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EaSunpower (AXPERT MKS IV 5600) dreaded Error 61


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Posted (edited)

Hello guys and thanks for accepting my registration.

As most of you , I came across this forum because of some solar power inverter problems :) Don't hate.

Long story short. I have a Axpert MKS IV 5600 under EaSunPower license for a few months now and I have been running with flooded batteries.. everything was PERFECT.

Yesterday I received my 2 x Pylontech US3000C (Licensed under Upower https://www.upowerbatteries.com/) . that I run in Parallel.
This batteries are 100% the same as Pylontech.

Well, since yesterday at 2pm (24 hours ago to be exact) , with no sleep , I have been fighting with the communication between the inverter and the batteries.
I set the Inverter to "PYL" , "Lic" or "Lib " and in a few minutes I see a short Error 04 ( Low Battery) followed very short after by the "Error 61".

I checked and re checked the com cable and it is CORRECT. Made my own cable only with RS485 , then with both CAN and RS485. Rebooted batteries and inverter 1000 times... still same problem.

When I set up the battery type USE then of course there is no BMS comm so no error.

I can connect directly to the batteries on management port from PI and see charge state and everything just fine.

Power -308 W
Voltage 49.7 V
Current -6.2 A
Capacity 148.0 Ah
Temperature 22.6 °C
State of charge 99 %
State of health 100 %
Recommended charge voltage 53.3 V
Recommended charge current 0.0 A
Recommended discharge current -37.0 A

Inverter Firmware :
Main CPU Firmware : 00061.01
Secondary CPU : 00122.12

Just saw in a debugging log "Serial-QMN.log" that it announces itself as a VM III-5600 ?

ANY help would be appreciated ! Willing to pay !
I am so tired and so frustrated... :(

Any other information that is needed , please ask , I will try to answer to the best of my knowledge.

Thanks in advance.

 

bat1.jpg

bat2.jpg

inverted.jpg

bat3.jpg

bat4.jpg

batslave.jpg

flooded.jpg

inverter settings.PNG

battery settings.PNG

Edited by Jaxone
Added VM III-5600 remark
Posted
2 hours ago, Jaxone said:

Just saw in a debugging log "Serial-QMN.log" that it announces itself as a VM III-5600 ?

I would not panic too much about that just yet. It seems that inverters identify themselves via two different commands: QMN and QGMN (Query Model Name and Query General Model Name). I don't know which is the latest one. Some display firmware seems to use both. QGMN seems to only return a number, so the inverter and the monitoring software have to agree what each model number means. QMN returns the string with model name and rated output VA, so there is much less ambiguity.

It's possible that QGMN takes precedence, but then you have to know the code. The display and main firmware could then disagree on what a particular code Ie.g. model 045) means. It may be that a firmware returns inconsistent results with the two commands, if it implements both. 

The other thing is that EASun is supposedly a clone brand, per this MPPSolar web page. It may be that the clone is not putting the right potentials on sense pins to identify as the correct model, though I somehow doubt that the VM III and MKS IV models share the same DSP (U1) firmware. I'm also not completely convinced that EASun inverters are all clones.

Sorry, I have nothing practical to offer at this stage.

Posted

Hi Coulomb

Thanks for taking the time to read and reply.

To be completely honest , I am very impulsive. I wanted an inverter NOW and at that time this was the only brand / model available ASAP.
I guess I will have to keep it a bit more then and run with the raspberry pi until I will be able to buy a real AXPERT , MPPSolar or a Growatt... delivery time for them seems to be sometime in November :(
Not even sure what to go with now ....

Won't be possible to change the FW in it to "cheat" the clone ?

Thanks again for the time.

Posted
9 minutes ago, Jaxone said:

Won't be possible to change the FW in it to "cheat" the clone ?

Something may be possible, but I've not seen any firmware for these models. Plus, there are so many to keep up with...

It's possible that model code 48 actually means Axpert MKS IV.

Posted
21 hours ago, Jaxone said:

That's certainly the Axpert MKS IV manual, identical in size and at first glance in content. But a clone maker would just copy the manual as well as the firmware and basic circuit. But they might cut corners to maximise profit.

 

21 hours ago, Jaxone said:

As I said, I am ready to pay for the service.

I'd be happy to have a go, but I don't have the raw materials (a firmware update file for the firmware). It's basically pot luck when they turn up if ever.

Posted

Reading and reading and reading ... and to be honest I dunno what to say , if it's a clone or a licensed clone .. Voltronic does not specify the licensed brands.

