EG4 Lifepower4 48V Top Balancing Firmware.

[ChillnGrill]

The new stationary firmware. Only plugged into 2p1 not 2p2

 

[Markus_EG4]

The new stationary firmware. Only plugged into 2p1 not 2p2

Set 2p2 to EG4 and plug into it. I want to see if its possibly the display on 2p1 causing the issue

 

[Markus_EG4]

@Markus_SignatureSolar I know lots of people are asking you questions, so I'll try to keep mine really simple.

I have 12x LifePo4 batteries connected to my Sol-Ark 15K, through the EG4 Comm Hub. When my Inverter is pulling less than 2.2 amps per battery, neither the EG4 Comm Hub or Solar Assistant indicate that the battery is discharging, and thus the 15K sees no discharge according to the SOC.

If I only have a small load for a long period of time, that consumes less than 2.2 amps per battery, my SOC remains at 100% on the Comm Hub telling the Inverter the batteries have more charge than they do. This creates a problem because theoretically if this went on for long enough, I could get all the way down to say 20% SOC and the inverter would still be told by the Comm Hub the batteries are at 100% SOC.

Here is the question, is there a way to configure the LifePo4 batteries to report all amp draw to the Comm Hub, or at least greater than some small value like .5 amps?

I discovered it's currently 2.2 amps by playing with varying loads and detecting when they start reporting load and when they stop.

Thank you in advance!

I talked with the engineers and if your batteries are discharging less then 500ma then it will not be detected. If the bms doesn't detect it then the comms hub will not see it either. We will look for a solution for this. I will keep you updated.

 

[Zapper77]

I talked with the engineers and if your batteries are discharging less then 500ma then it will not be detected. If the bms doesn't detect it then the comms hub will not see it either. We will look for a solution for this. I will keep you updated.

The LP4 has never shown any discharge or charge when under 2 amps. I don't recall this ever causing any issues with my setup.

 

[MaikaiLife]

I talked with the engineers and if your batteries are discharging less then 500ma then it will not be detected. If the bms doesn't detect it then the comms hub will not see it either. We will look for a solution for this. I will keep you updated.

Hi @Markus_SignatureSolar , 500ma would be great, but as it stands with the v1.10 firmware on the comm hub and whatever the newest is for the LifePo4 batteries, they don’t report to the hub or the hub doesn’t listen until the amp draw is over 2.2-2.4 amps.

 

[MaikaiLife]

Hi @Markus_SignatureSolar , 500ma would be great, but as it stands with the v1.10 firmware on the comm hub and whatever the newest is for the LifePo4 batteries, they don’t report to the hub or the hub doesn’t listen until the amp draw is over 2.2-2.4 amps.

FYI this is both directions discharging and charging amperage needs to be over 2.2-2.4 for the battery to show anything on the comm hub.

 

[MaikaiLife]

@Markus_SignatureSolar how did your testing go this morning?

 

[Markus_EG4]

@Markus_SignatureSolar how did your testing go this morning?

We found the exact same problem. It has been brought up to engineering.

 

[MaikaiLife]

We found the exact same problem. It has been brought up to engineering.

Well, I'm glad you can re-create the problem, I'm super happy ya'll see it so we can figure out how to fix it. Thanks so much for testing and finding this, I really want these LifePo4 batteries to work perfectly and this is basically my only remaining issue to complete my full system pre-assemble/load/analytics test.

 

[n2aws]

@Markus_SignatureSolar I know lots of people are asking you questions, so I'll try to keep mine really simple.

I have 12x LifePo4 batteries connected to my Sol-Ark 15K, through the EG4 Comm Hub. When my Inverter is pulling less than 2.2 amps per battery, neither the EG4 Comm Hub or Solar Assistant indicate that the battery is discharging, and thus the 15K sees no discharge according to the SOC.

If I only have a small load for a long period of time, that consumes less than 2.2 amps per battery, my SOC remains at 100% on the Comm Hub telling the Inverter the batteries have more charge than they do. This creates a problem because theoretically if this went on for long enough, I could get all the way down to say 20% SOC and the inverter would still be told by the Comm Hub the batteries are at 100% SOC.

Here is the question, is there a way to configure the LifePo4 batteries to report all amp draw to the Comm Hub, or at least greater than some small value like .5 amps?

I discovered it's currently 2.2 amps by playing with varying loads and detecting when they start reporting load and when they stop.

Thank you in advance!

Great find.

I have 6 Lifepower4's, and noticed that as I'm charging or discharging under around 600w, my system doesn't show the batteries charging or discharging. I never even thought to look deeper into it. Using your 2.2a cutoff, thatd be 633-673w depending on my battery voltages at the time, which seems to line right up with my observations.

 

[Markus_EG4]

Well, I'm glad you can re-create the problem, I'm super happy ya'll see it so we can figure out how to fix it. Thanks so much for testing and finding this, I really want these LifePo4 batteries to work perfectly and this is basically my only remaining issue to complete my full system pre-assemble/load/analytics test.

Thank you for bringing it up

 

[ksmithaz1]

Yes you cant have any loads at all

Thank you.

