Skip to content
View in the app

A better way to browse. Learn more.

Power Forum - Renewable Energy Discussion

A full-screen app on your home screen with push notifications, badges and more.

To install this app on iOS and iPadOS
  1. Tap the Share icon in Safari
  2. Scroll the menu and tap Add to Home Screen.
  3. Tap Add in the top-right corner.
To install this app on Android
  1. Tap the 3-dot menu (⋮) in the top-right corner of the browser.
  2. Tap Add to Home screen or Install app.
  3. Confirm by tapping Install.

Kool Energy / Mecer 1 / 2kW not charging to 100%

Featured Replies

19 hours ago, ThinusB said:

Does anyone knwo this guy or were contacted by him re Kool Energy device?

 

 

image.png

I got the same Mesage... I dont trust it lol

 

Also, to update my situation...

I received my unit back from the supplier (Who sent it to the manufacturer for a software update as they explaiend it) a week later...

Havent had a chace to test it thouroughly over an extended peroid (Only picked it up yesterday), but it seems to be working just fine, It charges to 100% and havent notice any % drop... So far so good.

  • Replies 161
  • Views 41.1k
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Most Popular Posts

  • I've been using my Lithium unit all day long, just now realised it was never plugged in. The battery percentage read 0% when I checked just now, not sure how long for, but it was still running. Just h

  • Yes I have. If it is a Mecer unit, contact Mustek support in Richmond to arrange. They will be getting the device to update firmware again in a few weeks. Mine took less than an hour to update. 

  • I purchased an AJ solar 540W panel from Rubicon in December.  Cost R5 800 for cable, fasteners, connectors and panel. I've got an off grid circuit that supplies all essential electrical items wit

Posted Images

Something interesting happened with mine. They forgot to load shed us on Sunday. So it got to charge for like 12 hours straight. All the way to 100% and now it's showing charge level properly. I wonder if that initial recommended 8hour charge is meant to calibrate the thing. I think it needs at least 8 hours uninterrupted for that initial calibration. With loadshedding as it is currently nobody gets 8 hours of power straight. 

Mine still happy, purring along.

Touch wood

I did manage to charge it to 100% 8hours as I live in the Western Cape.

Did anyone get feedback on the 3 beeps ?
Mine does the three beeps, but theres zero explanation on that.

I'll probably get a solar panel to help with the charging
I also lowered my charge rate to lowest possible setting to ensure the battery lasts longer

On 2023/03/06 at 7:10 PM, ThinusB said:

Does anyone knwo this guy or were contacted by him re Kool Energy device?

 

 

image.png

He's one of CNBM SA  technicians, now mine operates just fine.

 

 

15 hours ago, Poid said:

Did anyone get feedback on the 3 beeps ?
Mine does the three beeps, but theres zero explanation on that.

Mine does the random 3 beeps as well. Very annoying. I also noticed it randomly makes that clicking noise, same as when it switches from battery to mains.

1 hour ago, MR Zhabi said:

He's one of CNBM SA  technicians, now mine operates just fine.

 

 

Is CNBM in JHB only? I have not heard back from Mustek yet but I assume there would be a long waiting period to get mine back just for them to do a simple firmware upgrade. 

57 minutes ago, trinomic said:

Mine does the random 3 beeps as well. Very annoying. I also noticed it randomly makes that clicking noise, same as when it switches from battery to mains.

Is CNBM in JHB only? I have not heard back from Mustek yet but I assume there would be a long waiting period to get mine back just for them to do a simple firmware upgrade. 

Yes in Midrand,corporate park south 

My unit running of the mains power just switched off the power supply to my devices and displayed E10 (low battery voltage according to the manual). I turned it off and on again and it looks to be fine. Anyone else have this?

Had my firmware updated at Mustek yesterday. Been through two sessions of LS since its been returned, and it has charged back up to 100% on both occasions. So far, so good considering mine has been sitting at 0% for the past 2 weeks or so. 

According to them, the upgrade requires a specific "device" and cannot be done remotely or by anyone else. They currently have only one of these devices that is shared between branches. I had to rush mine in yesterday as they only had this device until end of the day before it would be sent to a different branch. They will next have one of these devices in CPT in "a few weeks."

Just a question regarding charge current, I have set mine to 40%. I only lose around 20% charge during LS so there is more than enough time to charge up to 100%. Would this make any difference for the batteries or should I just leave it at a higher or even 100% charge current?

1 hour ago, trinomic said:

So far, so good considering mine has been sitting at 0% for the past 2 weeks or so. 

According to them, the upgrade requires a specific "device" and cannot be done remotely or by anyone else. 

Good to hear. The "device" seems to be doing the trick. And it's nice to know the product is being actively supported. (I do still wish we could get more info on the serial interface because I'm sure there's a lot of potential to DIY this thing.) 

 

1 hour ago, trinomic said:

Would this make any difference for the batteries or should I just leave it at a higher or even 100% charge current?

I doubt battery life is affected much either way but it also can't do any good to charge faster than needed. At best there will be more heat dissipation. 

