9 hours ago, Dex_ said:

Is the source for the axperts firmware openly available?

No, not at all. I'm able to reverse engineer the hex files from a firmware update file, with some difficulty. 

I came across this post by accident. 
Ever Since I changed my inverter to SbL from SLb the charge kicked in a couple minutes after midnight.
Since my inverter keep loosing time and it is about 5 minutes behind this can explain why it switch to charging the batteries at that time (+- 00:05). It only charge between 30 minutes up to an hour, regardless of the battery SOC.

When set in SLb it will go to grid at around 22%-25% SOC (at whatever time it happens, can be between 03:00 and 05:00 and will continue to charge until the PV produce enough watts to carry the load.

I have seen/found a manual somewhere where these inverters can be set at a certain time through the LCD menu to change the priority by the hour although my inverter do not have this function.

I see that Coulumb has mentioned the “hourly priority” above. 

I am still monitoring this and will compare with my data from the previous weeks as I am trying to minimize my grid usage as well as getting the batteries full before PV fall away in the afternoon.

I changed from SLb to SbL as we had a couple days last week with many clouds and could not get the batteries fully charged in those conditions, I hoped to have similar weather conditions on the 2nd setting to see if it will influence the batteries SOC and cycles.

I will also compare the grid use between the two settings to determine which setting will be the best for minimal grid usage.
My system never go back to grid except for the times mentioned above.

 

1 hour ago, Wilfred said:

Ever Since I changed my inverter to SbL from SLb the charge kicked in a couple minutes after midnight.
Since my inverter keep loosing time and it is about 5 minutes behind this can explain why it switch to charging the batteries at that time (+- 00:05). It only charge between 30 minutes up to an hour, regardless of the battery SOC.

Hi @Wilfred

the above is a known bug (https://powerforum.co.za/topic/3784-axpert-king-cant-stop-it-charging-from-utility/?tab=comments#comment-58281)

I met @vit couple of weeks ago and he's still waiting for a new firmware that should fix it (possibly). I will ask him to post an update once the FW will be applied.

To be honest, I don’t even mind for the system to go on-grid for an hour at midnight. My current weekly use is around 34kWh per week from 32kWh per day. I have lowered the grid charge rate from 20A per inverter to 10A per inverter and only have to decide if I will lower it further. This change have not yet reflect on my usage as I only did it like a day or two ago.

Only thing that is on-grid bypassing the inverters is the oven.
Most of our loads are during 8am to 3pm daily with much less loads over weekends.
It previously was well later than 3pm, but when you go solar, you learn to change use and usage times

I am trying to reserve 14:00 to 16:00 for battery charging time, unless you have a day like today with midday rain. Still went in with 86% SOC at 17:30. The beep will be any moment now when PV will be 0 watts, everyday between 18:15 and 18:45, not that it help a lot after 16:30 anyway.

 

 

 

@Coulomb just wondering, did you ever find an answer to this?

4 hours ago, TBohnen said:

@Coulomb just wondering, did you ever find an answer to this?

No, sorry. I don't find time to read King firmware these days.

21 minutes ago, Coulomb said:

No, sorry. I don't find time to read King firmware these days.

Ah cool, thanks. Any chance you can provide me with a dump?

Hi all

After experiencing this charging issue with my setup I contacted the local supplier/re-brander of my King 5Kva inverter about this issue and pointed them here and to the numerous other forums where people have issue with this inverter behaviour. They contacted voltronic on my behalf and they were supplied with firmware 71.92 that fixes this issue when the inverter is set to Eco mode. So far my inverter is behaving as expected. I do not have the firmware to share but I am sure if you approach your vendor they can make a plan.

9 hours ago, overdrive said:

Hi all

After experiencing this charging issue with my setup I contacted the local supplier/re-brander of my King 5Kva inverter about this issue and pointed them here and to the numerous other forums where people have issue with this inverter behaviour. They contacted voltronic on my behalf and they were supplied with firmware 71.92 that fixes this issue when the inverter is set to Eco mode. So far my inverter is behaving as expected. I do not have the firmware to share but I am sure if you approach your vendor they can make a plan.

Ignore please. New issues came up with this firmware. The inverter is now stuck on charging from utility no matter what.

Update: Inverter got re-flashed, working as expected.

When the lifepo4 battery runs down to the 30% DOD it is set at currently (due to "back to grid voltage" limitation) it does not start charging again from utility if the inverter is in eco mode. 

When I interrupt utility in this state and bring utility back when the DOD is at 10-20% the inverter charges at the preset max ac charge rate for 10 minutes every time. I can live with this. Seems like the initial firmware upgrade was wonky.

Who was your supplier?

I have just upgraded from 71.90  to 71.92 and I can confirm that 71.92 finally fixes the issue of the 2A continuous charge in line mode even when setting 16 is "UDC". I got the 71.92 files from Mustek.

12 hours ago, Calvin said:

I have just upgraded from 71.90  to 71.92 and I can confirm that 71.92 finally fixes the issue of the 2A continuous charge in line mode even when setting 16 is "UDC". I got the 71.92 files from Mustek.

can you share this file for us on 71.86 to upgrade? 

