pblaauw Posted November 11, 2019 Share Posted November 11, 2019 Morning everyone Recently bought a package deal from a installer and it's been a disaster of note. Objective of the installation was to power my aquariums 24/7, and keep the lights on, that's it. It's 2 x 300l, 1 x 550l and 1 x 820l aquariums, all fresh water (so no protein skimmers, dosers or wave makers running), at night total power draw is around 300w, and during the day with the lights running 450w. Power use spikes when water changes are done, as the heaters need to run a bit to get the water temps back up, so I'm careful to always change water in the mornings on weekends when the sun is shining. Package is as follows: Axpert King 5kw, fed by 6 x 330w Canadian Solar panels, and a Narada 48NPFC100. Probably overkill for the above, but I like my fish, and some of the them are pricey. Here's the problem: The inverter is set for SBU, but it's not using the U. The Narada battery was a replacement for another one that was damaged due to installer carelessness. Previous battery was a Huawei ESM 48100a1. Never had a problem with the Huawai. They brought the battery Tuesday. Wednesday morning 4am, the small UPS's on the aquariums all started wailing in unison. Go to garage and find everything dead. Switch manually to Eskom, go back to bed. Power on system during daylight, let it charge Wednesday and Thursday, cut over to solar Thursday afternoon. Friday morning 1:50am, everything shut down again. Manual cut-over to Eskom. Installer comes and checks everything Saturday (and finish up other work), charge v was set to 49, instead of 54, fix that, cut-over v set to 47, makes sure SBU selected. Sunday morning 1:09am, small UPS's are screaming again, and I go do manual cut-over to Eskom. Now, something is obviously wrong, and I don't trust the installer to fix this mess, so I'm here politely asking for help. Asseblief Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coulomb Posted November 12, 2019 Share Posted November 12, 2019 Is the AC input icon on, not flashing? On other models, it's a sine wave in a circle, like a tennis ball. Away from keyboard at present. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pblaauw Posted November 12, 2019 Author Share Posted November 12, 2019 Yup, it's there. At 22:28pm last night Watchpower for all it's worth told me the battery is at 67% and 212w active output. 2:50am this morning, it had shut itself down again, and I had to go do a manual cut-over to Eskom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dex_ Posted November 12, 2019 Share Posted November 12, 2019 45 minutes ago, pblaauw said: Yup, it's there. At 22:28pm last night Watchpower for all it's worth told me the battery is at 67% and 212w active output. 2:50am this morning, it had shut itself down again, and I had to go do a manual cut-over to Eskom. what are your settings: 02, 05, 12, 13, 26, 27, 29? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pblaauw Posted November 12, 2019 Author Share Posted November 12, 2019 4 minutes ago, Dex_ said: what are your settings: 02, 05, 12, 13, 26, 27, 29? Dex I'll get you those when I'm home this afternoon. Dex_ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coulomb Posted November 12, 2019 Share Posted November 12, 2019 I'd say setting 12 is too low, and the battery BMS is shutting off the battery before the inverter switches to Eskom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pblaauw Posted November 12, 2019 Author Share Posted November 12, 2019 02 - 40A 05 - USE 12 - 46V 13 - 54V 26 - CU 56.4V 27 - FLU 54.0V 29 - 42V Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coulomb Posted November 12, 2019 Share Posted November 12, 2019 I would try setting 12 at 48 V or even higher, at least temporarily, to see if it helps. Do you know if your Narada battery is 15S or 16S? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pblaauw Posted November 12, 2019 Author Share Posted November 12, 2019 All I could find is Narada 48NPFC100NC G3 on it, when I spoke to Full Circle they said I need to bring it in for serial number check, as there is no serial # on it.. so no idea if it's 15S or 16S sorry... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilfred Posted November 12, 2019 Share Posted November 12, 2019 One of these? FCS-Narada-Li-Ion-48NPFC100-Battery-pack.pdf 48NPFC10023-inch.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pblaauw Posted November 12, 2019 Author Share Posted November 12, 2019 Yeah looks like the 19" model.. I can take a pic and upload if you need. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dex_ Posted November 12, 2019 Share Posted November 12, 2019 (edited) 3 hours ago, pblaauw said: 02 - 40A 05 - USE 12 - 46V 13 - 54V 26 - CU 56.4V 27 - FLU 54.0V 29 - 42V 26 should come down to 54V 13 should come down to about 51V I agree with @Coulomb that 12 should be 48V I also think 27 should be lower than bulk so around 52V 29 can also come way up, like 47~ Edited November 12, 2019 by Dex_ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pblaauw Posted November 12, 2019 Author Share Posted November 12, 2019 I'm off to go change settings, thanks Dex! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilfred Posted November 12, 2019 Share Posted November 12, 2019 What is program 11 set to? