Aims Corp 6kw 120/240 Split Phase Inverter

[JBoffgrid2022]

Hello All,
I am relatively new to the solar field and have recently installed an off grid solar system at our camp in Maine. That being said, please excuse my ignorance here as I attempt to explain my issues and/or problems. I have had many problems diagnosing issues with my inverter and the latest problem I cannot seem to figure out which is why I have turned to you all in hopes that I can fix this issue. We purchased an off grid kit from Shopsolarkits.com (Complete Off-Grid Solar Kit - 6,000 Watt 24V Split Phase [120/240V] Output + 6 x 200 Watt Solar Panels | [OGK-10]) which they no longer sell otherwise I would post a link to the kit. Here are the complete list of products included:
1 x 6000 AIMS watt pure sine inverter charger- 24 volt / Split Phase [120/240V]
1 x Quick Disconnect Switch
1 x 60 amp AIMS MPPT solar charge controller
6 x 200 ah AIMS AGM deep cycle batteries
2 x Battery temperature sensor
1 x 300 amp inline fuse kit for battery to inverter
1 x 80 amp inline fuse kit for charge controller to battery
1 x AIMS Power LCD Remote Panel

I also purchased a 12k RES Kohler off grid generator powered by LP gas that was installed by an electrician that was not entirely familiar with Kohler. (My original electrician unfortunately died of brain cancer shortly after we started the project, very sad situation). The power cables are run from the generator directly to the inverter (AC Input Side) inside of our camp. Then it runs outside to a shutoff panel that has a 30amp breaker. From there, it goes back inside to our main panel that powers everything inside the camp. This breaker has a 100amp main breaker shut off.

My problem is all related to the inverter and how it interacts with the generator. Here is the link to the AIMS inverter to reference the following: https://www.aimscorp.net/documents/PICOGLF1-6W 4821.pdf

I have looked high and low on the internet forums and have not found much information that could help. I also contacted AIMS customer service which has been a complete joke, so no help in that regard. On the inverter there are five "DIP" switches that are currently set to the follow: SW1 0, SW2 0, SW3 0, SW4 1, SW5 1. I am pretty sure my problems lie with switch 5 which is currently set to "1" or battery priority. When the battery capacity drops below 35% it will send a signal to the generator to turn on. This works perfectly and the generator continues to charge the battery and carry the load of the panel simultaneously. The problem I am having is the generator charges fast until it reaches about 70-80% capacity then it struggles for hours to try and charge above this amount. I have adjusted the "charge current control switch" to several different positions (50%-100%) to see if that helps but it seems to never reach 100% battery capacity. In the cases that it does reach 100% with the help of the solar panel input, the inverter does not send a signal to the generator to shut off. I have to shut the inverter off completely to get the generator to turn off. The manual clearly says that it should do this on its' own but I haven't seen it yet. Ideally I want the generator to automatically turn on, charge the battery bank to 100%, and shut off. That was my goal from the start and it's been super frustrating to not have this feature.

Any help or input would be greatly appreciated, THANK YOU!!

 

[Crowz]

I have that unit. It's pretty but dead again for the third and final time.

When it worked it never charged the battery right and I could never get it to work with my generator reliably. I'm about to head out for a bit but when I get back I will go thru my notes on it and see if I can find anything from my battle with it in the past that might help.

 

[JBoffgrid2022]

Thanks a million! I'm about to give up on it at this point, but before I buy a new inverter I thought I'd see there was a fix.

 

[Crowz]

Do you have another way of charging the battery?

I did and I used that charger to bring the voltage up high enough to get the thing to turn the generator off (which comes back to I never could get the inverter to charge the battery right).

Lowering the load helps too to test to see if that is the problem.

 

[JBoffgrid2022]

Other than allowing the solar panels to help it charge the battery bank to 100% no. The camp is off grid and I'm not sure if introducing another power source such as a gas powered generator/trickle charger would be safe. It sounds like the inverter isn't sending the signal to the generator. Or could it be a setting on the generator itself? I'll keep digging in that direction for now and let you know if I find anything. I'll also try to lower the load and see if that does anything. Thank you!

 

[JBoffgrid2022]

I found this thread here on the forums that may have answered one of my issues and maybe both:

Aims 6kw 48v inverter transfer from shore power to battery

I have an Aims 6kw 48v 120/240 split phase inverter. Just upgraded to lithium 280ah battery bank. I use it in battery mode, when batteries run down it transfers to shore power, no problem. The issue is when the batteries are charged back up the inverter will not transfer back to the batteries...

diysolarforum.com

 

[Crowz]

Doesn't surprise me. I hate that inverter. Still willing to help someone with one since my personal likes are not important in the matter.

