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EG4 18kPV Q+A general thread

Quattrohead said:
Did you format the stick with the exact DOS commands ?
I put the folder and a set of the files in the root of the drive too.
Did you disconnect all power, PV, battery and grid ?
Click to expand...
Didn't use DOS commands. Formatted with both pc's.
Thought about partitioning to a smaller size.
Think I'll run by Wally after my dentist appointment this morning and see if they have a 16 or 8 on the shelf.
Disconnected the solar as well. Tried strictly from the batteries with a 3 minute off time to ensure capacitors bled off.
 
Wes975 said:
Good morning DIY people!

I seem to be having an issue with the LCD update on the 18kpv that I could use some assistance with.
I'm formatting my usb stick to fat32.
I've extracted the files on two different pc's.
Loaded the folder DWIN_SET on the stick, rebooted the AIO and it walks past the update.
I've loaded the files from the folder on the stick, rebooted the AIO and it walks past the update.
The LED on the stick lights up when inserted, so that is a good sign.
I also watched Gavin's video and Zapper77's video and this should be stupid simple. It's not my first rodeo updating a device from usb.
The only think I can think of is that system doesn't support 32gig sticks (smallest I own).

Thoughts?
Click to expand...
The usb must be 16gb or less…
 
Quattrohead said:
Well it was a question I had too because I was trying to get a Felicity solar batteries to communicate with it and could not no matter which one I tried, and of course every time you set the battery you have to go through a power cycle which is quite annoying. Try doing all this in a 95° garage and you will have questions too.
Click to expand...
Screenshot 2023-08-04 105439.png
 
ChillnGrill said:
Is the wifi dongle not included with the 18kpv
Click to expand...
It is included and if you are asking because it lists "optional" underneath it I also sent email to Signature Solar that that is confusing because people might think it is not included simply using the term "optional" under the picture of "what is included".
 
Watts Happening said:
Update: Installed inverter last week and hit a dead end with user registration. Gilbert reached out to me with what appears to be an incorrect registration code. Then Travis from Signature Solar messaged with another code and asked for my contact info, to which I immediately responded. Within an hour I received an email from Sean:

View attachment 159142

To which I quickly responded minutes later with all pertinent information.

And here we are Monday and I've heard absolutely nothing back from anyone.

I'm REALLY trying to remain positive, and not bash anyone here, but seriously guys, this is testing my limits quickly. Spending many thousands of dollars on a piece of equipment to then have zero ability to use it with something as basic as user registration. Then to be told "they will do it for me", which absolutely should not be required in any way, and to not hear back for days on end to the point that I use a forum to hopefully get a response??

I've literally had MORE communication from members reaching out to me via private messages than I have from the company, I'm really beginning to feel like taking a chance and saving a bit of money on the EG4 was a mistake over a Sol-Ark at this point. Saving money sounds great, but at some point you have to question these things.
Click to expand...
I had exactly the same issue. I was able to install the inverter, only to find out that it doesn't work with EG4 LiFePo4 batteries unless you update the firmware or dish out more money for the ugly communication hub. Signature Solar really failed in communicating any of this information. The 18K inverter itself is awesome!! but the WiFi setup is horrible, I can't even get the dongle to broadcast a hotspot, it's completely broken. I called Signature Solar tech support and they said they would create an account for me !? How does creating an account on the backend resolve a faulty hardware device !? It would great to hear from the company as to what specific steps they are taking to resolve the horrible customer experience.
 
There is a lot that you learn after you purchase one. Nice unit but needs a lot of messing with and internet is practically mandatory.
 
femacklin said:
I had exactly the same issue. I was able to install the inverter, only to find out that it doesn't work with EG4 LiFePo4 batteries unless you update the firmware or dish out more money for the ugly communication hub. Signature Solar really failed in communicating any of this information. The 18K inverter itself is awesome!! but the WiFi setup is horrible, I can't even get the dongle to broadcast a hotspot, it's completely broken. I called Signature Solar tech support and they said they would create an account for me !? How does creating an account on the backend resolve a faulty hardware device !? It would great to hear from the company as to what specific steps they are taking to resolve the horrible customer experience.
Click to expand...
they must not have gotten the point, will push for review
 
ChillnGrill said:
Well if it needs to be plug in on the side, mine did not come with one.
Click to expand...
The manual shows picture of everything that is included and the wifi dongle comes in a small white box alone. I believe it was right on the very top by itself on top of the foam. Unless you opened the box upside down in which case you might have missed it?
 
Mine came inside the main box of the inverter. It is a small white box that only holds the dongle with a number on a white sticker posted on the side with the s.n./ pin no. / and a scan logo. Instructions in manual as well as watching a few you tube videos before I bothered. After the second try all 3 lights came on. I've never had to reset it at all. I can turn off my Wi-Fi in the house or on and it reconnects on its own. The hardest part for me was getting my setting right in my home Wi-Fi box for communications. Unless you have those setting right you will not get the 3 lights to come on.
 
Hello all. I'm reaching out to see if anyone can help with a few things. I've talked to both SS as well as a tech from EG4. Both have remoted into my unit with no luck. I'm not sure who the tech was at SS.

