I have a Mecer SOL-I-AX-3Mplus48 inverter with a set of 4 Vision 6FM100P-X AGM batteries, & 3-300watt Enersol panels.

Everything appears to be working fine, and I did a load test on the batteries and they are in good shape. I inherited this 2 year old system as part of purchasing our off-the-grid home, and have a few questions regarding the settings [ones where they changed them from the defaults], so any help will be much appreciated:

   1. They set the maximum charging current to 20A, even though the Vision battery specs for model 6FM100P-X say they can take 30A.
   2. They chose to set their own Floating Charging Voltage at 56.4V [same as the default Bulk Charging Voltage], rather than the default 54V [note - we have hot summers in Swellendam].
   3. They set the 'voltage point back to battery mode' to a 'Battery Fully Charged' setting, rather than the default 54V.
   4. And they enabled the overload bypass [default is 'disabled'], so that the unit will transfer to line mode if overload occurs in battery mode [note that the line in is only hooked up to a manually started generator that I just installed - I'm pretty sure that the previous owners had the same model hooked up, but took it with them].
   5. And something that seems strange but may be normal is that the green charging light goes to solid in the early afternoon [fully charged & as expected if there's some sun], but then stays solid even when the battery level indicator flashes all 4 bars [indicating less than 2V per cell - not sure when it starts flashing again, sometime late afternoon/early evening].

So is all the above ok, or ...?

 

And with this setup, should I equalize the batteries once in a while, and if so, how often, at what voltage and for how long?

1. With  900W of Enersol panels the inverter is not going to manage to even charge at 20A so that setting is fine.
2. I would be happier with 54V especially since you have hot summers.
3. I would prefer to get the solar to charge the batteries rather than grid. I would go with 54V may be 55V
4. Good idea
5. The Axpert SOC setting are notoriously poor. I would tend to ignore those settings. I would get hold of a Victron BMV so that you can monitor your batteries. Using the Axpert SOC settings is like driving a car without a fuel guage. You are going to come up short somewhere along the line.

Those Vision batteries are VRLA (Valve Regulated Lead Acid) batteries and it is not recommended to equalise them better to get an HA02 or Victron battery balancer.

If you want you can post you inverter settings and with your input  we can optimise your settings.

Wow - Thanks Chris! I'll leave #1 & #4 above as they are, and if after looking at all the settings you still suggest changing #27 to 54V, I will do so [#2 above].

You have also suggested changing #13 to 54 or 55V [#3 above]. Could you explain how that differs from 'Battery Fully Charged', and I don't understand your reason, as there is no grid to charge the batteries [only a manually started generator that I may never use]?

Regarding the Battery Monitor, I am moving my inverter to a more remote location [too noisy in the living room], and so I do need a remote battery voltage monitor [so that I can see whether it's ok to use the electric kettle :-],  but wasn't planning on spending R2000 - how necessary is this item, as I don't currently monitor anything other than voltage?

Regarding the battery balancer, am I correct that I would only need one HA02 for my system?

In once again looking over the settings, one thing that seems to make sense is to change #3 to UPS?

The other one that is questionable is #29 - as I believe 42V, even though it is the default setting, is a completely drained battery? [Note that despite this, after 2+ years a load test shows they are still in good shape, and I always check the voltage before I run the kettle, so it rarely shuts off.]

Again - thanks so much for your help, and here are my current settings in red.

Setting Programs:

Program	Description	Selectable option
00	Exit setting mode	Escape
01	Output source priority: To configure load power source priority	Solar first	Solar energy provides power to the loads as first priority. If solar energy is not sufficient to power all connected loads, battery energy will supply power the loads at the same time. Utility provides power to the loads only when any one condition happens: - Solar energy is not available - Battery voltage drops to either low-level warning voltage or the setting point in program 12.
		Utility first (default)	Utility will provide power to the loads as first priority. Solar and battery energy will provide power to the loads only when utility power is not available.
		SBU priority	Solar energy provides power to the loads as first priority. If solar energy is not sufficient to power all connected loads, battery energy will supply power to the loads at the same time. Utility provides power to the loads only when battery voltage drops to either low-level warning voltage or the setting point in program 12.
02	Maximum charging current: To configure total charging current for solar and utility chargers. (Max. charging current = utility charging current + solar charging current)	Available options in 1KVA 24V and 1KVA/3KVA 48V models:
		10A	20A (default)
		Available options in 2-3KVA 24V models:
		20A	30A (default)
		Available options in 2-3KVA 24V/48V Plus and 4-5KVA 48V models:

