diy solar

diy solar

Epever Tracer AN high-current won’t support LiFePO4???

fafrd

Solar Wizard
Joined
Aug 11, 2020
Messages
4,188
I’m thinking about getting one of the new Tracer AN 200V 60A MPPT charge controllers, but in reviewing this presentation: https://www.epsolarpv.com/upload/file/1812/EPEVER Tracer AN_Main_Pres.pdf

I found this statement:

High current series doesn’t have self-activation function for lithium-ion battery, thus it cannot be used with lithium-ion battery.’

Has anyone here used one of these new high-voltage high-current tracer AN series and is it true they can’t be used to charge LiFePO4 batteries?
 
Not quite. EpEver told me lithium is not supported but can be used "at your own risk" I have extensive discussion now under "Epever 6415AN doesn't respect my settings" in this same forum, including some of the documents they sent me on recommended lifepo4 configurations
 
Not quite. EpEver told me lithium is not supported but can be used "at your own risk" I have extensive discussion now under "Epever 6415AN doesn't respect my settings" in this same forum, including some of the documents they sent me on recommended lifepo4 configurations

Thanks - have seen that thread but hadn’t checked it out yet. Will do so now.
 
It does support Lifepo4, under USER settings, which can be set by MT50 or PC (USB) or App (WiFi or Bluetooth adaptor).
A31C67E4-FDCF-4FE3-AD9A-25C7D3A49A22.png
 
It does support Lifepo4, under USER settings, which can be set by MT50 or PC (USB) or App (WiFi or Bluetooth adaptor).
View attachment 57776
I ended up getting a Tracer AN6420 and am going will be attempting to program it for my 8S LiFePO4 this week.

I’ve seen that the Utility/Generator Dry Contact can be used to control a Diesel Generator and is tied to the Under Voltage Warning Voltage (UVWV) and Under Voltage Warning Recovery Voltage (UVWRV) parameters.

I’m planning on using this dry contact to control when my GTIL inverters are discharging (so load/discharge rather than generation/charge) and so I’ll want the UVWRV to be set much higher than default at ~67% SOC to start inverting and UVWV to be set much higher than default at ~33% SOC to stop inverting (so I reserve enough to get through peak hours after the sun has gone down when $/kW is much higher).

Does anyone with one of these Epever charge controllers know if there is any problem setting UVWRV up between Boost Reconnect Charging Voltage (BRCV) and Float Charging Voltage (FCV)?

My GTIL inverters will be drawing a max of 0.17C and generally much less than that (depending on the run state of fridges) so I’m estimating a voltage drop of 0mV to 50mV and want to keep the ‘inverter active’ range of UVWRV to UVWV much larger than that (>600mV) to avoid thrashing of charge controller & inverter state as fridges turn on and off…

Also, I didn’t see anything in the manual about Vbat below UVWV causing an audible alarm or anything, so is that parameter free to be used for external control of the dry contact without any other impact?

The settings page posted above shows a ‘Boosting Charging Time’ parameter with a default /recommended value of 120min and I assume this is the minimum constant voltage charge time at boost voltage before switching to Float Charge Voltage.

I’m pretty sure that by enabling my GTIL inverters to begin discharging when battery voltage reaches a UVWRV level well below the Boost Charge Voltage, I’ll never enter CV Boost or Float and will remain in Boost as long as the sun is shining, so I’m thinking if I reduce ‘Boost Charging Time’ to the minimum for the impossible / rare event that my LiFePO4 battery ever becomes fully-charged, I should be fine…
 
Last edited:
I ended up getting a Tracer AN6420 and am going will be attempting to program it for my 8S LiFePO4 this week.

I’ve seen that the Utility/Generator Dry Contact can be used to control a Diesel Generator and is tied to the Under Voltage Warning Voltage (UVWV) and Under Voltage Warning Recovery Voltage (UVWRV) parameters.

I’m planning on using this dry contact to control when my GTIL inverters are discharging (so load/discharge rather than generation/charge) and so I’ll want the UVWRV to be set much higher than default at ~67% SOC to start inverting and UVWV to be set much higher than default at ~33% SOC to stop inverting (so I reserve enough to get through peak hours after the sun has gone down when $/kW is much higher).

Does anyone with one of these Epever charge controllers know if there is any problem setting UVWRV up between Boost Reconnect Charging Voltage (BRCV) and Float Charging Voltage (FCV)?

