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6 EG4 rack batteries SOC issue

EL34xyz

EL34xyz

New Member
Joined
Mar 27, 2023
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38
Location
NC, USA
I have a Sol-Ark 15k and 6 - EG4 rack batteries.
I also have 6 - 400 watt Bi-Facial solar panels that charge during the day

I have the Sol-Ark setup so that it only charges from the grid between 1am and 6am
That's the cheapest rate for Duke power on the flex program

My system has been running for 4 months
I noticed that the fully charged SOC of the system has gone down from 100% to 91% as of today
I had a look at the BMS test program and I see Pack #2 is at 59% and the other 5 packs are around 87% to 94%

I am a little curious why pack 2 is so different than the other 5
To get them all back to 100% SOC is it as easy as just turning off 5 of them and charging one pack at a time?
Thanks
I attached a few screen shots
 

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EL34xyz said:
I have a Sol-Ark 15k and 6 - EG4 rack batteries.
I also have 6 - 400 watt Bi-Facial solar panels that charge during the day

I have the Sol-Ark setup so that it only charges from the grid between 1am and 6am
That's the cheapest rate for Duke power on the flex program

My system has been running for 4 months
I noticed that the fully charged SOC of the system has gone down from 100% to 91% as of today
I had a look at the BMS test program and I see Pack #2 is at 59% and the other 5 packs are around 87% to 94%

I am a little curious why pack 2 is so different than the other 5
To get them all back to 100% SOC is it as easy as just turning off 5 of them and charging one pack at a time?
Thanks
I attached a few screen shots
Click to expand...
What voltage are you using for bulk?
 
You should be charging at 120 amps, @ 56.2v. That should get you above 53.1v resting voltage. Once you get to full charge, the BMS should reset and report a better SOC.
 
The Sol-Ark has 240 vac coming in from a sub panel
It powers my shop 24-7
It charges during the day via solar
And at 1am-6am via the grid

Not sure about the bulk question?

The graph below is a typical day for the Sol-Ark
At 1am it is allowed to charge from the grid
It usually only needs an hour or so to Top off the batteries if the solar was good that day
In the graph below it was charging at over 4000 watts starting at 1am
Not sure if that answers the questions above?
 

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EL34xyz said:
The Sol-Ark has 240 vac coming in from a sub panel
It powers my shop 24-7
It charges during the day via solar
And at 1am-6am via the grid

Not sure about the bulk question?

The graph below is a typical day for the Sol-Ark
At 1am it is allowed to charge from the grid
It usually only needs an hour or so to Top off the batteries if the solar was good that day
In the graph below it was charging at over 4000 watts starting at 1am
Not sure if that answers the questions above?
Click to expand...
Unfortunately no, I'm specifically looking for the peak battery voltage.
 
EL34xyz said:
The Sol-Ark has 240 vac coming in from a sub panel
It powers my shop 24-7
It charges during the day via solar
And at 1am-6am via the grid

Not sure about the bulk question?

The graph below is a typical day for the Sol-Ark
At 1am it is allowed to charge from the grid
It usually only needs an hour or so to Top off the batteries if the solar was good that day
In the graph below it was charging at over 4000 watts starting at 1am
Not sure if that answers the questions above?
Click to expand...
Look in the Communication Hub for the charge voltage setting.
 
This doesn’t necessarily apply to your situation. But if you aren’t using the communication hub for the lifepower batteries already, then there is a firmware update for them that helps with balancing.
 
Oh. And there I see the communication hub. Right in the first picture. ?

Anyway, for anyone else reading, if you don’t have a communication hub it’s worth updating your lifepower 4 firmware.
 
Gavin Stone said:
Oh. And there I see the communication hub. Right in the first picture. ?

Anyway, for anyone else reading, if you don’t have a communication hub it’s worth updating your lifepower 4 firmware.
Click to expand...
I'll add if the batteries don't reach 56.5v, the SOC tends to deviate, after a few weeks.

As time goes on I've found that resting voltage can be a better indicator of SOC...unless your batteries are able to hit 56.5v, don't rely on the SOC.
 
Update battery FW and or temporarily charge battery pack to 57.5V. BMS will reset to 100% in the batteries.
 
jyoung1 said:
Update battery FW and or temporarily charge battery pack to 57.5V. BMS will reset to 100% in the batteries.
Click to expand...

Thanks, not sure where I set that?
I had Signature Solar go over everything and set it up
I have a ticket into them as of 3 days ago
Waiting for them to reply

I will check and see if there is a new firmware for the communication hub
 
DIYrich said:
You should be charging at 120 amps, @ 56.2v. That should get you above 53.1v resting voltage. Once you get to full charge, the BMS should reset and report a better SOC.
Click to expand...
It's worth noting that the latest firmware for the lifepower4 batteries changed to 57.1 for bulk/absorb/float voltages.

My lifepower4 stack never showed 100%, until I did that firmware update. then boom! 100%
 
n2aws said:
It's worth noting that the latest firmware for the lifepower4 batteries changed to 57.1 for bulk/absorb/float voltages.

My lifepower4 stack never showed 100%, until I did that firmware update. then boom! 100%
Click to expand...
Where did you find this 57.1? The changelog that I downloaded with the firmware states:

1692926341444.png
 
Zapper77 said:
Click to expand...
(I have a Sol-Ark 15k)
Info is in post #1

I just checked my communications hub
It is version 1.5, so it is out of date
I went to Signature Solar to see if they has a download section, but I could not find anything

I found the firmware section at EG4
I'll give the upgrade a go and see what happens
 
Last edited:
EL34xyz said:
(I have a Sol-Ark 15k)
Info is in post #1

I just checked my communications hub
It is version 1.5, so it is out of date
I went to Signature Solar to see if they has a download section, but I could not find anything

I found the firmware section at EG4, but don't see anything for the communication hub?
Where is the firmware download?
Click to expand...

It's towards the bottom..past inverters, under the mini splits.


Screenshot_20230825_135026_Edge.jpg
 
Before updated the EG4 communications hub, my version was 1.5
After the firmware update, it shows as 1.10
This seems weird that the versions would go down?

I see in Zapper's video, he got the same results
He went from 1.6 to 1.10
So, was my previous version actually 1.05

Just curious about these firmware version numbers?
 
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