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EG4 Chargeverter fan runs all the time with AC power

hhr1315

New Member
Joined
Aug 12, 2024
Messages
3
Location
Louisville, KY
I used my chargeverter last night to charge my EG4 Indoor 280AH battery and discovered that the fan on the chargeverter runs all the time as long as it is receiving AC power. It does this even after flipping the battery breaker off but still connected to AC power. The fan also draws quite a few watts (>100W) and seems to run at a speed other than idle. Does anyone know if this is normal behavior?
 
I used my chargeverter last night to charge my EG4 Indoor 280AH battery and discovered that the fan on the chargeverter runs all the time as long as it is receiving AC power. It does this even after flipping the battery breaker off but still connected to AC power. The fan also draws quite a few watts (>100W) and seems to run at a speed other than idle. Does anyone know if this is normal behavior?
Yes, it's normal. (And annoying)
 
I'd argue that there's no need for chargeverters to have AC power unless they're charging, which is why they're built that way. Mine just stay off until the generator turns on, at which point they start working and the fans come on. When charging is done, the generator turns off and the chargeverters are no longer powered. Seems like a great system. I think the problem occurs when people want to use grid power through a chargeverter, which - at least in the developed world with good grid quality - always leaves me scratching my head as to why, assuming your inverter also has charging capability. In that case, the chargeverter isn't even needed.
 
I'd argue that there's no need for chargeverters to have AC power unless they're charging, which is why they're built that way. Mine just stay off until the generator turns on, at which point they start working and the fans come on. When charging is done, the generator turns off and the chargeverters are no longer powered. Seems like a great system. I think the problem occurs when people want to use grid power through a chargeverter, which - at least in the developed world with good grid quality - always leaves me scratching my head as to why, assuming your inverter also has charging capability. In that case, the chargeverter isn't even needed.
Some of us do not want our inverter (aio in this case) connected to grid in any way so the poco stays happy.
 
I think the problem occurs when people want to use grid power through a chargeverter, which - at least in the developed world with good grid quality - always leaves me scratching my head as to why, assuming your inverter also has charging capability. In that case, the chargeverter isn't even needed.
The problem there is that the AIO switches both, the loads and battery charging to the grid/generator. Which increases the feeder size needed. And if a generator, it would have to be larger and more stable power. A separate charger fixes both issues.
One of my chargers is the grid backup. It's AC input goes through a relay, that is controlled by the dry contacts on one of the AIO's. So, when the AIO calls for the "generator" to start. It's actually just connecting the charger to the grid.
 
Thanks for all the replies. This is super helpful. Let me provide more details about my setup:

I bought the chargeverter to be able to use my 12,000W Duromax generator to charge my lithium batteries. It is obviously not an inverter generator so I need clean charging for my 280AH EG4 batteries. I also have a whole other setup that I started my solar adventure with. It is a Renogy Lycan 5000 Power box with 400AH of Renogy batteries. The Renogy batteries and the EG4 battery have different charging profiles so I cannot connect them. The Renogy batteries are 15 cell and require a max of 54V when charging. The EG4 requires 56.2V when charging (not sure how many cells). With the chargeverter, I can charge either battery pack separately by adjusting the charging voltage.

The Renogy setup is fully dedicated to running my koi pond pumps and the EG4 battery + EG46000XP runs everything else in my home except a heat pump and another 2 ton air conditioner unit which are both connected only to the grid. Since I don't really need the chargeverter to charge batteries while connected to the grid I decided it would be helpful to use it to provide additional charging for the 280AH batteries using the Renogy 400AH batteries when they are fully charged and solar has not been enough to fully charge the 280AH battery. I recognize the somewhat absurd process of converting solar to 54V then to 120V then back to 56.2V using this setup up but since it is free energy, I don't worry about the loss in conversion.

