EG4 6500EX Install wiring question
- Thread starter Jared123
- Start date
Just hooked up the solar and working great! Looking at watchpower, inverter2 has a line_fail error. Physically looking at it, I see nothing, no beeping, no error codes on the main screen. Ideas?
fmeili1
Solar Wizard
Working great! - but error? Mhh...
If the physical EG4-6500EX does not show any errors and everything works and you have stable 240V and 2x120V I would guess it's a watchpower problem and not an AIO problem...
Do you feed both 6500EX with solar or just one (with 2 6500EX you may connect up to 4 strings, how many do you have)?
I have 2 strings, currently one per inverter.
Is there some menu on the inverter that I might check?
Figured it out. Apparently that alarm relates to when the grid power is turned off, which it was. So no big deal. Now just monitoring.
My setup is 2 strings of 5 x 455watt panels going to 2 inverters.
Are there any custom settings I should be tweaking?
My setup is 2 strings of 5 x 455watt panels going to 2 inverters.
Are there any custom settings I should be tweaking?
fmeili1
Solar Wizard
I would have done the same in your case.
Please check, that these programs have the same settings in both AIO's. They usually are replicated between each other if you change these values on just one of the AIO's - but replication does not always work reliable - so better double check!
01, 02, 03, 05, 06, 07, 09, 10, 12, 13, 23, 26, 27, 29, 30, 31, 33, 34, 35, 36, 41
The other program settings may be different (program 28 must be different for sure in a 2x AIO split phase setup).
fmeili1
Solar Wizard
54.2V at 88% SOC while charging with 21A looks ok for me (I have similar numbers)!
Adam De Lay
Solar Wizard
What do you have set for option 42?
I know I had some lights flickering. Some flickering was just cheap LED bulbs from the box stores. I also traced down that when certain devices were plugged in and powered on, they would cause my lights to flicker (ex. heating blanket, mac mini).
I know I had some lights flickering. Some flickering was just cheap LED bulbs from the box stores. I also traced down that when certain devices were plugged in and powered on, they would cause my lights to flicker (ex. heating blanket, mac mini).
Adam De Lay
Solar Wizard
Assuming you already had a G/N bond created in your environment some place else (like your main grid panel that's connected to the 6500s), yes you want to set it to ENA.
I know it's confusing. I look at it as "ENA" enables the "common neutral" design which turns off the g/n relay in the inverter and allows the neutral to pass from the AC In connection to the AC Out connection.
Adam De Lay
Solar Wizard
I don't believe so. You may have to start investigating if some other device is causing the flickering. I had to turn off one breaker in the panel at a time till the flickering stopped. Once you find that breaker, then you go to that room and start unplugging everything till you can isolate the flickering.
Again, cheap LED bulbs can also be very susceptible to flickering.
fmeili1
Solar Wizard
Even after all settings are correct and you've done everything correct and what @Adam De Lay mentioned, you may have some (cheap?) LED lights flickering in your house. Usually this happens mostly if the AIOs are running with low load.
I've also followed @Adam De Lay 's advice and found a load which make some house LEDs flicker as long as this specific load is connected - in my case it's an old Vegas style slot machine (others found other "bad" loads which causes the AIOs to produce a light jittering output which causes some LEDs to flicker - in Adams case it was a heating blanket and a mac mini power supply).
In my case I've "solved" this finally by implementing a small online-double-conversion-UPS with the smallest Victron inverter (250VA 12-volt), an 18AH 12V LFP battery and a 12V LFP charger - I know, it's a very large effort just to stop the flickering problem ($180) - but in my case the slot machine is always running and I've decided it's worth to do it.
I've also followed @Adam De Lay 's advice and found a load which make some house LEDs flicker as long as this specific load is connected - in my case it's an old Vegas style slot machine (others found other "bad" loads which causes the AIOs to produce a light jittering output which causes some LEDs to flicker - in Adams case it was a heating blanket and a mac mini power supply).
In my case I've "solved" this finally by implementing a small online-double-conversion-UPS with the smallest Victron inverter (250VA 12-volt), an 18AH 12V LFP battery and a 12V LFP charger - I know, it's a very large effort just to stop the flickering problem ($180) - but in my case the slot machine is always running and I've decided it's worth to do it.
fmeili1
Solar Wizard
Any off-grid inverter forms the sine wave by itself to drive the load. This requires a very fast and sensitive control loop electronic to control the PWM to form - in theory - a "perfect" sign wave under "any" load condition. Loads are complex, especially nowadays with many electronics also inrush behavior of large motors, complex changing power factors, etc.
