September 11, 20196 yr Author So tried the oven on Monday, starting just before 4pm, base load was around 400-500w, then the oven started spiking, seems like 1250 and then 2500 very quickly up and down, it started chilling after 30 minutes. Will perhaps only use it over weekends when we make some crispy bacon and so forth and avoid the late afternoons :
September 11, 20196 yr 1 hour ago, PaBz0r said: ... starting just before 4pm ... Ja, I saw that too. So i set the system to Keep Batteries Charge after 12pm ... to keep them ready for evening use i.e. that the large "users" don't pull the bank down below my min SOC. Edited September 11, 20196 yr by Guest
September 12, 20196 yr Author 14 hours ago, The Terrible Triplett said: Ja, I saw that too. So i set the system to Keep Batteries Charge after 12pm ... to keep them ready for evening use i.e. that the large "users" don't pull the bank down below my min SOC. I ended up on 49% the next morning, so not too bad. I can get away with it, not sure if it is good for the batteries, so maybe looking at that window to keep them charged is a good idea
September 12, 20196 yr 1 hour ago, PaBz0r said: I can get away with it, not sure if it is good for the batteries, You can safely go down to 20% so there is nothing wrong ending up on 49%.
September 12, 20196 yr 1 hour ago, PaBz0r said: ... 49% ... On lead acid it is a small issue yes - you are now one cycle less. 🤣 LFP banks not at all - dang, I would go for 80% DOD, not just 49%.
September 12, 20196 yr Author 37 minutes ago, Jaco de Jongh said: You can safely go down to 20% so there is nothing wrong ending up on 49%. I know.. but I also want to get past the 10 years with some good capacity left I am more worried about only having 2 batteries, with 74A discharge and trying to pull them on the limit when the PV has faded. 36 minutes ago, The Terrible Triplett said: On lead acid it is a small issue yes - you are now one cycle less. 🤣 LFP banks not at all - dang, I would go for 80% DOD, not just 49%. Just trying to nurse them.. DOD a bit less, capacity in the long run a bit more. I have set them to 40% min SOC, but I have only passed that twice with the heater running one or two nights in the babies room I easily get through the night, with all loads on the battery, so it was more of a precaution if the next day is cloudy and we perhaps have a power failure with my min SOC setting:
September 12, 20196 yr 31 minutes ago, PaBz0r said: Just trying to nurse them.. Nursing lithiums that can take >6000 cycles to 80% DOD ... 6000 / 365 = 16.4 years. Now ask yourself: What last 16.4 years with no issues ... OTHER than a 1999 Isuzu Frontier 2.8 DT? No, not battery banks!!! 😋 USE. IT. Caveat: Unless we don't trust the marketing claims. Me, if I had a lithium bank, I would do the sums and get my ROI ASAP back by using it and anything from that point onwards is a bonus. If I get 10 years, it would impress me. 25 minutes ago, PaBz0r said: I easily get through the night, with all loads on the battery, so it was more of a precaution if the next day is cloudy and we perhaps have a power failure with my min SOC setting: This is what I do:12am ESS is set to: 1) Optimized. 2) Inverter is set to 500w Idea is to shave off the "sleeping loads" between 12 am to as late in the morning as possible or till solar takes over without going below a 20% DOD - being lead acid bank. 9am inverter is set back to max power.12pm ESS is set to Keep Batterie charged again till 12pm. Rinse repeat. When I add the AGM's, I want to shave off 500w from 8pm - 8am every day ... T&C apply. CoCT should NEVER have asked me to register my panels. Edited September 12, 20196 yr by Guest
September 12, 20196 yr Author 21 minutes ago, The Terrible Triplett said: Nursing lithiums that can take >6000 cycles to 80% DOD ... 6000 / 365 = 16.4 years. Now ask yourself: What last 16.4 years with no issues ... OTHER than a 1999 Isuzu Frontier 2.8 DT? No, not battery banks!!! 😋 USE. IT. Caveat: Unless we don't trust the marketing claims. Me, if I had a lithium bank, I would do the sums and get my ROI ASAP back by using it and anything from that point onwards is a bonus. If I get 10 years, it would impress me. Agg I am a nice guy.. The 10 years is the thing for me, I don't want to get in the situation where by year 6 I have reached a point where the warranty still says it is acceptable to have X amount of fade and I can't get through the night. If I can keep the capacity close to what I need for my night time loads for 10 years I should be in the green or close to it. I will like to see when the number of cycles of the lithium test center have gotten close to 10 years to get into the calculations. 14 minutes ago, The Terrible Triplett said: This is what I do:12am ESS is set to: 1) Optimized. 2) Inverter is set to 500w Idea is to shave off the "sleeping loads" between 12 am to as late in the morning as possible or till solar takes over without going below a 20% DOD - being lead acid bank. 9am inverter is set back to max power.12pm ESS is set to Keep Batterie charged again till 12pm. Rinse repeat. When I add the AGM's, I want to shave off 500w from 8pm - 8am every day ... T&C apply. CoCT should NEVEr have asked me to register my panels. I have oversized a bit, but a growing family will need more oomph one day:
September 12, 20196 yr 3 minutes ago, PaBz0r said: I have oversized a bit, but a growing family will need more oomph one day: I don't call this oversizing! 10% ... well done. Give that man a Bells! Me, I'm still arguing to get below 44% ... for I have to limit the charge amps due to only a 450ah bank. 🙂 Will see what happens if I open the tappets, the cupboards and the front door and go for the full 100amps on 950ah bank. Maybe I will get to 10% ... can only hope. 10 minutes ago, PaBz0r said: I will like to see when the number of cycles of the lithium test center have gotten close to 10 years to get into the calculations. Makes two of us. I want to see if my original T105RE's can make 10 years - 4000 cycles.
September 12, 20196 yr 24 minutes ago, The Terrible Triplett said: USE. IT. Agreed. There is also a natural degradation that takes place in any battery as plastics harden and chemicals age etc etc. It's rather pointless to have a 20 year old battery that has hardly done any work. Lead acids are more prone to this problem. A bank that is kept at float permanently will still need replacement after a decade or so (sometimes only 5 years, if you use cheaper batteries). But I really really doubt that LFPs are immune to this, I think their time span is just much longer. That is another reason I don't believe the 1-million-cycles claim of those "super capacitor" batteries. Even if that is true, which is debatable, that battery is half-likely to die of something else before it gets to 10 000 cycles 🙂
October 17, 20196 yr Author Ok the re-install is happening tomorrow. - Replace current overheating MP-II - Surface mount Hager VS118TJ over existing Eskom DB. - Replace elcheapo 2X12 DB with Hager VS2118TJ - Redo all the trunking - Redo Inverter to DC combiner cable, was not as per the manual, 35mm with 70mm. - Fit Victron Wireboxes to MPPTs - Fit Pylon Brackets Touch wood for no smoke. Edited October 17, 20196 yr by PaBz0r
October 17, 20196 yr Have you considered fitting a BMV-712 to monitor the state of your batteries? I am not sure how accurately the Pylons measure the battery SOC - I had to add one to my system and would ideally have planned this from the start. I'd rather do the trunking etc. once 😉
October 17, 20196 yr 7 minutes ago, NigelL said: Have you considered fitting a BMV-712 to monitor the state of your batteries? I am not sure how accurately the Pylons measure the battery SOC - I had to add one to my system and would ideally have planned this from the start. I'd rather do the trunking etc. once 😉 An interesting phenomenon I have seen with all the Pylon installs I have looked at, is that during charging the reported SOC (the value the battery supplies over the CAN bus) seems to level off at about 88% for a while and then suddenly jump to 100%. This is an example of the last few days from one system.
October 17, 20196 yr Author 1 hour ago, NigelL said: Have you considered fitting a BMV-712 to monitor the state of your batteries? I am not sure how accurately the Pylons measure the battery SOC - I had to add one to my system and would ideally have planned this from the start. I'd rather do the trunking etc. once 😉 No I haven't eish How did your system react prior to having it? I have had some strange SOC where I expected to have more capacity left. 1 hour ago, NigelL said: Have you considered fitting a BMV-712 to monitor the state of your batteries? I am not sure how accurately the Pylons measure the battery SOC - I had to add one to my system and would ideally have planned this from the start. I'd rather do the trunking etc. once 😉 https://community.victronenergy.com/questions/30998/pylontech-and-bmv-712.html 1 hour ago, Stanley said: An interesting phenomenon I have seen with all the Pylon installs I have looked at, is that during charging the reported SOC (the value the battery supplies over the CAN bus) seems to level off at about 88% for a while and then suddenly jump to 100%. This is an example of the last few days from one system. Mine also seems to do it now and then, not every day.