14

		10A (Not available for 2-3KVA 24V Plus)	20A
		30A	40A
		50A	60A (default)
03	AC input voltage range	Appliances (default)	If selected, acceptable AC input voltage range will be within 90-280VAC.
		UPS	If selected, acceptable AC input voltage range will be within 170-280VAC.
04	Power saving mode enable/disable	Saving mode disable (default)	If disabled, no matter connected load is low or high, the on/off status of inverter output will not be effected.
		Saving mode enable	If enabled, the output of inverter will be off when connected load is pretty low or not detected.
05	Battery type	AGM (default)	Flooded
		User-Defined	If “User-Defined” is selected, battery charge voltage and low DC cut-off voltage can be set up in program 26, 27 and 29.
06	Auto restart when overload occurs	Restart disable (default)	Restart enable
07	Auto restart when over temperature occurs	Restart disable (default)	Restart enable
08	Output voltage (only available for 2KVA 24V/48V Plus 120Vac models)	110V	120V
09	Output frequency	50Hz (default)	60Hz

15

11	Maximum utility charging current	Available options in 1KVA 24V and 2KVA 24V Plus 120Vac model:
		10A	20A(default):
		Available options in 2-3KVA 24V and 2-3KVA 24V Plus models:
		20A	30A (default)
		Available options in 1KVA/3KVA 48V and 2-3KVA 48V Plus models:
		10A	15A(default):
		Available options in 2KVA 48V Plus 120Vac model:
		5A	10A(default)
		Available options in 4KVA/5KVA 48V models:
		2A	10A
		20A	30A (default)
12	Setting voltage point back to utility source when selecting “SBU priority” or “Solar first” in program 01.	Available options in 24V models:
		22.0V	22.5V
		23.0V (default)	23.5V
		24.0V	24.5V
		25.0V	25.5V
		Available options in 48V models:
		44V	45V

16

		46V (default)	47V
		48V	49V
		50V	51V
13	Setting voltage point back to battery mode when selecting “SBU priority” or “Solar first” in program 01.	Available options in 24V models:
		Battery fully charged	24V
		24.5V	25V
		25.5V	26V
		26.5V	27V (default)
		27.5V	28V
		28.5V	29V
		Available options in 48V models:
		Battery fully charged	48V
		49V	50V

17

		51V	52V
		53V	54V (default)
		55V	56V
		57V	58V
16	Charger source priority: To configure charger source priority	If this inverter/charger is working in Line, Standby or Fault mode, charger source can be programmed as below:
		Solar first	Solar energy will charge battery as first priority. Utility will charge battery only when solar energy is not available.
		Utility first	Utility will charge battery as first priority. Solar energy will charge battery only when utility power is not available.
		Solar and Utility (Only available for 4KVA/5KVA model)	Solar energy and utility will charge battery at the same time.
		Only Solar	Solar energy will be the only charger source no matter utility is available or not.
		If this inverter/charger is working in Battery mode or Power saving mode, only solar energy can charge battery. Solar energy will charge battery if it's available and sufficient.
18	Alarm control	Alarm on (default)	Alarm off
19	Auto return to default display screen	Return to default display screen (default)	If selected, no matter how users switch display screen, it will automatically return to default display screen (Input voltage /output voltage) after no button is pressed for 1 minute.

18

		Stay at latest screen	If selected, the display screen will stay at latest screen user finally switches.
20	Backlight control	Backlight on (default)	Backlight off
22	Beeps while primary source is interrupted	Alarm on (default)	Alarm off
23	Overload bypass: When enabled, the unit will transfer to line mode if overload occurs in battery mode.	Bypass disable (default)	Bypass enable
25	Record Fault code	Record enable	Record disable (default)
26	Bulk charging voltage (C.V voltage)	24V model default setting: 28.2V
		48V model default setting: 56.4V
		If self-defined is selected in program 5, this program can be set up. Setting range is from 24.0V to 29.2V for 24V model and 48.0V to 58.4V for 48V model. Increment of each click is 0.1V.
27	Floating charging voltage	24V model default to 27.0V
		48V model default setting: 54.0V - CHANGED TO 56.4
		If self-defined is selected in program 5, this program can be set up. Setting range is from 24.0V to 27.0V for 24V model, 48.0V to 58.4V for 48V model. Increment of each click is 0.1V.
29	Low DC cut-off voltage	24V model default setting: 21.0V
		48V model default setting: 42.0V If self-defined is selected in program 5, this program can be set up. Setting range is from 20.0V to 24.0V for 24V model, 40.0V to 48.0V for 48V model. Increment of each click is 0.1V. Low DC cut-off voltage will be fixed to setting value no matter what percentage of load is connected. Then, low DC warning voltage is 2V higher than cut-off voltage, low DC warning return voltage is 4V higher than cut-off voltage and Cold Start Voltage is 4V higher than cut-off voltage.