The reason that I do this is because I have a total of 4,680W of solar in 2 strings. One string is in series and feeds the 6000XP and the other string is paralleled to meet the voltage requirements of the Renogy 3500W inverter charger. The Renogy requires a minimum PV of 60V and a max of 150V (yes, very odd) since it is only a 120V system. The 6000XP has much higher voltage limits. So, the systems charge during the day but the Renogy system always reaches 100% first since it's load is about 167W-334W while charging. It usually reaches 100% in the early afternoon (on a sunny day) while the the 6000XP takes a fun day of sun to reach 100% and sometimes only reaches 70-80%. The daily DOD of the XP is about 30% while the Renogy system DOD is only about 70-75%.

So, transferring some AH from the Renogy to the EG4 batteries is done by the chargeverter. Unfortunately, I have to go out to the garage where my solar system lives and manually switch off the chargeverter when transferring power to the EG4 batteries even after they reach 100% because the fans will continue to drain the Renogy batteries unnecessarily if I leave it connected.

Questions?
 
Thanks for all the replies. This is super helpful. Let me provide more details about my setup:

I bought the chargeverter to be able to use my 12,000W Duromax generator to charge my lithium batteries. It is obviously not an inverter generator so I need clean charging for my 280AH EG4 batteries. I also have a whole other setup that I started my solar adventure with. It is a Renogy Lycan 5000 Power box with 400AH of Renogy batteries. The Renogy batteries and the EG4 battery have different charging profiles so I cannot connect them. The Renogy batteries are 15 cell and require a max of 54V when charging. The EG4 requires 56.2V when charging (not sure how many cells). With the chargeverter, I can charge either battery pack separately by adjusting the charging voltage.

The Renogy setup is fully dedicated to running my koi pond pumps and the EG4 battery + EG46000XP runs everything else in my home except a heat pump and another 2 ton air conditioner unit which are both connected only to the grid. Since I don't really need the chargeverter to charge batteries while connected to the grid I decided it would be helpful to use it to provide additional charging for the 280AH batteries using the Renogy 400AH batteries when they are fully charged and solar has not been enough to fully charge the 280AH battery. I recognize the somewhat absurd process of converting solar to 54V then to 120V then back to 56.2V using this setup up but since it is free energy, I don't worry about the loss in conversion.

The reason that I do this is because I have a total of 4,680W of solar in 2 strings. One string is in series and feeds the 6000XP and the other string is paralleled to meet the voltage requirements of the Renogy 3500W inverter charger. The Renogy requires a minimum PV of 60V and a max of 150V (yes, very odd) since it is only a 120V system. The 6000XP has much higher voltage limits. So, the systems charge during the day but the Renogy system always reaches 100% first since it's load is about 167W-334W while charging. It usually reaches 100% in the early afternoon (on a sunny day) while the the 6000XP takes a fun day of sun to reach 100% and sometimes only reaches 70-80%. The daily DOD of the XP is about 30% while the Renogy system DOD is only about 70-75%.

So, transferring some AH from the Renogy to the EG4 batteries is done by the chargeverter. Unfortunately, I have to go out to the garage where my solar system lives and manually switch off the chargeverter when transferring power to the EG4 batteries even after they reach 100% because the fans will continue to drain the Renogy batteries unnecessarily if I leave it connected.

Questions?
I do the same thing with my charger. The garage system has way more PV than it needs. And it can only send enough power to the house system to cover the loads. So when there's still excess production on the garage system, I charge the house batteries from the garage system.
And yes, the fans are screamers. So, I turn mine on and off remotely, from my phone.
Eventually I will use something else, like a Shelly controller. But for now, it's temporarily controlled by my Ecoflow river.
 
The problem there is that the AIO switches both, the loads and battery charging to the grid/generator. Which increases the feeder size needed. And if a generator, it would have to be larger and more stable power. A separate charger fixes both issues.
This makes sense. My first system used the grid as the "generator" when the batteries got low (you helped me figure that one out, for grounding, as I recall. Thanks again for that!).
I have to say, since going off grid with the new property, life is actually simpler and easier. For grid users, I like the idea of an automated relay that can handle the amperage, that comes on only when the inverter signals a generator start. That's what I did at the old property.
 

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