 

Anyone fitted a solar panel to these ?

Got myself a 'test panel' 100w..

Plugged it in.. had some sun, indicated ... 18.8v but ZERO Amps.

Am I being dumb ...

 

**edit** nevermind.

Buy solar panels that atleast match input range 35-100 Vdc...

My dumbass got some under specced panel FML
 

Edited by Poid

3 hours ago, TTT said:

I doubt battery life is affected much either way but it also can't do any good to charge faster than needed. At best there will be more heat dissipation. 

 

Thanks 👌

So Mine (Kool energy unit) has been running fine for about 2 months. This week i came home during loadshedding and it was off. So there must have been a random shutdown at some point. I switched it back on and it was on 100% and has been working normally since. 

 

Just got the 1kw Kool Energy lithium unit yesterday... charged for 8 hours but it got stuck at 56%, then I came and found this thread. Trying a full discharge and recharge now to see if that helps.

Aside from battery issues though, my unit seems to make quite an audible fan... buzz? Not sure how to describe it, but it's a low hum in addition to just the sound of the fans spinning, and it's constant whether charging or not - is that normal or did I get a dodgy unit?

On 2023/03/18 at 10:06 AM, peterkleinct said:

Just got the 1kw Kool Energy lithium unit yesterday... charged for 8 hours but it got stuck at 56%, then I came and found this thread. Trying a full discharge and recharge now to see if that helps.

Did a full cycle fix this issue for you? I would probably err towards sending it back regardless as it sounds like you might have the buggy firmware, and that fan issue doesn't sound good either. QA on these units is definitely not their selling point...

5 hours ago, TTT said:

Did a full cycle fix this issue for you? I would probably err towards sending it back regardless as it sounds like you might have the buggy firmware, and that fan issue doesn't sound good either. QA on these units is definitely not their selling point...

Yeah, it managed to charge up to 100% after that... hasn't been enough loadshedding the past few days to see how it holds up over repeated charges.

But yeah, agree with sending it back - not sure if it's a fan sound or what but it's really annoying and I'm sure it can't be right.

On 2023/03/15 at 10:55 AM, nad_isa said:

So Mine (Kool energy unit) has been running fine for about 2 months. This week i came home during loadshedding and it was off. So there must have been a random shutdown at some point. I switched it back on and it was on 100% and has been working normally since. 

 

Same happened to me Yesterday.

Stressful, now to see how it behaves when the EFF bestowes loadshedding on us again.

 

Update: As per my earlier post from about 2 weeks ago, Mustek updated the firmware on my in-law's Mecer unit. This after some confusing emails from them saying that a PCB had to be replaced as well. From the posts about the Kool Energy unit we can safely say that it is just a firmware update that is required to fix the problem.

So far so good, the SOC is now displaying correctly. 

Glad this is now no longer a problem as the units look good and function well. As do the Kapa Energie ones with very similar spec - 1kW pure sine wave inverter and 1.2 kWh LiFePo4 battery. 

When the warranty runs out, a good upgrade would be to add another 24V (8S) LiFePo4 battery in parallel to the battery already inside. 

Has anyone opened their unit up to take a look inside ? If so, please can you share some photos. 

On 2023/03/07 at 8:52 AM, JackW said:

I purchased an AJ solar 540W panel from Rubicon in December.  Cost R5 800 for cable, fasteners, connectors and panel.

I've got an off grid circuit that supplies all essential electrical items with my Mecer 1.2kw trolley.  The battery is fully charged at about 1pm from the panel, and discharges to about 20% overnight, so it works pretty well.  

I got myself a 300W "HIgh Efficiency" panel.

Am I buying the wrong sizes here, what Amperage does your indicate when charging.

I am getting the following but it's obviously not enough.. right ?


Do I add another in series to fix this, or am i out of luck.. again

 

 

Input Voltage.jpg

Input Amps.jpg

Input Watts.jpg

3 hours ago, Poid said:

I got myself a 300W "HIgh Efficiency" panel.

Am I buying the wrong sizes here, what Amperage does your indicate when charging.

I am getting the following but it's obviously not enough.. right ?


Do I add another in series to fix this, or am i out of luck.. again

The manual says it needs 35V min.

MPPT Voltage Range  35V~100VDC

 

3 hours ago, Poid said:

I got myself a 300W "HIgh Efficiency" panel.

Am I buying the wrong sizes here, what Amperage does your indicate when charging.

I am getting the following but it's obviously not enough.. right ?


Do I add another in series to fix this, or am i out of luck.. again

 

 

Input Voltage.jpg

Input Amps.jpg

Input Watts.jpg

What is the Vmp on your solar panel label?

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

Account

Navigation

Search

Search

Configure browser push notifications

Chrome (Android)
  1. Tap the lock icon next to the address bar.
  2. Tap Permissions → Notifications.
  3. Adjust your preference.
Chrome (Desktop)
  1. Click the padlock icon in the address bar.
  2. Select Site settings.
  3. Find Notifications and adjust your preference.