ascheff

Brilliant, thanks @Coulomb, the issue is sorted. My setting 12 was 23v (half of your default on my 24V system). I tried setting 10 on Online earlier today, and then didn't seem to make a difference, but it makes sense to leave it on Online. The frequency reported by the inverter doesn't seem particularly unstable, it fluctuates with 0.1hz every few seconds. So probably changing 01 to SUB soved it, which is strange, since I don't have solar, and have had it on USB (Utility First) from day 1. Perhaps just got the inverter to unconfuse itself. Either way, grateful for your help again

I've run into an issue with my inverter, for which I created a separate thread

Hi people, I've run into an issue with my Axpert King 3K. I use it with a Pylontech UP2500. It's a 24V system. I don't have solar, I use it purely as an UPS for now. It has been running without issues for many months. Yesterday I wanted to plug a drill into a plug powered by the inverter, so as a precautionary measure I switched the change over switch on my DB to power from mains while I use the drill, since it might have overloaded the inverter. So during that time there was no load on the inverter. When done I switched the change over back to the inverter, which immediately added +-50% load. For some reason this caused the inverter to reboot, and since then I've not been able to get it out of bypass mode. You will see in the attached video that it will for a few seconds switch to line mode, then revert to bypass. If I switch off utility power from the DB, it doesn't come out of bypass either and the battery isn't supplying the power. There are no fault lights on the battery, and the led lights on the battery indicate it is full. Here are some settings I think might be relevant, based on other threads I've read. These settings are however what they always were when everything worked fine. 01 - Utility First 10 - Auto (I also tried Online and Eco) 13 - 27v (default) (I also tried Full, probably irrelevant due to Utility First) 23 - Bypass Enabled (I also tried Disable and Forbidden) 26 - 27.6v 27 - 26.9v Any ideas? inverter_stuck_in_bypass.mp4

My system is the 3kva 24v, but I wouldn't want the settings I used if I were you (doubled to get to your 48v), because my batteries didn't last more than a year What program are you using here to change settings on the Axpert?

The guy at Sinetech who I discussed my setup with after running into issues said they shouldn't be equalized

I've actually noticed this. With a biggish load when the voltage reaches 25V, I cut some of the non-essential equipment using my home automation. That immediately raises the voltage again to 25.6V or more Thanks, I'll look into this

Thank you. I'm going to do this, will feed back if I have any luck On a slightly related note, since the SOC the Axpert displayed isn't really worth anything, how reliable is the battery voltage? Can I use that to roughly calculate remaining percentage? I was thinking to take whatever the voltage is at as a percentage inbetween my cut off voltage and the voltage the battery settles at after the initial drop when charge is removed, with a load. Would this give me a rough idea, better than the Axpert reported percentage, of where I am backup wise?

I have finally been able to have a look at the display on my friend's 48V 5kw King. Display firmware is 01.21, and I also confirmed that he has the PYL option on setting 5. Is it possible to download/extract the firmware from his display to update mine? Or what would the next step be once I have access to it? Just trying to determine how long and for what I would need it, as he runs his house on his, so would not be able to remove it for long.

Oh great, I have a friend with a 5kW King. I will find out what version his display has

I don't, unfortunately. So if anyone in my area (Weltevredenpark, Johannesburg) sees this, who has the same model with newer firmware, and is willing to help out, please let me know Thank you, I'll apply these changes. I have a lot of my electrical equipment on Sonoffs connected to Home Assistant, so I will use that to switch stuff off accordingly, whether I'm home or not Thanks for all the advice @Coulomb, much appreciated

Just when I thought I saw some glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel 09/2018, so not exactly recent. Which was why I hoped the 01.xx firmware just meant it was way behind on updates It seems that way, as well as other support like for the ICC software cable and SolPipLog for the 24v Pylon. The guy from Diversified Solutions (The Cable Guy) said the UP2500 uses a different protocol from that of the US2000 and US3000. In the interim, while waiting to get the Axpert and Pylon communicating (well, really hoping, as this would be first prize), what would be the recommended settings to use on the Axpert, that will give the Pylon the most freedom to manage itself with the inbuilt BMS? My priorities in order would be: 1. Protect the battery and it's total lifespan 2. Get the longest possible backup time before cutoff 3. Charge back up to full in the shortest possible time 4. Have the inverter report a more accurate battery capacity These are the Pylon specifications: My current settings are: Battery Type: USE Charge Current: 40A Bulk Charge: 28V Float Charge: 27V Low DC Cut Off: 23V

Thanks @Coulomb That's correct I would not mind, as long as instructions are clear and the risk of bricking the device is not too big. I've done that type of thing with many types of devices before, but never something of this value. I'm pretty sure I'm out of warranty by now anyway, so not worried about that. I'm not entirely sure which is the display version, I'm assuming U2 (Secondary CPU), which is 01.12. The rest are: U1 (Main CPU) 51.50 U3 (Bluetooth) 00.21 U4 (SCC) 00.00 Where would I get the correct firmware updates? Voltronic's website doesn't have anything other than manuals and monitoring tools that I can find. If you can point me to a legitimate download, either theirs or 3rd party (yours?) I could give it a try Do you still suggest 02.61, or rather 02.62?

