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Anybody had trouble uploading new EG4 LL V1 firmware?

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JFKS

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Has anyone had trouble uploading the new firmware to EG4 LL V1 batteries?

I've been trying to upgrade my V1 batteries in order to run them closed-loop via a V2 battery with my Schneider XW Pro. I'm able to monitor the batteries just fine using the BMS Tools program and the USB/RS485 adapter supplied with the batteries by Signature Solar. However, I'm getting "Update failed, check BMS connection..." errors when I use the PC Updater 9600 tool to update the firmware. Evidently the updater tool is not communicating with the battery. Battery address is set to 0000, same symptoms using multiple computers and multiple com ports, etc. I'm baffled...

I've got an email support request into Signature Solar on it but no answer back yet. Has anyone else run into this problem and if so what did you do to overcome it?

Thanks...
 
JCSchwarb said:
I thought master on this model was all up (4 1’s) not all down (all 0’s)
Click to expand...
It depends on which manual you read..... I pointed out to them nearly a year ago that their literature had contradictory information regarding dip switch settings and they should be corrected in an effort to avoid confusion for the end user.
 
your LL master Dips should all be set to up and on the LifePower4 the master is set to all down. Give that a swirl and LMK.
 
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Just now set the dip switches all up (previous attempts were all switches down), cycled the power and gave it another try. No joy--same symptoms as before.

Definitely acts like a comm failure. What USB serial-to-RS485 cable have you all been using successfully? Maybe the one that Sig Solar provides for BMS Tools battery monitor is good for read-only?

John

EG4 LL V1 firmware update failure.png
 
Have you tried different Ethernet ports? The LLs have a few choices. I will do some testing , but I have Lifepower4s so will see if we can duplicate the error.
 
Hey, guys... I was able to get Signature Solar's tech support on the phone today and Daniel put me back on the straight and narrow in short order. Turns out that the USB-RS485 cable supplied with the EG4 batteries work for monitoring the batteries, but -not- for upgrading firmware.
To summarize the conversation for anybody else who has been stumbling through it:

- Don't try to use the cable that was provided by SS for battery monitoring. He recommended this one from Amazon for firmware upgrades.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B076WVFXN8/ref=cm_sw_r_apa_i_PVR1TB46BH86D269JFVK_0?th=1

- Use the "Sol-Ark and EG4-LL Lithium Batteries" you-tube video as your guide for completing fabrication of the cable and for the rest of the firmware upgrade process.

- For the EG4 LL V1 battery firmware update, all dip switches should be in the down position, and the BMS turned on after the switches are in position so the new address is in effect.

- Make sure the battery is not supplying power (or presumably charging) during the update. He didn't mention whether the battery's breaker actually needs to be turned on or not.

- If you still run into problems, try resetting the battery BMS using the recessed front-panel reset button.

I've got a cable on order and will let you all know if/how it works after it shows up. Meanwhile, thanks for the suggestions...

John
 
Just a quick update... I received the recommended USB-RS485 adapter and gave it a try. I was able to update all my EG4LL V1's to the new software without any problem at all.

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get the EG4 V2 battery to talk to the XW Pro inverter so am stalled out again at the moment. Back to tech support...
 
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JFKS said:
Just a quick update... I received the recommended USB-RS485 adapter and gave it a try. I was able to update all my EG4LL V1's to the new software without any problem at all.

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get the EG4 V2 battery to talk to the XW Pro inverter so am stalled out again at the moment. Back to tech support...
Click to expand...
Hi,
I am in the same situation as you. Im not able to create the communication between eg4-LL V2 batteries and the Insight Home. Please, post any feedback you receive form SS tech support.
 
JFKS said:
Just a quick update... I received the recommended USB-RS485 adapter and gave it a try. I was able to update all my EG4LL V1's to the new software without any problem at all.

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get the EG4 V2 battery to talk to the XW Pro inverter so am stalled out again at the moment. Back to tech support...
Click to expand...
Could you post the pin setup for the cat 5 wires on the adapter?

*edit*
nevermind i missed it somehow in the install video. orange pin 1, orange strip pin 2 with all dip switches down position to flash eg4-ll batteries
 
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Sorry for the delay, haven't been checking the forum regularly...

No progress yet on getting the XW Pro to talk to the EG4 LL V2 battery. My symptoms are that when I tell the XW Pro to "Detect" devices on the RS485 port of the Insight Home gateway it comes back with "0 Devices Detected" or something to that effect. I reviewed my whole cabling and process with Sig Solar tech support on the phone and they found nothing wrong with it. On their request I sent them a video of the whole works a few days ago for their review and haven't heard back from them yet.

