How I understand is that it is an .exe file that you need to run while the inverter is connected to your laptop/pc.

I also understand that if you load the wrong firmware you will change your inverter into a brick. (It will not work any further and you would not be able to revert back to previous firmware) (PC card to be replaced)

I'm busy with Mustek that is one of the importers of the Axpert inverters and they (Mustek) actually brand it as Mecer.

It might be good if you also jump on the wagon and contact Trevor at Mustek to follow up on Firmware update.

Will keep you updated when I hear any news from Mustek.

Just now, Jaco Venter said:

How I understand is that it is an .exe file that you need to run while the inverter is connected to your laptop/pc.

I also understand that if you load the wrong firmware you will change your inverter into a brick. (It will not work any further and you would not be able to revert back to previous firmware) (PC card to be replaced)

I'm busy with Mustek that is one of the importers of the Axpert inverters and they (Mustek) actually brand it as Mecer.

It might be good if you also jump on the wagon and contact Trevor at Mustek to follow up on Firmware update.

Will keep you updated when I hear any news from Mustek.

Thanks for the info.

This is actually out of my comfort zone. I will definitely raise the issue from my side but will wait till there is official news from the supplier.

Its basically now a waiting game.

2 hours ago, Jaco Venter said:

I also understand that if you load the wrong firmware you will change your inverter into a brick.

As long as you update with the firmware that is correct for your machine, the chances of bricking the machine are quite low.

The King is one of the new models with a proper USB port, I think you can update firmware by copying a magic file to a USB stick and press the correct buttons. Or you could probably also do it the old way, running a reflash tool from a Windows machine and using the appropriate serial cable and USB to serial adapter.

Edited June 3, 20197 yr by Coulomb
Trivial rewording

Im also experiencing the same PV freeze issues with my 2019 Voltex supplied Axpert 5000kVA/5000W. Any feedback received from the suppliers yet?

8 minutes ago, DarkFlash said:

Im also experiencing the same PV freeze issues with my 2019 Voltex supplied Axpert 5000kVA/5000W. Any feedback received from the suppliers yet?

Hi @DarkFlashI'm still busy with the supplier and with other experts.

What you can try in the meantime is to drop your Bulk discharge Volts (Setting 26)  to 52.5V (mine was 53.5) and your Float charging Voltage (Setting 27) to 50.7V (mine was 51)

The newest firmware (71.80) might be available soon.

Be aware not to load any firmware on your machine as it might turn the inverter into a brick as it will be impossible to re-load any other firmware again.

Hope it is better after these changes as today was the first day that my inverter did not freeze.

 

I will continue to follow the messages here.  My Mecer was changed by the installer to a King Inverter. 

Dont want to jinx it but so far so good. 

Greetings

1 minute ago, SnoopySniper said:

I will continue to follow the messages here.  My Mecer was changed by the installer to a King Inverter. 

Dont want to jinx it but so far so good. 

Greetings

Do you know what firmware your new inverter is running on? 

Good to see that it is 71.70 and not 71.50.

Now I’m more convinced that the updated firmware will do the trick.

Do you still experiencing any PV dips due to sudden load changes?

Hi Guys

Sad news. The new King inverter after working perfectly for a week today went into a PV at 12 o’clock. Sadly Im on holiday and have not manage to reset it remotely as I did with the Doesnt matter if i change bulk or other voltage panels show 125v but no watts to charge the batteries.

Im away for two weeks so needless to say the frustration level is through the roof. 

I cannot understand that this problem exist and the suppliers cannot get it resolved. 

Cheers guys. Just had to vent. 

Albert

Hi @SnoopySniper hopefully it will be reset the moment the PV input goes to Zero at sunset.

Your system will run fine tomorrow again until the next freeze.

Enjoy the break!!!

Greetings from a very dark Zim! 

Has anyone thought about / tried updating the SCC with the earlier software 4.10 to see if it resolves the PV dropping out bug - which is really annoying! Ive updated the main CPU to 72.20e with no change in the bahaviour of the PV

Greetings from a very dark Zim!

Has anyone tried / thought about updating (downdating!) the SCC to 4.10 (from 4.12) to try resolve the PV dropping out issue? I have updated the main cpu to 72.20e from 72.30 with no change in PV behaviour...With large loads the PV continuosly drops in and out

27 minutes ago, Gary said:

thought about updating (downdating!) the SCC to 4.10 (from 4.12)

You'd have to be desperate. There could be big differences between 4.10 and 4.12 (granted, the small change in version number suggests otherwise), and you have no way of restoring 4.12 if it doesn't work.

I suggest waiting a little longer. I know it must be frustrating.

Thanks Coulomb - yes very frustrating!

