May 11, 20197 yr 1 hour ago, SeanM said: AC output breaker 25 amp (2.5mm cable) as the inverter will handle 22 amps. Yes. Though I'd be tempted to use 4 mm² cable at the output unless it's a very short run.
May 19, 20197 yr HI i need help to see if my setting on my axpert mecer mks5k 11 are correct. it is connected on eskom power (utility) I have 2 strings of 4 x 330w ja solar pannels 1 x 5kw mecer 11 80A charger inverter 1 x 3.5kw pylon lithuim ion battery 01 - SBU 02 - 70A 03 - APL 04 - SDS 05 - USE 11 - 80A 12 - 46V 13 - 48V 16 - SNU 26 - 56.4V 27 - 54V 29 - 42V 31 - SBE THANK YOU
May 20, 20197 yr 7 hours ago, MARIAAN said: HI i need help to see if my setting on my axpert mecer mks5k 11 are correct. Hi, Mariaan, welcome to the forum. I think you'll find that your inverter is a Mecer MKS 5K II (double capital "I", as in Roman numeral two). 7 hours ago, MARIAAN said: I have 2 strings of 4 x 330w ja solar pannels Your Solar Charge Controller has an MPPT range of 120 to 430 VDC. A typical 330 W panel has a Vmp of about 35 V. With 4 in series, that's 35 x 4 = 140 V, just over the minimum. All 8 in series would be 280 V, much closer to the middle of the MPPT range. Even the cold Voc is less than 50 V, so a total of 400 V, the maximum allowed is 450 V. So I suggest putting all 8 panels in one string, at least for now. If you expand to 10 or more panels later, then it would be necessary to split into two strings. At least now, combining the two strings in series instead of parallel should be easy to do (no need to get on the roof, for example). 7 hours ago, MARIAAN said: 01 - SBU This is best for getting the most out of your battery. If load shedding starts, and many seem to think it won't be long, it might be better to change to SOL, so the battery is kept as full as possible. 7 hours ago, MARIAAN said: 02 - 70A This would be correct for two of your batteries. For now, bring it down to 40 A, or even 30 A to be more cautious. The ideal figure is 35 A, but the inverter only allows multiples of 10 A. 7 hours ago, MARIAAN said: 11 - 80A This should go down to the same as setting 02 for now. Later, if you add more batteries, it could be increased, but 30-40 A of utility charging (about 1.5 - 2 kW) is a nice figure. 7 hours ago, MARIAAN said: 12 - 46V 13 - 48V I would increase these initially to 48 and 50 V, but you may need to adjust these to suit your appetite for keeping the battery full. 7 hours ago, MARIAAN said: 26 - 56.4V 27 - 54V 29 - 42V These 3 seem like lead acid default values, and must be changed. You should use 26: 53.2 V, 27: 52 V (people vary with this one, the manufacturers don't give a recommended value), and 29: start wit 47.5 V. See how comfortable you are with the SOC of the battery when it gets low. For longevity, you want that value higher; for maximum use of your investment, you want it lower. Other settings I haven't mentioned are fine. You haven't mentioned a ICC monitoring software; without this, you won't have an accurate measure of the state of charge of your battery (other than the 6 LEDs on the front of the battery, or any monitoring software that comes with the battery). Just ignore the SOC value from the inverter or the free Watchpower software; it is designed for lead acid (where it is roughly useful), not lithium iron phosphate (where it is hopeless).
May 23, 20197 yr Hi I have an RCT-Axpert 5K inverter with 12*330W JA solar panels in 4strings and 12*200Ah Vision batteries. Still playing around with the settings 29-low DC cut off voltage. Is this the voltage where the inverter will shut down completely when ESKOM power is off and the PV array is not able to charge the batteries ? Gerrit
May 25, 20197 yr On 2019/05/24 at 7:42 AM, gerritl said: 29-low DC cut off voltage. Is this the voltage where the inverter will shut down completely when ESKOM power is off and the PV array is not able to charge the batteries ? Yes, but in addition, the SOC of the battery has to fall so low that the battery voltage ends up below this setting. If you have a big enough battery or a short enough outage, then the battery can supply your loads even with Eskom power off and the PV not able to charge the battery.
