4Gert Posted May 7, 2019 Share Posted May 7, 2019 Does anyone know if the new Conlog Tshwane pre-paid meters allow feedback to the grid? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 7, 2019 Share Posted May 7, 2019 Don't know anything about Conlog but what I do know, pre-paid meters are finicky with feedback AND that if you do feed back, like my lTron, it charges me for that. You need a bi-directional meter to do it right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
___ Posted May 8, 2019 Share Posted May 8, 2019 22 hours ago, 4Gert said: Conlog The BEC23 and BEC44 meters generally trip if you feed back, but it's also a configurable feature and can be turned off. These meters are over a decade old by now, so I am sure by now there are newer models that may or may not trip. So sorry... can't say. See if you can find the manual, it's usually mentioned in there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mistral Posted May 8, 2019 Share Posted May 8, 2019 Following this thread... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4Gert Posted May 14, 2019 Author Share Posted May 14, 2019 The results are in. Tshwane installed my meter, a BEC42 and it does not allow feedback to the grid. It has a safety feature that trips the meter when it detects a reverse flow of current. Does anyone know if this feature can be switched off? And how? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 14, 2019 Share Posted May 14, 2019 "They" are NOT making it easy to go grid tied. There is something to be said for the efforts by CoCT. The PAYG meter (iTron meter) I had installed last year, at the time no talk of going grid tied, does not trip at all. Just charges me if I open the taps a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IdlePhaedrus Posted May 14, 2019 Share Posted May 14, 2019 Can't find the technical manual for that specific model. However for the BEC44 (http://www.ekhwesienergy.co.za/images/forms/product-docs/BEC44(09) Technical Manual - R00.pdf) the manual states: Quote Line / load reversal If the meter measures negative power flowing from the load to the supply, this indicates that the wiring for the line and load connection is swapped, and the meter disconnects the consumer's supply. As the meter is powered from the load side, if the disconnect device opens, the power is removed from the meter. The meter only reconnects once the cable connection is rectified. This feature is configured in production. Given the last line it is unlikely you will be able to change this. You will either need to configure your inverter to not feed back or get bi-directional meter as mentioned above. For the first option the solution will depend on the make and model of your inverter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
___ Posted May 14, 2019 Share Posted May 14, 2019 5 hours ago, 4Gert said: Does anyone know if this feature can be switched off? And how? For some Conlog meters, you can enter a special token which turns this feature off. You have to get this token from your supply authority. I'm told that you have a better chance of getting a Brachiosaurus through the eye of a needle that getting one of those. Chris Hobson 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4Gert Posted May 14, 2019 Author Share Posted May 14, 2019 7 minutes ago, plonkster said: For some Conlog meters, you can enter a special token which turns this feature off. You have to get this token from your supply authority. I'm told that you have a better chance of getting a Brachiosaurus through the eye of a needle that getting one of those. I suspected as much... I am currently trying to source a MicroCare Grid Tie Limiter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
___ Posted May 14, 2019 Share Posted May 14, 2019 4 minutes ago, 4Gert said: MicroCare Grid Tie Limiter That only works with MicroCare inverters as far as I know. If you have one of those... then ignore my comment Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wjb2103 Posted May 18, 2019 Share Posted May 18, 2019 On 2019/05/07 at 10:51 AM, 4Gert said: Does anyone know if the new Conlog Tshwane pre-paid meters allow feedback to the grid? Can confirm that the Conlog pre-paid meter installed by City of Tshwane (Model - BEC62 (9)) Trips with a grid tied system - even with zero export enabled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
___ Posted May 19, 2019 Share Posted May 19, 2019 17 hours ago, wjb2103 said: Can confirm that the Conlog pre-paid meter installed by City of Tshwane (Model - BEC62 (9)) Trips with a grid tied system - even with zero export enabled. A bit of basic research seems to suggest it is a distinct possiblity. This is the 08 model... doubt it will be much different for the others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charl_CCU Posted May 19, 2019 Share Posted May 19, 2019 Can confirm. Just had my smart meter replaced with a Conlog BEC44 and now it is tripping with my solar system. It is a lot more sensitive