BTW your work on patched firmware is excellent - and the aussieview brilliant

Hi Coulomb

Things are pretty dire here so I'm getting desperate!

Just to put you in the picture we are on a severe load shedding schedule here with no end in sight certainly for the foreseeable future - utility is mostly off (from 05.00 to 22.00 as a minimum). There are also continuous faults appearing in the utility grid one of which I'm experiencing now so we only had 2hrs of utility last night and my batteries are at 60% at 11.00. Trying to charge them up for tonight is a nightmare with the continuous tripping of the SCC when a little load comes in or out (as a matter of interest with ref. to previous question asked there are 2 clicks each time....)

I put in this 5KVa (pf1.0) because my previous 5KVa (pf0.80) died yesterday with an error 09 which won't go away (previously over the last couple of months when this came up I could reset it by rebooting the inverter) - it was about 8 years old and has worked hard in its life so I have no grudges against it. I have 200AHrs of Lithium which if I get 4 to 5 hours of utility a night and with the solar feed in is adequate for my needs.

A few questions if you don't mind...And I am far from an expert so please forgive what might be considered stupid questions.

I have the old inverter in which I assume the SCC is OK (3kW SCC) - can I swap this out into the new unit - are they compatible? Any ideas

The new SCC is the 4kW 80A unit with the 04.12 software. Having flashed the new 72.20e firmware into the inverter with no change in behaviour of the SCC I can only assume the fault / glitch lies within the SCC firmware 04.12. If swapping SCC's is not an option (from the new 4kW to the old 3kW) what are the chances that downgrading the SCC firmware to 04.10 will work as a guess? Whats the worst that can happen, brick the SCC? In the future if it is bricked what do you think the chances of flashing the new version software in are?

Any ideas you have would be greatly appreciated.

 

4 hours ago, Gary said:

Any ideas you have would be greatly appreciated.

How about an external solar charger? Seems to me a quick and not-too-expensive solution, although I assume at present finding stock in your country isn't the easiest thing either.

5 hours ago, Gary said:

 

Any ideas you have would be greatly appreciated.

 

My suggestion @Gary...

Put the spare 3kw in and split your PV if the 3kv can't handle the full PV array.  Maybe the reduction in PV will help with the PV tripping on the 5kv.

Charge the battery bank with both but leave the 5kw to manage the loads.

The 2 inverters will work fine off the one bank.

Good luck - tough times.

 

 

Thanks guys

Have considered external charge controller but as you said finding stuff here not so easy at mo.

I quite like the idea of using the old inverter to charge and splitting the pv tho  I need to check if with an error 09 the old inverter will still charge.....

7 hours ago, Gary said:

I have the old inverter in which I assume the SCC is OK (3kW SCC) - can I swap this out into the new unit - are they compatible? Any ideas

Actually, I think that this is worth a try. Especially now that you have "updated" to 72.20e. It handles 60 A (3 kW) and 80 A (4 kW) SCCs carefully. Quite possibly better than the factory firmware handles it, though that might be hubris on my part. That would also be an indication that firmware 4.12 is at fault. It's possible that one of the cables will have to be extended to reach, but if you can successfully transplant the SCC, you should be able to sort that out. I note that you may have to swap the SCC inductors as well as the SCC printed circuit board. It may be awkward to get it to fit physically. It might be worth setting it up outside the box in a very temporary manner, just to find out if it works at all. If it looks hopeful, take the old SCC out completely and tidy up.

7 hours ago, Gary said:

The new SCC is the 4kW 80A unit with the 04.12 software. Having flashed the new 72.20e firmware into the inverter with no change in behaviour of the SCC I can only assume the fault / glitch lies within the SCC firmware 04.12. If swapping SCC's is not an option (from the new 4kW to the old 3kW) what are the chances that downgrading the SCC firmware to 04.10 will work as a guess? Whats the worst that can happen, brick the SCC?

Yes, I believe so. Sorry, I had forgotten that this issue is affecting Axperts other than the King; my attention lately has been on the Kings (squeaky wheels and all that 😉). It's impossible to know whether 4.10 will work in hardware designed for 4.12. My feeling is that there is about an 80% chance it will just work.

Quote

In the future if it is bricked what do you think the chances of flashing the new version software in are?

Very low to zero. The only option, if it does get bricked, as far as I know, is to replace the whole SCC. It's possible you can purchase that from Voltronic Power via your reseller.

So my suggestion is: try the 3 kW (60 A) SCC first; at least it might get you consistent charging, albeit with only 75% of the maximum power. It is possible that Voltronic will recognise the problem, and come up with a new SCC firmware version to fix it. That won't help you if your SCC is bricked. If the 3 kW SCC works, we'll know that the problem is with the late model SCCs, and that may help others eventually. Not many others will have a spare 3 kW SCC lying around of course, but it might help to piece together what is happening.

