EG4 6500 charging

[David Mc]

I have 4 EG4 6500, 12 Lifepower4 batteries,
and 15K PV input.
My question is, with a 100amp utility grid service I have setting #11 at 20 amps and setting #2 at 60 amps. After running all night it takes too long to recharge the batteries the next day. (east Texas, lots of sun) Should I up the #2 setting to maybe 80 or 100 to shorten the charge time?
Also is that 60 amps from each inverter for a total of 240 charging amps?
Thanks for any insight into this.

 

[Gavin Stone]

I have 4 EG4 6500, 12 Lifepower4 batteries,
and 15K PV input.
My question is, with a 100amp utility grid service I have setting #11 at 20 amps and setting #2 at 60 amps. After running all night it takes too long to recharge the batteries the next day. (east Texas, lots of sun) Should I up the #2 setting to maybe 80 or 100 to shorten the charge time?
Also is that 60 amps from each inverter for a total of 240 charging amps?
Thanks for any insight into this.

Each lifepower battery has a recommended charge of 30 amps I believe. So essentially you’d want 30x12 worth of charging amps ideally. So you’d want around 360 amps of charging spread out between your 4 inverters.

Determine which inverters gather the most PV and they could probably have more of the charging load. Or if they have an even amount of PV between them then that makes it easier. Set each to around 90 amps.

 

[David Mc]

Thanks, I will reset my #2 to 90 amps and see what happens on the next full sun day.

 

[Zapper77]

Thanks, I will reset my #2 to 90 amps and see what happens on the next full sun day.

90 amps per inverter puts you near 80% load on your 100 amp service.

Edit: why are you limiting total charge amperage? Do you actually charge from the grid?

 

[Zapper77]

Thanks, I will reset my #2 to 90 amps and see what happens on the next full sun day.

Are you using open or closed battery communication?

 

[Adam De Lay]

Thanks, I will reset my #2 to 90 amps and see what happens on the next full sun day.

Any luck?

 

[Adam De Lay]

90 amps per inverter puts you near 80% load on your 100 amp service.

Edit: why are you limiting total charge amperage? Do you actually charge from the grid?

Option 11 is grid charging value. Option 2 is overall charging (Solar and grid).

His grid charge value is 20a.

I understand the confusion though because of the mention of the 100a utility service.

 

[David Mc]

Sorry for the delay
My #2 setting is at 90 and #11 is at 20 because of not want to overload my 100 amp utility service
My setting #12 (back to utility) is at default of 46, is this enough voltage to start the pump. I believe my battery was at about 51 when it kicked off.
My goal here is to SBU until battery reaches 46v then go to bypass to run the loads and charge the batteries until 54 and then back to solar. Is my thinking correct?

 

[Zapper77]

Sorry for the delay
My #2 setting is at 90 and #11 is at 20 because of not want to overload my 100 amp utility service
My setting #12 (back to utility) is at default of 46, is this enough voltage to start the pump. I believe my battery was at about 51 when it kicked off.
My goal here is to SBU until battery reaches 46v then go to bypass to run the loads and charge the batteries until 54 and then back to solar. Is my thinking correct?

I wouldn't go below 50.5v if you have a heavy load that needs to start why on battery.

 

[Oldtimmer69]

Option 11 is grid charging value. Option 2 is overall charging (Solar and grid).

His grid charge value is 20a.

I understand the confusion though because of the mention of the 100a utility service.

So being i have 20 batteries can i bump my #2 setting up also? Its set to 80 now

 

[Adam De Lay]

So being i have 20 batteries can i bump my #2 setting up also? Its set to 80 now

With 4 inverters, you could set option 2 to 120. I think even when I had two batteries and two inverters, I had mine set to 100.

 

[Oldtimmer69]

With 4 inverters, you could set option 2 to 120. I think even when I had two batteries and two inverters, I had mine set to 100.

Thank you! I couldn't get them to 100% today even making 64.8kwh

 

[Gavin Stone]

Thank you! I couldn't get them to 100% today even making 64.8kwh

Each rack battery has a recommended charge rate. I can’t recall which batteries you have but it’s usually around 20-30 amps. So just multiply that by how many batteries you have. Even if it’s 20 amps then you could easily set all your charge rates to maximum.

 

[Subdood]

Follow up question on this. I have one EG4 6500 and one Lifepower4 battery. I have a comm cable between the battery and inverter, so it's closed loop comms I guess. I set the battery parameter to EG4 (setting 5), with setting 2 (total charge current) at 50A, and setting 11 (grid charge current) at 20A. I cannot change these despite trying to, so the question is, is the inverter or battery BMS forcing these settings?

