Tsa

Where can we meet as I'm willing to take them off you. 

Apparently, this is normal since the inverter wants to communicate immediately with the battery but the battery BMS might be slow to respond\wake up - the BMS might have gone to sleep if it wasn't being used previously. So doing a full restart (especially by switching off the battery "main switch" and back on to wake up the BMS circuitry) fixes the comms.

I discovered the above "fix" on a site's technician's notes for comms issues the person has dealt with previously aka experience 😎
"Thanks for this. Have you had any disconnects/comms issues after running this for some time? How long have you been running it like this?"

Twice-
Once where the comms cable RJ45 wasn't seated properly on the battery side and pulled out slightly thus randomly losing comms 😡. The Rj45 clips was slightly broken...new RJ45 fixed that.

The 2nd time was my fault - updated from 500.07 to 500.12 checked everything was fine and left. Got a 😡 wife calling me at 10:20 4 days later when I was of course an hour and 40min away that the power was tripping none stop even after the load was completely switched off. Got there just to realize that 1 - I never restarted the inverter after the firmware update so after it tripped it lost all the settings. 2 - Even after setting the settings and restarting the inverter it would lose them again. Factory reset the inverter, configured it, restarted, and its been solid since...so we learn 😒

Been solid now since March 7th.

I've helped a few people now with comms issues and once the right cable (pinouts) is used in the right ports and the right settings are in none have had any issues. touchwood

My interaction with Growatt support that I worked with a few months back left me with the distinct impression that they don't keep proper track of firmware releases and ONLY update when they are 100% certain that your issue matches a  specific firmware or another update.

*Rant*
For example, I currently have a TL were the display is corrupted after applying an update for the negative value issue some inverters have. ONLY to be told afterward well... sorry but we could have manually cleared the faulty logged data and this inverter is out of warranty so you have to pay now to have the display replaced. Wait you TOLD me on WhatsApp to go ahead and now that it failed you're saying it's not really recommended?! 

The inverter is still unusable and they stopped responding to my whatsapps...
*Rant ends*

The 2nd firmware is for the coms board itself. 13. SPF 5000TL HVM COM BOARD( Please Note That It Is Just For Com Board That Has CAN And 485 Function )

Download link

Remember that after the update is done too power cycle the inverter and once back up to factory reset it so the new firmware values\settings are loaded and then reconfigure the inverter.

Item: Dyness B4850 lithium batteries
Age: +-3years
Price: R12000 each or R35 000 for all 3
Payment Method Accepted: Instant EFT 
Warranty: Remainder of Dyness warranty, bought through DC Rebel. Firmware upgrade done in 2020 by Aspergo.
Packaging: None, includes parallel cables (power + data)
Condition: Good. Less than 800 cycles. Pack has not worked hard. Can supply export of values from battery.
Location: Durbanville, Cape town
Reason: Need to upgrade to bigger system and Dyness B4850 are currently out of stock so cannot add to my system .
Shipping: Collect
Collection: Yes
 
 
 
 
 

If you use can protocol need set the dip switch to 0010,  use 485 protocol need to  set the dip switch to 0100.
(answer from dyness manufacturer)
for reading i prefer use python scripts like this
https://github.com/Frankkkkk/python-pylontech
in rs485 dyness use whole pylontech protocol - search public info (pylon rs485 protocol ver 2.8)
 

Got this working for someone
If i remember correctly
It was just a question of getting the correct cable made up
ie find the pinout of the growatt  and the pin-out of the pylontech
Edit based on reply you can see i lost the plot , but assume the same applies to shoto so data that follows has been changed to match what i find on shoto
 
If they speak the same language naturally it will work otherwise not
 
i would remove all battery cables (to slaves) until you have a connection between inverter and master battery
and then later do slave setup
set all dip switches off (bottom) if having multiple batteries 000000 is master  no idea how slaves need to be set
just that the dip switches respresent 6 bit dial switch
 
 
When making up cables mark inverter side and battery side naturally
 
there is 2 forms of communication RS485 and CAN
the shoto has 3 ports that deal with coms
4 (on layout img) does CAN 
3 does rs485 the right one is the one used to connect to slave batteries (would connect it to the left side on next slave and use the right one to connect to next slave again ie like cascade image attached at the bottom
if coms to inverter has to be rs485 then use the left one to connect to inverter
 
or 4 CAN if that is what inverter uses
 
use a cut cable and join wires from appropriate pins and test until you have a working cable
 
on rs485
The shoto uses pin 1/2 for data rs485 coms and 8 for ground and it seems the growatt uses 1/2 too (not sure on ground)
so try a straight connection from 1-1 and 2-2
If that doesn't work try crossing 1-2 and 2-1 
 
