EG4 Communications Hub (Best Practice)

I have 2x racks of 6x EG4 LifePower4 batteries, I'm using the Communications Hub and I'm wondering if there is a preference for connecting the batteries to the Hub.

For example: the manual for the Hub says that each RS485 port 1&2 can handle 15 batteries. Since the batteries, 6 each are in different racks, rather than link the racks together via ethernet cable and then a single cable to the Hub RS485-1, would it be better to use each of the RS485 ports, one for each of the 6 battery racks?

I realize in the future if I added more batteries I would need to adjust the config, but is there any benefit to using both ports versus daisy chaining all the batteries together between racks to use a single port on the Hub?

This is a good question, did you get an answer?

MaikaiLifeDIY said:

I have 2x racks of 6x EG4 LifePower4 batteries, I'm using the Communications Hub and I'm wondering if there is a preference for connecting the batteries to the Hub.

For example: the manual for the Hub says that each RS485 port 1&2 can handle 15 batteries. Since the batteries, 6 each are in different racks, rather than link the racks together via ethernet cable and then a single cable to the Hub RS485-1, would it be better to use each of the RS485 ports, one for each of the 6 battery racks?

I realize in the future if I added more batteries I would need to adjust the config, but is there any benefit to using both ports versus daisy chaining all the batteries together between racks to use a single port on the Hub?

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No difference

No difference how you wire it you will run into issues. EG4 did not officially get in closed loop with sol-ark, and sol-ark won't support it because they never accomplished this. They made it look as if they went through all the protocol, but you will have issues. You don't have to take it out of closed loop but look at your voltages and see if they match the voltages they would want you to put in if you were adding the battery manually in open loop. They probably wont match up and be pretty far off. Ive tested this multiple times and it is not consistent.

armondoslaughter@gmail said:

No difference how you wire it you will run into issues. EG4 did not officially get in closed loop with sol-ark, and sol-ark won't support it because they never accomplished this. They made it look as if they went through all the protocol, but you will have issues. You don't have to take it out of closed loop but look at your voltages and see if they match the voltages they would want you to put in if you were adding the battery manually in open loop. They probably wont match up and be pretty far off. Ive tested this multiple times and it is not consistent.

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I’m not quite following, are you saying the voltage values for absorb/equalization/float that the Sol-Ark receives in closed loop from the EG4 Comm hub don’t match whatever the the stated preferred voltages are for the EG4 batteries?

armondoslaughter@gmail said:

No difference how you wire it you will run into issues. EG4 did not officially get in closed loop with sol-ark, and sol-ark won't support it because they never accomplished this. They made it look as if they went through all the protocol, but you will have issues. You don't have to take it out of closed loop but look at your voltages and see if they match the voltages they would want you to put in if you were adding the battery manually in open loop. They probably wont match up and be pretty far off. Ive tested this multiple times and it is not consistent.

Click to expand...

Once again we run into this fun issue of: the firmware changes the voltages for the battery (bulk, absorb, and float) but SS and EG4 still fail to update the actual PDF documentation OR update their staff on the new recommendations. This is why you see a discrepency between the published voltage settings, and those obtained via closed loop communications. (and why people get told different voltages when they call in for support)

I'm not sure why SS and EG4 refuse to update the documentation, and instead allow their customers to have endless hours of frustration and who knows how many support tickets/RMAs because someone won't take an hour to update the official documentation and email the staff with the new recommendations.

That said, I'd take the voltages defined in firmware FAR more seriously than the documentation. The documentation is severaly out of date at this point, and was likely written by someone who isn't in engineering. The firmware however, would have been updated by someone in engineering (or at least a developer who has been given directives FROM engineering.)


Use BMS Test to get the latest info directly from the battery after a firmware update, and then set the comms hub to duplicate those settings. (be aware, the batteries don't automatically adjust the voltage setting on the hub. That is something you set yourself. The voltage settings on the hub, are what the inverter gets via closed loop communications.)

At this point, I honestly think SS and EG4 would be better off just removing the documentation link from their website. LOL. I honestly cannot fathom how this is still an issue after many many weeks, and issues posted in forum alone, not to mention any calls their tech support team has had to field.