My GTIL inverters will be drawing a max of 0.17C and generally much less than that (depending on the run state of fridges) so I’m estimating a voltage drop of 0mV to 50mV and want to keep the ‘inverter active’ range of UVWRV to UVWV much larger than that (>600mV) to avoid thrashing of charge controller & inverter state as fridges turn on and off…

Also, I didn’t see anything in the manual about Vbat below UVWV causing an audible alarm or anything, so is that parameter free to be used for external control of the dry contact without any other impact?

The settings page posted above shows a ‘Boosting Charging Time’ parameter with a default /recommended value of 120min and I assume this is the minimum constant voltage charge time at boost voltage before switching to Float Charge Voltage.

I’m pretty sure that by enabling my GTIL inverters to begin discharging when battery voltage reaches a UVWRV level well below the Boost Charge Voltage, I’ll never enter CV Boost or Float and will remain in Boost as long as the sun is shining, so I’m thinking if I reduce ‘Boost Charging Time’ to the minimum for the impossible / rare event that my LiFePO4 battery ever becomes fully-charged, I should b

you can check in the manual (available online epsolarpv.com I use the UVW to operate the normally closed relay contact. It cuts off the inverter AC output by SSR. The level it operates at opens that relay, and closes the other generator start contacts. No problems using it, whereas using the load LVD contact usually creates an error, red light flashing, requiring SCC reset (I have a switch). Sometimes the BMS disconnects first (probably low cell v). I blew a cheap Chinese DC 120A SSR, when disconnecting 15A. But will probably reinstate it on load contacts, at lower Voltage than the UVW, or use a delay, maybe via a high or low operated optically isolated relay (and simple diode & capacitor).
The Boost charge time (aka Bulk) is programmable. It charges the battery to the boost voltage a.. re-continued below: (my phone battery died, surprised this got saved!
I ended up getting a Tracer AN6420 and am going will be attempting to program it for my 8S LiFePO4 this week.

I’ve seen that the Utility/Generator Dry Contact can be used to control a Diesel Generator and is tied to the Under Voltage Warning Voltage (UVWV) and Under Voltage Warning Recovery Voltage (UVWRV) parameters.

I’m planning on using this dry contact to control when my GTIL inverters are discharging (so load/discharge rather than generation/charge) and so I’ll want the UVWRV to be set much higher than default at ~67% SOC to start inverting and UVWV to be set much higher than default at ~33% SOC to stop inverting (so I reserve enough to get through peak hours after the sun has gone down when $/kW is much higher).

Does anyone with one of these Epever charge controllers know if there is any problem setting UVWRV up between Boost Reconnect Charging Voltage (BRCV) and Float Charging Voltage (FCV)?

My GTIL inverters will be drawing a max of 0.17C and generally much less than that (depending on the run state of fridges) so I’m estimating a voltage drop of 0mV to 50mV and want to keep the ‘inverter active’ range of UVWRV to UVWV much larger than that (>600mV) to avoid thrashing of charge controller & inverter state as fridges turn on and off…

Also, I didn’t see anything in the manual about Vbat below UVWV causing an audible alarm or anything, so is that parameter free to be used for external control of the dry contact without any other impact?

The settings page posted above shows a ‘Boosting Charging Time’ parameter with a default /recommended value of 120min and I assume this is the minimum constant voltage charge time at boost voltage before switching to Float Charge Voltage.

I’m pretty sure that by enabling my GTIL inverters to begin discharging when battery voltage reaches a UVWRV level well below the Boost Charge Voltage, I’ll never enter CV Boost or Float and will remain in Boost as long as the sun is shining, so I’m thinking if I reduce ‘Boost Charging Time’ to the minimum for the impossible / rare event that my LiFePO4 battery ever becomes fully-charged, I should be fine…
no problem setting UVWR high. I use UVW normally closed contacts to operate SSR, via a switch. When the voltage is reached the contact opens, and the other generator start contacts are closed. Boost (aka Bulk) is charging to the Boost voltage then holding it there for any time you program it to. After that it goes to Equalise, which Epever support recommend you use on Lifepo4, at the same voltage as Boost, time also programable. That is like Absorption. I adjust the times depending on my battery SOC. No problem using UVW, unlike Load relay, which often puts the SCC into error mode, red light flashing, requiring solar then battery disconnect, then reconnect battery first. Then wait and see if it has voltage detect error, or not, if ok then reconnect solar. I have a big switch to the battery. MCB’s on solar.
 
