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Hi all Have been running a Kodak OG Plus 5.48 for an year odd with 2 x Kodak FL5.2 batteries Recently added two more of the same batteries. I now see BAT no 4 (only) display error "High Voltage Fault" from time to time [LED no 2 flashes with RED LED on] it will be on for a few minutes (+/- 5min), then off for a longer period (+/- 15min) - I have spent a week trying to call Segen support, could not manage to speak to anyone, ask for VM then cuts off, no action from the VM left Any insight / suggestions pls

You don't have to set the equalisation voltage higher than the bulk voltage, so there is no contra-indication for equalisation just because you have an LFP battery that equalisation wasn't designed for. For working around the premature float bug, you use equalisation as essentially a way to prolong the bulk charge stage. But of course, a fixed time extension doesn't really solve the problem. It's just that for most people, that's all that there is. It's not just in the first 50 seconds that the problem exists; it's any time that the charge power is reduced. In particular, when there is cloud or a large load robs the PV of spare charge current. Think about the ideal charging situation. First, you charge the battery with as much current as you have available, up to the charge current limit. This is the bulk or Constant Current stage. Then there is an absorb stage: you limit the battery voltage so that you don't boil off the electrolyte, or cause bad reactions in a lithium battery. That's the Constant Voltage or absorb stage. Finally, the battery isn't taking much current, we declare it's full, and go to a different constant voltage stage, called the float stage. This is needed to keep a lead acid battery at 100% SoC, but it's also useful with lithium based batteries as an indication of the need for extra charge current. This extra charge current might be because the battery was called on to support the load, or because of losses. When the battery voltage falls below the float voltage, that's the signal to push current back into the battery, until the battery voltage reaches the float voltage setting again. If the battery voltage falls too low, we give up on the float stage and start a new bulk charge. The transition from bulk to absorb is simple: has the battery voltage reached the bulk/absorb voltage setting. If so, we transition to the absorb stage. It's possible that the battery is called on to support the load and we fall below that voltage, in which case we're really back in bulk stage for a while. For that reason, Voltronic seem to call the absorb stage the bulk/absorb state. This transition is easy, and they don't screw that one up. The problem is the transition from absorb to float stage. It's when the battery current falls below a threshold (for unpatched firmware, that's the maximum charge current divided by 5), BUT ONLY IF the battery voltage is near the bulk/absorb voltage setting. Otherwise, at the very first cloud, the battery would be declared full and solar charging would be completely useless. Here is the problem: they do check the battery voltage against the setting, but for reasons best known to the developers, they use the wrong setting! They use the float voltage setting, instead of the bulk/absorb voltage setting. In some firmwares, they compare the float and bulk/absorb settings, and choose the lowest of these, instead of the highest of these. It's that simple, and that's why the patch to fix it is so simple: we just change a branch if greater or equal to a branch if less. One byte. The problem is knowing which of the up to 256,000 bytes to change, and what to change it to. No. As mentioned earlier, the problem can occur at any time, not just at the start of the charge, or at early times of the day. I suppose if you somehow paused charging when available PV power is low, that would work around the problem, while also wasting a fair bit of usable PV energy. It's also tricky knowing when available PV power is low. Is it low right now because there isn't any more to be had, or it it just that we don't have enough charging and/or AC-output load at present? You only know for sure when you need more than you can get. I've wondered about this, not having a battery with a commercial BMS myself. But I don't think it helps; essentially, the BMS is adjusting the maximum charge current setting based on its knowledge of the instantaneous needs of the battery cells, rather than using a fixed value. The inverter's firmware still manages the stages, and hence the voltage threshold that it is aiming for.

Hi Does anyone know if there is a way to upgrade / restore the firmware on a Axpert VM 2kw, or a way to calibrate the battery voltage? The battery voltage on mine is suddenly totally wrong. I saw that it was showing the battery voltage as 22v and decided to check the voltage at the batteries and I got 30v. I've also checked the voltage at the connection points on the inverter and it is actually 30v, so it is trying to charge the batteries, but they are full.