Before another year goes by, I have created a new thread for my current system, which I'll use going forward to get my setup optimized. I have started it off with questions around my current settings.

My biggest annoyance, which is no fault of the battery, but rather the Axpert, is that I still cannot get a true SOC reading. I was ready to go the ICC route, but after emailing Diversified Solutions to confirm cable support, found out that the cable only works on the US2000 and US3000, and not the UP2500. I was apparently only the second person ever to enquire about the UP2500. So I then installed SolPipLog on a Pi, which feeds data to another Pi with Home Assistant, which I already had running for other stuff around the house. That works great for remotely monitoring everything, except SOC, and I have been unable to get SolPipLog to get data from the Pylon. I made my own cable as detailed here, https://powerforum.co.za/topic/2322-youdas-off-grid-lab/page/2/?tab=comments#comment-53641, bought a Sunix USB to RS232 Serial Adapter with Prolific PL2303HxD chip (https://www.sunix.com/en/product_detail.php?cid=1&kid=3&gid=18&pid=1136), and although it can communicate with the BatteryView tool in Youda's post on my Windows PC, I can't get it working with the Pi and older SolPipLog with Pylon support built in, or with the latest SolPipLog and PyLog separated. I can see the PyLog application's communication attempts in its log triggering the led on the serial adapter, but the PyLog application doesn't register any Pylon data. It does however trip up the Pylon, triggering it's protection mode, which is obviously not a good thing. So I'm suspecting that PyLog (and SolPipLog) doesn't support the UP2500 either. Has anyone been able to get any remote monitoring data from the UP2500? Preferably as MQTT or UDP that I can feed to Home Assistant via Node-Red?

After almost a year of procrastinating, I thought I'd create a thread for my "new" setup, which I hope to optimize with the help of the very knowledgeable people on the forum. My previous setup and subsequent change over to this one is detailed in another thread, https://powerforum.co.za/topic/4948-axpert-king-3k-issues-–-inverter-or-battery-fault/. I still use the 3kW Axpert King 3K (SOL-I-AX-3K) 24v, but now with a Pylontech UP2500. I don't currently have solar, so I use it purely as grid backup. Seeing as I've been working from home since lockdown started and Johannesburg's CityPower has decreased loadshedding timeslots from 4 to 2 hours, I have added more load to the system - about half my home's plugs (living area, study/home office, main bedroom, bunch of aquariums and my fridge), as well as all lights. Peak draw is about 1500w, down to about 300/400w, but the average is more around 700/800w. This gets me through loadshedding, and for any non-loadshedding power interruptions, which I don't know how long they will last, I just use power sparingly to increase backup time. The battery was supplied with a RJ45 cable, which I connected between the port labeled Li-Ion on the Axpert to the RS485 port on the Pylon. Considering my Axpert doesn't have the PYL option under the battery type setting, does this do anything? Does the battery and inverter have any meaningful communication? The guys who supplied the Pylon gave me inverter settings to use, and I have used these settings since May 2020, but am hoping to get confirmation that these are indeed the most optimal settings for my setup and use case, taking into account the Axpert premature float bug and Pylon built in BMS. These are the current settings: Battery Type: USECharge Current: 40ABulk Charge: 28VFloat Charge: 27VLow DC Cut Off: 23V (supplier said 22V)