 

inv1.jpg

inv2.jpg

Posted
On 2022/05/21 at 3:12 PM, Jaxone said:

Any other information that is needed , please ask , I will try to answer to the best of my knowledge.

You have DIP switches for the two batteries set to "1000". Is this in line with the manual that came with your batteries?

image.png.a1eba9ffba45c082a45343ee351e0f19.png 

Posted (edited)

Yes , in the manual it says DIP 1 should be on for 9600bps communication on RS485.

 

dip switch.PNG

pylon switch.PNG

Edited by Jaxone
Posted (edited)
On 2022/05/22 at 11:12 PM, Jaxone said:

I dunno what to say , if it's a clone or a licensed clone ..

As far as I know, it will either be a clone, or a rebranded model made in the Voltronic factory.

I can't see any errors with the label, though it would be good to see or know the colour of the cover screws as one additional check.

Edit: However, it does look rather different from the one Axpert MKS IV label I can find:

image.png.c495ce309207b90c35c5686780881cff.png

Note the QR code (might be new in 2022), MADE IN CHINA is at the bottom, the model code (first 4 digits of the serial number) is 9293; per my notes 9633 is reserved for the Axpert King II. Many of the specification details are different, e.g. max AC input current 40 A versus 35 A, max solar Voc 500 V versus 450 V, etc. This is not definitive; Voltronic do change the pattern of their stickers, sometimes at the request of the reseller (I believe). But the specification differences seem more serious to me.

Overall, I'm more inclined to believe that it's a clone.

[ Edit 2022/Aug/02: I should also have realised that it's (a clone of?) an Axpert VM IV, not an Axpert MKS IV. That might account for at least some of the differences with the label. ]

Edited by Coulomb
Posted

Color of the cover screws are Black.

In the meantime I received some information from Pylontech regarding RS485 communication.
The firmware on the inverter should be (according to Pylontech ) V1.00/00.32

 

image.thumb.png.4e3e7b5626ac1983b4ac5be9f414ba97.png

 

Also : When compatible with Voltronic Axpert series, only VM III and King two types are availble for RS485 communication, for the rest types of Axpert only available for manual settings.

 

Posted
4 hours ago, Jaxone said:

The firmware on the inverter should be (according to Pylontech ) V1.00/00.32

That makes no sense to me. Perhaps those are supposed to be Pylontech version numbers? I have no clue as to what those typically are. Or maybe it really is about Axpert firmware versions, and it's very early information that hasn't been updated.

4 hours ago, Jaxone said:

When compatible with Voltronic Axpert series, only VM III and King two types are available for RS485 communication, for the rest types of Axpert only available for manual settings.

That might have been true a long time ago. But now there are the Axpert VM IV, Axpert MKS III and MKS IV, the Axpert MAX series, and probably more.

Posted

I ordered a RS485 adapter and a CAN Sniffer , want to check if there is ANYTHING comming out of that port in the Inverter.

In the manual I see it SHOULD talk CAN and RS485 , does it talk CAN or only RS485 ?

Posted (edited)
On 2022/05/24 at 5:12 PM, Jaxone said:

In the manual I see it SHOULD talk CAN and RS485 , does it talk CAN or only RS485 ?

I'm a little rusty with this code, but I believe that some battery types talk CAN and others (most of them) talk RS-485. Pylontechs support either CAN or RS-485, but when an Axpert has battery type set to PYL, it ONLY talks RS-485.

I documented all this somewhere.

Edited by Coulomb
Posted

Took the chance and open the inverter , even if I broke the seal .. damn chinese don't respond to my mails nor support requests, as expected.

Was looking for the 2 jumpers for on the comm board and they are there and seem to be configured correctly also ... so I guess I wait for the RS485 sniffers now.

comsmarked.jpg

Posted
13 hours ago, Jaxone said:

Was looking for the 2 jumpers for on the comm board and they are there and seem to be configured correctly...

I'm not familiar with the display board for these models with the colour display. What do these jumpers do, and where did you find it documented?

Posted (edited)
22 hours ago, Jaxone said:

I ordered a RS485 adapter and a CAN Sniffer , want to check if there is ANYTHING comming out of that port in the Inverter.

In the manual I see it SHOULD talk CAN and RS485 , does it talk CAN or only RS485 ?