 
 
and on rs232/CAN it uses pin 3/4/5 
5 for ground and 3/4 data
some have a 6pin rj11 and some use a 8pin rj45 connector seems they all use 3/4/5 (salt, just what the 2 manuals i have say)
And growatt uses 3/4/5 too but it has ground on 5
So connect pin3 on battery side  to pin5 on inverter side for ground
and for data
 4 on battery side to 3 on inverter side
And 5 battery side on 4 inverter side
if no success swop the two data lines around ie connect  4-4 and 5-3
 
 
There is a few different shotos so not sure if all the same pin-outs
 
I would make a cable try all the different Li options if no success then alter the cable run through all the options again , too see if one of them matches the shoto
if through all cable variation and settings with no success  , i would just run it in dumb mode 
 
 

Send Pierre at SA a mail. I am sure he'll be able to assist
 

Eh... not officially. 😉
They only sent me the compiled program, but since it is made with .NET I was able to decompile it with ILSpy to see the code. I needed to understand how they make the protocol level messages since I want to make my own monitoring script.

I will stick my neck out about some of these wire sizes. Although I don't agree. The 160W panels cannot provide more than 12A so the 2.5 sq mm wire will never get close to the 70 degrees C allowed. 
Also the 2.5sq mm wire from a 25A main CB will easy trip a 40A or more MCB due to the short runs in a caravan without getting so hot that the insulation gives way. 
How about looking inside some inverters and look how thin the wires are and even the copper PCB tracks and they opera rate quite well. 
Also another example is the PCB tracks on gate motors. They normally have a 16A fuse (12V units) and the power goes through a number of PCB tracks. 
Luckily the caravan is fed from 10/16/20A circuit breakers in most resorts. 

Hi ，You can give me your battery SN.If you've never done a firmware upgrade, I'll let you know if you need an upgrade based on the information you provided.

So I've been busy on a 48v 16s 200ah (10kWh) battery for a while, cost is around R25K. this very same article mentioned above is why I'm pushing up the release timeframe.
The BMS key features are a screen, canbus communication、rs485 communication (master slave comms)、cell balancing、Individual cell over voltage protection、Over/under voltage protection、temperature protection, over charge/discharge protection, over current protection, Short circuit protection etc.
in addition the BMS can support up to 16 units in parallel. 
Li Ion cell options are 4000 cycle,  Cell Charge is 1C/ Discharge is 3C, although specs will state 0.5C on both.
The key features are affordability and universal pylontech compatibility, Support and warranty will be local. 
atm the eta is around 7-10days from order. Please let me know if this is of interest to anybody.

Growatt = BMS port and Battery = IN port
Also double check your Dip switches to be on 0110 on host battery, 0000 on all slaves. 
Double check the comms cable pin outs are correct as well. 

I have been through the process with Dyness & Growatt and still have an issue where my batteries would switch off supply for a second, basically trip house power,  and then reconnect as if nothing was ever wrong. 
This would happen at random times when running off battery only. Sometimes minutes after switching to battery, other times after 5+ hours only. SOC at that stage is still 75%+ based on battery SOC LEDs. This only happens when running setting (05) as Li and profile L01. When running as USE it works perfectly, not such power disconnect issue.. What I have seen when this happens is Warning 04 (low battery) and warning 20 (BMS comms issue) when this dip occurs. 
Dip switches I was told to set to 0 1 1 0 on master and also using the cable that was supplied with inverter(black) which goes from BMS on inverter to the master. (not the straight through BMS cable supplies with batteries). 
I have not done the FW upgrade yet, but after speaking to the guys at Dyness they confirmed that this is a battery FW issue and that FW needs updating. They however do not supply this to customers, but plan on coming to SA once Covid clears and travel is allowed. Still not sure how this will resolve the FW issue on MY batteries, but have asked them to keep me updated on this. Apparently their remote upgrade facility is still in development. 
Would be great if someone else with Dyness and Growatt can test the same. Maybe its a faulty cable in my case, or something else, but Dyness confirming FW issue, I stopped further troubleshooting and just run it in USE no issues (as suggested by Dyness). 
Also gave me these parameters to set in USE mode. 
"parameters,max charge voltage 53.5 V,float voltage 51V,cut off voltage46V,max charge/discharge current 50A(for 2 units(batteries)"
 