than the previous meter which never tripped at all even with the 25kWh/year diverted into the grid. Perhaps the Siemens smart meters didn't even have feedback protection. Phoned Conolog on Friday 4:30PM and the support guy took my meter number and said he would personally contact me with the token to disable the feedback protection as soon as he gets it from the engineering team. I'm very impressed with their service thus far. He apologized and said that they take their customer satisfaction very seriously and it sounded like he actually meant it. I was expecting him to tell me to phone Tshwane and sort it out with them since I'm not even really their customer. ___ and Coulomb 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4Gert Posted May 20, 2019 Author Share Posted May 20, 2019 9 hours ago, Charl_CCU said: said he would personally contact me with the token to disable the feedback protection as soon as he gets it from the engineering team. Please keep us updated.. I would like to have a chat to him as well... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charl_CCU Posted May 21, 2019 Share Posted May 21, 2019 18 hours ago, 4Gert said: Please keep us updated.. I would like to have a chat to him as well... I phoned for an update yesterday (Monday). It sounds like it's a small office because the support agent said he did not see the engineer come in today. He said that he is not away on training or leave so he should be back soon. Perhaps sick? If this was a gov company like Tshwane or Telkom my BS meter would be going off the charts but I'm going to give them a chance before I make a judgement. It's only been one full working day since the ticket was opened. Chris Hobson 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charl_CCU Posted May 23, 2019 Share Posted May 23, 2019 (edited) Nope. Conlog just as useless as the rest. Strung me along each day with a different story for almost a week and then yesterday afternoon after following up again they said, "Sorry we were told we are not allowed to deal with this issue and you will need to go to Tshwane and sort it out." I can't believe that he (Nevo/Nebo? - I dealt with him most days) even sweet-talked me in the beginning about how apologetic he was and how he would make sure it was taken care of. Explaining this setup to a Tshwane call center agent is going to be interesting. Do they have procedures in place to get the token? My solar installer's technician is going to remotely login sometime today and try sort it out. Apparently my inverter (SolarEdge) has a setting to take care of this. Let's hope it's true. I've got nothing to lose. @4Gert what's happening there on your side? I see you say yours was installed on the 14th. Mine was on the 15th. Who have you spoken to over there and what do they say? I got the number of 2 people in charge/involved with the meter migration. I tried to phone them multiple times on multiple days. The one, Tom (0836510388), always goes to voice mail and the other, Refilwe (0826509923), answered for the first time yesterday and told me she is busy in a meeting and that I must send her an SMS with what the issue is. I asked if I can rather phone again later and she said, "No, I will get back to you if I can do anything about it". No response. I'm going to be optimistic and give Tshwane the benefit of the doubt here seeing as I've only been actively pursuing the route of getting them to sort it out since yesterday afternoon but things aren't looking good. I sent an email with the issue I'm having to my ward councilor who then forwarded it on to about 5 different people including the 2 contacts I mentioned. I did receive a missed call yesterday from the CoT customer support number yesterday at 6PM so maybe that was from them. Mods/Admins: Feel free to remove cell numbers if that's not allowed. Edited May 23, 2019 by Charl_CCU Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 23, 2019 Share Posted May 23, 2019 1 hour ago, Charl_CCU said: I sent an email with the issue I'm having to my ward councilor who then forwarded it on to about 5 different people including the 2 contacts I mentioned. I love it!!!! Worked for us with the disconnect switch saga elsewhere on the forum. But I fear no-one is going to give you the code to sort the tripping of the Conlog. Me, after all efforts has been exhausted ensuring the inverter is not the cause, I would have gone straight to the manufacturer for assistance: https://www.conlog.