Don't hold your breath to sniff any CAN bus traffic produced by the inverter. There are one or two battery settings that support CAN , I think SOL is one of them . But typically CAN messages are produced and broadcasted onto the bus by the batteries that supports CAN. So the inverter is just a pure consumer.

RS485 is different , the protocol is transactional and the inverter is typically the master and battery the slave. Therefore comms are initiated by the inverter. To verify this you can set your inverter to PYL (pylon tech) and check the voltage with multimeter on DC between The RS485 B and A terminals , without battery connected.  You will observe a deterministic fluctuation  at regular intervals , which does indicate there is message traffic.

 

If the voltage readings are noisy , terminate A and B terminals with 150 ohm resistor.

Edited by BritishRacingGreen
Extra info
Posted

I found this document where it shows the 2 jumpers.

https://voltaconsolar.com/media/wysiwyg/VM_III_Pylon_US2000_Communication_cable_check.pdf
 

I assumed the board did not changed that drastically over the years and I was right... jumpers are there and they are set up as per document. Don't know what they are for.
I also tried to change the position , just to see if there is any change , but no change.

 

@BritishRacingGreen - I did not think to meassure voltage :) I only tested ressistance and while the inverter and the batteries were trying to make handshake I could see the ohms going up and down.
When inverter starts up I think there is 150ohm between the A and B and when I connect the battery to BMS port it will go down to 70 or so. Then when the inverter starts to interogate the batteries it will fluctuate slightly.

I'll only get the RS485 today , so after wife and kids go to bed i will start to play :)

Posted
2 hours ago, Jaxone said:

I found this document where it shows the 2 jumpers.

https://voltaconsolar.com/media/wysiwyg/VM_III_Pylon_US2000_Communication_cable_check.pdf
 

I assumed the board did not changed that drastically over the years and I was right... jumpers are there and they are set up as per document. Don't know what they are for.
I also tried to change the position , just to see if there is any change , but no change.

 

@BritishRacingGreen - I did not think to meassure voltage :) I only tested ressistance and while the inverter and the batteries were trying to make handshake I could see the ohms going up and down.
When inverter starts up I think there is 150ohm between the A and B and when I connect the battery to BMS port it will go down to 70 or so. Then when the inverter starts to interogate the batteries it will fluctuate slightly.

I'll only get the RS485 today , so after wife and kids go to bed i will start to play :)

Although this sounds unlikely , if I must bet , i think you'll resolve the issue with correct cable . I base this on the fact that there is lot of confusion amongst people regarding correct pinouts of pylon connector , also , there are records showing that even suppliers have issued incorrect cables in the box.

 

Posted

Cable is 100% correct.

I checked and 100 times checked the schematics for BMS port on both Pylontech and the inverter.
I even made a "bench" cable where I tested all the OLD and NEW BMS RS485 pinouts for bith Pylontech and inverter.

Think that I actually did not tried the cable pin mix showed in the posted diagram as Pylontech writes with RED not to use pins 1-2-3 on the BMS port and the cable in this PDF has both ends with 1-2-3 used.

So unless some dumbass really mixed hardware inside either inverter or batteries this SHOULD work.

Anyway , after I get the RS485 adapters I will test first individually on Pylontech and on the Inverter ... I guess time will tell.

Posted
On 2022/05/21 at 10:12 PM, Jaxone said:

Inverter Firmware :
Main CPU Firmware : 00061.01
Secondary CPU : 00122.12

Just saw in a debugging log "Serial-QMN.log" that it announces itself as a VM III-5600 ?

I now believe that your model is an Axpert VM IV, not MKS IV, which explains the above. The VM IV is much the same as a VM III, except that the IV has the fixed colour display and the III has the removable monochrome display. The IV also has the RGB LEDs.

Posted

YES ! The power button os on the right side and does not support Parallel function.

So ... any recommended FW for it ? Shall i take the punge again and try to upgrade de FW ? 😀

Posted
5 minutes ago, Jaxone said:

YES ! The power button os on the right side and does not support Parallel function.

Now I see that there is a slight difference in the metalwork as well. Glad that's sorted.

5 minutes ago, Jaxone said:

So ... any recommended FW for it ? Shall i take the plunge again and try to upgrade de FW ? 😀

There is NO firmware available for your inverter, so no, you can't take the plunge.

Posted

Awwwwwww ...... now you hit me :( .... 🥲 ... and I was so full of hope... I guess i will have to live with it for now and try to find someone else that has this type of inverter working with BMS to see what the problem could be.

 

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