May 29, 20197 yr Author HI GUYS! I started this thread about 8 months ago and got some great advice [mostly from Chris] that has worked well, but as winter approaches I am needing to use the generator and have a couple questions/concerns that I would appreciate some help with. As a reminder, my current and very small Off-The-Grid system: Mecer SOL-I-AX-3MPlus48 Inverter/Charger 3-300W Enersol panels X 4hrs=3600Wh[Watt hours] X.8=2880Wh power potential per day 4-12V 100amp/hour Vision batteries hooked in series=4800Wh storage potential [2400Wh at 50% SOC] Yamaha EF5500FW Generator Current settings, as suggested (with a ‘?’ where it’s a strange looking letter 🙂 : 01, U?I [Utility first] 02, 20A [Maximum charging current] 03, UPS [AC input voltage range] 04, SDS [Power saving mode disabled] 05, USE [Battery type] 06, L?E [Restart enable] 07, ??E [Restart enable] 09, 50Hz [Output frequency] 11, 15A [Maximum utility charging current] 12, 48 [Irrelevant, since I have selected U?I in Program 01] 13, 54 [Irrelevant, since I have selected U?I in Program 01] 16, CU? [Charger source priority] 18, BOF [Alarm control] 19, ?EP [Auto return to default display screen] 20, LOF [Backlight control] 22, LOF [Beeps while primary source is interrupted] 23, BYE [Overload bypass] 25, FEN [Record fault code] 26, 57.6 in winter & 56.1 in summer [Bulk charging voltage] - Swellendam, Western Cape 27, 55.2 in winter & 54.2 in summer [Floating charging voltage] 29, 42 [Low DC cut-off voltage] Questions: 1) My green charging light goes from flashing to solid even when the charging icon shows only two bars, and although I know that it would help to purchase a Victron Battery Monitor, I cannot afford one right now, and would like to work with what I have. I do have a voltmeter, and testing the batteries confirms that the Mecer voltage reading is pretty accurate. Should I ignore the bars? 2) The inverter’s specs on the side of the machine say: AC Charger Mode: AC Input 230VAC, 50Hz, 17.7A, 1o DC Output 54VDC, 10A/15A AC Output: 230VAC, 50Hz, 13A, 1o When using the generator I am connecting its 17A outlet to the Utility connection on my inverter. Does the inverter then charge the batteries at 54VDC & 15A? How do these numbers relate to my #26 [57.6V] and #27[55.2V] program settings, noting that when I charge the batteries with the generator at night the battery voltage goes up to over 57V, and when the generator goes off, pretty soon settles to about 52V? Do I have the right settings for this generator - especially for charging? Assuming a 50% SOC [48V], how long should it take to fully charge my batteries with only the generator? Is there any charging advantage to leaving the generator on for a period of time after it has reached the bulk setting? Is there any way I can get more charging power out of my generator, since it's already running and only using a fraction of its potential, like adding a separate AC charger? 3) Usually whenever I have the generator on or a load of more than about 210W the fan goes on, but I recently noticed that when the generator is on and the green light goes solid, even with a load greater than 210W, the fan repeatedly cycles off for about 10 minutes and then back on for about 10 minutes, showing that a silent fan is possible :-]. The inverter is in our living room, and there is only one daily load that triggers the fan – our fridge at 220W. Is there any way I can change when the fan goes on by just a little bit, noting that I hardly ever feel any heat from the top heatsink? 4] In my manual, the Display Settings for the MPPT Charging power show PV, BATT, and W [as well as OUPUT in V], but my actual display shows PV, INPUT, and W. And mid-day this can go from 130W without a load to 330W with a large load. Does this make sense? Again, any help is much appreciated.