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charl_CCU Posted May 23, 2019 Share Posted May 23, 2019 4 hours ago, The Terrible Triplett said: I love it!!!! Worked for us with the disconnect switch saga elsewhere on the forum. But I fear no-one is going to give you the code to sort the tripping of the Conlog. Me, after all efforts has been exhausted ensuring the inverter is not the cause, I would have gone straight to the manufacturer for assistance: https://www.conlog.com/ I thought going straight to Conlog would be the best bet as I had nothing to lose besides a 2 minute phone-call asking if it's possible. My logic behind that was that Conlog support staff are probably better clued up as they don't have to focus on non-technical stuff like account/billing/fault management like what the majority of CoT staff do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charl_CCU Posted May 28, 2019 Share Posted May 28, 2019 Tshwane is not going to help: https://powerforum.co.za/topic/3713-infinisolar-inverters-disconnecting-from-grid-with-new-smart-meters/?do=findComment&comment=55166 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
demaniak Posted June 28, 2019 Share Posted June 28, 2019 I might have gotten lucky... I have a BEC42, with recent Victron install. Currently running with grid-set point of 70W - no trips to date. I have observed (via the remote console) something like 250W (or more maybe) flowing the wrong direction (electric stove element that switched on and off) - touch wood, no trips to date. Either the duration (or the quantity) of the feed-in was not enough to trigger the alarms, or maybe by some miracle the feature was not activated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 28, 2019 Share Posted June 28, 2019 39 minutes ago, demaniak said: Either the duration (or the quantity) of the feed-in was not enough to trigger the alarms, or maybe by some miracle the feature was not activated. Or maybe the quality of the equipment? A awesome test would be to take a site that trips easily, and put a MPII in there and see if the same tripping persists. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
demaniak Posted June 28, 2019 Share Posted June 28, 2019 21 minutes ago, The Terrible Triplett said: A awesome test would be to take a site that trips easily, and put a MPII in there and see if the same tripping persists. Now that WOULD be interesting! Compare apples with apples kind of thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wjb2103 Posted September 19, 2019 Share Posted September 19, 2019 On 2019/05/23 at 10:19 AM, Charl_CCU said: Nope. Conlog just as useless as the rest. Strung me along each day with a different story for almost a week and then yesterday afternoon after following up again they said, "Sorry we were told we are not allowed to deal with this issue and you will need to go to Tshwane and sort it out." I can't believe that he (Nevo/Nebo? - I dealt with him most days) even sweet-talked me in the beginning about how apologetic he was and how he would make sure it was taken care of. Explaining this setup to a Tshwane call center agent is going to be interesting. Do they have procedures in place to get the token? My solar installer's technician is going to remotely login sometime today and try sort it out. Apparently my inverter (SolarEdge) has a setting to take care of this. Let's hope it's true. I've got nothing to lose. @4Gert what's happening there on your side? I see you say yours was installed on the 14th. Mine was on the 15th. Who have you spoken to over there and what do they say? I got the number of 2 people in charge/involved with the meter migration. I tried to phone them multiple times on multiple days. The one, Tom (0836510388), always goes to voice mail and the other, Refilwe (0826509923), answered for the first time yesterday and told me she is busy in a meeting and that I must send her an SMS with what the issue is. I asked if I can rather phone again later and she said, "No, I will get back to you if I can do anything about it". No response. I'm going to be optimistic and give Tshwane the benefit of the doubt here seeing as I've only been actively pursuing the route of getting them to sort it out since yesterday afternoon but things aren't looking good. I sent an email with the issue I'm having to my ward councilor who then forwarded it on to about 5 different people including the 2 contacts I mentioned. I did receive a missed call yesterday from the CoT customer support number yesterday at 6PM so maybe that was from them. Mods/Admins: Feel free to remove cell numbers if that's not allowed. Hi Charl Did your installer manage to sort out the tripping problem with the settings he changed on your SolarEdge inverter? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charl_CCU Posted September 21, 2019 Share Posted September 21, 2019 On 2019/09/19 at 9:30 PM, wjb2103 said: Hi Charl Did your installer manage to sort out the tripping problem with the settings he changed on your SolarEdge inverter? Yes, SolarEdge SA set it that there is a minimum draw of 200W from the grid at all times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wjb2103 Posted September 22, 2019 Share Posted September 22, 2019 On 2019/09/21 at 4:14 PM, Charl_CCU said: Yes, SolarEdge SA set it that there is a minimum draw of 200W from the grid at all times. Hi @Charl_CCU - do you have single or 3 phase inverter? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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