Might want to mention this in the update notes. It was my next step, Since I was able to read date/time and Cell level SOC and all, it seemed rather odd and then I was like "What is different from last time?" The latest document you have is pretty straightforward, I guess it assumes you are not actively using the thing, might just want to add that before step 1. "Make sure the battery is completely disconnected from any chargers/loads before you start". I'll shut it all down after 2000 tonite and try again. The AIO's get excited if you unplug the comm cables.

I might note the last time I was able to walk the 6 units one at a time by ID. I think I had to reset the serial port in between, I don't remember. Thus it would seem you don't have to use id zero(0), although if I were writing the guide, I'd probably say the same thing for sanity sake. The 96% thing really bugs me ! I doubt it's going to make a practical difference, but we'll find out what difference if any it makes. Anything that might improve the reliability and life of the battery should be a good thing.

 

[MaikaiLife]

@Markus_SignatureSolar Question, now that the issue has been reported and confirmed, what is the expectation for a solution? Are we talking about a few weeks or a few months?

I've not had any experience with reporting issues with EG4 equipment and I'm just trying to get a feel for what urgency EG4 places on its obligation to get fixes and updates into production.

Any sort of overview of how this typically works would be greatly appreciated so that I can communicate with my downstream clients what they can expect.

Thank you

 

[MaikaiLife]

Just checking back, @Markus_SignatureSolar , can you give me any type of process timeline for the issue I reported to get placed into production on the EG4 LifePo4 batteries? Even if it's like a few weeks, or months, just trying to understand what this looks like. It also occurred to me, that should I open a support ticket, Is there a formal way that I need to communicate this to SS/EG4 outside of communicating with you in the forums?

 

[Zapper77]

Just checking back, @Markus_SignatureSolar , can you give me any type of process timeline for the issue I reported to get placed into production on the EG4 LifePo4 batteries? Even if it's like a few weeks, or months, just trying to understand what this looks like. It also occurred to me, that should I open a support ticket, Is there a formal way that I need to communicate this to SS/EG4 outside of communicating with you in the forums?

I always "assumed" the 2 amp reporting was a hardware limitation.

Edit to say I recall In a few youtube videos that other server racks had a similar limitation.

 

[MaikaiLife]

I always "assumed" the 2 amp reporting was a hardware limitation.

Edit to say I recall In a few youtube videos that other server racks had a similar limitation.

Hi @Zapper77, if you look back in the thread, @Markus_SignatureSolar said he spoke with the Engineers, who I assume are the people that build the product at EG4 and they told him the amp draw should be reported if it's over 500ma.

EG4 Lifepower4 48V Top Balancing Firmware.

The new stationary firmware. Only plugged into 2p1 not 2p2

diysolarforum.com

Given this information it's safe to assume the batteries are not performing as per the Engineering team's reported specifications.

 

[Zapper77]

Hi @Zapper77, if you look back in the thread, @Markus_SignatureSolar said he spoke with the Engineers, who I assume are the people that build the product at EG4 and they told him the amp draw should be reported if it's over 500ma.

EG4 Lifepower4 48V Top Balancing Firmware.

The new stationary firmware. Only plugged into 2p1 not 2p2

diysolarforum.com

Given this information it's safe to assume the batteries are not performing as per the Engineering team's reported specifications.

I saw that....that's exactly why I chimed in that the 2amp limit has been around for a while.

 

[MaikaiLife]

I saw that....that's exactly why I chimed in that the 2amp limit has been around for a while.

FYI, reading this thread, and I know it's a different product, but it seems to imply this amp draw under 2.3 amps is configurable in the BMS.

Daly Smart BMS not registering small loads

My Daly Smart BMS 4S (200A) is not registering small loads? I have a parasitic draw around 1.1A/h in my travel trailer. The Daly BMS show 0. My Victron shunt shows 1.1 A. As the Daly BMS does not show small loads it also stop calculate SOC. So big difference in calculated SOC between Victron...

diysolarforum.com

I've looked through the testing tool and I don't see a value to adjust, I'm guessing if it's there it's behind one of the advanced sections.

 

[Zapper77]

FYI, reading this thread, and I know it's a different product, but it seems to imply this amp draw under 2.3 amps is configurable in the BMS.

Daly Smart BMS not registering small loads

My Daly Smart BMS 4S (200A) is not registering small loads? I have a parasitic draw around 1.1A/h in my travel trailer. The Daly BMS show 0. My Victron shunt shows 1.1 A. As the Daly BMS does not show small loads it also stop calculate SOC. So big difference in calculated SOC between Victron...

diysolarforum.com

I've looked through the testing tool and I don't see a value to adjust, I'm guessing if it's there it's behind one of the advanced sections.

It would be nice to have 0.5 amps reflected by the BMS.

 

[adobopr]

@ksmithaz1 but I can say, if the battery is charging or discharging, then you won't be able to get boot info or start the firmware update process. It needs to be idle.

How sure are you about not being able to get boot info? I've been struggling to get this update going and I think that might be why, but I think I was misled by the video linked earlier where he was able to get boot info but then shows a current of 6 amps going (his solar did also kick in right there).

Could it be that because they have 12 batteries they were under 2 amps discharge and that BMS bug made it think it was 0 and let it through?