@Markus_EG4 tagging once again for the documentation issue.

there are 2 different firmwares that change the battery voltage. 1 was your normal 58.7v. The other was 56.8v. The 56.8v was for the 6500 and 6k to work better in close loop because the voltronic engineers couldn’t figure out how to actually fix the problem so the battery engineers did it that way.

So updating the manual would be very difficult because of the previous firmware for the voltronic inverters.

I’m all ears and open for suggestions on this.

@Markus_EG4 Is there any reason a simple table wouldn't work that includes inverter manufacturer (or potentially adding the model, if a specific brand has multiple settings that are needed across their various offerings) the suggested firmware version, and officially recommended voltages? I assume that by having your battery engineering team make recommendations for specific product issues, these would be "known" and relatively simple to add into a table, no? You can see that in the first 2, I've included actual differences I'm already aware of.

I have the EG4 Hub and each time I connect it to batteries and inverter I get battery not connected error.

neuropa3 said:

I have the EG4 Hub and each time I connect it to batteries and inverter I get battery not connected error.

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Do you have the first battery DIP set to 1? The hub requires that whereas connecting to EG4 systems requires setting it to 0.

wildbillpdx said:

Do you have the first battery DIP set to 1? The hub requires that whereas connecting to EG4 systems requires setting it to 0.

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yep batteries set as instructions, I have 4 EG4 Lifepower4 48 v and 2 GroWatt 5000 es inverters. I spent an hour with Sig Solar and the tech said it was designed for more batteries. That makes no sense to me if will work with 6 why not 4?

neuropa3 said:

yep batteries set as instructions, I have 4 EG4 Lifepower4 48 v and 2 GroWatt 5000 es inverters. I spent an hour with Sig Solar and the tech said it was designed for more batteries. That makes no sense to me if will work with 6 why not 4?

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No idea, it works fine with 4 batteries.

neuropa3 said:

yep batteries set as instructions, I have 4 EG4 Lifepower4 48 v and 2 GroWatt 5000 es inverters. I spent an hour with Sig Solar and the tech said it was designed for more batteries. That makes no sense to me if will work with 6 why not 4?

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Mine works with 3 but with an EG4 6000ex. Did you change the baud rate as per instructions?

I have (4) Eg4 Lifepower 4 48v batteries, adding another one soon.

They work flawlessly right now on the USE settings on the 6500EX, I may be upgrading to the 6000XP soon.

Is there any real benefit to the communications hub if everything is working fine? its only $108 if I will need it at some point, but Id rather not spend the $$ if not. Hard to tell, since it says that it works with Eg4 Inverters, whether it is *needed* for anything

Thanks!

BajaOffGrid said:

I have (4) Eg4 Lifepower 4 48v batteries, adding another one soon.

They work flawlessly right now on the USE settings on the 6500EX, I may be upgrading to the 6000XP soon.

Is there any real benefit to the communications hub if everything is working fine? its only $108 if I will need it at some point, but Id rather not spend the $$ if not. Hard to tell, since it says that it works with Eg4 Inverters, whether it is *needed* for anything

Thanks!

Click to expand...

The comms hub is *not* required. the Lifepower4's will talk directly to the 18pk. I will say though, the hub is kinda nice to have.

Buy the hub...

Why?

Because

Zapper77 said:

Buy the hub...

Why?

Because

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Thanks! Im not sure ill set up solar assistant although it is cool... In your opinion whats the main benefit (s) of the communication based charging vs just USE settings? I'm currently at 57.5 with no issues... the seem balanced, i get all (4) green lights on all batteries uniformly, everythings working great, etc. Thanks!

BajaOffGrid said:

Thanks! Im not sure ill set up solar assistant although it is cool... In your opinion whats the main benefit (s) of the communication based charging vs just USE settings? I'm currently at 57.5 with no issues... the seem balanced, i get all (4) green lights on all batteries uniformly, everythings working great, etc. Thanks!

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Just a SOC vs Voltage.

Zapper77 said:

Just a SOC vs Voltage.

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For that I am using a victron smart shunt... Works really well...

I have solark 15k and comm hub in closed loop on CAN. Had to tweak a few settings