I have the 18K with 6 Lifepower4 and 2 LLv2. LLv2 are #0&1 in the stack and the rest taking up 2-7. Inverter is not whole house, only running some loads currently. Mainly both AC's and some 20a circuits covering fridges and freezers for now. I have just under 11k of panels that on a good day produce right at 50Kwh of power ( at least it did yesterday) and that is enough to run what is connected as well as charge the bank to full. The latest firmware has been applied to both the inverter as well as the Lifepower4 batteries.

Currently my issue is that If I turn on the Grid connection, everything runs off the grid and uses none of the solar or batteries. I've tried several different settings including turning everything to disable. I was told at first from the tech at EG4 that the solar should pick up the loads after 5-7 minutes, no luck. At the moment my work around is to manually turn the grid on as the sun is going down to get the house down to the temp we want ( roughly hours ) and then turn off the ac's, cut the grid to get everything back to solar and then turn the ac's back on so the batteries are used at night to cool the house.

To my understanding, this inverter should be able to run the loads from Solar first, Battery second and if those are not sufficient the Grid would kick in and take over the rest of the night until solar started to come back in the morning. Any help with this would be appreciated.

Can I live with manually turning on and off the Grid, sure. Would I like it to function as advertised, would be great.

Other than this issue, this inverter is on a completely different lever from the 6500's.


As far as the Wifi dongle, it is in a small white box on its own. I would have missed mine if I wouldn't have taken everything out of the box.
 
rhino said:
This sounds similar to what @rmacgurn was having https://diysolarforum.com/threads/eg4-18kpv-q-a-general-thread.61636/post-834385
and I lost what solution there was if there was one.
Click to expand...
I would say yes but mine doesn't use Solar or Battery at all if the grid is activated. Once the Grid is turned on, I can hear the transfer switches kick in and from then on the only thing the Solar will do is charge the batteries. Nothing is powered from Solar or Battery once that happens.

In other words, I shut everything down. Turn on the batteries one at a time, kick in the PV, turn on the Grid and then turn on the inverter. Everything runs off of Grid no matter what settings I turn on or off. The only way I can get anything to run off Solar or Battery is to shut down, restart without turning on the Grid supply breaker and good to go until the batteries are dead ( or close to it).
 
Beetle Bailey said:
Hello all. I'm reaching out to see if anyone can help with a few things. I've talked to both SS as well as a tech from EG4. Both have remoted into my unit with no luck. I'm not sure who the tech was at SS.

I have the 18K with 6 Lifepower4 and 2 LLv2. LLv2 are #0&1 in the stack and the rest taking up 2-7. Inverter is not whole house, only running some loads currently. Mainly both AC's and some 20a circuits covering fridges and freezers for now. I have just under 11k of panels that on a good day produce right at 50Kwh of power ( at least it did yesterday) and that is enough to run what is connected as well as charge the bank to full. The latest firmware has been applied to both the inverter as well as the Lifepower4 batteries.

Currently my issue is that If I turn on the Grid connection, everything runs off the grid and uses none of the solar or batteries. I've tried several different settings including turning everything to disable. I was told at first from the tech at EG4 that the solar should pick up the loads after 5-7 minutes, no luck. At the moment my work around is to manually turn the grid on as the sun is going down to get the house down to the temp we want ( roughly hours ) and then turn off the ac's, cut the grid to get everything back to solar and then turn the ac's back on so the batteries are used at night to cool the house.

To my understanding, this inverter should be able to run the loads from Solar first, Battery second and if those are not sufficient the Grid would kick in and take over the rest of the night until solar started to come back in the morning. Any help with this would be appreciated.

Can I live with manually turning on and off the Grid, sure. Would I like it to function as advertised, would be great.

Other than this issue, this inverter is on a completely different lever from the 6500's.


As far as the Wifi dongle, it is in a small white box on its own. I would have missed mine if I wouldn't have taken everything out of the box.
Click to expand...
What firmware version is your 18kpv running?

Can you share your settings? Use the website to share is the easiest to get them all on one screen.
 
Beetle Bailey said:
Firmware was updated yesterday to FAAB-1110.



View attachment 161220
View attachment 161221
Click to expand...
Looks good.
Have you tried clicking the restart inverter?

Off topic...if you have your 18kpv always grid connected...you should enable AC charge, Use SOC, Set % 3-5 above on grid cutoff. 1691261285820.png

Inverter typically picks up the load using Solar and Batteries automatically.
Occasionally I've seen a 5 minute delay, but I haven't noticed that in a while.

Can you share the main LCD display and battery status screen?
 
Zapper77 said:
Looks good.
Have you tried clicking the restart inverter?

Off topic...if you have your 18kpv always grid connected...you should enable AC charge, Use SOC, Set % 3-5 above on grid cutoff. View attachment 161229

Inverter typically picks up the load using Solar and Batteries automatically.
Occasionally I've seen a 5 minute delay, but I haven't noticed that in a while.

Can you share the main LCD display and battery status screen?
Click to expand...
I have. I’ve also done a complete shutdown and restart .image.jpgimage.jpg
 
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