I put a scope across the RS485 terminals and can see the gateway polling but never see a response back from the battery. If I learn anything more I'll post it here. Meanwhile, the system (combination of the XW Pro, three EG4 LL's, MPPT80 charger, and solar panels) is working great open loop, I'm just missing the greater control and flexibility (and peace of mind) that would come with closed loop operation.

Buttabean: Your cable description matches EG4's video for EG4LL comm with an XW Pro, with the other end of orange going to pin 9 of the gateway connector and the other end of orange/white to pin 11. However, comm with XW Pro supposedly requires the "top" (least significant bit) dip switch up (away from you) and the lower three down (towards you) to get a master battery address of 0001. He got it to work in the video, but I haven't been able to get it to work myself.

I haven't tried (or needed) to re-flash EG4 LL V2 batteries. I know you need an entirely different cable to re-flash EG4 LL V1 batteries though.
 
JFKS said:
Just a quick update... I received the recommended USB-RS485 adapter and gave it a try. I was able to update all my EG4LL V1's to the new software without any problem at all.

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get the EG4 V2 battery to talk to the XW Pro inverter so am stalled out again at the moment. Back to tech support...
Click to expand...
@JFKS see this post
diysolarforum.com

EG4-LL (V2) Integration with Schneider Insight Home

Hello, Has anyone managed to make the connection between the EG4-LL (V2) batteries and the Schneider insight home? I am not able to detect the BMS in the insight home if I put the dip switch on the battery in position 1 (Master). But, if I put the dip switch to position 2, I can detect and add...
diysolarforum.com diysolarforum.com
 
Thanks, Scat. I think I'll abandon this particular thread since it started out as an "uploading new EG4 V1 firmware" problem and has now morphed into a "XW Pro can't detect EG4 V2 batteries" problem. The thread you suggested is definitely just what I'm facing now.

As a quick update while I'm here, on Sig Solar's request I provided video clips of the cable I'm using and every step of the battery discovery process to them. They didn't see any problems with either, and evidently now suspect a faulty Insight Home. Progess unfortunately remains very slow.

John
 
JFKS said:
Just a quick update... I received the recommended USB-RS485 adapter and gave it a try. I was able to update all my EG4LL V1's to the new software without any problem at all.

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get the EG4 V2 battery to talk to the XW Pro inverter so am stalled out again at the moment. Back to tech support...
Click to expand...
I'm having the exact same problem
JFKS said:
Just a quick update... I received the recommended USB-RS485 adapter and gave it a try. I was able to update all my EG4LL V1's to the new software without any problem at all.

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get the EG4 V2 battery to talk to the XW Pro inverter so am stalled out again at the moment. Back to tech support...
Click to expand...
I'm having the exact same problem

"Initialization failed, please check BMS connection

Clear Flash failed, Please Update again"
I'm using the proper flash cable that worked fine updating the EG4-6500 firmware. I hope I don't need a new cable to flash the EG4-LL batterys. This is getting ridiculous.
 
Just a quick update with some news I heard from Sig Solar Tech Support while continuing to troubleshoot "Insight Home won't detect an address 0001 EG4LL V2 battery".

Tech Support mentioned that in order for a V1 battery to communicate to Insight Home via a V2 battery, its firmware must be updated with the new "...Growatt-SolArk-EG4.hex" firmware. NOT the "....Scneider.hex" firmware. Evidently the Scneider.hex firmware is intended for V1 communication directly to the Insight Home without an intervening V2 battery.

Frankly, I didn't even know V1 comm directly to the Insight Home was possible. If I had, I wouldn't have went out and bought an additional V2 battery and 6-slot rack... At any rate, I plugged a Scneider.hex-upgraded V1 (address 0001, RS485 port) directly to the Insight Home aux connector RS485 ports and it worked fine. When I plugged a second V1 battery into the first one (Comm port to Comm port) the second battery was also recognized.

End result is, if you already have a bunch of V1's you want to get talking to an Insight Home, DON'T GET A V2. CURRENTLY IT WON'T WORK ANYWAY. Just load the V1's up with the Scneider.hex firmware and connect the first ("Master" battery) up directly to the Insight Home and daisy chain the rest on the comm ports. At first look, that works fine.
 
Interesting, I was told by Signature Solar "recently" that the EG4 LL V1 batteries won't talk to my XW Pro 6848. However they said they would be releasing firmware for the to talk to the XW's in a Youtube video a while back

Where can I get the Scneider.hex file to update the firmware. I'd be willing to try this if you had success.

I really need to get the SOC working with my XW Pro 6848, as I recently upgraded the firmware on the XW Pro to the V2.04_BN0029 version and it goofed up to the grid support stuff.
 
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