Epever 3210AN charge controller dropping out of MPPT mode

[AlpineJoe]

Yes, for me, too, turning the panel off and on gives an increase in charge power.
At a current of 1.4 amperes, the controller operates reliably in mppt mode if the panel is turned off and on.
Apparently there are two separate problems:
stuck in PWM mode and you need to turn the panels off and on again

and apparently there is some kind of minimum power at which the mpt cannot catch the voltage at the top and goes into a 14 volt PWM.

I'd try the new firmware that they're offering. Or if they are not offering, ask them to look into the problem. It sucks that their software does this.

 

[igorrius]

Ok, thanks a lot for your kindly understand and support, we recommend you use the SV200 firmware version have a try, here is the update package download link:
https://we.tl/t-VTv0zwqp3m?utm_camp...urce=sendgrid&utm_medium=email&trk=TRN_TDL_05

For the PV power, the PV power will not effect MPPT charging, but PV current will. If the generate current from PV lower than 1.5A, that can not let controller MPPT circuit work in normal, so that is the problem. What is the Isc, Voc and rated power of your solar panels? And how had you connect them?

Best regards
Fred Zhao

 

[igorrius]

This is what sticking looks like in 14 volt PWM mode

 

[igorrius]

Epevers are terrible for just randomly throttling down to a low PV voltage. Mine were always randomly doing it.

View attachment 189401

This is when I replaced one Epever for a Victron. Battery voltage is at 13.3v. Well below the boost setting of 13.8. Battery bank was on around 80% SOC.

The 520 watt string to the Victron SCC was producing more than the Epevers 780 and 1500 watt strings combined.

Supposedly a firmware upgrade (if you were lucky enough to find the right file to download) would fix the issue. However I have no faith in Epever whatsoever now and swapped them all out for Victrons. That fixed the issue.

Victron also has some kind of current level, does the mppt switch off in low light?

 

[igorrius]

I had the same problem with my both my EPever 4215BN's. The factory sent me new firmware and it solved the problem. The firmware wasn't on their website. Been working fine ever since I updated it. That said, now with the Victron price drop, I can get a Victron 150/45 Smart for nearly the same as the Epever, but the Victron has a nice bluetooth app and logging. That I miss with the EPever. The jury is out whether the Victron makes more power than the EPever. So far they seem comparable production wise.

At what minimum current does mppt work for you?

 

[Kiwi2000]

Victron also has some kind of current level, does the mppt switch off in low light?

Not that I'm aware of. They always seem to be doing a very good job of getting every watt that the light will allow.

They typically start off at 1 watt in the morning and will follow a bell curve until they hit charge voltage.

 

[AlpineJoe]

At what minimum current does mppt work for you?

I will need to check but I think below 1A. As long as the panels can maintain the higher voltage AND some current, I've seen it in MPPT mode.

 

[igorrius]

Not that I'm aware of. They always seem to be doing a very good job of getting every watt that the light will allow.

They typically start off at 1 watt in the morning and will follow a bell curve until they hit charge voltage.

please tell me what is your battery voltage and what is the solar panel voltage?

 

[Kiwi2000]

please tell me what is your battery voltage and what is the solar panel voltage?

The beauty of Victron is I can bring up those numbers from the exact minute...

 

[12VoltInstalls]

Victron also has some kind of current level, does the mppt switch off in low light?

I’ve been following this for educational purposes. While I have experienced the “high-voltage cutout bug” with several different Epever units I have not seen any low-light issues with them any differently than not enough light.
And I say this being that here in my locale of Vermont we have a lot of cloudy days due to the jet stream, “lake effect” and other moisture from essentially hundreds of miles west and southwest, and the pressure drop over the green mountain spine. Whether my first year Windy Nation pwm, a variety of Epevers 30A to 60A, an MPP SCC, and a cheapo powMR 60A mppt; they all shrink to 5%-20% of potential in low light from clouds. In good sun, early and late in the day still are quite low to nearly ineffective until the sun angle comes about in the morning, and drop rapidly nearing sunset.

Victron is good stuff and though I haven’t bought any (yet?) I read the comparisons with a grain of salt- there is no magic pill in Victron other than quality and durability. The ancillary robust monitoring, accessories, etc., should be available from such a premium brand as Victron. And they are.

I extend the grain of salt to Epever complaints, too. You can make ‘tight’ settings (very close together limit settings) and create a number of switching and charge issues quite easily, but other than the full-sun higher state of charge voltage spike ‘bug’ (high voltage cutout bug) that apparently has been solved I somehow managed to attain or exceed expected/calculated output goals from them.

With the tens of thousands of people successfully using Epever offgrid I have difficulty swallowing that they are inherently junk. Many of the Epever complaint stream fall into the same symptoms which I experienced when a faulty batch of MC4s had me spinning in circles with what turned out to be siphoning of water into the connectors with temperature cycles. Once I replaced them all I have not had those issues again. And on the bright side (with some guidance from this forum) I went through extreme testing of voltage drop through connections with calculations down to milliohms proving where the issues originated. Pleasing to verify my work was sound.

You won’t be unhappy with Victron. However, don’t think of it as a magic pill. The human element plays a large part in many people’s equipment ‘failure’ experience.

 

[igorrius]

You won’t be unhappy with Victron. However, don’t think of it as a magic pill. The human element plays a large part in many people’s equipment ‘failure’ experience.

My priority was to obtain energy from the sun in winter, when there is little sun.If I had known that the mpt solar controller would not work up to 1.5 amperes, I would have taken a cheap PWM controller and connected the panels in parallel.

 

[12VoltInstalls]

would not work up to 1.5

ok

 

[igorrius]

the operating current threshold is mppt 0.6 amperes in the stuck straight through mode, 14 volts at the input.

Reconnecting the solar panel activates mode mppt and the panel current becomes 0.5 amps with high voltage input

 

[AlpineJoe]

the operating current threshold is mppt 0.6 amperes in the stuck straight through mode, 14 volts at the input.

Reconnecting the solar panel activates mode mppt and the panel current becomes 0.5 amps with high voltage input

Let EPever know this. They need to fix the firmware

 

[igorrius]

Reflashing didn't help.
up to 0.4 ampere it is not capable of operating in mppt mode.
at a current of 0.5 amperes and above, it operates in mode mppt only after disconnecting and connecting the solar panel.

 

[igorrius]

I filmed the problem of the 1.5 ampere response threshold for mppt operation (an unpleasant secret surprise from Epever)

 

[Kiwi2000]

I filmed the problem of the 1.5 ampere response threshold for mppt operation (an unpleasant secret surprise from Epever)

So before resetting the breaker you had...

PV

1.16A

13.44v

15.6w

Then after resetting the breaker you got...

PV

1.04A

51.59v

53.59w

That's the same problem I was having with my multiple Epevers as well. They would randomly lock PV voltage down low and I would only receive a very low wattage from the panels.

 

[AlpineJoe]

Yep, same thing I was seeing with my 4215BN. I was going to build an automatic disconnect circuit to break the connection to the panel if it sensed this, but new Epever FW for my 4215BN permanently fixed the problem.

 

[igorrius]

Yep, same thing I was seeing with my 4215BN. I was going to build an automatic disconnect circuit to break the connection to the panel if it sensed this, but new Epever FW for my 4215BN permanently fixed the problem.

Epever They did not provide me with the latest firmware, flashing the firmware did not help me,
and now I don’t have the latest firmware installed