Hello everybody,

I have a relatively new install that has had some teething issues. I'm trying to establish if how I understand things should work is correct and there is fact a problem or maybe everything is working as expected and I'm just wrong. Your input and advice would be appreciated.

Current Setup:
Sunsynk 8kW Inverter
15x 455w Panels
Freedom Won Lite Home 10/8 LiFePO4 Battery
CT Coil installed. Cannot confirm if in correct place other than installer says it is.
No feedback should be happening

Load Split:
Everything on load except geyser should be on non-essential load

Problems:
1. Prepaid meter trips.
   - I have to turn off my Eskom Grid to get the meter to turn on again and see my unit count. If I turn Eskom Grid on again, it will trip within an hour.
   - Grid trickle feed is set to 20w
   - I have tried increasing this as high as 100w. Still trips.
2. Inverter appears to be blind to non-essential load. I believe all geyser usage is pulling from grid.
   - It was initially installed as everything on essential load by mistake. Every morning I could see a grid spike at 05:30 when my geyser turned on and battery was depleted
   - Since changing to non essential load I never see this movement.
3. I have unexpected usage according to flow screen when changing settings under System Mode 2:
   - "Zero export" & "Limit to Load only" ticked. "Solar export" unticked. System works as expected but cannot see non-essential load
   - "Zero export" ticked. "Limit to Load only" and "Solar export" unticked. All load appears to come from grid. PV drops to 0kW.
   - "Zero export" & "Solar export" ticked. "Limit to Load only" unticked. PV shoots up to max draw and I get negative load to grid. I'm assuming this means I'm feeding back.
 

1) Is CT Coil registering on the Inverter
This can be seen on the status screen.

2) Is the CT Coil in the right direction?
It has an arrow.

The location of the CT coil needs to be in the Grid Side after the meter - before any loads

<---INVERTER <--- Non-Essential-Loads<---CT Coil<---GRID
Note: You can also have Non-Essential/Auxiliary Loads on the GEN/Aux port

There is a good diagram in the installer manual section 4.6
https://www.sunsynk.org/manuals

Mine shows 78W

Edited January 25, 20223 yr by system32

Send a screenshot of your system mode screens

 

2 hours ago, system32 said:

1) Is CT Coil registering on the Inverter
This can be seen on the status screen.

2) Is the CT Coil in the right direction?
It has an arrow.
 

1) It shows 0w regardless of system mode

2) Do you mean on the physical device? If so, I can open up my board tomorrow and have a look.

2 hours ago, Tariq said:

Send a screenshot of your system mode screens

Edited January 25, 20223 yr by bryan86

On 2022/01/25 at 7:34 PM, bryan86 said:

 

1) It shows 0w regardless of system mode

2) Do you mean on the physical device? If so, I can open up my board tomorrow and have a look.

 

CT Coil is probably missing or not connected correctly to inverter terminals marked as CT coil (5&6 on 8k model, 3&4 or 5k model)
See https://www.sunsynk.org/post/using-a-ct-coil

Section "4.7. Installing the CT Coil" Page 24 of the Inverter Manual give more information - See https://www.sunsynk.org/manuals

Note some CT coils are white.

Edited January 31, 20223 yr by system32

23 minutes ago, system32 said:

CT Coil is probably missing or not connected correctly to inverter terminals marked as CT coil (5,6 on 8k model)
See https://www.sunsynk.org/post/using-a-ct-coil

Section "4.7. Installing the CT Coil" Page 24 of the Inverter Manual give more information - See https://www.sunsynk.org/manuals

Note some CT coils are white.

Thanks for this. The coil is installed. The arrow is pointing away from the pre-paid meter.

The coil is attached to terminals 3 & 4.

 

I see on the board it is marked as CT-L1 and CT-L2. What is the difference?

CT Coil should be on 5 and 6 accordint to the installation manual. 3 and 4 are only in USA and other countries with split phase (L1 and L2) where 2 CT Coils are required.

And untick "Limit to load" on your export settings.

Edited January 26, 20223 yr by Scubadude

Thank you all for your advice. I've contacted the installer regarding this. They already need to come out to sort an issue with the battery so they'll sort this as well.

23 hours ago, Scubadude said:

CT Coil should be on 5 and 6 accordint to the installation manual. 3 and 4 are only in USA and other countries with split phase (L1 and L2) where 2 CT Coils are required.

And untick "Limit to load" on your export settings.

Ports 5,6 for the 8kW inverter
Ports 3,4 for the 3.6kW & 5kW
@bryan86 seems to have a 5kW inverter.

 

For my CT coil the Turns Ratio is 2000 - see the CT-Coil.PDF referenced earlier.

 

You may have a faulty CT coil or faulty connection on the 3,4

Q. How far away is the CT coil from the inverter (has the supplied black & white cable been extended)?
If it's been extended too far, then it may not work.

 

Edited January 27, 20223 yr by system32

29 minutes ago, system32 said:

Ports 5,6 for the 8kW inverter
Ports 3,4 for the 3.6kW & 5kW
@bryan86 seems to have a 5kW inverter.