If it is going to hold in that mode that long put a timer relay on it. Something that will disconnect after x amount of time when powered up and stay off for x amount of time before resetting.

Let me see if I can find something that will work for that.

 

[Crowz]

https://www.amazon.com/DROK-Automotive-Digital-Electric-Display/dp/B071XNY72Q/ref=sr_1_9?keywords=timer+relay&qid=1688501119&sr=8-9

That will handle the turning it off after x amount of time.

Get two of them and have the 2nd one control the power of the first one to keep if off for x amount of time. You may have to use a simple relay controlled by the timer relay to handle the staying off part.

 

[JBoffgrid2022]

Just got back from our camp and had no success yet again...
Battery bank/voltage dropped and the inverter sent a signal to start generator which it did just fine. Then once the bank reached 100% the inverter didn't send a signal to turn it off. I let it run for about 6 hours total. The only way it was able to reach 100% was because of the solar helping it btw, it couldn't charge the battery bank on its' own which is very puzzling due the amount of power coming from the generator. It must have to do the inverter not getting enough juice to the battery bank or it may be limiting it somehow.

 

[Vibe]

Hello All,
I am relatively new to the solar field and have recently installed an off grid solar system at our camp in Maine. That being said, please excuse my ignorance here as I attempt to explain my issues and/or problems. I have had many problems diagnosing issues with my inverter and the latest problem I cannot seem to figure out which is why I have turned to you all in hopes that I can fix this issue. We purchased an off grid kit from Shopsolarkits.com (Complete Off-Grid Solar Kit - 6,000 Watt 24V Split Phase [120/240V] Output + 6 x 200 Watt Solar Panels | [OGK-10]) which they no longer sell otherwise I would post a link to the kit. Here are the complete list of products included:
1 x 6000 AIMS watt pure sine inverter charger- 24 volt / Split Phase [120/240V]
1 x Quick Disconnect Switch
1 x 60 amp AIMS MPPT solar charge controller
6 x 200 ah AIMS AGM deep cycle batteries
2 x Battery temperature sensor
1 x 300 amp inline fuse kit for battery to inverter
1 x 80 amp inline fuse kit for charge controller to battery
1 x AIMS Power LCD Remote Panel

I also purchased a 12k RES Kohler off grid generator powered by LP gas that was installed by an electrician that was not entirely familiar with Kohler. (My original electrician unfortunately died of brain cancer shortly after we started the project, very sad situation). The power cables are run from the generator directly to the inverter (AC Input Side) inside of our camp. Then it runs outside to a shutoff panel that has a 30amp breaker. From there, it goes back inside to our main panel that powers everything inside the camp. This breaker has a 100amp main breaker shut off.

My problem is all related to the inverter and how it interacts with the generator. Here is the link to the AIMS inverter to reference the following: https://www.aimscorp.net/documents/PICOGLF1-6W 4821.pdf

I have looked high and low on the internet forums and have not found much information that could help. I also contacted AIMS customer service which has been a complete joke, so no help in that regard. On the inverter there are five "DIP" switches that are currently set to the follow: SW1 0, SW2 0, SW3 0, SW4 1, SW5 1. I am pretty sure my problems lie with switch 5 which is currently set to "1" or battery priority. When the battery capacity drops below 35% it will send a signal to the generator to turn on. This works perfectly and the generator continues to charge the battery and carry the load of the panel simultaneously. The problem I am having is the generator charges fast until it reaches about 70-80% capacity then it struggles for hours to try and charge above this amount. I have adjusted the "charge current control switch" to several different positions (50%-100%) to see if that helps but it seems to never reach 100% battery capacity. In the cases that it does reach 100% with the help of the solar panel input, the inverter does not send a signal to the generator to shut off. I have to shut the inverter off completely to get the generator to turn off. The manual clearly says that it should do this on its' own but I haven't seen it yet. Ideally I want the generator to automatically turn on, charge the battery bank to 100%, and shut off. That was my goal from the start and it's been super frustrating to not have this feature.

Any help or input would be greatly appreciated, THANK YOU!!

The charging profile is determined by the battery type selector rotary switch on the top, 0-9. 0 is charger off, 1-8 are various types of lead acid, 9 is for lithium. Each of these have different charge/float profiles.
The gen start is just a normally open contact closure that, when in battery priority mode, closes on low battery alarm. It will open when the selected charge cycle is complete. Which may not be happening with your setting. Personally, I'm using an EG4 Chargeverter for battery charging. So with charging off on the inverter, I'm hoping to be able to use that generator contact for a separate contactor with more circuits.