They are quite a good SCC. Wiring arrangement is very good. Mine takes 25mm2 bigger than the manual states for 6415 AN. Imax. Don’t believe the KWh or Amps going to battery. My Smart ANT BMS sees less, usually about half the difference between panel current and what the SCC displays. You need MT50 to program USER settings for Lifepo4 the SCC can’t do it
 
The Boost charge time (aka Bulk) is programmable. It charges the battery to the boost voltage a.. re-continued below: (my phone battery died, surprised this got saved!

no problem setting UVWR high. I use UVW normally closed contacts to operate SSR, via a switch. When the voltage is reached the contact opens, and the other generator start contacts are closed. Boost (aka Bulk) is charging to the Boost voltage then holding it there for any time you program it to. After that it goes to Equalise, which Epever support recommend you use on Lifepo4, at the same voltage as Boost, time also programable. That is like Absorption. I adjust the times depending on my battery SOC. No problem using UVW, unlike Load relay, which often puts the SCC into error mode, red light flashing, requiring solar then battery disconnect, then reconnect battery first. Then wait and see if it has voltage detect error, or not, if ok then reconnect solar. I have a big switch to the battery. MCB’s on solar.
I used a RS485 to USB cable to program the Vuvw, Vuvwr, Vlvd and Vlldr settings I wanted, but the Load Control relay does not seem to be responding to battery voltage but in some kind of manual mode.

Every time I hit ‘ENTER’ on the front of the Tracer AN, the state of the Load Control Relay toggles (ON then OFF then ON, etc…).

Has anyone else experienced this manual mode and does anyone know what I need to do to get out of it and return control of the Load Control Relay to Vbat versus Vlvd and Vlvdr parameters as stated in section 2.4 of the manual?

[P.S. when I was testing everything out through the software application connected to the Tracer AN, there was an option to ‘turn on Load Control Relay’ and ‘turn off Load Control Relay’ which I exercised a few times to make sure the Tracer AN could successfully operate my power relay.

I add this detail just in case exercising the software interface control of the Load Control Relay may have caused the problem I’m having…]
 
Last edited:
I used a RS485 to USB cable to program the Vuvw, Vuvwr, Vlvd and Vlldr settings I wanted, but the Load Control relay does not seem to be responding to battery voltage but in some kind of manual mode.

Every time I hit ‘ENTER’ on the front of the Tracer AN, the state of the Load Control Relay toggles (ON then OFF then ON, etc…).

Has anyone else experienced this manual mode and does anyone know what I need to do to get out of it and return control of the Load Control Relay to Vbat versus Vlvd and Vlvdr parameters as stated in section 2.4 of the manual?
Yes manual mode is like that. Other programmable modes are timers. Wait until battery volts hit the LVD then it will turn off. As stated above, I prefer to use the ‘generator’ contacts, which do not put the SCC into error mode, when LVD is reached. The reason I have a switch, is to only turn on a SSR when I want it; the SCC will turn it off when UVW is reached (if the BMS doesn’t do so first! - usually because 1 cell has hit low voltage, it recovers quite quickly, and usually turns on the SCC again, leaving the Inverter off). My 40A SSR is on AC output of inverter, with just a few Amp load. I blew a 120A DC SSR first time I turned off a 15A DC load
 
Last edited:
Yes manual mode is like that. Other programmable modes are timers. Wait until battery volts hit the LVD then it will turn off. As stated above, I prefer to use the ‘generator’ contacts, which do not put the SCC into error mode, when LVD is reached. The reason I have a switch, is to only turn on a SSR when I want it; the SCC will turn it off when UVW is reached (if the BMS doesn’t do so first! - usually because 1 cell has hit low voltage, it recovers quite quickly, and usually turns on the SCC again, leaving the SSR off. My 40A SSR is on AC output of inverter, with just a few Amp load. I blew a 120A DC SSR first time I turned off a 15A DC load
I’m currently using the Load Relay to control my ‘Peak Period’ discharge and the Generator Relay to control discharge of ‘Excess Energy’ (ie: dump load).

If using the Load Relay causes as many issues as you suggest, I will fall-back to only using Generator Relay as you suggest.

I’ve seen that the Tracer BN Series includes Load Timers that can be configured trough an MT50.

My first question is to understand whether the Tracer AN 6420 includes the same controls for Load Timers (MT50 manual only mentions BN Series and I can’t find anything on AN Series support).

And my second question is to understand whether there is any capability for Tracer AN 6420 configuration supported through an MT50 that cannot also be supported / configured through the Epever Software running on a PC?

