Hi all,

 

New to the forum and hope someone can help me?

Recently installed a second hand Mecer Axpert SOL-I-AX-3M24 with 2x Pylontech UP2500 batteries with 1x 550Watt panel.

All seems to be working fine, but my inverter seems to only run loads using power from the batteries (Even at peak times where i am getting 400W+ from my panel, and household usage at 250W+-). Monitoring with MultiSIBControl 17.

I've seen on the Australian forums they have had a few Mecer Axpert models that they have updated the firmware which unlocked a few settings and optimized the MPPT PV input.

 

Any idea where I can get the latest firmware for the above model? Or perhaps a firmware that will work with this unit. Mustek just don't reply to email 🙂

21 minutes ago, Richwm94 said:

Hi all,

 

New to the forum and hope someone can help me?

Recently installed a second hand Mecer Axpert SOL-I-AX-3M24 with 2x Pylontech UP2500 batteries with 1x 550Watt panel.

All seems to be working fine, but my inverter seems to only run loads using power from the batteries (Even at peak times where i am getting 400W+ from my panel, and household usage at 250W+-). Monitoring with MultiSIBControl 17.

I've seen on the Australian forums they have had a few Mecer Axpert models that they have updated the firmware which unlocked a few settings and optimized the MPPT PV input.

 

Any idea where I can get the latest firmware for the above model? Or perhaps a firmware that will work with this unit. Mustek just don't reply to email 🙂

Start by selecting UPS under the settings. Panel can stay connected. With grid on see if loads are powered from grid. Post a pic of the inverter display when doing this test. 

This is a step by step approach. 

Hi Scorp007.

Thank you for the reply

 

Okay sure I will try it. What changes does the UPS option make over the Appliance option?

My goal is to balance the load between battery and PV input (Primarily to use the PV input for the loads when PV is sufficient).

Grid supplies fine when setting is on Utility, then going to SOL/SBU option the grid usage goes to 0W at least.

 

Starting to think what I want to achieve is not possible with this inverter?

13 minutes ago, Richwm94 said:

Hi Scorp007.

Thank you for the reply

 

Okay sure I will try it. What changes does the UPS option make over the Appliance option?

My goal is to balance the load between battery and PV input (Primarily to use the PV input for the loads when PV is sufficient).

Grid supplies fine when setting is on Utility, then going to SOL/SBU option the grid usage goes to 0W at least.

 

Starting to think what I want to achieve is not possible with this inverter?

The UPS means a faster change over from utility to grid within a closer to 220V range on the up and down. 

Now that we know from grid the UPS side works fine we can look at other settings and info. 

When you press the UP button on display do you see the PV voltage and amps and Watts going to the battery? 

What is the battery volts before it jumps from the left side to the right side? 

6 hours ago, Richwm94 said:

All seems to be working fine, but my inverter seems to only run loads using power from the batteries (Even at peak times where i am getting 400W+ from my panel, and household usage at 250W+-).

If you are getting 400 W from the panels, then that has to be going to the "battery bus". It will either charge the battery, or partially or completely support the loads. 

In the above scenario, it should indeed be charging the battery at over 100 W. Power for the load will be coming from the panels. If there is say 120 W going into the battery, 30 W overhead, and 400 W coming in, then 250 W has to be going to the loads.

Sorry, I don't have time right now to hunt for the latest non-plus 24 V firmware.

Edit: Your model will power the loads either completely from utility (when in "bypass mode"), or completely from the battery and/or solar. There is no blending of utility and battery or panel power.

Edited November 9, 20232 yr by Coulomb

Hi Coulumb,

 

Thank you for the info and the reply.

 

The scenario you explained is also what I taught it would be, but for some reason it has a constant draw from the batteries even when the PV input is sufficient.

Understood on the Blending part, that only happens with the more upmarket brands like SunSynk/Deye, Victron.

But would like my inverter to do the blending part on the DC Input to reduce on the AC input overall (I have noticed AC/Grid draw is 0W at least, but my batteries are depleted after 2 days), and on the monitoring software I saw the option to change the PV condition for "Charging + Loads" but it defaults back to charging only.