@Jesse - are you based in South Africa?

1 hour ago, Jesse said:

You have also suggested changing #13 to 54 or 55V [#3 above]. Could you explain how that differs from 'Battery Fully Charged', and I don't understand your reason, as there is no grid to charge the batteries [only a manually started generator that I may never use]?

Ok that is an important piece of the puzzle.

Settings as below  with explanations.

Program 1 => UTI (you want the invert to run of the gennie if it is available. Since you  will be manually switching over you prioritise it. You will largely be operating on the 2nd option (solar)  but if there is gennie power you want to use it and be able to charge your batteries.

Program 2 => 20A (already dealt with in previous posts. 

Program 3 => UPS (if the inverter will not work continuously switching  back to solar/battery with UPS setting go back to APL but UPS is better). I run on APL as my gennie supply is not good enough for UPS.

Program 4 => lDisabled

Program 5 => User (So that you have greater control over settings 26 and 27). 

Next important one is  Program 11 => 20A at least and maybe even 30A since your batteries can handle that charge. You don't want to be running a gennie and not charging your batteries at full tilt. You may be limited by the gennie you have but I don't think so 30 A is roughly 1500W.

Program 16  => Uti . Again my reasoning is you don't want  to be running you gennie and then charging from the meager energy available from solar. You have switched to gennie for a reason make the most of the available energy. I am able to combine solar and utility but that option is not available on the smaller Axperts.

Program 25 Enabled (You at least want a fault code recorded if something goes wrong)

Program 26 56.4V

Program 27 56.0V

Program 29 42V

Program 12 and 13 are largely irrelevant in your situation as you are manually switching between solar and utility (grid). For benefit of others I will explain my reasoning for my preferred values for these two settings. 

Program 12 I like setting to 48V which is roughly 50% DOD (Depth Of Discharge) . A discharge greater than this is going to dramatically shorten the cycle life of your batteries so that is why I say 48V. With a small battery bank like yours a large load will cause significant voltage sag so your batteries are not at 50% SOC (state of charge) and you would switch to grid prematurely.

Program 13 I like at 54V since at this voltage charging is well on its way and if Program 16 is set to OSO (Only SOlar) then there is probably enough solar energy to handle the load as well.

Hi Tripletts - Yes, we're in Swellendam.

Hi Chris - Great!!!

With program 11, the maximum it will let me go to is 15A, but my Yamaha EF5500FW is only rated at 17.3A [3.8KVA], so not too much potential lost.

With regard to #29 remaining at the default 42V - as you mentioned with regard to #12, with my small battery bank a large load causes significant voltage sag - so it seems that if set much higher it would reach cut-off prematurely, and yet someone here said it should be set at 48V to preserve the batteries, so is there anything more you can say on that one?

Everything else makes sense and the suggestions and explanations are very much appreciated - I've already changed the settings and will see how she runs :-).

2 minutes ago, Jesse said:

With regard to #29 remaining at the default 42V - as you mentioned with regard to #12, with my small battery bank a large load causes significant voltage sag - so it seems that if set much higher it would reach cut-off prematurely, and yet someone here said it should be set at 48V to preserve the batteries, so is there anything more you can say on that one?

Everything else makes sense and the suggestions and explanations are very much appreciated - I've already changed the settings and will see how she runs :-).

Changing the default of #29 seems to upset the Axpert's SOC calculations for what they are worth.  To my mind it is better to get a BMV and use the contact on it to shut down. I suppose in the interim you could set  29 to 45-46V  but know that your batteries are toast already if you  get to these values. If you set them any higher you risk your system shutting down prematurely due to voltage sag and a large load.  Hence the reason I did not change the setting. You get no real battery protection until you set it to 47V and then your small bank is going drop out every time you have a larger load. You choose.