I assume you have 3 phase power there? May be a good idea to use the 3 phase machines then. 12kw, or even push up to the 50kw, for future growth. You could run with 30kw of battery for now and add more as finances permit

Any got the above inverter to communicate with the svolt battery? I see luxpower supports quite a few manufacturers but not svolt.

Hi Does anyone have experience with the SunSynk Rack mount HV battery? (12 x 5.1kWh modules in series) My two main questions are: 1) Can it function like other suppliers' HV batteries in the sense that you can "build your own" battery by combining a custom amount of 51.2V modules in series to reach your desired kWh (Obviously staying within your inverter's Battery voltage range) Atess and BlueNova are some examples. 2) Assuming one wishes to make use of SunSynk's 10yr warranty by pairing a SunSynk 50kW with this HV battery: The SunSynk 50kW is IP65 rated. By installing these battery modules in a custom IP65 server rack, would that void the warranty of the battery? ie are you forced to use their "server rack" 3) Assuming "1)" is true and the modules can be expanded, what is the max amount of modules one can add in the "battery string" from a CAN-Bus communications perspective? FYI I see SunSynk has an 80kWh (665V)version available lately, which correlates to them using 120Ah cells in a "13-pack" configuration indicating that the battery is NOT fixed to 12 modules as with the 61kWh version. Herholdts is struggling to find the technical in-house expertise to answer my question, and SunSynk has not replied to my email from 2 days ago...

Dear community, I have an MPP solar inverter model U5648MS. My inverter is currently running the following firmware versions: Main CPU firmware : 74.01 Secondary CPU firmware : 30.01 I am trying to connect the inverter to my Pytes 48100R battery (version C) without success as I keep getting error 61. I have set dip switch 1 on the master battery to on and the remaining switches to off. In addition I have tried with both battery type (option 5) set to “Pyl” as wells as “Lib” both without success. Do you have any idea why I am unable to get the inverter to communicate with the Pytes battery or a pylontech battery? Note: I am using the correct cable (pin 1 and 2 on the battery goes to pin 3 and 5 on the inverter) and the cable is connected to the RS485 port on the battery and to the BMS port on the inverter. Tnx,

Hello, I have an Axpert Max 2 11Kw TWIN, and I would like to increase this battery charging capacity (if possible). This is limited to 150A (rather 141A really), around 8kW, and in certain conditions my home only consumes 300W while solar production can reach the maximum, i.e. 11kW. there is therefore a loss of energy. I have an adc7480/72/E 3200W battery charger and I would like to add it as a backup charger using the AC output of the inverter. I know this is not the ideal setup but can it work without problem? I checked the insulation of the inputs/outputs of this charger, and apparently it is indeed an isolated model. As this charger is limited to 42 amps, I will program it so that it turns on when the battery load of the inverter exceeds 100 amps and that it turns off when the battery load drops below 50 amps. At full power with low consumption in my home I could charge the battery up to 180 amps. In your opinion, is an assembly of this type risky for the inverter? In the inverter manual it is clearly indicated that it is not isolated, but if the charger is isolated this should not pose a problem?

I recently bought a new Fivestar 24V 3.5KVA 3.5KW 80A MPPT hybrid inverter for my UPS / solar system. The installation comprises the above inverter and two Mecer 12V200Ah Lithium Iron Phosphate Battery SOL-B-L-M200, Model: EC4S2P200. Both 12V batteries are wired in series and connected to the above inverter. Both batteries are fully charged and the open circuit voltage is 27.4Vdc. The 24V battery circuit is protected by a 100Adc circuit breaker. The rated NiFe battery charge / discharge current is 100Adc. Problem As soon as I close the 100Adc circuit breaker, the battery voltage at the inverter terminals drops to 0Vdc without an overload or short-circuit trip of the CB. The resistance between the inverter + / - terminals = 0.4 Ohm, which should result in a startup current not exceeding 67.5 Adc. However, I do not know the inverter dynamics during startup. The inverter display shows a flashing “bP” battery symbol. Assumption I assume that the actual inverter cold-start current (don't know the value) causes the battery management system (BMS) to shut down in order to protect the batteries. I only have a very basic understanding of a BMS's functionality. Request Kindly assist with advice as to how to resolve this problem.