May 30, 20197 yr 12 hours ago, Jesse said: got some great advice [mostly from Chris] Chris Hobson doesn't seem to have much time to post any more, unfortunately. So I'll try to do my best. 12 hours ago, Jesse said: Mecer SOL-I-AX-3MPlus48 Inverter/Charger Thanks, giving the exact inverter model is always so helpful. 12 hours ago, Jesse said: 3-300W Enersol panels X 4hrs=3600Wh[Watt hours] X.8=2880Wh power potential per day I think you'd get more like 70% of nominal panel power in winter. So you may want to put on another string of panels, or at least add one more panel and configure as 2S2P. 12 hours ago, Jesse said: 01, U?I [Utility first] Hey, the "t" isn't that hard to read 😉 I'll grant you that some others are really bad. 12 hours ago, Jesse said: 02, 20A [Maximum charging current] That's actually a little high for a 100 Ah battery. Can you set it to 15 A? 12 hours ago, Jesse said: 13, 54 [Irrelevant, since I have selected U?I in Program 01] I think that this one does affect when generator charging ends. You seem to imply this later on. 12 hours ago, Jesse said: 1) Should I ignore the bars? I think so. 12 hours ago, Jesse said: When using the generator ... Does the inverter then charge the batteries at 54VDC & 15A? I believe that it will charge the battery at 15 A, and will stop when the battery voltage reaches 54 V. But I don't run in Uti mode, and rarely use utility charging anyway, so I don't know. I guess you can figure it out by watching a generator charge near the end. 12 hours ago, Jesse said: How do these numbers relate to my #26 [57.6V] and #27[55.2V] program settings, noting that when I charge the batteries with the generator at night the battery voltage goes up to over 57V, and when the generator goes off, pretty soon settles to about 52V? Oh. Then it seems that it's aiming for 57.6 V (setting 26) after all. When the generator goes off, the battery will after a few minutes settle to around 13.0 V per nominal 12 V module, i.e. 13 x 4 = 52 V total. All batteries do that to some extent. 12 hours ago, Jesse said: Do I have the right settings for this generator - especially for charging? They seem OK, and if they were set with Chris Hobson's figures, then they're probably quite good. 12 hours ago, Jesse said: Assuming a 50% SOC [48V], how long should it take to fully charge my batteries with only the generator? You have a nominal 48 V and 100 Ah battery, but it will charge to over 50 V, so for easy maths, let's use 50 V x 100 Ah = 5000 Wh, or 2500 Wh from 50% SOC to 100% SOC. You will be charging at 15 A x 50 V = 750, so it will take about 2500 / 750 = 3.3 h, but the last part is at less than 15 A so say 3.5 h or so. 12 hours ago, Jesse said: Is there any charging advantage to leaving the generator on for a period of time after it has reached the bulk setting? It should charge to the voltage in setting 26 (bulk/absorb voltage), and stay there for some time, till the charge current drops to some 3 A (a fifth of your maximum charge current). That might take half an hour or so. So yes, it's not full till the charge (green) LED goes on solid. But there is no point charging beyond that, unless you meed more than 3 kW for your loads, or really want to keep the battery topped to the very maximum (e.g. if you know that load shedding will come soon). 12 hours ago, Jesse said: Is there any way I can get more charging power out of my generator, since it's already running and only using a fraction of its potential, like adding a separate AC charger? Yes, a separate charger is about your only option, other than swapping to an inverter-charger with a more powerful AC charger. Other models have 60 or even 80 A charge capability. Or you could parallel your existing model with another one, adding the paralleling kit, so that you could double your charge current that way. But then you have the idle drain of another inverter-charger all the time, and you are quite short on PV power as it is. 12 hours ago, Jesse said: 3) Is there any way I can change when the fan goes on by just a little bit, noting that I hardly ever feel any heat from the top heatsink? Only by patching the firmware. There is no patched firmware for your model, and likely never will be. Sorry. You could consider replacing the fans with a more quiet version, but there are issues with how the "fan locked" warning is detected. 12 hours ago, Jesse said: 4] In my manual, the Display Settings for the MPPT Charging power show PV, BATT, and W [as well as OUPUT in V], but my actual display shows PV, INPUT, and W. I would just ignore that. 12 hours ago, Jesse said: And mid-day this can go from 130W without a load to 330W with a large load. Does this make sense? Sure. At midday, the battery could be charged already, and you might have pretty light loads, so 130 W covers the loads, float (trickle) charging the battery, and losses. If your load goes up by 200 W or more, then the PV power will go up to keep the battery at the float voltage. It will sometimes lag behind for a few reasons. If your large load is more like 1800 W, though, you would expect the PV power to go to maximum, which for our panels at this time of year (4 weeks to winter solstice) should be around 300 x 3 x 0.7 = 630 W. If you never see PV power as high as that, then you may have a problem with panel orientation, wiring, etc.