October 17, 20196 yr 1 hour ago, PaBz0r said: Replace current overheating MP-II Another one? That is sad. A lot of them failing lately. Dont know what to make of this. This is the 5th one in 2 months that I Know of and I just received two that has to be installed for a International Client 😣😠
October 17, 20196 yr Author 17 minutes ago, Jaco de Jongh said: Another one? That is sad. A lot of them failing lately. Dont know what to make of this. This is the 5th one in 2 months that I Know of and I just received two that has to be installed for a International Client 😣😠 Any idea what went wrong with the others? The one I have/had was already the latest HW Rev 3> at that stage, not sure if others have been introduced subsequently which might resolve other issues not generally known yet. Really a pitty from my point of view, as it was working fine for 3 months and doing much more than expected. One plus point is that I get to redo my install, the way I want it with all the knowledge gathered from the Forum, which is a big plus. Edited October 17, 20196 yr by PaBz0r
October 17, 20196 yr 57 minutes ago, PaBz0r said: No I haven't eish How did your system react prior to having it? I have had some strange SOC where I expected to have more capacity left. See my post here https://powerforum.co.za/topic/2111-blue-nova/page/2/?tab=comments#comment-58949 Before I installed the BMV-712 I had no real idea of the real state of charge, so had to frequently check the battery voltage and manually enable the charger (i.e. lots of time and effort). Since installing the BMV, one can rely on the SOC reading, so ESS can work effectively. There is no need to micro-manage anything anymore 🙂
October 17, 20196 yr Author 5 minutes ago, NigelL said: See my post here https://powerforum.co.za/topic/2111-blue-nova/page/2/?tab=comments#comment-58949 Before I installed the BMV-712 I had no real idea of the real state of charge, so had to frequently check the battery voltage and manually enable the charger (i.e. lots of time and effort). Since installing the BMV, one can rely on the SOC reading, so ESS can work effectively. There is no need to micro-manage anything anymore 🙂 That is extreme! No I don't have that issue with the Pylons, but now I know what to look out for. Thanks.
October 17, 20196 yr 43 minutes ago, Jaco de Jongh said: Another one? That is sad. A lot of them failing lately They don't really overheat (they just think so, and raise an alarm). It's also not really a failure, it's a minor manufacturing issue that can be repaired. Victron knows about the issue and will take care of you.
October 17, 20196 yr 1 hour ago, Stanley said: seems to level off at about 88% for a while and then suddenly jump to 100%. SOC is always a game of estimating. The Pylontech BMS also has a reset at the top, just like the BMV. Unlike a lead acid, if the voltage rise above 3.45V per cell... you know the tank is full. None of this "absorb for a few hours more" nonsense 🙂
October 17, 20196 yr Is there not a batch of these that is known, and can be fixed pre-emptively @plonkster? If they know of the issue it would be great to fix rather than to wait for it to happen.
October 17, 20196 yr 4 minutes ago, admiral said: Is there not a batch of these that is known, and can be fixed pre-emptively @plonkster? If they know of the issue it would be great to fix rather than to wait for it to happen. Oh... that is precisely what they did! When the problem was discovered the affected units were repaired before they were shipped. Of course not all of them can always be traced, especially once they enter retail and sit in someone's warehouse...
October 17, 20196 yr Ok - but, I know what my serial number is, so could I not check if my unit is in the affected range @plonkster
October 17, 20196 yr Just now, admiral said: Ok - but, I know what my serial number is, so could I not check if my unit is in the affected range @plonkster Unfortunately I don't quite know the details, but unless your unit actually gives you problems I would not be worried.
October 17, 20196 yr 2 hours ago, plonkster said: They don't really overheat (they just think so, and raise an alarm). It's also not really a failure, And I though the inverter de-rates itself when it monitors excessive heat..
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