Lindsay

Are all the Pylontech LifePO4? Yes, I have considered this as well, it would be quite a bit cheaper.

Thanks, I'll probably get away with 25mm cable as I have an 6a trip switch on the AC, so don't go over 60a on DC. Glad to see it working with what looks like another rebrand of the inverter I have! I did look at Pylontech, specifically the US2000 as it's 24V. There seem to be much more limited options and prices seem higher for the same capacity in 24V, but I'm still looking around a bit before making a final decision

I'm wondering if anyone has had any experience with this 24V battery: https://lithiumbatteriessa.co.za/collections/built-units/products/24v-200ah105ah-5-1kwh-tested-5-2kwh-usable-40a-lifepo4-lithium-iron-phosphate-wall-mount-solar-ups-battery They tell me if will work fine on my Mecer (Axpert) 3kVA inverter/solar charge controller (SOL-I-AX-3MPLUS24) (and 1.5kW of solar panels). Just wondering if anyone else is already using these in a similar setup as it sounds like a pretty good option. Thanks in advance

Hi, Has anyone used the Giter G2500-24? Just wondering what your experiences are of this LifePo4 battery as they seem to sell very cheap. Thanks.

I was hoping there was an alternative to ordering from Joburg, but ordering from someone local via FB marketplace might also have some risks I'm using 24V Mecer (Axpert), would it work for that?

Well I'd like to build my own battery bank, so I'm looking for individual LiFePO4 cells and a (possibly DALY brand) bms. I'm hoping I can build something a bit cheaper than a Pylontech module and will also have a bit more flexibility with sizing it correctly

Hi, Are there any places in Cape Town that sell new LiFePO4 batteries at a reasonable price Thanks!

It worked 100% after I rebooted, 😃 stays off after I switch it off.

Hi Coulomb, That seemed to work, I replaced QPIGS for PEj or PDj in my script and didn't bother reading any feedback. However my initial script accidentally had an infinite loop, which caused it to send the command to switch on (power saving off) the inverter over and over. I stopped the script, fixed it, ran a script to turn off the inverter (power saving on) and it seemed to work, however a few minutes later the inverter had turned on again. I then ran "sudo pkill -f <script name>" and also ran my script to turn off the inverter yet again but it still seemed to turn itself on again after a few minutes of power saving. When I "sudo ps ax | grep python" I saw my script to switch on the inverter still listed, so I'm not sure if it's actually then still running? This was last night and this morning I found the inverter running again and I manually switched it off using the control panel/settings directly on the unit. A few minutes later it did a lot of relay clicking, the voltages shot up to 32V and then settled back to 28.5V and a few minutes after this the inverter turned back on yet again. So maybe my script is still running and looping? I guess the only way to really stop my script running might be to reboot my Raspberry Pi?

Hi, I posted this a while back but got no response, I'm hoping someone here can help me. I'm wanting to be able to switch on the inverter using the settings menu remotely. I use the QPIGS command from Python to monitor my Mecer (Axpert) 3kVA 24V inverter from a Raspberry Pi. Currently I leave it in SENS mode in the settings so that it only fully turns on the inverter when a load is detected. If the load is over about 100W then this works fine and it turns on, however anything less than this and it won't turn on. If I want to turn it on for a lighter load I can change the setting from SENS to SDS (I think it's called) in setting 3 or 4 in the menu. I was hoping maybe I could use a command (QPIGS/QPIRI/QFLAG or something) in Python. Anyone know what command I need to send the inverter? Thanks.

So I disconnected each battery one by one last weekend and did a quick 15minute 30W load test after a full day of sun. Found that 2 of my lead acid batteries went down below 11V after only 5 minutes Two others went just below 12V after 15 minutes (not great) and the other 4 were all 12.2-12.4V. So I've removed the worst two and now the battery array is back to getting almost fully charged every day Looks like I might no longer need to charge off mains for a bit every evening like I have been for the past few months and hopefully I won't have to upgrade to Lithium's quite yet, although I appreciate all the info shared here for when I do! I noticed that if I put these two worst batteries on a charger they act like they are charged almost immediately and the voltage rises quickly, is this a sign of completely dead lead-acid batteries?

