August 17, 20205 yr 14 hours ago, JohanDbn said: I put it onto online. You will see it does the same. That really should enable utility charging, it seems to me. On investigating, I see that there is a small change in 71.93 that might affect AC charging. Would it be possible to try this factory firmware? https://powerforum.co.za/files/file/55-axpert-king-main-firmware/
August 17, 20205 yr Author 23 hours ago, Calvin said: Just go to https://centurionsolar.co.za. It is a management package that runs on a Raspberry Pi - the complete thing incl hardware is about R2600. Essentially it will modify the inverter's settings on the fly, based on rules that you can define. Also provides very nice graphs and information. There are also some open source software I believe. I ordered one. Let's hope it helps
August 17, 20205 yr Author 14 hours ago, Coulomb said: That really should enable utility charging, it seems to me. On investigating, I see that there is a small change in 71.93 that might affect AC charging. Would it be possible to try this factory firmware? https://powerforum.co.za/files/file/55-axpert-king-main-firmware/ But wouldn't that bring back the floating bug error?
August 17, 20205 yr Author 19 hours ago, alyusuph said: Have you tried to set it to charge from Solar Only? OSO? Don't think I have solar only, only solar first
August 17, 20205 yr Author So I had full charge today (Solid charge light), and went on batteries just over an hour ago, and its currently at 83%... Something not right. Usage is 10A, battery bank is 800aH, Back to grid at 50%.
August 17, 20205 yr Author So, according to the inverter, with a solid charge light, it was fully charged. See attached for 2 hours later... The usage was constant. I made sure to not have anything besides the standard on.
August 17, 20205 yr Author @Coulomb @Calvin do you think I should get a BMV 702 to monitor this? This is becoming an expensive exercise and on batteries i am not doing much better than I would imagine a couple of UPS's would do. and i just want this thing working now...
August 17, 20205 yr 35 minutes ago, JohanDbn said: @Coulomb @Calvin do you think I should get a BMV 702 to monitor this? This is becoming an expensive exercise and on batteries i am not doing much better than I would imagine a couple of UPS's would do. and i just want this thing working now... I am not an expert on this, but from reading these forums it appears that the combination of the BMV702 and ICC is what most people with lead-acid batteries go for to make Axperts really work.
August 17, 20205 yr Author 2 hours ago, Calvin said: I am not an expert on this, but from reading these forums it appears that the combination of the BMV702 and ICC is what most people with lead-acid batteries go for to make Axperts really work. Ok, so ive upgraded the firmware as suggested by @Coulomb and decided im gonna do this thing properly, and ordered a BMV and ICC Monitoring Pi 3. The way I see it, is if i already paid so much to put this in, it will be stupid to not have all the monitoring software on it to ensure it runs smooth, right. So if my understanding is right, It will go Battery->BMV->ICC->Inverter. The ICC will send the signal to the inverter to switch to utility/Solar/Battery based on the reading from the BMV, which is a much better reading and better than depending on the Axpert, and this also gives me more control and visibility over my system. Do I have it right?
August 18, 20205 yr 8 hours ago, JohanDbn said: But wouldn't that bring back the floating bug error? Yes, it will. But the premature float bug can be at least partly worked around.
August 18, 20205 yr 8 hours ago, JohanDbn said: Don't think I have solar only, only solar first The OSO option (Only SOlar) is for charger source priority, setting 16. This would be to try to get your panels to always produce power when available and needed. Of course, this will disable utility charging, but we might still learn something from trying this.