In real life, this PWM controlling is not perfect and results in "not perfect" sign waves, small jitters, small phase variations, etc. It's even harder for high frequency inverters (like the EG4-6500EX and many others). Low frequency inverters behave better, but also not perfect.
These small variations compared to a perfect sine wave results in LED flickering for some LEDs (in case the used LED drivers are designed very cheap). Higher quality LEDs often do not flicker in such a case.
One question I'm asking myself is: Why is this effect more visible under low load?
Maybe the answer is, that the load measurement (via current) to control the PWM loop is not accurate enough for low currents... but it's just a possibility.
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fmeili1
Solar Wizard
I forget to mention the simplest solution... just replace the flickering LEDs by higher quality LEDs which does not flicker (search in this forum for possible brands).
Unfortunately, my flickering LEDs are integrated in modern ceiling lights and ceiling fans and can't be replaced by other LED bulbs...
Unfortunately, my flickering LEDs are integrated in modern ceiling lights and ceiling fans and can't be replaced by other LED bulbs...
fmeili1
Solar Wizard
Oops, according to the manual, warning code 32 is "Communication failure between inverter and remote display panel". Try to remove this one small screw under the display (from the bottom side) which holds the bracket, detach the display from the AIO and check the RJ45 connector.
So weird now. Ok, I turn off all load, and all input power (solar, battery, grid). It's completely powered off.
I turn on battery, it boots up and I get an F11 alarm. Which the manual says is a PV over voltage.
If the PV is shut off, how can it be over voltage? Also, it can't be over voltage in the first place with just 5 solar panels on it.
Same thing happens when I try just grid.
I turn on battery, it boots up and I get an F11 alarm. Which the manual says is a PV over voltage.
If the PV is shut off, how can it be over voltage? Also, it can't be over voltage in the first place with just 5 solar panels on it.
Same thing happens when I try just grid.
Ok, one RMA later, and we're back in business. I'll return to the original problem of lights flickering and try to track that down.
Do I need to worry at all about other options, like setting max battery discharge rate or any other battery options? Should option 10 be at 110 or 120 (currently 120)?
Do I need to worry at all about other options, like setting max battery discharge rate or any other battery options? Should option 10 be at 110 or 120 (currently 120)?
fmeili1
Solar Wizard
Always use 120V/60Hz here in the US for a split phase system!
Here are the settings for all my six EG4-6500EX in parallel split phase:
01: SBU
02: <different values between 30A-70A for all 6 AIOs depending on the max. power of the connected PV strings>
03: UPS
05: USE (I don't use closed loop battery communication!)
06: L-D (disabled restart on overload)
07: E-D (disabled restart on over temp)
09: 60
10: 120
11: <grid charging Amps, depending on your needs, individual per AIO>
12: 50 (50V because I use USE for program 05)
13: 55 (55V because I use USE for program 05)
16: CSO (PV charge battery as first prio, grid charging only if no PV)
18-20: <as you like>
22: <as you like>
23: byd (OFF, because I have enough inverter power and will never have an overload condition)
25: Fen (ON)
26: 56.0 (relative low absorption to not stress the battery too much)
27: 55.7 (relative high float to let the BMS do it's passive balancing)
28: 2P1 for all AIOs serving L1 in parallel and 2P2 for all AIOs serving L2 for split phase
29: 45.6
30: Eds (OFF)
31-36: unused
37: n-E (no reset)
41: ddS (OFF)
42: ENA (Enable neutral pass through, which disables the N-G bonding inside the AIO's! ENA is required for all common neutral systems! Bonding screws needs to be installed on all AIOs!)
51-99: <as you like>
Automatic replicated programs to all AIO’s: 01, 03, 05, 06, 07, 09, 10, 12, 13, 23, 26, 27, 29, 30, 31, 33, 34, 35, 36, 41 (replication doesn’t work always - double check if replication really worked after waiting about 1 minute!)
Unused AIO’s programs: 04, 08, 14-15, 17, 21, 24, 38-40, 43-50, 56-92
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