EG4-6500EX-48 Issue

[NVCYberPro]

PV Input issues:
(1) I have to restart or power off the inverter daily then power it back on in order to get the proper solar power from PV1. As as example to today, this morning PV1 was showing a measly 100+ watts of power coming in, I knew this wasn't correct, although the sun just crested the mountains it was not hindered by any clouds. Powering off the unit and back on the input on PV1 jumped to over 850 watts and immediately began charging the batteries. A few hours later I am now pulling in 2.58 kW and here shortly it should top out at 3.98kW. If I don't power cycle the units it won't properly power the inverter or charge the batteries.

(2) I have also noticed this in the afternoon, the charger will charge the batteries to to near 96% or so and then clip (I believe that is the proper term) the PV input to match (or just below) the inverter output and the batteries stay in a discharge state ~2.80 amps and never reach 100%. I will have full sun and the unit will only show maybe 800w or so coming and the batteries should be fully charged but are not, I then test the PV input by turning on a space heater or two and the PV input will immediately jump to several kW to meet the load of the heater. Again if I power cycle the inverter the PV input is not clipped at the inverter output rate and the batteries quickly reach 100% charge and then go into standby as they should.

I can not trust this inverter charger to properly charge the batteries and maintain our system.

I also have random issues with lights flickering, They don't flicker all the time and seems no rhyme or reason when they flicker, they may flicker when on battery or solar power, sometimes they flicker and other times they do not.

I also have an issue where I occasionally have to run the generator to charge the batteries, several days of low or no sun. When I do, the generator will power the loads however the inverter switches the battery from charging to discharging. I would like to be able to run the generator to charge the batteries as required in these situations.

I have contacted SignatureSolar on these issues and have yet heard back from them. The generator issue has been open since January 30th, 2023 and PV issues have been open since 2/23/23.

My plan was to add a second unit in parallel this spring, at this point I have lost confidence the inverter, EG4 and SignatureSolar.

 

[Zwy]

Settings, all of them.

 

[NVCYberPro]

Hi Zwy,

SS had me update the firmware - not all issues are resolved, they also had me change some settings - are you asking for all the settings from 01 - 99 on the LCD?

 

[Zwy]

Yes, it doesn't take much to list them. Don't need anything in the 90+. I put all mine on a Word document before setting anything and printed it off for reference. I can glance at the sheet and know what I have it set for. I listed all of mine in the pdf in this post. https://diysolarforum.com/threads/eg4-5600ex-grid-charge-issues.55970/post-720141

I don't do generator charging. If you will be charging with a generator and want to pull PV power at the same time, then the Chargeverter would be a good option as it will provide clean power off the generator and allow dual source charging. The same could be accomplished with a separate SCC and charge thru the inverter with the generator.

 

[Adam De Lay]

Here's another thread which seems to talk about the same MPPT issues. In this one, the user just turns off the PV disconnect and then when they turn it back on, PV ramps up.

EG4-6500 losing clock and MPPT issues

system is: two inverters configured split phase, each with 3.4kW of panels connected to PV1. The 2P1 inverter loses about an hour per day on its clock, the 2P2 inverter does not. The 2P1 inverter's MPPT input "idles" around 285W until I interrupt the input, then it instantly increases to match...

diysolarforum.com

 

[NVCYberPro]

Thank you - I will check this post - I have seen the same issue if I flip the solar disconnect as well. The big issue is you just don't know what you don't know. When the system is operating correctly and you do this the end result is the same, when there is a problem it will correct it and the power goes up. Frustrating in either case. I will read the other thread and post the settings in a bit.

 

[NVCYberPro]

@Zwy - Finally got around to pulling these. Thank you

#​	Value​	Description​	Note​
01​	Sbu​	Output Source Priority​	​
02​	100​	Max charging current​	​
03​	APL​	AC input voltage range 80-140​	​
05​	EG4​	Battery Type​	​
06​	Lhd​	Overload Auto Restart​	​
07​	Ehd​	Temp Auto Restart​	​
09​	60​	Output Frequency​	​
10​	120​	Output Voltage​	​
11​	100​	Max Utility Charging​	60?​
12​	20​	SOC > Utility SBU​	​
13​	90​	SOC > Battery SBU​	​
16​	CSO​	Charger Source Priority​	SNU?​
18​	bOF​	Alarm Control (off)​	​
19​	HEP​	Display Auto Return (off)​	​
20​	LOF​	Backlight Control (off)​	​
22​	AON​	Beep Alarm (off)​	​
23​	byE​	Overload bypass (enable)​	byd?​
25​	Fs5​	Record Fault Code (disable)​	FEN?​
26​	56​	Bulk Charge​	​
27​	56​	Float Charge​	​
28​	SIG​	AC output mode​	​
29​	20​	Low DC Cutoff​	​
30​	Ed5​	Battery Eq​	​
31​	58.4​	Battery Eq Volt​	​
33​	60​	Battery Eq Time​	​
34​	120​	Battery Eq Timeout​	​
35​	30d​	Eq Interval​	​
36​	Ad5​	Eq activated Immed​	​
37​	NHE​	Reset Stored Data​	​
41​	dd5​	Max discharge current​	​
51​	Ld5​	On/Off RGB LED​	​
52​	NOH​	LED Brightness​	​
53​	LO​	LED Speed​	​
54​	SOL​	LED Effects​	​
55​	C01​	LED Color​	​

 

[Zwy]

I didn't catch it at first but you are using EG4 batteries with communication, correct?

If you use communication, you won't be able to change some settings, usually the ones you want to change.

My suggestions? Change #5 to USE, disconnect communication and set #26 and #27 closer to what I listed in my pdf. Ensure EQ in #30 is disabled.

