. What version of firmware can be loaded? The one is a 64v option and the other two is not which seems to be a problem to get a compatible firmware. Thanks Jacques

Not if the inverter is connected before the earth leakage. What I also noted and had to do, was to connect my earth and neutral together at the inverter output. Otherwise I would have about 80V between N and E. I don't see a problem. The frame of the inverter is earthed, so no chance of a shock.

There is not suppose to be an earth leakage on the input to the inverter: On the "eskom" non essential circuit, a earth leakage is required, but the supply to the inverter must be taken before the earth leakage. An earth leakage is also required after (at the output) of the inverter. What is happening is that the inverter is bonding the neutral and earth, which is causing the tripping.

Thanks Carl. Will have a look next time I'm on the roof to see if it is silvery or white. (As I do have extra PV to heat it electrical, I am not too much worried at the moment.)

Today I did a test without any assistance with electrical power. Also no hot water was used. Started last night with 46 degrees. 42 degrees this morning. And it reached 62 late afternoon. Maybe I must just wait for summer to fully kick in.

Thanks TTT. I am also thinking the vaccum is not what it was. Have just drained it and there is no scaling I can see. Don't have a pump, so nr 2 is out. At least not leaking and geyser wise is still OK. Is there a way to determine if a tube has lost its vacuum?

It seems my solar EV tubes geyser is not heating as it did when it was installed. I have cleaned the tubes, but still it does not go over about 55 degrees. All I can think of is scaling. What is the easiest to "de-scale" or clean it. Or could there be some other problem. It is been running for about something like 8 years without any issues. Having the same issue at the in-laws. Thanks guys

My 4x US3000's does the same. Charges to 89%, stays there for about 30 minutes and then goes to 100%. Been doing it since day. Cycling it down to about 55% each day.

Someone at work says he is not earthing his panels at all. Heavy lightning area and he had it in for more than a year now. His thinking is that if it is not earthed, it would not "attract" lightning. (just a piece of metal lying on the roof) The PV part is in any case isolated from the frame. In a way it makes sense, but I am still going to earth my panels. What do you guys say about his way of thinking?

1. Lowest I went with Pylons were 23% 2. I need to check, but if I'm not mistaken it is on 44.8 V. I made it low so as to not interfere with my own control of switching to grid with SOC. 3. Yes, Rs232 on the console port. (I get SOC, voltage, amps, temp for all four batteries from the master batteries' console port) See attached photo showing data I'm getting-web page on phone. Still need to add some more data (over voltage warnings, AH remaining, cell voltages, etc)

Hi everyone, Just sharing my installation thus far as I have learned a lot from you guys here on the forum. Installation consists of: 1x Axpert 5kw Inverter 4x Pylontech US3000 Batteries 15x 275watt JA Solar panels 3s x 5p (North at 25 degrees from horizontal) 160A Keto Battery Fuses / Disconnect 16A fuses on each PV string with a 63A DC Beny Isolator Have redone the complete main DB as it contained some very old circuit breakers and space was a problem. The whole house runs off solar except for the stove and hob (for now). I have a EV tube solar geyser, but have it on between 13:30 and 14:30 to heat up to 60 degrees with excess PV. Also have it switching on for about 30 minutes in the mornings. (Klerksdorp: Winter a bit cold🥶). So far everything runs quite good with between 50 and 60% left of battery capacity in the mornings. Maxes out at about 80% of the available PV power. Developed my own software to monitor the inverter and batteries 🤗. (still busy adding features) Some things still needs to be done like lightning protection and PV panel earthing 🤔. Attached are some photos. Feel free to comment or ask questions.🙂 Thanks Jacques

Sjoe. Had me worried. Thanks for the reply.

Hi, I have a Axpert 5kw inverter (Firmware 74.30) with Pylontech batteries. When I start the kettle (or any other 'heavy' load), I see a dip on the lights. It is like a small flicker. Output power is about 200w before I start the kettle. Output voltage is 228V before I start kettle and 226V after the kettle is started. Also when the kettle is switched off, the lights make a flicker. It seems as though the inverter is too slow to react to the sudden load change. Anyone else experiencing it? Is it normal? Thanks Jacques

@ValkenThanks!! Oeps, made a mistake: wanted to ask for a Linux version of Batteryview (as per Youda's link). (But will download Watchpower as I need that one as well.)

@Youda You don't have (or know where to get) a Linux version of Watchpower?

Thanks. At the moment I have everything on the inverter except the stove and the solar geyser which are still on Eskom (due to their high load) Still sorting out how to manage those two.

Hi Guys, Sorry if it was answered somewhere before. (Tried searching) Question is: If I set my Axpert (5kw) to bypass on overload: At what point does it go (bypass) to utility and if on utility, how much kw can then be utilised? Thanks Jacques

Hi, Is there anyone using blocking diodes on their solar panels. I am not talking about the bypass diodes which the panels have already have built-in. In my solar panel installation manual (JA solar) they show blocking diodes when having serie-parallel strings. Not for serie-only string or parallel-only string. Thanks Jacques

I used a normal USB to RS232 converter. For the RJ11 plug on the Pylontech (console port) you can use an old telephone (Telkom) cable. Just make sure to find one that have all 4 pins. Some only have the middle two. Another option for the RJ11 plug: I could not find one, so I used a normal Ethernet cable and filed the plug smaller to fit into the RJ11 socket. Then I used the middle four pins.

Hi. I am using a 19" audio rack (Samson) for 4x Pylontech Us3000's. Bought it from Audiomart for about R1750.

My system is going to look as follow now: Axpert 5kw 15x 275w JA Solar panels 3 in serie x 5 paralleled 4x 3.5kw Pylontech Batteries What do guys think?🤔 Any problems forecast ?

Thanks, Already have a generator, so that part is sorted Eventually went with the Pylontech's. Was a close decision.

Hi everyone, Planning to go off-grid with the following: Axpert 5kw inverter (already bought), 12x 335W Canadian panels, ~12kw Lithium battery pack. Can't decide on going with 4x 3.5kw Pylontech or 12kw Blue Nova. What are the negatives (if there are any ) of choosing one above the other? At the moment I'm leaning towards the Blue Nova with a 10 year warranty. Before comparing the cycle life of AGM vs Lithium, I wanted to go with Omnipower. But it seems that although the Lithium is much more expensive, it would cost less at the end of the day (because of the cycle life). Thanks Jacques