I'm posting this in the hopes that my struggles can help the next person have a better experience getting a pair of 6500's talking correctly to a set of EG4 LLv2's.
I will start off by saying I could not have gotten all this working were it not for all the great help and advice throughout this forum. I just thought I would pull it all together and sprinkle in my own take on what surprised or puzzled me during the process. There were definitely some, shall we say "moments". I think my son's quote was "Dad, you should pick the entire thing up with the tractor, put it in the truck, drive to UPS, and push it off the back with a Return to Sender sticker. This SUCKS!".
I have 2 6500's and 6 LL v2's that I purchased from Signature Solar.
When connected, I received the famous Error 61. Most solutions point to updating firmware. NOTE: SS tech told me, while the items were in transit, I would not need to update the firmware because they did that already. I did not capture the versions before and after so I can neither confirm nor deny, but I'm guessing no.
There are 3 key pieces that have to get straight in order for the 6500's to talk successfully to the LL v2's.
1. Updated 6500's firmware.
2. CORRECT LLv2 dip switches. Master to 0001, and slaves to unique numbers other than 0001.
3. CORRECT cabling from One 6500 to Master battery.
The first part are the 6500 MCU and firmware upgrades.
In order to update the firmware I needed a windows laptop, the grey cable ( RS232 -> Ethernet ) [ included ], and a RS232 -> USB [ NOT included ]. I purchased this one from amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0759HSLP1?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1 ( drivers installed automagically when connected to the internet ).
I'm going mostly off memory and it is getting late so I might have missed a piece here or there. I'll save my rant about the whole process for another day.
I will start off by saying I could not have gotten all this working were it not for all the great help and advice throughout this forum. I just thought I would pull it all together and sprinkle in my own take on what surprised or puzzled me during the process. There were definitely some, shall we say "moments". I think my son's quote was "Dad, you should pick the entire thing up with the tractor, put it in the truck, drive to UPS, and push it off the back with a Return to Sender sticker. This SUCKS!".
I have 2 6500's and 6 LL v2's that I purchased from Signature Solar.
When connected, I received the famous Error 61. Most solutions point to updating firmware. NOTE: SS tech told me, while the items were in transit, I would not need to update the firmware because they did that already. I did not capture the versions before and after so I can neither confirm nor deny, but I'm guessing no.
There are 3 key pieces that have to get straight in order for the 6500's to talk successfully to the LL v2's.
1. Updated 6500's firmware.
2. CORRECT LLv2 dip switches. Master to 0001, and slaves to unique numbers other than 0001.
3. CORRECT cabling from One 6500 to Master battery.
The first part are the 6500 MCU and firmware upgrades.
In order to update the firmware I needed a windows laptop, the grey cable ( RS232 -> Ethernet ) [ included ], and a RS232 -> USB [ NOT included ]. I purchased this one from amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0759HSLP1?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1 ( drivers installed automagically when connected to the internet ).
I downloaded the "drivers" for the 6500 as a zip file and extracted them. https://eg4electronics.com/downloads/
I connected the cables from the inverter to the laptop and checked the Device Manager for the new com port. Mine showed up as COM8, BUT I had to change/force that to COM2 because the downloaded software did not have COM8 as an option.
I followed these instructions: https://eg4electronics.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/EG4-6500EX-48-Firmware-install-guide.pdf
NOTE: I believe it does not matter if the inverter is on or off, but I'm not 100% sure about that, but it does have to have good power ( Solar, Util, or Battery ).
NOTE: The text in the output box is BACKWARDS, aka NEW information is at the top, not the bottom.
NOTE: When it starts the MCU update, the screen on the inverter goes BLACK. Don't panic.
NOTE: My update started, and the inverter shut down due to what turned out to be a low battery. I had to turn on the generator to start up the inverter and the screen was still blank. Don't panic as I did. That little bit of vile in your mouth, it's good for you right? Re-doing the MCU update fixed the black screen issue.
NOTE: The application will say it is done, but WAIT, the inverter does some more work behind the scenes.
NOTE: It will take 5-10 or more minutes to complete. The application does a good job of giving you progress until it doesn't.
The firmware is located inside a separate folder from the MCU.
I left the cables connected and ran the exe inside the other folder.
I picked the correct COM port, hit file, selected the file that showed up, and then hit Update firmware.
NOTE: It will take 5-10 or more minutes to complete. Again, the software does a pretty good job of giving you a progress report until it doesn't.
NOTE: After each firmware update on each inverter, I received an error F80 ( Can bus ). I left it beeping at me for a long while and then I chalked it up to the firmware upgrade process, restarted the inverter, and never saw it again.
The second part is the battery dip switches.Go get some coffee, make that 6, clear your schedule for the rest of the day, and the next day, get a good book, a comfy chair, and smile.
I received a black USB dongle with a wire and ethernet connector in my shipment. That is for connecting to the batteries. It is an RS485 ( I THINK ) to Ethernet cable.
Pick your master battery, unplug anything going into the 485 port, and plug in the ethernet side of the cable. Plug the USB into your laptop.
Note the dip switch settings on the master battery. Pick a random set of 3 in one direction and the 4th in the opposite.
Using Device Manager, find the Com port for the USB dongle.
Download the BMS TOOLS from: https://eg4electronics.com/downloads/ ( Bottom of page )
Extract the contents and run the BMS_TOOLS.EXE application.
When you run the BMS_TOOLS, pick the correct com port, and tell it to scan. It will take 2-3 minutes per scan. Drink your coffee, smile, having fun right? Not like you had anything better to do than wait for it to scan right? Dinner? Getting your daughter home to finish homework? Finishing the gas line to the heater so the water doesn't freeze again???
When it is done scanning, you will see what ID the battery thinks it is from the dip switches.
Once you find 0001, you can either continue for each other battery or just make sure they are each unique and not anything like 0001.
NOTE: The master battery has to be set to 0001.
NOTE: As a few folks have previously noted, the dip switches can be Backward, reversed, upside down, or any combination. I have some batteries that are just reversed, and others that are inverted and backward. Each battery can be completely different.
NOTE: The manual at: https://eg4electronics.com/downloads/ shows dip switches that have 6 switches. Mine only has 4. Print the manual out, light it on fire, and use it to keep your coffee warm.
NOTE: Figure out a system that works for you. 0001 is 3 switches the same, and the 4th opposite. The 4th will be at one end.
NOTE: Each time you change the dip switches, power off the breaker, power off the power button ( BMS ), power on the breaker, and power on the BMS.
NOTE: Since each battery is "special" and the dip switches could be flipped, flopped, or flacked, don't set any other battery to any combination of 3 switches same, 4th opposite since you could end up with 0001 and not know it.
The third part, and hopefully the last, is the cable between the inverter and the Master battery.I received what looked like a black ethernet cable with a white sleeve that said EG4.
As others have noted, that cable is also "special" and you will have to try it in both directions. Each end is wired differently.
Once I had all 3 correct, I set the #5 setting on the Master 6500 to EG4, and I no longer got Error 61. The slave 6500 should have #5 setting to USE.I'm going mostly off memory and it is getting late so I might have missed a piece here or there. I'll save my rant about the whole process for another day.