Epever builds some pretty good products (especially for the price) but their documentation sucks big time…
 
I checked the MT50 timers can be programmed anytime on Tracer AN. Could not get the PC software to read it back from the SCC, and have not implemented timer use, so can’t confirm it. Both MT50 & PC software may be generalised. The Software in the AN series is also generalised, with Load current etc, but there is only relay contact on the Load.
 
Last edited:
I checked the MT50 timers can be programmed anytime on Tracer AN. Could not get the PC software to read it back from the SCC, and have not implemented timer use, so can’t confirm it. Both MT50 & PC software may be generalised. The Software in the AN series is also generalised, with Load current etc, but there is only relay contact on the Load.
Looked more carefully at the PC application and discovered that ‘Load Parameters’ was the menu to configure timer parameters and not a command to load a full set of MPPT parameters as I’d assumed (no documentation did not help).

So now I’ve got everything working - thanks for the help.
 
Yes manual mode is like that. Other programmable modes are timers. Wait until battery volts hit the LVD then it will turn off. As stated above, I prefer to use the ‘generator’ contacts, which do not put the SCC into error mode, when LVD is reached. The reason I have a switch, is to only turn on a SSR when I want it; the SCC will turn it off when UVW is reached (if the BMS doesn’t do so first! - usually because 1 cell has hit low voltage, it recovers quite quickly, and usually turns on the SCC again, leaving the Inverter off). My 40A SSR is on AC output of inverter, with just a few Amp load. I blew a 120A DC SSR first time I turned off a 15A DC load
I’ve got the Load timer programmed to control my Peak Discharge and that is working well (turns on during Peak Period only but only as long as battery voltage remains above LVD setting).

But I’m not getting the generator contacts to respond - is there anything specific that needs to be done to enable them? Software has a checkbox for ‘Oilengine Controlsignal’ but switching that from default of Disable to Enable changes nothing.

I’d appreciate any advice you have to test generator contact control - my goal is to use the ‘Normally Closed’ contact to enable discharge whenever battery reaches a high state of charge (regardless of peak hours).

Battery voltage below Under Voltage Warning Voltage leaves the relay closed (in fact during the day while there is some solar charging underway, it seems to always be closed no matter what I do).
 
As you have the load working, the switch, by the terminals must be on. The generator contacts are a 2 pole changeover. Generator start occurs when hit the UVW. The other contact is normally closed when above UVW (and may remain closed when the SCC is off). If UVW is reached, it should turn off; it will turn on again at UVR. On the Imax, 64xxAN obviously you need to provide external power to the circuits connected to the relays. Maybe you have a fault?
 
As you have the load working, the switch, by the terminals must be on.

I think what you mean is that the load relay is an active ON relay, meaning Load relay is closed when Load should be ON. (Which is how I am using it).
The generator contacts are a 2 pole changeover. Generator start occurs when hit the UVW. The other contact is normally closed when above UVW (and may remain closed when the SCC is off).
This is what I have assumed - Normally Closed Generator relay is closed when SCC is off or whenever Vbat is > Vuvw.

Once Vbat drops below Vuvw, that Normally Closed Generator Relay opens and once open, it remains open until Vbat charges to above Vuvwr

If UVW is reached, it should turn off; it will turn on again at UVR. On the Imax, 64xxAN obviously you need to provide external power to the circuits connected to the relays. Maybe you have a fault?
I appreciate that you’ve confirmed my reading of the generator relay function is correct. I am suspecting my issue may be related to not understanding whether ‘OilEngine_controlsignal’ must be Enabled for generator relay to function as well as whether changes to Vuvw and Vuvwr take immediate effect or not.

Some changes to settings apparently only take effect overnight and/or after charging state has changed…
 
I’m thinking about getting one of the new Tracer AN 200V 60A MPPT charge controllers, but in reviewing this presentation: https://www.epsolarpv.com/upload/file/1812/EPEVER Tracer AN_Main_Pres.pdf

I found this statement:

High current series doesn’t have self-activation function for lithium-ion battery, thus it cannot be used with lithium-ion battery.’

Has anyone here used one of these new high-voltage high-current tracer AN series and is it true they can’t be used to charge LiFePO4 batteries?
There is no Lithium profile. You can charge Lifepo4 with User settings, only by programming the SCC with MT50 or Solar Station PC software. The AN’s also being known as Imax (by Epsolarpv+ App, which can’t change settings.
 
Back
Top