That makes sense, thanks!

39 minutes ago, Jesse said:

Yes, we're in Swellendam.

Lekker man!!! 

FWIW, please check your local regulations for solar and DB board connections? At the very least you won't have a surprise coming.

Thanks for the heads-up, and it took me a while to look into this, but isn't this only relevant to grid-tied systems?

4 minutes ago, Jesse said:

Thanks for the heads-up, and it took me a while to look into this, but isn't this only relevant to grid-tied systems?

It is relevant ito connecting anything like a generator / UPS / solar system to your DB board.

UPS / Generators have decades old regulations with appropriate CoC's, when connected to a DB board.
So it is logical that solar systems must have regs too, and SA does. Fact that some municipalities / Eskom are not enforcing it, yet, does not mean it is not there. :-) 

Therein the heads-up.

According to Voltronic, Axperts are sold as a off grid inverter.
And with no panels connected to a Axpert, it is sold as UPS = connect to a DB, you need a CoC for that connection - for your / Sparkies / Firefighters safety.

So now you have solar panels, you can see that with aerial photography / Google Maps. 
That means you have a inverter right?
So how is the inverter connected: Grid tied or off grid?

See this thread where we are debating the finer points: Is your System Legal

That makes sense - thanks!

Hi guys

I ended up in this discussion after a google search. Sorry to hijack, but Im looking for some help.

I have a similar inverter, with a 48v battery bank,but lead-acid batteries.

I've tried changing the battery type from AGM(default) to flooded, and to user defined settings. Still, no matter the values I enter, my charging LED is always flashing, as if the charging is never completed.

The stats report say my batteries at 100% capacity at 54.21V (float charge set to 54v).

Any tips?

11 hours ago, Nuno said:

I've tried changing the battery type from AGM(default) to flooded, and to user defined settings. Still, no matter the values I enter, my charging LED is always flashing, as if the charging is never completed.

The stats report say my batteries at 100% capacity at 54.21V (float charge set to 54v).

Since the charging LED is flashing, you're still in the bulk or absorb stage. So the relevant setting is the absorb (misnamed as bulk/CV) setting. I presume that it's at least 56 V. The float voltage setting only becomes relevant when charging is over (and the charging LED is on solid).

The inverter's reporting of state of charge (SOC) is very rough. Monitoring software will report the same SOC as the inverter, unless you have something like a BMV external battery monitor that counts coulombs, and the software is set up to read that. Even then, the external battery monitor relies on the battery getting full regularly, so that it can reset its SOC counter to 100%, and you don't seem to be getting there.

What voltage is the battery reaching during charging? Certainly, 54.21 V when charging is nowhere near 100% SOC.

What is the capacity (in amp-hours) of your battery?

What is the nominal power rating (in watts or kilo-watts) of your solar panels?

What is the voltage of your individual batteries making up your main battery? Often, it's 4 nominally 12 V modules in series; please measure each one. There is a chance that you have a shorted cell, in which case one or more modules will have a voltage about 2 V lower than the others. That would cause your symptoms of never stopping charging, since the battery voltage would never reach the absorb setting.

Finally, is there a chance that your inverter is a clone? Some clones seem to have problems with dropping out the Solar Charge Controller. Is the solar panel indicator on the LC Display always on when the sun is shining?

On 2019/02/28 at 11:45 PM, Coulomb said:

Since the charging LED is flashing, you're still in the bulk or absorb stage. So the relevant setting is the absorb (misnamed as bulk/CV) setting. I presume that it's at least 56 V. The float voltage setting only becomes relevant when charging is over (and the charging LED is on solid).

The inverter's reporting of state of charge (SOC) is very rough. Monitoring software will report the same SOC as the inverter, unless you have something like a BMV external battery monitor that counts coulombs, and the software is set up to read that. Even then, the external battery monitor relies on the battery getting full regularly, so that it can reset its SOC counter to 100%, and you don't seem to be getting there.

What voltage is the battery reaching during charging? Certainly, 54.21 V when charging is nowhere near 100% SOC.

What is the capacity (in amp-hours) of your battery?

What is the nominal power rating (in watts or kilo-watts) of your solar panels?