Hi all
Last year in February I installed an SPF5000TL HVM-P Inverter with 2 x US3000 Pylontech batteries, and ever since then it has been quite the journey to get everything working exactly the way I wanted it, without issues.
I have only just recently achieved a state of operation that I consider to be optimal, where everything works to my satisfaction, including the Wifi data logger and remote monitoring.
To achieve that state of Inverter nirvana required many hours (days) of fighting with hardware, communicating with Growatt reps in China, and flashing firmware in my garage myself like a mad scientist.
Finding the right firmware has always been a challenge because there is no official repository of Firmware for Growatt Inverters and Growatt do not want us to maintain our own equipment, so we (the PowerForum community) have had to source the Firmware piece by piece through direct communication with various Growatt reps, over time.
I have decided that it is now time to release my full curated and organised library of firmware and information to everyone.
You will find the entire library here:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1rySPfRIlk29Ij3wTQlYmuqM0dSTr_UHd?usp=sharing
 
PLEASE NOTE:
Everything you find at that link is SPECIFICALLY for the Growatt SPF5000TL HVM-P Inverter.
Do NOT flash any other Inverter with those ROMs. Not ever. For any reason. Ever.
  I only use Pylontech batteries and some of the information might refer to Pylontech specifically.
  Growatt DO NOT approve of us flashing firmware to our Inverters over USB ourselves, or at all for that matter, and I have also been told that I should only be flashing firmware through some kind of USB emulator device.
I have personally never had a problem flashing over USB from a Windows 10 notebook without an emulator device, but I know what I'm doing and I'm methodical and careful.
You flash at your own risk. Both firmware, and in public parks.
  I do not have any Solar panels attached to my setup. It is configured as a pure battery backup / UPS solution. I have seen that other users of the same Inverter have had issues specific to Solar and I have very little knowledge on that sub topic. It is very possible that certain Firmware updates included in the link above may improve your experience with Solar, but I make no specific claims with regards to Solar and you should consult with other PowerForum users who have hands on experience with Solar connectivity with the SPF5000TL before you do anything crazy. DISCLAIMER:
I am providing this link, and these ROMs and tools, as a public service because I know how frustrating it is to not have this freely and easily available, and how hard it is to find this information and data, BUT I DO NOT TAKE ANY RESPONSIBILITY for what you choose to do with it.

I am not responsible for firmware adventures that go bad and result in the loss of life of Inverters because they were bricked because you forgot to charge your notebook battery before you started flashing or your cat jumped on the USB cable and pulled it out half way through a ROM flash.
I take NO responsibility for the consequences of your chosen actions, I am only the provider of information and knowledge. What you choose to do with it is on you.
DISCLAIMER ENDS
With great power (and a lot of ROMs from Growatt) comes great responsibility.
Good luck, and happy flashing
SiliconKid
 
 
 
 
 

Morning all
Did the updates in the following order from 500.09.
STM32F030CC_SK036.01m.bin
F030_SK022_07_ 20200714.bin
F2809_GW500.12_20210927A.bin
Restarted and reset inverter. Setup Li Profile 01 for Dyness and no data. Plugging unplugging wifi usb dongle, no success. Reset inverter again,  no success. Left it for 2+hours, nothing. Then went to USE mode, still no data. Reset inverter again, nothing. Tried Li mode again, now gettting Error 04 and 20 flashing. WTH, didnt do it the previous time and also +- a year ago it was also running in Li mode for some time. Using orange comms cable plugged into BMS as it has always been. 
Eventually put it back to USE mode and kept it there. Around 9pm (9 hours after starting the upgrade process) it started sending data again, magically on its own! 
Now would still love to run it in Li mode, but just not in the mood to struggle with this thing anymore. Also noted that when in Li mode the 1st time, post update, batt % was at 90% and cycling solar on and off!! WHY!????
Another question, what is the best sequence for cycling batteries on and off when you have say 3 Lithiums connected 1 being master the rest slave?
@Dyness  @Dyness Engineer Weizhong  @Dyness Engineer Zhang  

Thanks for the concern, I solved the issue by changing the inverter. I now have a sunsynk 8kw, not even one problem yet. The software is great

Finally received a new firmware. I am seeing the battery go into standby mode see screenshots. Solar is still providing to the load. 

Maybe if we keep bugging Growatt support with these issue of PV switching off when batteries are at 100%, they will come up with a fix for that. They need to understand that this can not be normal 😁
 

Hi Guys
What is typically the wiring sizes used in house wiring and DB wiring?
1) The size of wiring used in light and plug fittings
2) The size of the wiring used in DB for stuff like geyser and oven.
3) What is the best way to bridge wiring on DB circuit breakers when using the thick wiring (geyser/oven) when you need two of the thick wires into one CB or even busbar+thick wire? Best practice, what is safe and what not, etc. Is there a limit (regulations) on how much stripped wire can stick out above the CB, etc.
Just need to confirm based on what I have seen in my DB. 