Hi Lindsay, I'm very sorry, I completely missed your post and only saw it now when I got notification of BosVos' post. It is more than 7 months too late, but I will give feedback anyways, in case it might still help you or someone else. I really cannot fault the battery; I have now gone through a winter and a summer with it, as well as quite a bit of loadshedding and a few "regular" grid failures. It has now lasted longer than my lead acid batteries did, touch wood. The guys that supplied the Pylon gave me settings to use, which I've used since installing. Battery Type: USE Charge Current: 40A Bulk Charge: 28V Float Charge: 27V Low DC Cut Off: 22V I have no idea if these settings are optimal considering the Axpert's premature float bug and battery's built in BMS. I should probably start a new thread, as I've been meaning to do since last year, and get some more opinions. I connected the port labeled Li-Ion on the Axpert to the RS485 port on the Pylon using the supplied RJ45 cable, but I have no idea if that even really does anything. My Axpert doesn't have the PYL option for battery type, and I have not been able to find any firmware update which could enable the function. My biggest annoyance, which is no fault of the battery, but rather the Axpert, is that I still cannot get true SOC. I was ready to go the ICC route, but after emailing Diversified Solutions to confirm cable support, found out that the cable only works on the US2000 and US3000, and not the UP2500. I was apparently only the second person ever to enquire about the UP2500, so I guess the one issue with it is popularity, and subsequent lack of 3rd party support. So I then installed SolPipLog on a Pi, which feeds data to another Pi with Home Assistant. That works great for remotely monitoring everything, except SOC, and I have been unable to get SolPipLog to get data from the Pylon. I made my own cable as detailed here, https://powerforum.co.za/topic/2322-youdas-off-grid-lab/page/2/?tab=comments#comment-53641, bought a Sunix USB to RS232 Serial Adapter with Prolific PL2303HxD chip, and although it can communicate with the BatteryView tool in Youda's post on my Windows PC, I can't get it working with the Pi and older SolPipLog with Pylon support built in, or with the latest SolPipLog and PyLog separated. So all in all, considering that I use the system for grid backup only (for now) and I also don't draw too much power, I'm happy with the size of my inverter + battery I have now. The big benefit in my case if I had gone for a 48V system instead , would have been for 3rd party support, both for Axpert firmware support as well as ICC software support.

It's been a while since I last posted (time flies when you're having lockdown?), so I thought I'd come give this closure on this. After trying various things at home, like regularly cutting power to the inverter for a few minutes to force charging of the battery when reconnected, I wasn't able get the battery to last any longer than about an hour, or hour and a half. I took them to the supplier, who was able to do a thorough charge, and then run diagnostics. They determined the same as you guys advised, that the battery was probably not charged optimally, but also that the battery was likely damaged by being charged at incorrect voltages during the summer months, due the the Axpert not automatically compensating for temperature. The diagnostics also served as a check on the validity of the warranty, and as expected due to the reasons given, the warranty was invalidated. They advised that to get the best out of the batteries in their condition, to move them into the house, which is air-conditioned. I did this and ran it this way for a few months. Luckily loadshedding stopped due to the lockdown, so that bought me some time. A long power fault a few weeks back however brought the same issues to the fore. This prompted me to take the plunge, and I replaced the lead acid battery with a Pylontech UP2500. For now I'm running on charge settings provided by the supplier, but will probably ask for advice on the best settings soon. I will leave that for a separate thread though. Thanks again for everyone's advice.

I'm definitely going to try that first. I'll try to find a place that will do it for me. Perhaps even the guys who supplied them might be able to help.

Thanks guys. While I don't feel any better having to replace the batteries, I do feel better equipped to treat the next ones better.

Another option I suppose is adding solar panels, which would mean it would theoretically only draw from battery during night hours, even during very long utility interruptions. Not sure if my complex would "prefer" permanent panels on the roof or a rare generator during the day

Thanks for that. So it really comes down to what the typical conditions are and how long I want the batteries to last. So taking Coulomb's calculation, for the typical 4 hour loadshedding at my current average load of 160w: 160 x 4 = 640Wh., which is an 11% DOD. This would be "safe". Less frequently, but not rare would be a cable fault, which takes perhaps 8 hours to fix, which is: 160 x 8 = 1280Wh, which is 22% DOD, which is still okay? Rare, but not unheard of would be when a transformer explodes, and it may take 24 hours to get back online: 160 x 24 = 3840Wh, which is 66% discharge, and would be bad for the battery. Here ideally I should then switch to my backup generator during the day and/or lower the load to the absolute minimum. At the "good number" of 50%, I would get 2875Wh to use, which is 18 hours runtime. Am I on the right track with my understanding and calculations?

What is considered a "safe" discharge percentage, if I wanted to calculate how many running hours I could safely expect on my battery (if they were in a new, healthy condition)?

Thank you Awesome, thanks, I'll make these adjustments. Learning a lot. Got it. It sounds like I can work around the shortcomings of the inverter/firmware by optimising the settings anyway, so will stick to that. Again, learning lots here, thank you. I expect as much after reading the "small print".

I suspect this will be the route I'll have to go when looking the the cost of smart chargers with a suitable charge current

Thanks @Solo This sounds like a worthwhile investment to have, even if it doesn't save these batteries it may be useful to keep the next healthy. I looked at these, they are well priced, but they seem to charge at a maximum of 8 amps, while my batteries require a minimum of 30 amps. On the Ctek I'll have to go for the MXTS40, which charges at 40 Amps, which is my batteries recommended charge current. That is a R17k charger though, so would rather buy new batteries for less. I'll see if I can find another suitable smart charger These batteries can be charged at 50 amps maximum safely according to the specs.