Also, if I get more batts will that setting 2 change or stay at 50A? I know that the limit is 120A, so say I get one more 5kwh battery will the setting increase to 100A? Would two more cause it to max out at 120A? If you have two or three batts, and it's locked in at 50A, it'll take a long time to charge them.

Didn't have worry about that today, we we're socked in with clouds today and will be the next couple days, horrible fir power generation.

 

[Adam De Lay]

I set the battery parameter to EG4 (setting 5), with setting 2 (total charge current) at 50A, and setting 11 (grid charge current) at 20A. I cannot change these despite trying to, so the question is, is the inverter or battery BMS forcing these settings?

Yes. The in closed-loop coms, the battery controls all settings specifically related to the battery. It may look like you can change them on the inverter but it doesn’t actually save the changes. It also doesn’t update the inverter values with what the battery is using either.

Also, if I get more batts will that setting 2 change or stay at 50A? I know that the limit is 120A, so say I get one more 5kwh battery will the setting increase to 100A? Would two more cause it to max out at 120A? If you have two or three batts, and it's locked in at 50A, it'll take a long time to charge them.

The batteries will handle the max charging current.

 

[Subdood]

The batteries will handle the max charging current.

So if have two batts, it will up the total current to 100A? Since the max current for one batt is 50A, every batt will get that amount?

How's your production been this week? Ours has been abysmal, today we had steel wool cloudiness and more expected the next couple days. Can't charge squat on days like these.

 

[Adam De Lay]

So if have two batts, it will up the total current to 100A? Since the max current for one batt is 50A, every batt will get that amount?

I’m assuming the master BMS is aware of how many batteries are connected and set the charging current appropriately. I have no kidding data to back this up though, just a thought.

How's your production been this week? Ours has been abysmal, today we had steel wool cloudiness and more expected the next couple days. Can't charge squat on days like these.

Crummy. Weathers been all rain all the time…

 

[Subdood]

I’m assuming the master BMS is aware of how many batteries are connected and set the charging current appropriately. I have no kidding data to back this up though, just a thought.


Crummy. Weathers been all rain all the time…

Ok, thanks, guess I won't know until I get more batts.

You have a couple 14kwh 280Ah diy batts. So what did you set its BMS max charging current to, and was that locked in in the inverter settings? I'm talking about your 6500EX's, not your Victron system. Does it throttle down the charge current the closer it gets to being full? Mine will charge at 50A, then back off to 10A when it gets to 95%.

Was curious as to how your battery setup has been doing. About how many cycles have they been through, and have they kept up their capacity ratings?

It's funny about the clouds, today I'm getting full voltage (370V) out of the panels, despite it being a gray day, but it won't supply much power beyond a couple hundred watts. Yesterday it never got out of that 90-100V range. This month I've been averaging about 2.5KWh/day, but this week has been brutal.

With these long nights we can't get thru dusk to dawn on one battery cycle, I have to charge it off grid a bit to make it last until the sun comes up. But the sun is starting to go down a minute later and come up earlier a minute earlier every day, so eventually we will probably make it thru the night. Just need more batteries..

 

[Adam De Lay]

You have a couple 14kwh 280Ah diy batts. So what did you set its BMS max charging current to, and was that locked in in the inverter settings? I'm talking about your 6500EX's, not your Victron system. Does it throttle down the charge current the closer it gets to being full? Mine will charge at 50A, then back off to 10A when it gets to 95%.

I wana say I had the max charging current maxed out on the 6500s. I didn’t have enough solar to worry about constantly having 120a going into each battery. When no coms are used, the inverter doesn’t slow down the available current, the battery stops drawing as much current as it gets closer to matching the voltage from the charger.

 

[Subdood]

I wana say I had the max charging current maxed out on the 6500s. I didn’t have enough solar to worry about constantly having 120a going into each battery. When no coms are used, the inverter doesn’t slow down the available current, the battery stops drawing as much current as it gets closer to matching the voltage from the charger.

Can you recall the max current you saw going into your batts when you have sufficient sunlight? I guess it would've been 6KW/53V or about 115A? If your batt bank was completely depleted how long would it take to fill them back up? About 5 hours? What about now with the Victron CC's?

Since my batt BMS limits the current to 50A, that means the most the array will provide is about 2.75KW, without a load. There was one day around Thanksgiving when it was running at full charge and a 700W house load, so the array was pumping out about the rated power of 3.6KW. That was both a bit scary but also a bit awesome hearing those fans scream like that.

Was curious as to how your battery setup has been doing. About how many cycles have they been through, and have they kept up their capacity ratings?