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Communication Cable for EG4 LifePower Battery?

JBoffgrid2022

JBoffgrid2022

New Member
Joined
Oct 28, 2022
Messages
153
Hello All,
Looking for a replacement cable to allow my PC to communicate with my new EG4 LifePower4 48V 100A batteries. Signature Solar has these cables on back order and I need to find a cable that will work. Any suggestions?

Cable I need to find a replacement for: https://signaturesolar.com/eg4-usb-read-write-cable/

Possible Amazon options I found:
 
Last edited:
The SS cable you have listed is a read/write cable, not a comms cable for between battery and XP, I believe.

It is also not a straight cable, there is a chip in the USB end, other cables wont work, I know because I inquired with EG about building one I have been waiting over a month now just to run the BMS test to ck cell conditions.
 
Oh wow, this is terrible news....Thanks again SS! I'll reach out to a SS member I've talked with recently on here to see if they have another option. If I find out more I'll let you know. Thanks!
 
I am looking for the cable that connects a PC to the battery (LifePower4). The cable in the video is only for battery/inverter communication. Everywhere I've seen and instructions in the manual require a firmware update that can only be provided via connection to a PC. The cable needed to communicate with a PC and the battery is out of stock on S.S. The replacement cable is backordered. This is my dilemma ..
 
Yep, you need 2 cables, one for comms and one for updating.

While we are talking about updating, do you have to update each battery, one at a time?
 
I've heard both instructions, some say you need to only update one, others say you need to update all of the batteries individually. Let's reach out to Sig. Solar on this chat to see if this is necessary. Also, just received my batteries and they provided in the shipment the necessary USB to RS485 cable needed to communicate with the batteries.
@EG4_Jarrett, @EG4_Ty Could you kindly give us direction on the proper way to update the firmware on the LifePower 4 48v 100A battery? To my understanding, there is no recent instructions on how to do this. Thank you!
 
JBoffgrid2022 said:
I've heard both instructions, some say you need to only update one, others say you need to update all of the batteries individually. Let's reach out to Sig. Solar on this chat to see if this is necessary. Also, just received my batteries and they provided in the shipment the necessary USB to RS485 cable needed to communicate with the batteries.
@EG4_Jarrett, @EG4_Ty Could you kindly give us direction on the proper way to update the firmware on the LifePower 4 48v 100A battery? To my understanding, there is no recent instructions on how to do this. Thank you!
Click to expand...
According to Renaissance Man's recent video, his is communicating fine after only updating the firmware on the master battery, but EG4 does recommend updating all of them. He does go over the basic steps for performing the update in the video as well.

 
Looks like this video is for a different battery, the EG4 LL. I'm looking for the LifePower4 set up.
 
Here is a reference to another thread talking about this cable:
diysolarforum.com

EG4 read/write cable

Could someone please give me the wiring configuration for this tool? https://signaturesolar.com/eg4-lifepower4-read-write-cable/ I just need to know which wires to put into the D+ and D- on the RS485 and what pins they connect too on the RJ45 connector. Thank you so much for the help
diysolarforum.com diysolarforum.com
 
JBoffgrid2022 said:
I've heard both instructions, some say you need to only update one, others say you need to update all of the batteries individually. Let's reach out to Sig. Solar on this chat to see if this is necessary. Also, just received my batteries and they provided in the shipment the necessary USB to RS485 cable needed to communicate with the batteries.
@EG4_Jarrett, @EG4_Ty Could you kindly give us direction on the proper way to update the firmware on the LifePower 4 48v 100A battery? To my understanding, there is no recent instructions on how to do this. Thank you!
Click to expand...
The downloads at EG4's website for this battery have the firmware zip file and that zip contains the instructions. I followed them and was able to update both my batteries.
 
QUESTION FOR SS.

If you have all 6 batts dips configured, 0000, 0001, 0002, etc AND all patch cables in, batt to batt, etc... Cant you then just upgrade each one from the BMS Test software by selecting their individual address? Instead of changing all the batteries addy's to 0000 and plugging into each one, after another, to update?

Seems to me their software should be at least smart enough for this procedure instead of onesie, twosie...

ETA: This is IF all batteries after the master need to be updated?
 
Last edited:
Onehand said:
QUESTION FOR SS.

If you have all 6 batts dips configured, 0000, 0001, 0002, etc AND all patch cables in, batt to batt, etc... Cant you then just upgrade each one from the BMS Test software by selecting their individual address? Instead of changing all the batteries addy's to 0000 and plugging into each one, after another, to update?

Seems to me their software should be at least smart enough for this procedure instead of onesie, twosie...

ETA: This is IF all batteries after the master need to be updated?
Click to expand...
It just ensures a controlled and error-free update process. While it may seem less streamlined, it's the recommended method for maintaining the integrity of the overall battery system.
 

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Thanks, where is the part that says, "perform this procedure on all batteries"? Or are we just supposed to guess and try things... Instead of having to pour over threads, a little ink would save ALLOT of people ALLOT of time in ALLOT of areas in these manuals.

I program and flash a ton of stuff, these manuals don't win any awards.
 
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