August 18, 20205 yr 8 hours ago, JohanDbn said: So I had full charge today (Solid charge light), and went on batteries just over an hour ago, and its currently at 83%... Something not right. Don't forget that with a lead acid battery and no BMV (as yet, is that right?), you only have the inverter's estimation of the battery SOC. Especially in float stage (CHG LED on solid), it is quite inaccurate. During charging (CHG flashing), it's not too bad, but still very approximate. I would not be concerned about 83% on float, depending on the battery voltage. Quote Usage is 10A, battery bank is 800aH, Back to grid at 50%. ICC is also getting its SOC from the inverter (for now) , so what this means depends on setting 29, the low battery cutoff voltage. [ Edit: I'm assuming that you are using ICC without a BMV at the moment, but I may be confusing you with one of the other many forum members I'm interacting with at present. ] Edit: you seem to be using the default of 42V, if so, 50% from the inverter means 47.2V on the battery, or 11.8V per 12V module. That's fairly low SOC, unless the load is high. So it will be good when you get the Victron BMV. Edited August 18, 20205 yr by Coulomb
August 18, 20205 yr 7 hours ago, JohanDbn said: So, according to the inverter, with a solid charge light, it was fully charged. See attached for 2 hours later... PV input power zero. If there was any sun, there should have been some PV. So there is definitely something wrong there.
August 18, 20205 yr 3 hours ago, JohanDbn said: OK, so ive upgraded the firmware as suggested by @Coulomb To 71.93? 3 hours ago, JohanDbn said: The ICC will send the signal to the inverter to switch to utility/Solar/Battery based on the reading from the BMV, which is a much better reading and better than depending on the Axpert, Yes.
August 18, 20205 yr Author 16 hours ago, Coulomb said: To 71.93? Yes. Yep, 71.93. So it went to utility last night, and by 9am this morning showed fully charged (UDC, so it had to be solar only), but PV in was only 400W by then. Not sure how that can be. Does that sound like the premature float bug? If so, what are some decent workarounds for this? Would my BMV and ICC enable me to finally get this thing right?
August 18, 20205 yr Author 18 hours ago, Coulomb said: ICC is also getting its SOC from the inverter (for now) , so what this means depends on setting 29, the low battery cutoff voltage. [ Edit: I'm assuming that you are using ICC without a BMV at the moment, but I may be confusing you with one of the other many forum members I'm interacting with at present. ] Edit: you seem to be using the default of 42V, if so, 50% from the inverter means 47.2V on the battery, or 11.8V per 12V module. That's fairly low SOC, unless the load is high. So it will be good when you get the Victron BMV. I will be getting my ICC and BMV and setting everything up on Thursday. I think the best would be to make assumptions with actual figures and specs? As you say, the kings estimates are very rough. Im looking for a way to balance these batteries out, I think the variance in charge may also play a factor...How good is the kings equalizer? Is there any kind of LED display that can show every battery's individual charge, instead of putting up 8 LEDs? Of course a multimeter is also a possibility, but would be nice to walk in and see it at a glance. Edited August 18, 20205 yr by JohanDbn
August 19, 20205 yr 17 hours ago, JohanDbn said: Yep, 71.93. So it went to utility last night, and by 9am this morning showed fully charged (UDC, so it had to be solar only), but PV in was only 400W by then. Not sure how that can be. Does that sound like the premature float bug? Yes, it does. The clincher is whether the CHG led was solid by then, or still flashing. When you say it "showed fully charged", do you mean the inverter reading was 100% SOC, or that the CHG led was on solid? Quote If so, what are some decent workarounds for this? Timed absorb, or equalisation settings. Timed absorb seems easier, as it is a single setting. Quote Would my BMV and ICC enable me to finally get this thing right? If you're getting the premature float problem, then sadly no, ICC can't help with that (as far as I know; I don't use it myself).
August 19, 20205 yr 16 hours ago, JohanDbn said: How good is the kings equalizer? The King does have equalisation facilities, but I don't think you should be using them to balance sealed batteries. Lead acid experts may be able to help.
