1 hour ago, David27 said:

After cutting the utility supply, and only the inverter running, (He has a Gadget that records his electricity consumption)  it showed that there was if fact 480W of continuous power drawn by the inverter

This makes no sense.  The utility supply is disconnected, and yet the inverter is drawing 480W from it?

There are several people here with the knowledge and inclination to help, but we are flying blind.  May I suggest that, in order to get assistance, you provide the following information:

• Inverter model
• Firmware versions
• Settings
• actual values of power from the LCD

Of course the inverter could be faulty, but the chances are far greater that there is a problem with the settings or setup.

For reference, the King uses about 80W when fully powered up with no loads.

Edited September 24, 20205 yr by Calvin

6 minutes ago, Calvin said:

 

This makes no sense.  The utility supply is disconnected, and yet the inverter is drawing 480W from it?

There are several people here with the knowledge and inclination to help, but we are flying blind.  May I suggest that, in order to get assistance, you provide the following information:

• Inverter model
• Firmware versions
• Settings
• actual values of power from the LCD

Of course the inverter could be faulty, but the chances are far greater that there is a problem with the settings or setup.

For reference, the King uses about 80W when fully powered up with no loads.

Thank you Calvin, I will obtain the information as requested and revert. 

My Appoligies, once again incorrect information. The test carried out was: With the utility power on, and no load, other that the inverter, it indicated that it was using 450W of power continuously.

10 minutes ago, David27 said:

My Appoligies, once again incorrect information. The test carried out was: With the utility power on, and no load, other that the inverter, it indicated that it was using 450W of power continuously.

Does the display show battery charging happening? (Use Watchpower if you do not know where to find it) What is the battery voltage?

Is it in PYL mode (setting 5)?  If yes, try

• setting 5 USE
• setting 12 47V
• setting 13 51V
• setting 26 52.5V
• setting 27 50.5V
• setting 29 45V

The Inverter is : KODAK Solar Off-Grid Inverter VMIII 5kW.   With 2x Pylon US2000 2.4kWh Li-Ion Solar Batteries.

 

Configurable AC/PV output usage timer and prioritization Selectable high power charging current Selectable input voltage range for home appliances and personal computers Compatible to Utility Mains or generator input Auto restart while AC is recovering Cold start function   OG5.48 & OG-PLUS5.48 is not currently compatible with the Kodak L1 Battery standard communication protocol. Custom inverter settings need to be set. Setting 12: 47.5V (setting back to grid) Setting 13: 52.2V (Setting back to solar) Setting 26: 53.2V (Bulk charge voltage) Setting 27: 51V (Float charge voltage) Setting 29: 46.5V (Cut- off voltage) Important

 

 

8 minutes ago, Calvin said:

Does the display show battery charging happening? (Use Watchpower if you do not know where to find it) What is the battery voltage?

Is it in PYL mode (setting 5)?  If yes, try

• setting 5 USE
• setting 12 47V
• setting 13 51V
• setting 26 52.5V
• setting 27 50.5V
• setting 29 45V

Yes it does show Battery Charging Happening, Can't remember seeing the battery voltage?  I will go there again tomorrow and check these settings, hopefully I can get some results.

 

3 hours ago, David27 said:

The inverter is in fact a Axpert King as per Coulomb's. 

 

51 minutes ago, David27 said:

The Inverter is : KODAK Solar Off-Grid Inverter VMIII 5kW

NOOOOOO! 😭😭😭😭😭

It REALLY can only be one or the other.

2 hours ago, Calvin said:

 

 

NOOOOOO! 😭😭😭😭😭

It REALLY can only be one or the other.

KODAK Solar Off-Grid Inverter VMIII 5kW This Machine and the Axpert are identical, it is as far as I can see, the display, everything about it except......Of Course the Colour (Yellow) and the Name KODAK printed on it. 

Kodak VMIII 5kW 48V Solar Off-Grid Inverter

 

 

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The OG 5.48 is ideal as an affordable and fully functional centre of your off-grid system. Wide MPP voltage range makes DC string design with your choice of module easy. Best suited to smaller domestic systems where no parallel operation is needed. Best suited to smaller domestic systems where no parallel operation is needed. The Kodak VMIII inverter has a CAN-bus port included, which means a direct connection to Plyontech batteries is possible. Therefore, no other control module, such as the ICC, is needed.

Please download full specifications sheet here.

Please download full instruction manual here.

Please download installation manual for Pylontech to Voltronic Settings here.

 

AS ABOVE :     I downloaded this from:  Sustainable.co.za. see the 3 downloads above from this site.

13 minutes ago, David27 said:

This Machine and the Axpert are identical

Axpert, Mecer, Kodak RCT and many more are brand names.  All these inverters are in fact simply re-branded Volronics inverters.

VMIII, Kings MKS are models, sold under all the different labels.

So, a Kodak King is the same as a Mecer King, but a Mecer VMIII is very different from both.

So, the key is the King or VMII part, not the Kodak or Mecer or whatever. Hope this clarifies it.

Ignore everything I said earlier - my knowledge / advice is limited to the Kings.

Okay that makes sense, yes this is the VMIII. 

21 hours ago, David27 said:

  it showed that there was if fact 480W of continuous power drawn by the inverter. 

These inverters draw a lot of reactive (imaginary) power (large capacitor across the line). So it could be drawing 480 VA, at a power factor of about 0.1. Does his gadget show power factor? If not, bring one of your own perhaps. A small amount of reactive power (especially capacitive) is harmless, and could improve his overall power factor.

480 VA is on the high side. I seem to recall around 300 VA for an Axpert MKS; I can believe that a King with the extra PFC stage might draw more reactive power. Especially if the inverter isn't in line mode with the PFC stage doing its job (of power factor correction).

8 hours ago, Coulomb said:

These inverters draw a lot of reactive (imaginary) power (large capacitor across the line). So it could be drawing 480 VA, at a power factor of about 0.1. Does his gadget show power factor? If not, bring one of your own perhaps. A small amount of reactive power (especially capacitive) is harmless, and could improve his overall power factor.

480 VA is on the high side. I seem to recall around 300 VA for an Axpert MKS; I can believe that a King with the extra PFC stage might draw more reactive power. Especially if the inverter isn't in line mode with the PFC stage doing its job (of power factor correction).

Thank you for the info, I will be going to see the client again next week and will let you know.

On 2020/09/24 at 12:10 PM, David27 said:

My Appoligies, once again incorrect information. The test carried out was: With the utility power on, and no load, other that the inverter, it indicated that it was using 450W of power continuously.

Aren't you supposed to be a qualified electrician?

Can't you drive there, disconnect the load from the output of the inverter and measure the input current on the positive lead of the inverter?  It isn't my day job and even I have the equipment to do that.