Can confirm mine is definitely an 8kw inverter. Looks like wrong terminals have been used.

29 minutes ago, system32 said:

Q. How far away is the CT coil from the inverter (has the supplied black & white cable been extended)?
If it's been extended too far, then it may not work.

About 3m. Not extended. Its the supplied black & white cable end to end.

I'm not an electrician,  had similar problem your neutral of geyser should be separate from load neutral maybe back feed through neutral giving negative value

On 2022/01/27 at 11:57 AM, bryan86 said:

Can confirm mine is definitely an 8kw inverter. Looks like wrong terminals have been used.

About 3m. Not extended. Its the supplied black & white cable end to end.

Hi Bryan 

All you need to do is to move the white and black CT cables to 5 and 6 and it should do the trick. Then tick zero export and untick limit to load. 

On 2022/01/26 at 11:29 AM, bryan86 said:

Thanks for this. The coil is installed. The arrow is pointing away from the pre-paid meter.

The coil is attached to terminals 3 & 4.

 

I see on the board it is marked as CT-L1 and CT-L2. What is the difference?

Check the manual for the direction of the arrow. On other makes the arrow should point to the grid and not to the inverter. 

Thanks all. All issues are solved. I appreciate all the feedback and I've learned a lot from this. 😁

Hi @bryan86, what resolved your issue?  I have exactly the same symptoms on my 5Kw inverter.  I checked the CT arrow as well as terminal connections and mine are correctly installed on 3&4 and settings on the inverter exactly as in the posts above.

I think the CT needs to be on 5 and 6.

Just tried that (moved them to 5 & 6) and then grid input show 0 (even with geyser switched on).  When I move them back to 3 & 4 it shows grid draw, but way more than what the geyser is pulling.  I've got the 5kw inverter.

Edited April 29, 20222 yr by Koet

Just another note:  With the setup in the System Mode screen as "Zero Export" ticked and "Prioritize Load" ticked and "Limit to Load only" not ticked, the inverter home screen with the dials doesn't seem to include the essential load into account.  As soon as the geyser and pool pump (the only things on non-essential) are switched off, the AC load and grid blocs and dials would read 0.   I don't have anything installed on the Aux side.

Another weird thing:  While the geyser is on, for instance, it will draw 2.8kw (read from smart timer switch), but the inverter would show a total AC draw of 3.38kw.  With nothing else switched on on the non-essential side.

If I change the System Mode screen an tick "Limit to Load only", the inverter home screen displays the power usage from my essential load and grid correctly, but the solar panels don't export to the non-essential load anymore.

Edited April 29, 20222 yr by Koet

@koet

Just a comment on the different readings. The smart timer and Sunsynk report a difference of 6% in the voltage so that alone will give a 180W difference.  If the current measurement also differs then it can account for the 500W difference. Bear in mind either could have an error as they are neither calibrated equipment.

@Scorp007Thank you.  Makes sense.

Still struggling with the rest of the issues.  I also now found out that if I tick the "Sync" box in the time and date settings, it will sync the time using the internet.  Problem is that when it syncs it's one hour ahead.  How do I change the time zone?

6 hours ago, Koet said:

@Scorp007Thank you.  Makes sense.

Still struggling with the rest of the issues.  I also now found out that if I tick the "Sync" box in the time and date settings, it will sync the time using the internet.  Problem is that when it syncs it's one hour ahead.  How do I change the time zone?

I would just set it manually. I am sure it the time would be accurate and have the time out by a few seconds than an hour out.

So it was the CT.  When the backup system was first installed the CT was just added to the DB board without really checking it's location as we didn't have solar yet.  Then when we did the solar installation 6 months later we forgot to check it.  All sorted now.

Edited May 3, 20222 yr by Koet

Hi All

Can anyone recommend an installer to install my 8kw Sunsynk inverter , 8kwh Felicity battery and 12 x 380w panels.I want to be able to use the essential and non essential load option.The guy that was recommended to me by a friend says that it is not possible to have non essential loads on the inverter.
I live in Sunninghill , Sandton.
Thank you

On 2022/05/04 at 3:41 AM, bdevsheel said:

Hi All

Can anyone recommend an installer to install my 8kw Sunsynk inverter , 8kwh Felicity battery and 12 x 380w panels.I want to be able to use the essential and non essential load option.The guy that was recommended to me by a friend says that it is not possible to have non essential loads on the inverter.
I live in Sunninghill , Sandton.
Thank you

Louis at Ltron Solar - 064 683 0035

On 2022/05/04 at 3:41 AM, bdevsheel said:

Hi All

Can anyone recommend an installer to install my 8kw Sunsynk inverter , 8kwh Felicity battery and 12 x 380w panels.I want to be able to use the essential and non essential load option.The guy that was recommended to me by a friend says that it is not possible to have non essential loads on the inverter.
I live in Sunninghill , Sandton.
Thank you

Hi, did u come right? I have same issue. My installer said i cannot run non essential loads. I hav 10 X 550w panels so i am wasting 4kW power during the day as the CT Coil is not installed. I dont understand electricity.