hi,

 

I recently bought an Imeon 3.6, connected to 250x12 solar panels. I also have 8 x 200 Ah batteries (Vision 6FM200LP-X 12V 200Ah(10hr),  lead-lead dioxide / fibre glass).

 

I've read on the forums that the Inverter can only charge at a certain rate (20A / 1.2kw?) but it does not explain my problem. I have even started a day with 99% charge, so it had the whole sunny day to charge. When charging my batteries, it will go to 99% and then to 100% a whole while later, stating 54 V

 

At any battery usage, the battery percentage will mediately drop to about 70%. This means that I cannot set my DOD to 30%, otherwise I cannot use the batteries at night at all. I would rather not cycle my batteries between 50-70%, according to the specs, this will reduce the battery lifetime significantly.

 

Any advice please? My installer does not seem to have experience with this model.

 

Regards,

Pieter

Hi Peter,

So far I understand the unit uses Voltage to detirmine the DOD, so not really very accurate.

What is the Amp reading when running from the battries?

Remember the higher the amp load, the quicker your voltage will fall.

As soon as the amp load is reduced, the voltage increases again.

 

Perhaps look at installing a Victron battery monitor that will give you much better results

hi,

 

I recently bought an Imeon 3.6, connected to 250x12 solar panels. I also have 8 x 200 Ah batteries (Vision 6FM200LP-X 12V 200Ah(10hr),  lead-lead dioxide / fibre glass).

 

I've read on the forums that the Inverter can only charge at a certain rate (20A / 1.2kw?) but it does not explain my problem. I have even started a day with 99% charge, so it had the whole sunny day to charge. When charging my batteries, it will go to 99% and then to 100% a whole while later, stating 54 V

 

Hi Pieter

 

First of all, welcome to the forum.

 

The described behavior might be the result of a specific setting, e.g. to stop charging the battery bank when the charging current drops below a certain value for a certain amount of time.

 

I might be way out of line with my next comment, but based on the various similarities between the Imeon 3.6 and the infini 3KW, to me it looks more and more as if the infini is actually an Imeon clone with some changes in the enclosure and the look-and-feel e.g. the LCD display.

 

My infini also did not stop charging the batteries until I've changed a setting to "stop charging the batteries when the charging current drops to 0.7A for 1 hour".  Check your configuration to see whether you perhaps have such an option, monitor the charging current (when it does not want to stop charging and just stays on 99%) and then depending on the charging current at that stage, choose a suitable value for the setting, e.g. 0.5A for 1 hour.

 

At any battery usage, the battery percentage will mediately drop to about 70%. This means that I cannot set my DOD to 30%, otherwise I cannot use the batteries at night at all. I would rather not cycle my batteries between 50-70%, according to the specs, this will reduce the battery lifetime significantly.

 

Any advice please? My installer does not seem to have experience with this model.

 

Regards,

Pieter

 

The infini does also not represent a correct / usable SOC indication and exactly the same thing happens whenever you switch to batteries - immediately the inverter reports that the batteries are only between 60% and 70% charged. This has been discussed in other threads on this forum, but it comes down to the fact that you cannot rely on the inverter's battery level indicator to determine SOC, cut-offs or cut-overs. The only real solution to this problem is to invest in some kind of battery monitor which measures the amount of energy flowing into (charge) and out of (discharge) the battery bank to determine the actual SOC of the bank. One of the most popular battery monitors on this forum is from the Victron range either a BMV700 or BMV702.

 

Guys, you have to calibrate the Imeon to suit the specific batteries used. Unfortunately the calibration is done by your supplier / distributor. it requires the pro version software to access certain screens that the end user cannot get to. I configure all my clients units to suit their needs.

where are you located, perhaps i can help?

hi Guys,

 

Thanks for all the replies. I spoke to my installer again, after your replies and he is in the process of getting the software. I think I may have been his first Imeon installation. 

 

I am already out of pocket a lot, so would hate to have to spend on another battery monitor  . I'll see if it is necessary to do it after the inverter is configured correctly. Otherwise I'm quite happy with the unit. Just wish I had more access to the configurable features. Wrong configuration may probably damage the inverter, and that is probably why they don't share the information so freely.

 

I have noticed though, that the configuration happens over normal SMTP on port 161  .

 

I found the post about voltage drop : http://powerforum.co.za/topic/200-hydrometer-battery-status/page-3.

Just a follow-up if somebody has the same issues later on:

 

The special software we needed was just a key generator that needs to be applied by pressing <control> and right clicking on a certain part of the GUI. 

 

It gives you access to the settings in the picture attached.

 

The first mistake we made was adjusting the metered voltage (which was off from the actual voltage on the battery by about 2V) while there was some solar trickling in late in the afternoon. This didn't help much. Later we applied the breakers so that there was no incoming current or outgoing current from the inverter, and adjusted again. This had the desired effect.