I would just like to find out somethings. I run my house through the battery when the sun sets and I had the battery to grid setting on 35% Saturday morning it ran smooth at around 6am it hit the 35% mark and switch over to eskom. But this morning it only managed to get to 37% and the battery cut out within like 10mins the battery dropped 2volts and it went under the cut off voltage of the battery of 44.8volts. Is there something I did that was wrong should I rather change the battery to grid to 40%?

Is the Cyclone M5 Lithium battery any good. How does it rate against other brands like Hubble and Sunsynk

That's likely because there is an undocumented (by Voltronic) interaction between the cut-off voltage and setting 12 (the back to grid battery voltage). The value used is the lower of these two values: setting 12, and setting 29 plus 2.0 V. This is lead acid thinking. To avoid this, you could use LFP flavoured fully patched firmware. If you tell me your exact model, or existing main (U1) firmware, I can post a link to suitable patched firmware. The LFP flavour of fully patched firmware reduces this "gap" to 0.5 V. More detail in FAQ #2. Even with setting 29 at 46.5 V, you are switching to grid/generator at a battery volage of 48.5 V. Factory firmware has no battery internal resistance compensation; patched firmware does. This feature that we call KettleKomp™ can dramatically reduce the switching to bypass mode (using the generator to run the loads). It's not perfect, but way better than factory firmware. I assume that settings 02 and 11 are actually in amps (being total and utility/generator maximum charge current respectively).

I wish to install a Lithium battery on my Axpert 3kVA - 24V inverter system. Firstly, can this inverter be configured to charge lithium properly/safely ? Secondly, any recommendations for this Lithium battery - size, make, supplier in SA etc ? The system has been operating very successfully with two 12volt flooded lead acid batteries (100Ah) in series for about 10 years, with battery replacement every 3 years or so. However, with the current load shedding schedules, I'm deep cycling up to three times a day ! The batteries are not going to last long at this rate. May as well look for something more robust !

Good evening all, I have 2 x Deye 8KW inverters connected to 7 x 100Ah BSL Bull batteries and we cannot seem to get the batteries to charge with the generator. The generator is wired to a manual changeover switch so it would be seen as grid if I understand correctly. Basically what happens is that we can turn on the generator and flip the change over switch to Generator and after a few seconds the generator icon appears on the inverter, generator sounds like it’s labouring and then the inverter drops the connection and no longer shows the generator icon, a few seconds later the cycle repeats. It never seems to keep a stable link. The generator is a 7.5KVA Briggs and Stratton generator that is admittedly about 14 years old, maybe older. Our installer doesn’t seem to know why it’s doing that and has mentioned something about a frequency stabilizer as he thinks it’s the frequency of the generator not being stable. Battery Setting has the following settings: Grid Charge and Grid Signal selected Gen Charge and Gen Signal are not, but this could be because the generator is not connected to the Gen Port Gen Force is also not ticked. Gen is not ticked on Work Mode for 9AM to 5PM, so as I understand it generator won’t charge during that time. I’m pretty sure we did set gen charge and it didn’t work either. But happy to try it again if everything else checks out Hope that explains everything.