May 30, 20197 yr Author Wow - thanks Coulomb - very helpful! I am especially grateful for helping me to understand the reasons for it all. Regarding changing my charge rate from 20A to 15A. I didn't give the exact specification's of my batteries, which are 100amp/hour AGM Vision Pure Lead Long Life Series, rated at 30A maximum charging current. Chris recommended 20A, saying that this setting was covered in previous posts, but I couldn't find the posts? Do you still recommend reducing it to 15A, or would it be better to go up to 30A? And I'm not sure where I got the suggestion to change the bulk and float settings with the seasons, but would you agree with what I am setting them at for Swellendam, where the average midday temperatures range from 17.1°C in July to 27.5°C in January [although a couple times of year it reaches 40]? Your suggestion to add panel(s) confirms my thoughts, so I am going to add another series of 3 - 300W panels and hook the new set up parallel with the first set. Are there any settings I should change when I do this?
May 30, 20197 yr 3 hours ago, Jesse said: I didn't give the exact specification's of my batteries, which are 100amp/hour AGM Vision Pure Lead Long Life Series, rated at 30A maximum charging current. Well, if the manufacturer recommends 30 A, I'd do that. You'll need your second panel set to reach that value without generator help, though. 3 hours ago, Jesse said: would you agree with what I am setting them at for Swellendam Sorry, I don't know lead-acid well enough to say. 3 hours ago, Jesse said: I am going to add another series of 3 - 300W panels ... Are there any settings I should change when I do this? No, no settings changes required. Just as long as you stay under the limit for your inverter-charger, which is 3000 W. You'll be just under 2000 W with your second string of panels.
June 3, 20197 yr Hi Guys I’m new to solar and wonder if someone know if there is a voltage monitor that you can link with your cell phone to view battery levels. I have a Axpert 5KVA (cloned type PS-5k). I have 4 x 120Ah battery (48v) with 4x 330W pv panels. My Inverter is mounted in the garage but I do have a remote keypad inside the house to switch and view inverter settings. Currently I wired a sonoff switch to my changeover contactor to select between eskom or inverter power via my phone, but i would like to also have access to battery levels on my phone? Any help would be appreciated.
June 5, 20197 yr Hello Everybody I am in need of a bit of guidance in respect of a solar system I have just had installed. I essentially want to reduce my utility bill as much as possible while still ensuring the best life for my batteries. I am fairly clueless when it comes to all this as it is all new to it so am trying to learn, hoping you can help in this regard. I basically need to know what would be the best settings to have the inverter set to to achieve my goal. My average daily usage is minimal in my opinion but any saving is good saving. I average 18 - 22 kw/h per day and would like to see this drop. My system is as follows: Axpert 5kva inverter 8 x 350w Panels 4 x NXT 200a/h AGM type batteries The current settings are: 1 - Sol 2 - 60A 3 - Apl 4 - Sds 5 - Agn 9 - 50hz 11 - 30A 12 - 46v 13 - 54v 16 - Cso 23 - Bye 26 - 56.4v 27 - 54v 28 - PAL - I don't know what this even is as this program number doesn't appear in the manual 29 - 42v 30 - One - I don't know what this is either but it can change between one or all 31 - Sbd 32 - Aut Any assistance and advise would be greatly appreciated Thanks