I'm looking for 24V options

Looks like powerforum shop sells it, but seems to be 48V so not suitable for me.

Thanks. Sounds like around 3.2kWh would be ideal, but maybe I could just get away with 2.8kWh Worst case I could always switch to charge off the grid on particularly bad solar days.

Sorry to revive my old thread, but assuming I was moving to Lithium batteries, what capacity should I buy? I only use around 2kWh (80Ah @ 24V) per 24hr cycle, and probably drain 30Ah overnight (unless we in middle of winter where it could be up to 40Ah) at which point they start charging again in the morning. I still have a lot of items on normal mains electricity, and am not planning on moving everything over to solar. Would 2.8kWh be enough that the DOD wouldn't be too much and the batteries would be ok for several years? I'm hoping to avoid buying two of these battery packs (Pylon) which ends up a bit pricey. Thanks in advance.

Ok, so if I implemented Pylontech or the ones Bain sells then I gather I'll just have to make sure it doesn't ever go past the maximum voltage amount to avoid it shutting off. I've heard that disconnecting the batteries from Axpert type inverters while there's solar coming in can cause them to blow. It doesn't sound like there's any essential communication needed that requires the BMS to talk to the inverter. I would however like at least to log the data from the BMS so I can monitor the SOC on my Raspberry PI and check they aren't undercharged (I already log from my inverter and using shunts with my own code, not ICC). @Bain Viljoen Would you be willing to send me your protocol? Maybe you can also send me an quote for the 6kw 24V one including shipping to CT so I can take a look?

@Bain ViljoenThat 6kwh 24V unit looks good. What are the interface options on it, can it talk to the Axpert inverters or does the BMS have USB/serial comms? You guys aren't based in Cape Town as far as I'm aware, so what would it cost to ship it down and what are the support options down here if there are any issues or problems installing it? Thanks!

I already have some things in my house which run directly off the 24V dc (originally I didn't even have an inverter!) and my needs for AC power aren't much more than 1000W (induction cooker and slow cooker), so my 3kVA Mecer is fine for now. I'd only consider 48v if I was going to move completely to solar, at the moment I'm 60% on solar. It's a reasonable price, do you know if you can run two of these in parallel? Ideally I'd like to have 4kWh or more, although I'm not sure I could afford 2 of them. Could they custom build to a clients requirements if you want something just a bit bigger?

I should probably just have gone for Lithium from the beginning, once lead-acid ones start to go bad they really seem to go downhill fast. I only got about 3 years from my lead-acid batteries even though they should have only discharged on average 10-15% overnight. I guess this won't matter now anyway then since I'm def not going lead-acid anymore. This is very cool data. Is there any spec available for the communications protocol?

I would definately rather get the 24v versions then. Ok, understood. I already monitor my Axpert and some shunts using a Raspberry Pi and my own code. I'm sure I could get spec somewhere for the comms on the Pylontech and monitor this as well with my own code. I think where I store the batteries is always under 30 degrees and not less than 10 degrees, so I think it should be ok, but I'll check back on this forum if I need to change voltages depending on the environment they are being stored in. Well I hope that undercharging them doesn't affect their lifespan too negatively. If I have this problem I'll probably need to get two of the 2.8kWh packs. I'm hoping I could get some good data out of the Pylontech BMS, like Ah in and out over a day. Anyone know what is available? Thanks

Hey ascheff, Just wondering how you are coming along with those Pylontech UP2500 batteries? I also have a 3kVA Mecer (Axpert) and am in a similar position where my 8 lead-acid batteries I bought 3 years ago now need charging every night. They may also have been damaged due to temperature or the fact that I gradually mixed new batteries in with slightly older ones. In any case I am looking at getting at least one UP2500 (I draw at most 40Ah overnight, not sure yet but I may need to buy two and parallel them) Did you change any of the Axpert's settings and do you have any communication between it and your Pylontech batteries? Thanks!

