Eg4 Lifepower4 battery is ticking on start

[sten]

My battery is making a ticking noise when i turn on the circuit breaker and then it goes to alarm state. Any ideas? Charge was around 40% yesterday.

The images show green lights for no inverter connected and when i connect the inverter i get alarm states.

 

[Samsonite801]

Can you load the computer app, or log into the management of it and figure out what the alarm is it's triggering (and check the logs)?

 

[sten]

Can you load the computer app, or log into the management of it and figure out what the alarm is it's triggering (and check the logs)?

Ive got a mac, looking for some virtual machine i can run the software on.

 

[Samsonite801]

Ive got a mac, looking for some virtual machine i can run the software on.

I'm not familiar with EG4 management methods, but they don't have an Ethernet port do they (only serial), can one use an IP and web browser? Or have to use their app only with a serial com port or whatever?

 

[Koldsimer]

Probably a pre-charge related issue. What exact battery and inverter are you running?

 

[sten]

Both EG4 products - 6.5k inverter and 48v 100a battery... was running fine yesterday. This morning i plug back in the pv cables without the battery on and then flipped the battery on. Now im stuck in this issue. fwiw PV was prob generating 15w as it was shaded.

 

[Samsonite801]

Both EG4 products - 6.5k inverter and 48v 100a battery... was running fine yesterday. This morning i plug back in the pv cables without the battery on and then flipped the battery on. Now im stuck in this issue. fwiw PV was prob generating 15w as it was shaded.

Have you tried to leave the PV cables off first, and then turn the battery on first?

 

[sten]

Have you tried to leave the PV cables off first, and then turn the battery on first?

yeah it just does its tick tick tick and then goes to alarm

 

[Samsonite801]

yeah it just does its tick tick tick and then goes to alarm

What if you unplug the battery from the inverter, and then turn it on with no load attached to it?

 

[sten]

What if you unplug the battery from the inverter, and then turn it on with no load attached to it?

I have no AC input so the inverter wont turn on, the PV cables tho seem to turn it on i could try that without a battery load? Do i need batteries connected with PV input?

 

[Samsonite801]

I have no AC input so the inverter wont turn on, the PV cables tho seem to turn it on i could try that without a battery load? Do i need batteries connected with PV input?

Generally, I've heard to connect battery power to the inverter first, then apply the PV solar power, but some of the inverter models are said to be able to operate in batteryless mode. But what I was referring to, was did you attempt to power on the battery with no load attached (inverter disconnected), just to see if the battery still acts funny without anything plugged into it..

Yeah, it seems like you'll need to check what the alarm it is triggering is. I wonder if there is a BMS reset procedure for those. Have you reached out to EG4 Support yet? Or the vendor?

 

[sten]

The battery starts up fine without a load attached to it.

 

[sten]

Ive emailed them at Signature Solar but they are pretty busy i assume and slow to get back... @RichardfromEG4 maybe can help

 

[Samsonite801]

Can you try using a pre-charge resistor in series with the battery cable, to slowly bring up the inverter (load down the battery gradually) before connecting the fat power cable all the way? Those inverters have capacitors that can cause a huge inrush for a second (as the capacitors charge), and might be enough to trip the BMS on over-current alarm and shutting down...

 

[sten]

I dont have a pre-charge resistor (ordered one this morning so tomorrow) but according to @Will Prowse they have one built into the system if you reset the battery and then attatch the cable. Ive tried that 4 times this morning (no spark) but all i get is tick tick tick tick for 10s and then alarm mode triggered.

 

[Samsonite801]

I dont have a pre-charge resistor (ordered one this morning so tomorrow) but according to @Will Prowse they have one built into the system if you reset the battery and then attatch the cable. Ive tried that 4 times this morning (no spark) but all i get is tick tick tick tick for 10s and then alarm mode triggered.

Sometimes you can use something else instead of a resistor to precharge, like a light bulb of some sort instead... It sounds like the precharge circuit in the EG4 battery may not be doing its job right or something? Does the manual give any indication on whether there are certain steps to use that internal precharge function, like hold down a button or something, while plugging the battery cable on or anything special?

 

[sten]

Sometimes you can use something else instead of a resistor to precharge, like a light bulb of some sort instead... It sounds like the precharge circuit in the EG4 battery may not be doing its job right or something? Does the manual give any indication on whether there are certain steps to use that internal precharge function, like hold down a button or something, while plugging the battery cable on or anything special?

Not that i can see, documentation could be better...

https://signaturesolar.com/content/documents/EG4/1511006-manual.pdf

 

[Samsonite801]

I see indication on the sections where the BMS trips due to a fault condition, it says the following:

"The BMS will require a manual reset."

and:

"Resolve the fault condition to avoid further shutdowns or the BMS will lock the module after 5 attempts and require a manual reset."


I'm trying to see if the manual gives any indication of how to reset the BMS...

 

[Samsonite801]

Page 16 ?

"Press the reset button to reset the system, then reboot the system"

 

[Samsonite801]

Can you also try to make sure the inverter is turned off (in standby) when you attempt to plug the battery cables in? Does it have a hardware power switch or is it a 'soft' power switch?