June 5, 20197 yr 2 hours ago, Gingerlaw said: Hello Everybody I am in need of a bit of guidance in respect of a solar system I have just had installed. I essentially want to reduce my utility bill as much as possible while still ensuring the best life for my batteries. I am fairly clueless when it comes to all this as it is all new to it so am trying to learn, hoping you can help in this regard. I basically need to know what would be the best settings to have the inverter set to to achieve my goal. My average daily usage is minimal in my opinion but any saving is good saving. I average 18 - 22 kw/h per day and would like to see this drop. My system is as follows: Axpert 5kva inverter 8 x 350w Panels 4 x NXT 200a/h AGM type batteries The current settings are: 1 - Sol 2 - 60A 3 - Apl 4 - Sds 5 - Agn 9 - 50hz 11 - 30A 12 - 46v 13 - 54v 16 - Cso 23 - Bye 26 - 56.4v 27 - 54v 28 - PAL - I don't know what this even is as this program number doesn't appear in the manual 29 - 42v 30 - One - I don't know what this is either but it can change between one or all 31 - Sbd 32 - Aut Any assistance and advise would be greatly appreciated Thanks apologies for the omission, the batteries are configured to 48v
June 5, 20197 yr 3 hours ago, Gingerlaw said: I essentially want to reduce my utility bill as much as possible... My average daily usage is minimal in my opinion but any saving is good saving. I average 18 - 22 kw/h per day and would like to see this drop. I would not call that minimal, so you should get good savings. 3 hours ago, Gingerlaw said: The current settings are: 1 - Sol This is for maximum battery availability for blackouts. For example, the utility will power the loads immediately after sundown. For maximum savings, use SbU. 3 hours ago, Gingerlaw said: 2 - 60A That seems to much for a 200 Ah battery, but check the datasheet for your battery. If in doubt, reduce this to 30 A. 3 hours ago, Gingerlaw said: 12 - 46v Increase this to say 49 V to start with. That determines when utility takes over the loads on a rainy day. Adjust for your comfort. Ideally, install a BMV so you know the real state of charge of the battery. 3 hours ago, Gingerlaw said: 13 - 54v You might want to bump that up for more life. Or not, for more power savings. 3 hours ago, Gingerlaw said: 28 - PAL - I don't know what this even is as this program number doesn't appear in the manual It's for paralleling machines. It should be SnG. You have to turn the power switch off to be able to change this setting (it's the only one like that). 3 hours ago, Gingerlaw said: 29 - 42v Definitely increase this for battery life. Perhaps 48 V. 3 hours ago, Gingerlaw said: 30 - One - I don't know what this is either but it can change between one or all To do with paralleling; ignore it. 3 hours ago, Gingerlaw said: 31 - Sbd I don't know why anyone would want to disable this. Enable it. 3 hours ago, Gingerlaw said: 32 - Aut If you are running standard (unpatched) firmware, you may need to set this to 60-90 minutes to avoid the worst of the premature float bug. If you are interested, see Can I update my firmware, and if so, to what?
August 13, 20196 yr Evening all, i have a rather frustrating situation with my setup : 5kW RCT (Axpert) inverter, 48V 100A LiFePo battery, 10x 315W solar Panels. All settings configured as to restart on overload, restart on over temp, bypass to mains if battery overloads, etc, but my solar charges for around 3 hours, then cuts off. It shows on the screen it detects solar and AC, but it runs only from the battery, no charging. The only way to fix this, is to manually drop all the DC trips from my solars, wait 5 min, and switch them on again. Then it works for another 3 hours, and dead again. Should i just buy a victron battery charger ?