The second blade went very easy.  Now I have both sides of the blade and the molds ready. Magnet layouts done.
I have placed the order for the first set of magnets and rotor discs from where I will study the impact of all the magnets on one coil and the current to wind ratio.  The coil will be remade with thicker copper cable.  With a RPM as part of the controller it will be easy to simulate wind speeds and also control a DC motor with a PWM for wind speed. Although the motor is a more linear device in this implementation and wind a log effect. The P can be calculated as:
P = .5x1.25 X A X RPM  where in the wind turbine P = .5x1.25x A x V^3.
Now the interesting phase:
This wind generator MAIN purpose is to push none stop power into the grid.
A basic model can be used as a battery charger etc. but that in my opinion is wasted effort but for those who would like to have it 3 models can be easily derived from this design. 
12V   DC 24V   DC 48V   DC This will be a dumb version that when wind speed > x the tail will move the rotor out of the wind.
The  "nicer" unit will be fully automated. Will turn at low winds generate some power and at max winds it will generate max KWHr WITH out.
Because wind velocity can increase to maxP in a jiffy and then down to 0 in a jiffy/Kwhr a very rough statement for the control loop the following parameters will be used:
A1    Red Voltage
A2    Yellow Voltage
A3    Blue Voltage
A4    Red Current Inv
A5    Yellow Current Inv
A6    Blue Current Inv
A7    Red Usage Current
A8    Yellow Usage Current
A9    Blue Usage Current
A10   Voltage Turbine
A11   Current Turbine
A12   Voltage Bus
Sample rate will be done at 10 000 samples (readings) per second.  A string of data will look like this:
84830001, Min 141, Sec C 23, RV 1.301,YV 0.410,BV 0.164,RInV 0.204,YInV 0.205,BInV 0.248, RUI 0.000,YUI 0.000,BUI 0.000,RInvApp 0.266, YInvApp 0.084, BInvApp 0.041, RUsApp 0.000, YUsApp 0.000, BUsApp 0.000, RInvIP 0.174, YInvIP 0.022, BInvIP 0.005, RUsIP 0.000, YUsIP 0.000, BUsIP 0.000.
I will be using another version of my 3 phase meter. The three most important readings are:
Voltage Turbine
Current Turbine
Voltage Bus
VBus is the actual voltage of the driver for the DC to AC conversion.

Below is the first version of the controller with the actual controlling part not currently part of it.
 

 
The unit has its own wifi unit that will push data directly to a database and will have the following graphs in real-time:  Data will be pushed to the web.

The idea is to drill down to 1 sec values.
Will get the cables and connectors tomorrow and start wiring it into the DB.

Buy a pool skim handle from Builders. Fit your mop to the end.

I simply have 2 small old 1050ti gpus (about the smallest you can still use to mine btc) on my office pc that I continue to use even while they are mining.
They run 24/7 and my cpu also gets used when its idle.
You will be surprised at how little work your pc actually does when you use it for normal tasks, so mine does not get that luxury of sitting idle.
I can still do all my normal stuff, youtube, netflix, facebook, emails etc all while the gpus are doing their mining.

The safest/easiest is to use NICEHASH Platform if you only have small cheap gpus.
They will use your gpus to mine altcoins and their platform pays you out in BTC.
If you do have a machine to stash in a corner dedicated to mining then that will also work.

Mining BTC itself is not really an option these days if you do not have free/cheap electricity.
But using nicehash you can still mine other altcoins and get BTC payouts.
And that is free when you use excess solar

Agreed that an installer review page would be great. There are two problems to this: 1) the potential legal issues (civil claims) that it might create (as mentioned previously), and 2) as per @Tsa sometimes the issues that result from a poor install only surface many months later. Do you think that the reviews should be editable? I think that they ought to, up to the warranty period at least.  

That's quite scary.
So what I hear you saying is that even some installers with great forum reputations should not simply be trusted, but some research needs to be done by prospective clients? And that research needs to include some reference clients? 
Interesting. Put another way, I guess that when contacting references, the prospective client needs to ask the right questions to determine whether the referee also actually knows what they are talking about. 
That's where Powerforum can possibly help, in setting up a standard questionnaire that prospective clients can use when selecting installers, and another when interviewing referees. And maybe a checklist for a site visit...