EG4 6500EX Light Flicker

[jbkrntrprz]

Anyone who switched from 6500EX to the 6000XP because of light flicker, did that solve the problem?

 

[FrankieG3011]

Yes it fixed the problem. No issues at all at this time.

 

[jbkrntrprz]

Yes it fixed the problem. No issues at all at this time.

Thanks. Trying to get some input from individuals who has similar problems as mine. Working with SS to find a solution but It appears it is just one of the known issues with the 6500.

 

[Batavian]

It solved all of my inverter issues (and there were plenty).

 

[SparkyJJO]

Thanks. Trying to get some input from individuals who has similar problems as mine. Working with SS to find a solution but It appears it is just one of the known issues with the 6500.

From what I understand Voltronics (the OEM) changed some components without anyone knowing and it screwed up stuff.

 

[jbkrntrprz]

From what I understand Voltronics (the OEM) changed some components without anyone knowing and it screwed up stuff.

That would explain things. Think I read in this forum that the first ones were ok!

 

[fmeili1]

From what I understand Voltronics (the OEM) changed some components without anyone knowing and it screwed up stuff.

It would be great to find out exactly what was changed and from what date of manufacture the changes were made. Maybe someone from SS or EG4 could find out and tell us (maybe some of us would be able to redo the changes - maybe they just used some different components with bad quality which may be changed...

 

[SparkyJJO]

I think they tried. Voltronics wasn't very cooperative.

 

[fmeili1]

I think they tried. Voltronics wasn't very cooperative.

I found this post from @SignatureSolarJames with some interesting information.

• ...
• What happened: An unauthorized minor component hardware change was made at the Voltronic factory on the standard 6500 and 6000w rectifiers inside the All-in-one inverters; We use the same factory as MPP solar, Sungold, Rich Solar, and other 6000/6500 units, Our units are specced with exclusive money-saving added features but this issue came down to Rectifier management; the firmware starved the rectifier by not allowing battery power to be prioritized on a board level. This caused the rectifier in PV charge and some grid circumstances to shift frequency slightly and make lights flicker.
• What we did: Around late November/December we started receiving units with this issue from the factory, we did not detect this use case in our standard Quality control check (a lot of points have been added for future units). When we began receiving units back with the issue we tried to get support from the factory but the team was in full denial of the issue, after a week as well as seeing that this issue was popping up with other high-volume Voltronic OEMs that weren’t sitting on old stock. We dispatched our lead engineering team to Taiwan and they took over the situation this week, yielding this firmware.
• ...

To summarize this:

1. Problems started in late November 2022 (the post is from February 2023) - btw. my units are all produced in 09/2022.
2. It was a minor component hardware change which causes the problems.
3. Issue with Rectifier management ... the firmware starved the rectifier by not allowing battery power to be prioritized on a board level. This caused the rectifier in PV charge and some grid circumstances to shift frequency slightly and make lights flicker.
4. The problem are not because of the EG4 specific enhancements (e.g. PV=500Voc, ...) and other re-branded OEM models showing the same problem.
5. An engineering team of Signature Solar was in the factory to dig down and solve the problem with the manufacturer.
6. Manufacturer provided a firmware update to solve the problem.

Can the team of technicians sent at the time answer a few questions?

1. The post states that it was a “minor hardware component change”, but the following description and problem solution then only talks of firmware problems?Was it a hardware change which brought the problems or a bug in the firmware? Or was the firmware update trying to improve the situation which was introduced by the hardware change?
2. What exact "minor component hardware" was changed? Just one/some electronic components on a PCB or a whole PCB unit?
3. After Voltronic's “complete denial of the problem” when the problems first started, they later came to their senses. Perhaps SS/EG4 is now in a good position to receive exact details of the changes from Voltronic - including the circuit diagrams/schematics if necessary?

I think Voltronic is still producing this AIO inverter (I think it's based on their Axpert Max” MKS2-6500 base model) for other OEM's. Even though the EG4-6500EX is no longer available at EG4, this would be a great help for some SS customers with this device (some do not want or cannot take advantage of the exchange discount offered).

For some of us with hobby DIY electronic knowledge, it would be great to have the circuit diagrams/schematics of this device for possible future repairs (even after warranty). Maybe the "minor hardware component change" could be just undone in DIY - depending what exactly changed?

Btw. @RCinFLA posted this picture of the principle schematic. In this the optional 500V DC/DC converter is also shown.