September 5, 20196 yr Hi I am new to this please help i have a infiny 5.5kva inverter with a 7/10 freedom lite battery48v. I am not able to set my battery cut off voltage to higher then 51v when grid is available! johan
September 22, 20196 yr hello thera can anybody plz tell me that i have a 5 kva inverter installed with with total 8 batteries and 16 solar panel of 320 watt rating, my inverter is working fine but i have notice something that when i set my inverter source priority to SBU and there is enough solar energy but my inverter is sharing the load with the utility its happend second time, at first time it correct himself and cutoff the utility i dont know how but now its stuck and utility is providing power with the sharing of the solar. and one thing more when i set my inverter to the SBU setting i hear the relay sound of "tick" but when my inverter is stuck in the condition mentioned above i dont hear any sound whenever i changed the setiing to SBU? can anybody helps me whats the problem
September 22, 20196 yr Author HI GUYS! I followed Coulomb's previous suggestion in this thread and added 3 more panels to my system and now would appreciate some help with increasing my battery storage. As an update, here's my current Off-The-Grid system: Mecer SOL-I-AX-3MPlus48 Inverter/Charger 6-300W Enersol panels X 4hrs=3600Wh[Watt hours] X.8=5760Wh power potential per day 4-12V 100amp/hour AGM Vision 6FM100LP-X batteries hooked in series=4.8kWh storage potential [2.4kWh usable at 50% DOD] Yamaha EF5500FW Generator My batteries are about 4 years old, and although they still seem to be working well, I understand the reasons not to just add more AGM batteries, and I am leaning towards Li-Ion batteries, so: Firstly, could someone confirm that my figure is right regarding my current usable battery potential of 2.4kWh? Secondly, what size the equivalent Li-Ion battery would need to be to double that usable storage capacity [assuming 80% DOD=6kWh?]? Thirdly, what can I do with the old AGM batteries [put in a switch so that I could use them instead of my generator as a backup]? And finally, do I need anything other than the actual Li-Ion battery with my configuration, noting that I currently don't have any extra monitoring software, and would prefer to keep it simple. And would brackets or anything else be necessary? thanks Jesse
September 22, 20196 yr 1 hour ago, Jesse said: Firstly, could someone confirm that my figure is right regarding my current usable battery potential of 2.4kWh? Yes. 1 hour ago, Jesse said: Secondly, what size the equivalent Li-Ion battery would need to be to double that usable storage capacity [assuming 80% DOD=6kWh?]? Yes. 1 hour ago, Jesse said: Thirdly, what can I do with the old AGM batteries [put in a switch so that I could use them instead of my generator as a backup]? You can't connect them to AC-in, I hope that's obvious. You could use fuses or breakers to wire the batteries in parallel, never actually having the batteries in parallel (though that might not be completely crazy). Only swap between batteries with no load. 1 hour ago, Jesse said: And finally, do I need anything other than the actual Li-Ion battery with my configuration, You can get away without extra monitoring etc. It's not ideal, but it can be made to work.
September 22, 20196 yr Author Thanks Coulomb Yes, not the AC in :-). I currently have a 100A fuse between my batteries and the inverter, no isolator [see attached]. Can I use this for 6kWh of Li-Ions? Regarding the monitoring, if it's only monitoring, as long as it works I'm ok with knowing less, but would it impact the performance or longevity of the system?
September 23, 20196 yr 11 hours ago, Jesse said: Can I use this for 6kWh of Li-Ions? Yes. You could perhaps have another 100 A fuse to your old lead acid battery, and only have one fuse active at once. 11 hours ago, Jesse said: Regarding the monitoring, if it's only monitoring, as long as it works I'm ok with knowing less, but would it impact the performance or longevity of the system? If you're the type that doesn't want to fiddle with it, then no. You could argue that by not having the monitoring, you won't have the opportunity for some sort of intervention that would have extended the life of the system.
September 23, 20196 yr Author Got it! Again, thanks so very much for your help 🙂 Edited September 23, 20196 yr by Jesse
October 14, 20196 yr Hello,. Please can you recommend the best settings for the setup that I have listed below. Axpert 3kva inverter/charger (FCS-3K-VP-3000W) 6 x 335W solar panels in parallel (CS6U-335P) 4 x 12V gel batteries (Narada 200ah) My preference in Program 01 is Uti, but my goal is to use solar energy to power my loads and charge batteries during the day, then use the batteries overnight. Basically, I want to go off grid for everything that's connected to the inverter. I thank you in advance for any help that you provide.
October 14, 20196 yr 40 minutes ago, Centurionsolar said: HI Gerrie, Have a look at www.centurionsolar.co.za, we sell a product that will monitor your inverter, including all battery levels, consumption, power production, etc and then sends all that data to our cloud portal, where you can use either Android or IOS apps to monitor everything directly from your phone. You can even log in remotely to your inverter to make changes to it, should you have left the house early and it suddenly becomes a bad day and you need to charge through eskom for instance. All can be done directly from your phone ;). Ps, just make sure that your inverter is also programmed by Watchpower and not something else, as some of the clones have an encrypted protocol and then nothing will work... Hope this helps, please don't hesitate to give us a shout, should you require any further assistance! Kind Regards I don't mean to be funny but how does this help answer the question?
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