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilfred Posted November 12, 2019 Share Posted November 12, 2019 I would set 29 to 2.5V below back to grid. The alarm will start to annoy you at 2V above that setting (ie set to 46V and alarm will start at 48V), It should go back to grid at 48V and should only start to bother you if it go below for example 47.5V if set to 45.5V (cut-off) (45.5V + 2V = 47.5V where you have set back to grid to 48V). The BMS should shut down at a safe level if it go beyond that point anyway. The inverter will also use the cut-off voltage as a closer to 0% reading of battery SOC if you do not have a proper battery monitoring system. Don't set the cut-off too low, if settings 12 and 13 are correct then their should not be any problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pblaauw Posted November 12, 2019 Author Share Posted November 12, 2019 13 minutes ago, Wilfred said: What is program 11 set to? 11 - UTL 30A Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dex_ Posted November 12, 2019 Share Posted November 12, 2019 7 minutes ago, Wilfred said: I would set 29 to 2.5V below back to grid. The alarm will start to annoy you at 2V above that setting (ie set to 46V and alarm will start at 48V), It should go back to grid at 48V and should only start to bother you if it go below for example 47.5V if set to 45.5V (cut-off) (45.5V + 2V = 47.5V where you have set back to grid to 48V). The BMS should shut down at a safe level if it go beyond that point anyway. The inverter will also use the cut-off voltage as a closer to 0% reading of battery SOC if you do not have a proper battery monitoring system. Don't set the cut-off too low, if settings 12 and 13 are correct then their should not be any problems. you aren't wrong, his load is so low though anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilfred Posted November 12, 2019 Share Posted November 12, 2019 7 minutes ago, pblaauw said: 11 - UTL 30A That mean that the utility will charge at a rate of 30 amps (you can change that to 20A). The other thing to consider is another setting which could prevent the inverter from charging the batteries from grid/utility. Check program 16. I am not sure if it will totally prevent the inverter from using the grid as you are set to SBU. Most, if not all inverters need the battery to operate, therefore if your inverter is set to not use the grid to charge the battery you might be in a situation where your battery is turned off and then the inverter don’t work or also turn off. Come to think of it, I think setting 16 is set to not charge from the grid, this might be your problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pblaauw Posted November 12, 2019 Author Share Posted November 12, 2019 2 minutes ago, Wilfred said: That mean that the utility will charge at a rate of 30 amps (you can change that to 20A). The other thing to consider is another setting which could prevent the inverter from charging the batteries from grid/utility. Check program 16. I am not sure if it will totally prevent the inverter from using the grid as you are set to SBU. Most, if not all inverters need the battery to operate, therefore if your inverter is set to not use the grid to charge the battery you might be in a situation where your battery is turned off and then the inverter don’t work or also turn off. Come to think of it, I think setting 16 is set to not charge from the grid, this might be your problem. Yes when the battery 'goes flat' ie shuts down, the entire system shuts down.. What do I set this to? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilfred Posted November 12, 2019 Share Posted November 12, 2019 What is setting/program 16 settings now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dex_ Posted November 12, 2019 Share Posted November 12, 2019 (edited) 8 minutes ago, Wilfred said: That mean that the utility will charge at a rate of 30 amps (you can change that to 20A). The other thing to consider is another setting which could prevent the inverter from charging the batteries from grid/utility. Check program 16. I am not sure if it will totally prevent the inverter from using the grid as you are set to SBU. Most, if not all inverters need the battery to operate, therefore if your inverter is set to not use the grid to charge the battery you might be in a situation where your battery is turned off and then the inverter don’t work or also turn off. Come to think of it, I think setting 16 is set to not charge from the grid, this might be your problem. nah his problem is definitely the charge/cut off settings he had that trigger the first problem, the one you are talking about he probably has but is secondary also setting 2 will override setting 11 if it is lower Edited November 12, 2019 by Dex_ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pblaauw Posted November 12, 2019 Author Share Posted November 12, 2019 16 - SBL UCB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilfred Posted November 12, 2019 Share Posted November 12, 2019 2 minutes ago, Dex_ said: nah his problem is definitely the charge/cut off settings he had that trigger the first problem, the one you are talking about he probably has but is secondary also setting 2 will override setting 11 if it is lower I found that when charging from grid it is limited to 11’s setting, when charging from PV it will use 02, if 02 is smaller than 11 inverter will use 02 for utility, 02 is usually the higher of the 2 settings. I have a feeling that setting 16 is set to not charge from utility and therefore when it change over or suppose to change over to grid the batteries die and kill the system. Also, as soon as you have this resolved, get rid of the UPS’ you have as they are killing your battery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilfred Posted November 12, 2019 Share Posted November 12, 2019 1 minute ago, pblaauw said: 16 - SBL UCB That should be fine as it states that the flow is from solar to battery to load and utility may charge battery. therefore @Dex_ is correct, your settings was maybe set too low and battery shut down before it charge from grid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilfred Posted November 12, 2019 Share Posted November 12, 2019 (edited) The Narada is similar to the Huawei you had. Was your settings changed or reset to factory defaults with the change of batteries? I know those batteries can hover on 48.5V for hours on end. My setup for the Huawei’s was as follow: 02 SBU 05 USE 12 47V 13 52V 16 SbL/UCb (they did not like SLb) 26 53,5V 27 53,2V 29 44,5V (only to not listen to the alarm, as it went to grid at 47V) What happens if you set it to USB now, is it charging the battery? Also, those UPS’ you have for backup, it is draining your battery. Edited November 12, 2019 by Wilfred Mentioned UPS’ if not mentioned already Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.