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Yea Big Battery's QA isn't great. I have purchased 8 units (2 Max 2s and 6 regular hawks) and 1 was defective out of the box and had to be returned full stop. Another one has a bad volt meter LED display and I am one week into the support process. With just one email reply back so far...

"Battery panel and switch were dark." Get an RMA to return this unit.

Don't you need a balancer to run them in series? AFAIK big battery has very quietly STOPPED recommending the 24v units be run in series and removed it from their website w/o a word.

Not sure what part wasn't clear. This is a massive parallel system - NOTHING is in series. And yes I am familiar with doubling voltage vs amps (aka series vs parallel)

Well shit. Looking at the manual the probes on this one don't do amps. User error on the multi-meter I guess. I need to get another one that does and test that way to confirm though. Thanks for your time man. Seriously, I would have never realized this.

If I get some time this weekend, I'll try to re-run these tests in full sun as the problem seems to occur with power trying to flow higher than ~6 or 7 amps with the original branch connectors but seemingly I couldn't achieve that today with the sun being out of ideal range.

Finally, I un-looped the bouge branch connectors and did a probe test with both plugged in to the branch outputs (cloud moved a bit here). 6.43 amps combined.

Next up the loop / clamp test with bouge RV branch connectors. A cloud came and directly blocked the sun here. .78 amps left, .81 amps right, 1.60 amps both

Same open circuit test on right panel with probes directly (no branch connectors) 5.48 amps

Open circuit test on left panel only with probes directly (no branch connector) 6.75 amps. These photos are being posted in the order taken. Which was as quickly as possible right after another.

Next up the same test but with the linkpal branch connectors. 1.04 amps left, 1.54 amps right, 2.68 amps combined. Variance expected a bit because some moving clouds / not 100% clear day.

Ok so these tests were run later in the day then when I get full sun (down in this valley) but here are some results. Ignore the color of the wires as the trina panels have black wires coming out both positive an negative. The red one is read because it is cable to extend out to the branch...

Amazon delivered the new branch connectors after sundown last night. When I get back from lunch meeting, I plan to run your loop / shorted tests with the clamp meters and different branch connectors. In theory that should tell me which if any of the branch connectors are the issue. Then...

Yea it is blowing my mind! When I swapped out the branch connectors and got the same results, I decided to make this post. I'm now starting to think my volt meter might be bad?

Yes, there are 12x 400w Trina panels in 6 strings (2 panels per string) down to a aims combiner box. I've checked each panel directly (as seen above in the photos) and after the branch connector individually and together. The readings after the branch connector are virtually the same for a...

The entire system is wired up in parallel if that makes any difference. Also, I flipped the DC breaker in the combiner box off BEFORE disconnecting or reconnecting this string.

When using the clamp meters, the system was fully connected / under load to charge the system - yes I confirmed the CC is pulling power in. When using the probes of course this can't be the case as the probes are directly into the panel MC4 connectors or branch connectors.

For the tests, the right panel was on the 'top' part of the branch connector when plugged in and the left one was on the 'bottom' part when plugged in. Results repeat with replacment branch connector (renogy). Sounds like both connectors are toast. I have new ones coming in tomorrow to test.

Right panel clamp reading, 0.07 amps. This is fully connected to the branch connectors and down to the combiner box to the charge controller. Note the other posts are NOT connected to anything.

Left panel clamp reading, 0.11 amps. This is fully connected to the branch connectors and down to the combiner box to the charge controller. Note the other posts are NOT connected to anything.

reading from BOTH panels from branch connector - direct probes 40 volts / 5.4 amps

reading from 2nd / left panel - direct probes no branch 43 volts / 5.5 amps

Sorry for the bad camera work, hard to hold the probs, meter, and camera without falling. reading from first / right panel - direct probes no branch 43 volts / 5.68 amps

Yes, I've tested with both branch connector sets. Made sure the MC4 connections were snug on the cable and into the branch connectors. I guess it is possible both sets of branch connectors are bad. That is why I am trying a different brand name. Nothing against renogy, they've been mostly...

I do have a clamp on meter but in this case I'm using the probes. I have tried to measure after the branch with just one, just the other one, and with both = get same results. I also tried swapping out the branch connector for another renogy connector (same model) and have the same problem...

I've got the renogy branch connectors and I was doing some testing today on my trina solar panels. They both show 42 volts (yes wired in correct fashion, not backwards) and about 6.2 amps - when testing at the factory wires individually. However, when I hook them up in paralell thru the renogy...

And now BB says the 24v hawks are "Series: Not Series Capable " ???? https://bigbattery.com/products/24v-hawk/

Did you contact BB? What did they say? I ask because I know they advertise these in a 48v pack w/o a balancer.

Yes, I'm currently on 24v. So started with 2 in parallel then 4, now 6. The thought was that I'd either max out at 8 @ 24v or I could always reconfigure to be 2S4P @ 48v.

Not sure what you mean. The BMSes manage the internal charging/ balancing in each unit. My units almost always read the same volts on the display if that is what you are asking.

So units 5 and 6 came in. And have orange handles? Also a new QR code sticker and a new info sticker on the side. I now have 26.1 kWh total.

Checking back in to say that the replacement renogy CC and Big Battery Hawk have both been 100% rock solid. I just placed an order for 2 more of the hawks (which would give me 6 total). I'll be sure to report in if there are any problems getting the 2 new ones added in. I would eventually...

Did anyone ever hear back from the new commenter? I couldn't find a unit with that size (in wh or ah) on their site. I also couldn't find the comment on youtube when I went to look this morning. I'd like to know more about this as I have 4 of the hawks (on their backs) and was looking to...

We live in an imperfect world. I expect to pay premium prices for 100% QA. On the other end, I simply ask that vendors honor their warrenty when things slip thru. I think BB did that here for me. Renogy did too but just was a bit more of a hassle. That being said, I've found value in both...

Checking back in to say that I received the replacement (or repaired?) 24v Hawk unit today. It was packaged the same as the rest and the volt meter appears to work properly / match the other units. On the whole the RMA process was fairly easy. BigBattery got the replacement unit to me in about...