What is the voltage of your individual batteries making up your main battery? Often, it's 4 nominally 12 V modules in series; please measure each one. There is a chance that you have a shorted cell, in which case one or more modules will have a voltage about 2 V lower than the others. That would cause your symptoms of never stopping charging, since the battery voltage would never reach the absorb setting.

Finally, is there a chance that your inverter is a clone? Some clones seem to have problems with dropping out the Solar Charge Controller. Is the solar panel indicator on the LC Display always on when the sun is shining?

I guess you were right, they were still in bulk mode! I left and when came back the next day the LED was on without blinking

Hi, Was wondering if anyone can assist. I have 2 x Axpect 5KVA inverters and 3 Pylontech 2.4 batteries, the system was running perfectly except I has running out of batteries during the night. I got another 3 X 2.4 batteries installed. The installer did not change any settings on the inverters. After the system running for a few hours there was a burning smell. The installer came back and checked the system and said every thing was correct. The next day my inverters "blew" up. 

Can anyone please let me know what setting should be change on the inverters for the 6 butteries.

Appreciate the assistance.

 

.. well burning inverters... inverters in silicon box up stairs, so ye you changing them, I'd suggest changing installer at the same time.

Now I'm sure Plonker/PaulF/TTT will be smelling, but go Victron... hmm, thats a nice big battery bank, you def going to need some panels and MPPT's to drive (charge) them.

G

I would think that the installer should have increased the maximum charge current setting. But that would only minimise wasted solar energy.

I can't think why there would have been a burning smell, unless a battery cable was loose. I would not think that a loose cable would cause the inverters to blow up though.

Do you have any data saved from ICC or similar?

Edited April 3, 20196 yr by Coulomb

Hi,

The only info I have is the setting that the installer did. Just to let you know I have 24 x 240 w panels

Edited April 3, 20196 yr by jonesadr

3 hours ago, georgelza said:

Plonker

Bwahaha. I've been called a plonker many times... though that word has gone out of vogue 🙂

I almost stopped reading when I saw "Axpert". The load on this site has increased so much that I can no longer read everything so I pretty much skip anything with Axpert in it. Nothing personal, just can't read everything.

Anyway, this is what I want to say. Never ever discount pure dumb coincidence. Sometimes sh... I mean stuff just blows up and it has no relation to the work that was done. Or maybe the bit of extra capacity was just the last straw. Who knows. Axperts have a somewhat higher blow-up rate than the others, but you guys accept that because they are really really cheap. Comes with the territory. Buy another one (they are cheap, right?) or come over to the blue side 🙂

I"ll just plead innocent and point finger at auto correct...

G

3 hours ago, plonkster said:

Buy another one (they are cheap, right?)

So what are the sums? 

2 x Axperts because 1st install had a problem with 1 year warranty vs 1 x Victron 3kva grid tied with 5 year warranty ... I do not see a Axpert beating a 3kva hybrid grid tied Victron ito ROI over the equipment's life expectation. 🙂 

Correct me if I am wrong.
 

8 hours ago, jonesadr said:

Hi, Was wondering if anyone can assist. I have 2 x Axpect 5KVA inverters and 3 Pylontech 2.4 batteries, the system was running perfectly except I has running out of batteries during the night. I got another 3 X 2.4 batteries installed. The installer did not change any settings on the inverters. After the system running for a few hours there was a burning smell. The installer came back and checked the system and said every thing was correct. The next day my inverters "blew" up. 

Can anyone please let me know what setting should be change on the inverters for the 6 butteries.

Appreciate the assistance.

 

Hi Jones

Im a bit confused as to how this is all connected

  Are you sharing one set of batteries (6 in parallel) between 2 inverters ?

 

 

 

2 hours ago, The Terrible Triplett said:

2 x Axperts because 1st install had a problem with 1 year warranty vs 1 x Victron 3kva grid tied with 5 year warranty ... I do not see a Axpert beating a 3kva hybrid grid tied Victron ito ROI over the equipment's life expectation. 🙂 

Oh there are many that last 5 years. People on this forum. But it is a gamble. I don't think that the gamble is worth it anymore now that the 3:1 price difference is no longer there.

Hi Jaws, You are correct I have 6 batteries (each 2.4 kw) in parallel connected to 2 x 5 KVA inverters. There are 24 x PV panels of 240w each.