EG4 6500 charging

[Adam De Lay]

Can you recall the max current you saw going into your batts when you have sufficient sunlight? I guess it would've been 6KW/53V or about 115A? If your batt bank was completely depleted how long would it take to fill them back up? About 5 hours? What about now with the Victron CC's?

I can’t remember. I have multiple arrays and several of them face different directions, so I won’t have the full output all at once. Right now I’m not even sure if the sun still exists… ?. All clouds and rain.

 

[Subdood]

I can’t remember. I have multiple arrays and several of them face different directions, so I won’t have the full output all at once. Right now I’m not even sure if the sun still exists… ?. All clouds and rain.

Well this morning a strange yellow orb appeared in the sky and somehow lasted long enough to recharge our battery. First time in maybe 10 days. It's since disappeared. Shocking..

 

[Subdood]

I've noticed that my EG4 6500 has a hard time getting out of a 90-100V range on the MPPT when it's particularly cloudy. On a sunny day it's up near 350-400V, based on my 8 panel 49Voc per panel array. once it gets up to this running voltage it tends to stay there unless a big cloud bank rolls in.

Would a firmware update help address this, or is just something the MPPT does when it's cloudy/low light? FYI, I have not done any firmware updates since I got the unit in Oct '22. It didn't go online until last April. It's been pretty solid tho, so I'm a bit leery about upgrades.

 

[Adam De Lay]

I've noticed that my EG4 6500 has a hard time getting out of a 90-100V range on the MPPT when it's particularly cloudy. On a sunny day it's up near 350-400V, based on my 8 panel 49Voc per panel array. once it gets up to this running voltage it tends to stay there unless a big cloud bank rolls in.

Would a firmware update help address this, or is just something the MPPT does when it's cloudy/low light? FYI, I have not done any firmware updates since I got the unit in Oct '22. It didn't go online until last April. It's been pretty solid tho, so I'm a bit leery about upgrades.

It's possible. It depends on which firmware version your inverter is currently on.

There have been several updates regarding the mppts sticking around 90v.

EG4 6500 Firmware Changelog

This is a combination of the official change log from EG4 as well as some additional notes regarding forum posts. Please let me know if you have any additions or changes to be made. U1 - EG4 DSP 79.02 2022.05.04 factory firmware 79.03...

diysolarforum.com

 

[Subdood]

It's possible. It depends on which firmware version your inverter is currently on.

There have been several updates regarding the mppts sticking around 90v.

EG4 6500 Firmware Changelog

This is a combination of the official change log from EG4 as well as some additional notes regarding forum posts. Please let me know if you have any additions or changes to be made. U1 - EG4 DSP 79.02 2022.05.04 factory firmware 79.03...

diysolarforum.com

Main CPU firmware is 79.03, secondary firmware is 61.06. What kind of cable would I need, and where do you make the connection on the inverter?

Thanks for the sticky, very helpful. Maybe I ought to upgrade it, it may fix the MPPT low voltage issue. I'm a bit fuzzy on what the N/G implications will be with the upgrades.

 

[Adam De Lay]

Main CPU firmware is 79.03, secondary firmware is 61.06. What kind of cable would I need, and where do you make the connection on the inverter?

Thanks for the sticky, very helpful. Maybe I ought to upgrade it, it may fix the MPPT low voltage issue.

So yours probably came with a grey Cat5 to Serial connection.

You would need a Serial to USB converter if it didn't come with the inverter. I know newer inverters came with an all black cat 5 to usb that was a solid piece, but I think yours is a little older.

This cable is the battery BMS cable. It doesn't work for inverter firmware.

I'm a bit fuzzy on what the N/G implications will be with the upgrades.

Since your inverter has an AC IN connection, you would want to set option 42 to ENA. This disables the G/N relay inside the inverter and creates a common neutral, passing the bond from your main AC panel.

 

[Subdood]

So yours probably came with a grey Cat5 to Serial connection.
View attachment 186915
You would need a Serial to USB converter if it didn't come with the inverter. I know newer inverters came with an all black cat 5 to usb that was a solid piece, but I think yours is a little older.

This cable is the battery BMS cable. It doesn't work for inverter firmware.
View attachment 186918


Since your inverter has an AC IN connection, you would want to set option 42 to ENA. This disables the G/N relay inside the inverter and creates a common neutral, passing the bond from your main AC panel.

Thanks I appreciate it. I'll see if I can find my cables.

 

[Subdood]

This disables the G/N relay inside the inverter and creates a common neutral, passing the bond from your main AC panel.

Because of the original N/G issues with this inverter, I moved the hots and neutrals from my house panel loads to the critical load panel I installed and am running the inverter output to. Would that be an issue if I did the upgrade and enabled this setting?

 

[Adam De Lay]

Because of the original N/G issues with this inverter, I moved the hots and neutrals from my house panel loads to the critical load panel I installed and am running the inverter output to. Would that be an issue if I did the upgrade and enabled this setting?

Did you create a G/N bond in the CL panel or are your hots and neutrals separate?

 

[Subdood]

Did you create a G/N bond in the CL panel or are your hots and neutrals separate?

No bonds in the CL loads panel.The hots go to their individual breakers and neutrals go to the separate neutral bar.

Another question, can you do the upgrades while the unit is inverting, or should it be in stand-by (off)?

 

[Adam De Lay]

No bonds in the CL loads panel.The hots go to their individual breakers and neutrals go to the separate neutral bar.

Another question, can you do the upgrades while the unit is inverting, or should it be in stand-by (off)?

I'm pretty sure I left the inverter on, but I turned off all my loads because you don't know when the system is going to reset during the update.