Hello! I have an Ecoflow Delta Max 2000W (1612Wh). It's set up to pass through power to a few electronic devices and some lamps. Nothing major in terms of power draw. It works really well, charges fine, and switches seamlessly, however, when the grid's power comes back online, and it starts charging the batteries, it trips my house's breaker board. If I unplug it, and try powering the things that it usually powers straight into the wall, all is well. If I then plug the Ecoflow setup back into the wall so it can charge, with those items passing through it, it trips my house's plug circuit again. If I have to turn everything off, unplug everything from it, plug it back in to charge, turn off all my items again, pass them through the Ecoflow, plug it back in, and turn stuff back on, every time the power goes out... that's defeating part of the benefit here. It wouldn't be switching from grid to battery and keeping my things on during what are often long periods of daily outages here in South Africa. It's pulling around 1800W when charging plus passing through power to the devices. Far less than what my circuit and the outlet should be able to handle in SA, to my knowledge. Does anyone have any ideas as to why it's tripping the board and how I could troubleshoot or fix this?

I know my inverter is rated for 120-430V operating voltage with 450 open circuit max. I currently have 9x405 panels in series with ~37,5V open circuit which is 337,5V max open. System works like a champ on these settings. I want to add 2 more panels, which will take me to 412,5 Open circuit, which is somewhat close to the 450 max. This configuration would be ideal for my consumptions and 11kwh battery. Is it safe enough? Will i have peaks on cold/sunny days above that based on others experience with your systems? My axpert is close to running 2 years without problems, and i would like it to do another 2-3 years before i retire it/replace it, so running smoothly is of essence. Any advice appreciated. Chart of past 7 days

I have 2 x 8.8kw BSL batteries installed at my place, thats running through a Sunsynk inverter. I've had the system installed in Feb23 with no issues since. However, this past Sunday, one of the batteries have just been stuck on 80% SOC. Its not charging or discharging. (the other battery is working perfectly fine) I've tried the recommended 'shutdown and startup' process that was recommended in another forum, but there's no change. Has anyone experienced anything similar, or can suggest how I can go about troubleshooting this issue?

Hi all So have been persuaded by good reason to upgrade to 48v system. Ideally I am looking for something that communicates with the inverter and is a reputable brand. I remember Hubble being quite talked about a year or two back. Their AM4 looks like a good option. Are there any other manufacturers or other brands worth looking at? Inverter choice will most likely be middle of the park Kodak, axpert or similar. Many thanks in advance

Pre-solar, we would purchase between R3000-R4000 on prepaid. Basically two houses/households on the property. Post-solar we now purchase R1000 a month on prepaid. Majority of which is due to running the geysers for early morning showers. A 2kW and 4kW element. Prepaid purchases will likely increase by about R500 now in winter as the geysers run for a bit longer in the early morning, during the day the both heat from PV only. In summer didnt have to run them early morning which was great they would still be hot from the afternoon runs for early morning showers. Daily average in Summer was around 5-8 units a day. We would be “off-grid” from about 07:30 until as late as midnight or 1-2am with the battery set to discharge at 50%. Daily average in Winter is around 15-20 units a day Lowest grid usage month was March at 339 units. Planning on going the gas geyser route and eliminate the 4kW geyser element…so that will save in grid usage which is about 4 units per day 28 units a week, 112 units a month. But redirect that saving towards gas…but still better as then no worry with load shedding/cloudy days etc. Just waiting on the SARS rebate for the panels

I had been battling away trying to get the Watchpower wifi to work and having no luck, thinking I didn't have any of the right cables to connect to my PC, but fortunately my powerbank charging cable has just the right one and I've managed to connect it now. Here you can see the PV watt and volts in the on/off phase, then as soon as we cover/uncover half the panel it evens out. I'm surprised, the multimeter still shows fluctuations but seems good at the inverter. Not sure if relevant, but with the circuit breaker off, the VoC is steady at 183V on the panel side, but it fluctuates on the inverter side of the circuit 20-40V. The voltage fluctuations during the "fault" stage are also less severe than seen on the multimeter. So I can't give you a day yet, and this laptop does need to be used at times unfortunately so constant monitoring is not possible. But I can show you any of the behaviours. Will do the panel test later today or tomorrow. Edit: the battery amps are also interesting: they match what the inverter shows, but the battery's display clearly shows it going to zero (or negative where there is output)- which I do trust more.