 

7 hours ago, Gary said:

Just to put you in the picture we are on a severe load shedding schedule

So how does this affect people day to day? If you work in a factory, it would seem that you'd be unable to work, and have no income. Even if you're on a farm, the shops won't be able to sell what you produce, unless they have solar. Just briefly, for my curiosity.

Eish Coulomb thanks for all your input I'll have a go at swapping out the SCC tomorrow and let you know how that goes - I only have 3kW of panels so the old SCC is perfectly adequate for my needs.

Affect people day to day - pretty radically. I hear some factories (the few we have left) are getting their staff to go in at 22.00hrs until 05.00hrs when utility is available - not a lot of fun. We have huge unemployment here and getting worse. Symptom of a failed economy / bad governance. Even the farms are getting load shed so I guess their production is down since they cant irrigate...

 

50 minutes ago, Gary said:

I need to check if with an error 09 the old inverter will still charge.....

I think it would work. The manual says "PV energy and utility can charge batteries". Well, utility charging definitely won't work with fault code 09 active. But even in fault mode, the main DSP should still be talking to the SCC, so that PV charging should still continue. You might need some bluetack or bubblegum to shut up the beeper 😮

So that might be easier than swapping out the SCC. You will have twice the idle power drain, but I think that's a way down on your priority list just now. As @Mark suggests, it's possible that the larger inverter, with lower panel power attached, might behave better. Even if it doesn't, any extra PV power it produces would be welcome. Looking at it another way, if it does dip and/or freeze, you've only lost perhaps a quarter of your panel power, and it's unlikely the 3 kW machine could have used that panel power anyway. On a rainy day, if things are desperate, you might consider switching all the panel power to the smaller inverter, so none of the meagre power is dipped / frozen.

Hallo @Coulomb

I retired from the fight with my King and got rid of it.

I bought a Microcare system and up to now, I'm pleased with the new system.

One of my friends still planning to replace his 2018 King with a new version with updated firmware but is eagerly waiting for a solution to the PV problem.

It sounds like you are onto something with the SCC.

My King behaved itself over weekends when the load was much lower. I also found that during peak PV periods the dips were less than early mornings and late afternoons. Not to sure how this relate to the PV input issue as the PV is at max during mid day. (I ran for 3 low load days without a freeze and then it froze twice on one day)

I will keep on following the progress and should my friend decide to buy the next King, I will surely be helping (or try helping) him.

I did some tests in the beginning including:

1) Reducing the Strings from 5 to 2 (Still dipped)

2) Connected 2 panels per string from 3 panels (Still dipped)

Hope you guys find a solution quick as the support from Voltronics and their suppliers are none existent.

 

 

Thanks Jaco

I have experience with the Microcare and do like them a lot however I opted some 8 years back to "upgrade" to the axpert and have really enjoyed my old 5kva/4kW version which performed flawlessly until I changed from lead acid to lithium about 3 months ago - then the unexplained tripping started when a largish load came on even though still below the inverter maximum watts.  My unit has worked VERY hard during its life so I am of the conclusion that it was at the end of its life. There are a group of us here using the axperts or variants so we are in close comms with whats going on with each other. All the "old" although most fairly new 5kva/4kW units have exhibited trip problems with the move from lead acid to lithium. I was forced to upgrade to the 5KVa/5kW pf1.0 unit as that's all that's available here for the moment and with an inverter down and no utility there was simply no choice - victron is just too overpriced here at around 3 times the price just for the inverter.

I am from an irrigation background with extensive experience in both Eldar Shany and Netafim Priva units both in terms of irrigation and climate control so I have some experience with troubleshooting why things do what they do - and don't! And I don't like things that don't work correctly - I will beat this or change trying, I simply cannot accept a half working piece of equipment. I have greatly enjoyed using Coloumbs patched firmware on my old 5kva/4kW unit which made an immense difference in how my system dealt with lead acid in the past.

Over the next day or two time allowing I will be changing the SCC (if it can be done) from my old 5Kva/4kW unit (3kW SCC)  into the new 5Kva/5kW unit (4kW SCC). If this works then I will swap the 4kW SCC back into the new inverter and "downdate" the U2 SCC from 4.12 to 4.10 - if this works then great - if it bricks the SCC then I have lost nothing since the 3kW SCC will work. In any case hopefully it gives others a little more insight as to where the problems lie within this new inverter.

Other than that things are very difficult here at the moment and money is very scarce. I paid USD 1050 for my new Voltex MKS 5KVA pf1.0 - a Victron MPPT charge controller is USD 650 here - more than half the cost of the inverter! Crazy so I don't like that option at the moment.

Gary