 

[NVCYberPro]

Well I guess my blinking lights were not fixed by the firmware upgrade, they maybe less frequent but it is hard to tell as there is no rhyme or reason to when they occur. The lights flashing were so bad last night that we shut them off and used candles, candles are nice however I would prefer to save them for other occasions

This morning I recorded a video (too big to upload here, any suggestions) where we had 227 watts on PV1 at 8:40 am, after disrupting the PV input it soared to 767 watts.

There seems to be a lag on the screen display that may have been introduced with the upgrade? not sure but I don't recall seeing the lag in screen details until after the upgrade.

Posted on my old website - video is here: https://www.lsbees.com/images/20230306_084044.mp4

 

[Zwy]

Still using battery communication? If so, switch to USE and see if the problem continues.

 

[NVCYberPro]

@Zwy Which issue do you think may be resolved if I change to USE, the blinking issue or the lack of power from the PV input? Let me see if I can the proper settings for USE and the EG4-LL batteries and I will try that although I don't understand the correlation.

 

[NVCYberPro]

@Zwy - I have set 05 to USE and disconnected the comm cable, will see what happens as it can't be any worse.

I heard from SS that this is a known issue and they are working on a fix, hopefully will be available soon.

Thank you

 

[Zwy]

@Zwy - I have set 05 to USE and disconnected the comm cable, will see what happens as it can't be any worse.

I heard from SS that this is a known issue and they are working on a fix, hopefully will be available soon.

Thank you

Ensure your bulk and float charging voltage are set to your parameters.

 

[NVCYberPro]

26 - Bulk 56.2
27 - Float 54
29 -Low DC Cut off 44

 

[BenFromSignatureSolar]

Check out this video from Adam. I think it might help with some issue solving.

 

[NVCYberPro]

I will try this - Our big issue right now is with the PV controllers - I tried PV2 and have the same results - we need to interrupt the solar input at least once if not twice a day so that the input increases and properly charges the batteries.

Trying to patiently wait for the fix. Thanks James

 

[Zwy]

Check out this video from Adam. I think it might help with some issue solving.

I was watching this video in my office and a friend stopped by while I was watching it. He commented that when his refrigerator is running, his kitchen LED light flickers. He is only on grid power, light and refrigerator are on same circuit. Refrigerator is about 20 years old.

Even though Adam seems to have located the problem to his Mac, I have to wonder how old the UPS's are. I have one just like and the battery died about a year ago. It is quite possible if he has never replaced the battery in the UPS's it possibly could cause flicker problems in addition to the Mac.

 

[Adam De Lay]

I was watching this video in my office and a friend stopped by while I was watching it. He commented that when his refrigerator is running, his kitchen LED light flickers. He is only on grid power, light and refrigerator are on same circuit. Refrigerator is about 20 years old.

Even though Adam seems to have located the problem to his Mac, I have to wonder how old the UPS's are. I have one just like and the battery died about a year ago. It is quite possible if he has never replaced the battery in the UPS's it possibly could cause flicker problems in addition to the Mac.

It's the office light and the fridge light that flickered (because those were the only lights on during the day). This was on battery power, not grid power (moving the mac over to grid power stopped the flickering). The fridge is 10 years old.

The office light still flickered even when I turned the breaker off to the refrigerator and the mac was still on battery power.

UPS batteries were replaced in Aug 2020 and the flickering was still happening when the mac was plugged in and the UPS was taken out of play.

This video wouldn't be of any benefit in regards to the PV issue discussed above.

 

[Zwy]

It's the office light and the fridge light that flickered (because those were the only lights on during the day). This was on battery power, not grid power (moving the mac over to grid power stopped the flickering). The fridge is 10 years old.

The office light still flickered even when I turned the breaker off to the refrigerator and the mac was still on battery power.

I'm just mentioning the friend's observations to indicate even on grid power there might be flickering led lights. I think in some cases this is the placebo effect, the lights flickered on grid power before solar and never were noticed, then when solar was added, the person noticed it. Or the flicker that was there became worse.

Not always true in all cases but something to be aware of.

UPS batteries were replaced in Aug 2020 and the flickering was still happening when the mac was plugged in and the UPS was taken out of play.

I saw that it was disconnected in the video. I'm again mentioning it for the benefit of many trying to troubleshoot these problems. I do wonder why the other UPS's would cycle on and off and what effect that has on appliances down the circuit over time. Perhaps the Mac caused the UPS failures or the UPS's cause the Mac problem.

It was a good video, great subject and indicating the steps you took to pinpoint the problem. It will be interesting if you find a solution why the Mac is causing the flicker.

 

[Adam De Lay]

I'm just mentioning the friend's observations to indicate even on grid power there might be flickering led lights. I think in some cases this is the placebo effect, the lights flickered on grid power before solar and never were noticed, then when solar was added, the person noticed it. Or the flicker that was there became worse.

Not always true in all cases but something to be aware of.

Yeah, in some cases, there really could be a pre-existing issue, and when someone hears flicker, they just jump on that, especially when the inverters involved. I also can tell you from personal experience, the more you stare at a light, trying to see a flicker, The higher potential you have to actually see one… Sometimes these things are so faint. You’re staring at these lights waiting for it to happen and eventually your mind makes you think you actually saw something. That’s what’s really annoying about not being able to catch it on film as well.

I do wonder why the other UPS's would cycle on and off and what effect that has on appliances down the circuit over time. Perhaps the Mac caused the UPS failures or the UPS's cause the Mac problem.

It’s hard to say what the constant cycling would do to anything downstream. My hope would be as it would just burn up the UPS before it actually did anything to the devices down stream, but there’s no guarantee of that. That’s why I decided to completely remove those from service, that and partially due to the fact that I can’t stand the constant clicking back-and-forth when I’m trying to work.