Hi all I recently connected a 14.4kWh DIY battery pack (Seplos BMS) on my iGrid SV IV (installed early Jan 2024). I am observing a weird behavior: while battery is plugged to my inverter (in SBU mode), solar production always injects solar power back to grid, while it could globally optimize as follows: charge battery with the WHOLE overproduction (situation of solar overproduction vs load need); or reduce battery drain (situation when loads needs are above solar, ie: battery is also used to power loads) I monitored up to 16% of the solar power to grid sent back to grid instead of being used to power load (and reduce battery drain) or simply charge battery (when loads are idle) !!(*) See the type of situation I face (side comment: the battery was far from reaching its current capacity limits - so was able to absorb 306w): See how it is over a nearly 30 minutes period - red =grid, nearly always injecting back solar: While EASun reseller has been very active at purchase time, now that I face the need of their technical support, nobody answers So I am trying to get your assistance. Do you have any clue on what's possibly wrong with my inverter ? Thanks Matthieu (*): indeed, to monitor this, the "solar to grid" feature is enabled (was initially to check inverter works and was handling solar over production properly). Disabling the "solar to grid" feature lead to nothing more to grid (hopefully), but a lot the loss remains (heat dissipated ?) - see below capture with "solar to grid" disable, while nearly 250w are "lost" :

Hi, After all the help and replies ive received from this forum i thought it was time to give back in the form of my experience with this device. Hopefully it will be of value to someone else. I was speaking to someone at Current Automation trying to figure out what would be best for our system after my AVR Honda Generator damaged one of my Axpert inverters (How to protect Inverter from generator damage). Charging my battery bank directly using a battery charger was something i was thinking about for a while now as i thought it would also solve some of the other problems i was experiencing with the system due to the Axperts limited abilities/capabilities (Axpert not switching back to solar on SOL/SBU). Up untill now one almost only had the option of getting a Victron Skylla-TG 48-50 50A 48V Battery Charger, but at the asking price of R15k-30k and only able to do 50A it was almost a better option to consider changing out the inverters to Deye/Sunsynk for better generator handling - although it might also not solve the problem of using a dirty underpowered generator completely and all the possible negative outcomes that might come with that. So i bit the bullet and ordered it from SignatureSolar (about $415). I forwarded the parcel via MyUS (about $130) and Fedex delivered after we paid the local tax (about R1400). I installed it yesterday and set it to "85A charging rate to reduce heat output of the unit" as stated in the manual. I also insterted 2x over/under voltage protection plug devices into both 3point plug outputs on our honda generator and after them the split output was combined into the Charger. Worked flawlessly. If you are thinking to also go this route i would recommend you open the device after you receive it as one of the charger modules inside was disconnected due to shipping. Same as this example: Shipping fix

Item: Averge 51.2V 50Ah LiFePO4 Lithium Battery Age: 2 years Price: R8500 Payment Method Accepted: EFT Warranty: Still under manufacturer warranty Packaging: In original box Condition: Excellent Location: Cape Town - southern suburbs Reason: Upgraded to bigger battery Shipping: Possibly Collection: in Cape Town Cycle Count: 253 AD50022-1.pdf

Item: Victron Battery Balancer 24V Age: Few months Price: R600 Payment Method Accepted: EFT/Cash Warranty: Packaging: Yes Condition: Excellent Location: George, Western Cape Reason: Not needed anymore Shipping: At buyers expense and risk Collection: Yes Link: https://www.sustainable.co.za/products/victron-battery-balancer?variant=40898551382209&currency=ZAR&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic&srsltid=AR57-fCBAERspUEQtFTi73joBpvHn7VwTAL9I8P-I-fMzY3RDQEaBB4Q0UY