These are very good. They do come at a premium though. You should be able to make the required setting changes to that Axpert for the charging values used for Lithiums. There are many on these forums doing that already. Cool, they seem to have built in BMS, but does that mean I can just put two of them in series (12v + 12v)? Or do they need some knowledge how they are connected to each other? And how do these compare to the Pylontech? Ok, my Mecer / Axpert only has USB out, so I guess there's no way to connect it directly to the Pylontech. Ok, if it's just switching the inverter to utility when the batteries are low (and back again once charged), I'm not sure I'd need to do that automatically, I'll check out the link though, thanks. Does the float bug that these Axpert type inverters suffer from have any adverse effect on Lithium batteries (lifespan/damage) and also, how temperature dependant are Lithium batteries, I know lead-acid gas if the ambient temperature is high and the boost voltage is too high? Thanks, it does seem that you can get the second hand ones at about half the price. If anything I've notice lead-acid has gone up in price. The 100Ah ones I have are a few hundred more expensive than 3 years ago. I'm obviously not the expert on here, it's probably not nearly as bad as mixing old and new lead-acid batteries, but still probably not recommended? Someone else would have to comment on this

I don't think I've ever used much more than 50A from my current setup and that was only for a brief moment. I never run the inverter to it's full capacity, usually peak at less than 1000W. Pity they don't offer the sizes for 24v that they have for 48v, 3.5kWh would have been better, although I gather I could put two 24V units in parallel if I really wanted to? Not sure what you mean, do I need special software to control the charging cycles on Lithium? I thought the voltages being setup correctly on the Axpert and the BMS on the battery would be enough? Thanks, are these second hand / refurbished batteries and can one trust them to still have capacity and plenty of discharge cycles? Any other concerns with running Lithium off a 3kVA Mever/Axpert, anyone had any problems, or suggestions? Thanks everyone for all the comments so far! I see that there are places selling Blue Nova Lithium Ion Phosphate batteries that are just drop in replacements for lead acid batteries. Does anyone have any experience with these?

Hi all, I currently have some lead acid deep cycle batteries, 8 x 102Ah, with sets of 2 in series, 4 parallel strings, for a total of 408Ah @ 24V. I paid around R 16 000 the batteries and am now looking at replacing them as they seem to get quite low overnight and don't even charge fully. I have a Mecer (Axpert) 3kVA 24V inverter, charging the batteries of 1.5kw solar, and at most drain the batteries 40-50Ah @ 24V overnight running fridge/freezer, security camera system, lights and usb chargers etc. I see some Lithium Ion / Phosphate batteries that promise thousands of cycles when they are drained up to 80% of their charge (DoD). I'm only wanting to spend up to R 20k, since my system is quite small. I know I will not get the same capacity as lead acid, but since these other battery types can be drained lower for more cycles, they seem like a much better deal. I see they also sometimes include the BMS built in, which sounds great. So what can I get in this price range to replace my existing batteries? Preferably shops that are in Cape Town please. Thanks!

Ok, yeah, I guess there's not much I can do about it now, other than change those equalise settings and attempt to do that everyday. I did set it up on Friday night to equalise at 28.5V every day for 2 hours and on Saturday I noticed it was displaying E9 which I believe means it was in equalise. However it didn't display this the next day, so I'll have to pull the logs and see what happened. Yup, 24V down to 12V for lights, 24V to 19V for laptop etc Yeah, I have a shunt between the inverter/charger and the batteries as well as between the batteries and the DC loads, monitored with an ADC and Raspberry PI so this is how I know they have not been charging fully and have been 10-20Ah short every day. The voltage being 0.5V lower in the middle of the night, than a couple of weeks before was also a giveaway. Are you suggesting I change the float voltage as well? At the moment it is 27.6V? So far I have not seen much change in the charging with the daily equalise, it's at least 10-15ah short, but I need to download those logs....