August 19, 20205 yr Author 1 hour ago, Coulomb said: Yes, it does. The clincher is whether the CHG led was solid by then, or still flashing. When you say it "showed fully charged", do you mean the inverter reading was 100% SOC, or that the CHG led was on solid? Quote Yep, the CHG led was solid, and the mobile app showed 100% 1 hour ago, Coulomb said: Timed absorb, or equalisation settings. Timed absorb seems easier, as it is a single setting. Please can you give these to me? At the moment its set to Aut 1 hour ago, Coulomb said: The King does have equalisation facilities, but I don't think you should be using them to balance sealed batteries. Lead acid experts may be able to help. My installer is coming through tomorrow, will pick his brain on this
August 20, 20205 yr 10 hours ago, JohanDbn said: Please can you give these to me? At the moment its set to Aut Yes, setting 32, referred to in the manual as "Bulk charging time", which is plain wrong, but in the app as "Max. charging time (CV stage)". Simply change it to a number, such as 60, to force the absorb stage to be that many minutes long. Of course, choosing that number is the tricky part. You should ideally keep trying numbers until your battery often charges until the charge current reduces to around 10 A. But the ideal time will depend on the weather, your loads, how much PV power you have compared to battery capacity, and so on. If you guess too low, your battery still won't get a full charge most days. If you guess too high, your battery will spend more time than necessary at the absorb voltage, which may cause it to lose some water, and that can't be replaced in a sealed battery module. That's why it's a workaround, not a cure. The equalisation settings are another way of achieving the same thing, except that this one only runs every second or third day, using the standard algorithm (whether auto or timed) on the non-equalising days. You can also set the equalisation voltage; it doesn't have to be exactly equal to the absorb voltage. Note that it should not be much more than the absorb voltage (as you would if you really were equalising a flooded battery).
August 20, 20205 yr Author 55 minutes ago, Coulomb said: Yes, setting 32, referred to in the manual as "Bulk charging time", which is plain wrong, but in the app as "Max. charging time (CV stage)". Simply change it to a number, such as 60, to force the absorb stage to be that many minutes long. Of course, choosing that number is the tricky part. You should ideally keep trying numbers until your battery often charges until the charge current reduces to around 10 A. But the ideal time will depend on the weather, your loads, how much PV power you have compared to battery capacity, and so on. If you guess too low, your battery still won't get a full charge most days. If you guess too high, your battery will spend more time than necessary at the absorb voltage, which may cause it to lose some water, and that can't be replaced in a sealed battery module. That's why it's a workaround, not a cure. The equalisation settings are another way of achieving the same thing, except that this one only runs every second or third day, using the standard algorithm (whether auto or timed) on the non-equalising days. You can also set the equalisation voltage; it doesn't have to be exactly equal to the absorb voltage. Note that it should not be much more than the absorb voltage (as you would if you really were equalising a flooded battery). Don't you think it's best to just change it for an MK with tried and tested patched software? You not having a king, this is like walking in the dark. Knowing u tested it on an mk and its all good will alleviate all this...
August 20, 20205 yr 6 hours ago, JohanDbn said: Don't you think it's best to just change it for an MK with tried and tested patched software? I assume you mean an Axpert MKS, which has fully patched firmware. I was hoping that buyers would gravitate to those models, in order to use or at least have the option of using patched firmware, but it doesn't seem to have worked out that way. Also, the MKS models don't have some features that buyers seem to value, in particular the blending of PV/battery power. I think it would be good to hang on a bit longer, and see if some resolution is forthcoming. Weber and I are committed now to buying a King and developing fully or nearly fully patched firmware for it, following Youda's generous sponsorship.
August 20, 20205 yr 5 hours ago, Coulomb said: I was hoping that buyers would gravitate to those models, in order to use or at least have the option of using patched firmware, but it doesn't seem to have worked out that way. Yeah unfortunately, the King has a feature I want (double conversion) which wasn't available on the MKS. Other people almost certainly have other reasons they want it. I've even seen online that some companies are buying the King for the same reason as me (over for example Victron, due to them not offering a double conversion option). Edited August 20, 20205 yr by Gnome
August 21, 20205 yr Author @Coulomb See attached, how quickly the battery drained based on usage. Remember this is a 400aH system
August 21, 20205 yr Author 27 minutes ago, JohanDbn said: @Coulomb See attached, how quickly the battery drained based on usage. Remember this is a 400aH system @Coulomb i had a look now 1.55kwh battery used and 42%
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