Think that is where the Firmware update will assist in getting that feature enabled, and also to enable to LITH option on the battery settings?

29 minutes ago, Richwm94 said:

Hi Coulumb,

 

Thank you for the info and the reply.

 

The scenario you explained is also what I taught it would be, but for some reason it has a constant draw from the batteries even when the PV input is sufficient.

Understood on the Blending part, that only happens with the more upmarket brands like SunSynk/Deye, Victron.

But would like my inverter to do the blending part on the DC Input to reduce on the AC input overall (I have noticed AC/Grid draw is 0W at least, but my batteries are depleted after 2 days), and on the monitoring software I saw the option to change the PV condition for "Charging + Loads" but it defaults back to charging only.

Think that is where the Firmware update will assist in getting that feature enabled, and also to enable to LITH option on the battery settings?

May be I'm missing something but like @Coulomb indicated if PV is 400W and the load is 250W then 150W minus the inverter self use of say 30W leaves 120W to go to the battery. 

It does seem normal for the batteries to only last 2 days if no grid is used as indicated. See below. 

Loads etc over 24hrs. 24x250W=6000Wh

550W panel can at least provide 2200-2500Wh per day.

Inverter self use around 30x24=720Wh per day. 

This gives 6000+720=6720Wh loading. 

6720-2200Wh from PV leaves 4520Wh to be provided per day from batteries if no grid is used. 

Does this seem about  right? 

 

 

On 2023/11/09 at 4:08 PM, Richwm94 said:

Any idea where I can get the latest firmware for the above model?

This is an unusual model: 3 kVA, PF1, and not a plus (it has the weak 600 W solar charger). I can't find a single firmware that matches these criteria.

What is your present main (U1) firmware version? (I ask that question so frequently I think I'll have to put it in my signature).

Hi All,

 

Apologies for the delay in response. Firmware no longer required. Inverter decided to 'Off' it self when AC power returned. 

Time for a different model in the 24 DC range. Any recommendations? So far the Axpert VMIII 3KVA/3000W with the 4000W MPPT is looking rather good?

2 hours ago, Richwm94 said:

the Axpert VMIII 3KVA/3000W with the 4000W MPPT is looking rather good?

Just keep in mind that the VM series can't be paralleled, and they tend to be noisy, with fans that run at 100% or off.

Thank you all for the advise. Think the old one was on its way out anyway, think it just needed Eskom's surge to push it over the edge.

 

Will check again what the FW version is on the new one and see if there is any updates. But think 3x Additional 550W panels will also make a major difference now with the increased MPPT capacity 😄 

On 2023/11/09 at 2:55 PM, Coulomb said:

Sorry, I don't have time right now to hunt for the latest non-plus 24 V firmware

@Coulomb this implies you have "plus" firmware...  Anything for VM-3000?

On 2023/11/15 at 4:48 AM, jbroo said:

Anything for VM-3000?

I'm pretty sure that most if not all VM series use the same firmware for the 5000 and 3000 W models, selecting the power level at power-on by the voltage on a pin.

[ Edit: It turns out that this model is an exception; see next 2 posts below. ]

If you tell me your existing U1 firmware version, I can check. 

Edited November 16, 20232 yr by Coulomb

13 hours ago, Coulomb said:

If you tell me your existing U1 firmware version, I can check. 

I have before, and the answer was "no", but perhaps you have accumulated more since then 🤞

Model: VM-3000-24 Plus (MPPT)
Serial: 92832212103478
VERFW:00009.56
VERFW2:00003.39

Edited November 15, 20232 yr by jbroo

12 hours ago, jbroo said:

VERFW:00009.56

I do have one 09.xx firmware, version 09.24, but it's for an Aerox model. They have slightly different power ratings. I note that this is a Freescale firmware, unlike most VM models, which usually have a TI '28062 processor. This 09.24 firmware is for 1200 W (12V), 2200 W, and 3200 W models. So it turns out that you can't use any 5 kVA firmware for this model, sorry.