 

My installer has good knowledge of my specific batteries and showed me a chart that translate voltage to charge level. The Imeon was way off again with the charge level. Luckily you can configure your DOD on voltage as well, which was by now a lot more accurate. The end result is, that the system now works beautifully and I don't need a separate charge controller / battery monitor. The trick is to totally ignore the charge level percentage indicator and to interpret the voltage yourself, based on your battery setup.

 

 

My installer has good knowledge of my specific batteries and showed me a chart that translate voltage to charge level. The Imeon was way off again with the charge level. Luckily you can configure your DOD on voltage as well, which was by now a lot more accurate. The end result is, that the system now works beautifully and I don't need a separate charge controller / battery monitor. The trick is to totally ignore the charge level percentage indicator and to interpret the voltage yourself, based on your battery setup.

 

SOC/DOD measuring voltage can only be determined if no current flows into or out of the batteries and if the batteries have been standing disconnected from the charger for a few hours in order for the surface charge to disappear.

 

Any battery has internal resistance and the more current you draw from it, the lower the measured voltage will be, until the current flow drops again. When the current flow drops the measured voltage should slightly rise. SOC/DOD voltages will thus fluctuate depending on the amount of current drawn from the batteries at that moment in time and is therefor very inaccurate.

 

Thus, if the Imeon only looks at battery voltage measurements to determine SOC/DOD is suffers from exactly the saw flaw as the infini and Axpert inverters and you still need a proper battery monitor which will measure current flowing into and out of the batteries and which will take Peukert's law into consideration to more accurately determine SOC/DOD.

hi superdiy,

 

You are absolutely correct.

 

I my case though, I am happy with the setup. As I understand it, it will rather stop earlier to discharge (while there is actually more battery left). I am ok with that. 

 

As for charging, the Imeon is not pushing in a lot as the voltage goes up, so should not damage the battery. All in all I am happy to continue without having the perfect setup. Also, the voltage metered was quite accurate after the final setup. Thanks again for all the advice.

Get a Victron BMV 702 to measure the values for the 8 x 200 Ah battery investment you have.   

 

The go for R 3040.41 incl VAT.

Morning Gents... sorry not wanting to hi-jack this thread .. I'm new to this Forum and very happy to stumble across it. so my first post will be right on issues ... ( ill make acquaintances later )  On the subject of IMEON. Firstly... Very little installers received propper training on this inverter.. I can even say that 95% of "qualified" installers have not the necessary  experience/tools to install a specific brand of inverter. Ill be totally honest. I think my expertise in the field (10 years plus) was my saving grace, but i don't think i am 100% qualified on IMEON as there was no training offered. I personally feel support for Imeon from the get go was POOR... The product ( not the best but certainly not the worst by far) has not done well in SA due to the lack of a propper support structure.. We have installed about 50 of these units and just about every one of them with there own issues... ) I suspect 99% of issues are software / firmware related .... any way that being said, lets move on. So with this in mind I need advice.  I have many issues but wanting to urgently discuss only two for now..  Installed a Demo unit for a client that has issues with his current inverter. Setting the inverter up ( 3.6) I find a problem with the inverter. TAB: On Flow Manager> Function Mode>Smart Grid. The inverter does not charge Batteries... It drains them completely dead then switches to Eskom... Even when solar present... So I set Unit up on Backup Mode ( note NOT Grid feed is enabled). Then on then Battery Manger Tab> I cant get the unit to except setting >Discharge only at night  NO.. but it does not want to.. Any help would be appreciated.. If I should start a new thread please advise... .

More questions off this topic: Who , besides the Frenchmen, can assist with support on faulty units, Firmware and software updates, do they help and where can I get..  

 

On 2016/02/02 at 8:16 AM, drakeSW said:

Just a follow-up if somebody has the same issues later on:

 

The special software we needed was just a key generator that needs to be applied by pressing <control> and right clicking on a certain part of the GUI. 

 

It gives you access to the settings in the picture attached.

 

The first mistake we made was adjusting the metered voltage (which was off from the actual voltage on the battery by about 2V) while there was some solar trickling in late in the afternoon. This didn't help much. Later we applied the breakers so that there was no incoming current or outgoing current from the inverter, and adjusted again. This had the desired effect.

 

My installer has good knowledge of my specific batteries and showed me a chart that translate voltage to charge level. The Imeon was way off again with the charge level. Luckily you can configure your DOD on voltage as well, which was by now a lot more accurate. The end result is, that the system now works beautifully and I don't need a separate charge controller / battery monitor. The trick is to totally ignore the charge level percentage indicator and to interpret the voltage yourself, based on your battery setup.

 

 

http://s27.postimg.org/jirazbncz/advanced_Settings.jpg

 

I have exactly the same problem as DrakeSW please assist with reloading the picture as I cannot access it now. Any further help will be highly appreciated. Currently sitting in the dark as I have not solved the problem as yet.