@Wilfred - may I ask what firmware versions you're on please. My King 5Kva with 2x 3.5Kw Pylontech batteries and 12x330W panels set up has the following:

U1 - 71.90

U2 - 01.21

U3 - 00.21

U4 - 01.10

I'm running on Auto mode, with SBL UCB charging source priority and experiencing something similar in that just after midnight the King seems to automatically switch to USB for output source priority (from SUB). If I change it back to SUB or SBU thereafter it stays but I need to do this manually.

@overdrive - is the 71.92 firmware upgrade running as expected, or have you noticed any new bugs?

Thanks!

On 2020/06/30 at 9:26 PM, Calvin said:

I have just upgraded from 71.90  to 71.92 and I can confirm that 71.92 finally fixes the issue of the 2A continuous charge in line mode even when setting 16 is "UDC". I got the 71.92 files from Mustek.

Will it be possible to share the latest firmware?

Thanks,

Dewald

Hi ... I've upgraded to 71.92 on the Axpert King 5Kva and the 1 hour switch from SBU (or SUB) to USB at midnight for an hour still persists. I'm running on SBL UCB for charging source priority.

15 hours ago, FrankZ said:

Hi ... I've upgraded to 71.92 on the Axpert King 5Kva and the 1 hour switch from SBU (or SUB) to USB at midnight for an hour still persists. I'm running on SBL UCB for charging source priority.

Should you not upgrade U2 to 2.40 or 2.49? I think the 71.92 specifically mentions to be used with 2.40 or later. (Not sure if this part of the issue) 

I upgraded to 71.92 using the USB cable - struggling to get the screen upgrade to 2.49 working with the RS232-USB cable - the COM port successfully opens in the screen reflash software (COM3, or COM4/ COM6 on other USB ports on Windows 7 PC) but then get a "Connect Fail" message before it actually gets to start the update. FYI, watchpower doesn't seem to work with my RS232-USB cable either - it sees the assigned COM port in the scanning but it doesn't seem to connect to the King.

I've tried uninstalling Watchpower altogether, turning off Norton antivirus and firewall in case those were blocking the port, but the same issue occurs - any suggestions to what I might try please?

 

 

21 hours ago, FrankZ said:

struggling to get the screen upgrade to 2.49 working with the RS232-USB cable

Some brands of USB to RS-232 adapter seem not to work with the reflash software or Watchpower. Since you can't get Watchpower working to the inverter either, it seems it's not the right kind.

I've posted here about how the best ones seem to have the PL2303 chip in them, but I don't know what brands and suppliers that translates to in South Africa. I think a few members have posted about a brand that works for them.

The other common problem is not exiting Watchpower properly; it then holds on to the COM port so the reflash tool can't open it. You need to exit using the system tray (not File Exit or closing the window), as per the firmware update instructions. But if you've tried uninstalling Watchpower altogether, that would presumably exit it.

Edit: here is a member's recommendation: https://powerforum.co.za/topic/4216-rct-5kva-and-lithium-battery-settings/?do=findComment&comment=67231

 

Edited July 31, 20205 yr by Coulomb

2 hours ago, Coulomb said:

Some brands of USB to RS-232 adapter seem not to work with the reflash software or Watchpower. Since you can't get Watchpower working to the inverter either, it seems it's not the right kind.

I've posted here about how the best ones seem to have the PL2303 chip in them, but I don't know what brands and suppliers that translates to in South Africa. I think a few members have posted about a brand that works for them.

The other common problem is not exiting Watchpower properly; it then holds on to the COM port so the reflash tool can't open it. You need to exit using the system tray (not File Exit or closing the window), as per the firmware update instructions. But if you've tried uninstalling Watchpower altogether, that would presumably exit it.

Edit: here is a member's recommendation: https://powerforum.co.za/topic/4216-rct-5kva-and-lithium-battery-settings/?do=findComment&comment=67231

 

 

Thanks @coulomb - yep, I did read your earlier post about the PL2303 chip - the cable I have is a Mecer cable with this chip (and I've installed the latest driver). Perhaps it's the screen that's faulty as I've tried a couple of different cables and PCs with the same issue since my last post.

Do you know if the screen and bluetooth firmware resides in the display unit or in the main inverter body? I'm hoping I can just take the screen in and get it reflashed by the supplier - they can just replace the screen in case that's what's faulty.

15 hours ago, FrankZ said:

Do you know if the screen and bluetooth firmware resides in the display unit or in the main inverter body?

I don't know for sure, but it certainly seems likely that the firmware and ARM processor (very likely the same chip) reside in the removable display.

So all of you seen to know your stuff when it comes to this inverter. 

So I have a 48v king inverter with 2 48v panels.  

My battery bank is 1x 48v bank with 4 12v 180ah battery 

My mains connect on thr system but for the life of my I can not get my mains to charge the batteries when I need a boost.

Hi sorry to rewake this topic

In my case on my king 7Kw i have selected "return to grid voltage 48,9V" set the inverter to LINE MODE (not eco mode, charger mode solar only and forced the output to solar/battery/grid (SBU). Instantly the inverter return to battery mode and no grid charging 😇