GridBOSS / FlexBOSS21 2 x EG4 WallMount Indoor Battery and Weather Optimize

[Mike1999]

Hello all, just thought I'd check in to see if anyone is using 'Weather Optimize'. The 'so-called' documentation is rather lacking. I've read the simple set your location instructions but there are no details....

I was hoping to be able to keep a certain level of charge so that I can still get some backup use if the grid fails - all dependent on the guess of how the solar generation will be the next day.

It would be fabulous if there was actual documentation of everything. Seems like a great setup but without actual documentation it is difficult to get the ideal setup for whatever an individual's goals are.

For that matter, it would great to have detailed documentation on everything with the GridBOSS and FlexBOSS21!

Thanks!

 

[Mike1999]

Well, strangeness.... I set the location so the FlexBOSS would get the correct weather information.

I originally had the it set to 'Self Consumption' and it had been behaving as expected. The batteries would discharge to 20% as the solar production ended at night and then in the morning as solar production resumed, the batteries would then charge to 100%. Then, last week, when bad weather was expected for the week, I changed working mode to 'Backup'.

Yesterday, after setting the location, I changed the working mode back to 'Self Consumption'. To my surprise this morning, the batteries were completely discharged! Yikes, hopefully they were not damaged. The events logged were: W000: Communication failure with battery, W026: Battery voltage low and W027: Battery open. The times on these events were exactly the same - 01:09:10. Shouldn't this have been logged in sequence? Like Battery voltage low, Communication failure and then finally battery open once they were depleted?

The best part is that I was watching the battery level on my phone with the app. It slowly went down until 21% and stayed there for until about 11:00pm when I last looked. This morning I checked the app it still said 21% so I thought all was well. Then, on my computer, I saw the errors and the battery level of 0%! Looked back at the app and it still said 21% - until I closed the app completely and then re-opened it to see it also said 0%. Geez....

I set the working mode back to 'backup' and cycled the power buttons on each battery and they immediately began charging and are now at 98%.

Anyone have any idea what happened and what kind of damage could have been done by completely depleting the batteries?

Full documentation would be a huge benefit! I don't doubt the trouble was self inflicted but I really don't believe I changed anything other the 'Weather Optimize' location setting and switching back to 'Self Consumption'.

Thanks!

 

[EG4TechSolutionsTeam]

What do you have the Battery Type and Lithium Brand set to on the inverter?

Also, what protocol do you have set on the battery?

 

[Mike1999]

What do you have the Battery Type and Lithium Brand set to on the inverter?

Also, what protocol do you have set on the battery?

Hi and thanks for the reply.

The battery Type is 2: Lithium and the Lithium Brand is 0: EG4.

The protocol on the battery is set to EG4/LUX.

 

[Mike1999]

Hello again, buyer's remorse is starting to set in.... Haven't heard back from Signature Solar since my email last Wednesday or my tech support submission though the web site Friday. I'll try calling them tomorrow - maybe that is the best way to get help? Pre-purchase SS was quick to respond but post-purchase not so much.

In addition to the trouble I described above with the batteries draining to zero and shutting down I also having a problem with Grid Sell Back. I have my existing system AC coupled system on Smart Port 1. That does feed back to the grid as expected. The trouble is that the panels connected to the FlexBOSS directly do not push to the grid. As the batteries reach 100% the solar the FlexBoss controls slows down to 24 watts. Basically, because I can't leave it self-consumption mode for fear of the batteries being completely depleted, I have had to leave it set to Backup Mode - meaning the panels directly connected to the FlexBoss are getting very little use because the batteries stay charged at 100% and the PV input stays very low.

I tried just shutting of the breaker for SP1 and then the PV connected to the FlexBOSS does kick-in but because the weather has been bad, I don't know if it will feed back to the grid or not. During my test the house was using more power than the small PV array could create on a during the rain.

I have attached screen shots of all the settings here if anyone would like to take a look.

Thanks in advance for any help and information!

 

[Tommytwotone]

Hello again, buyer's remorse is starting to set in.... Haven't heard back from Signature Solar since my email last Wednesday or my tech support submission though the web site Friday. I'll try calling them tomorrow - maybe that is the best way to get help? Pre-purchase SS was quick to respond but post-purchase not so much.

In addition to the trouble I described above with the batteries draining to zero and shutting down I also having a problem with Grid Sell Back. I have my existing system AC coupled system on Smart Port 1. That does feed back to the grid as expected. The trouble is that the panels connected to the FlexBOSS directly do not push to the grid. As the batteries reach 100% the solar the FlexBoss controls slows down to 24 watts. Basically, because I can't leave it self-consumption mode for fear of the batteries being completely depleted, I have had to leave it set to Backup Mode - meaning the panels directly connected to the FlexBoss are getting very little use because the batteries stay charged at 100% and the PV input stays very low.

I tried just shutting of the breaker for SP1 and then the PV connected to the FlexBOSS does kick-in but because the weather has been bad, I don't know if it will feed back to the grid or not. During my test the house was using more power than the small PV array could create on a during the rain.

I have attached screen shots of all the settings here if anyone would like to take a look.

Thanks in advance for any help and information!

I have a GB , FBx2 and wall mount x6. I was advised to run battery type 2 and brand 1. That did help. Also are you running 1 Flexboss or 2?

Did anyone go over your battery dip switches and communication connections?

While we continue to have other issues I have been able to set a 20% SOC on Grid floor with a 5% grid down (not tested though). I am in off grid mode with grid for the moment. It did not seem to work right in type 2 brand 0 though. It also may change when we go on grid with sell back. We were hoping on grid with sell back would fix other issues.

I agree the manual is poorly written and does not read left to right in the illustrations which leads to even the diagrams being perplexing. I can appreciate your feeling that no questions are being answered.

 

[Mike1999]

Ah, thank you very much! I'll give type 2 and brand 1 a try.

It's strange because before I tried to setup the 'Weather Optimize' it seemed to work fine with backup disabled and set to Self Consumption mode.

Much appreciated!

 

[Tommytwotone]

Ah, thank you very much! I'll give type 2 and brand 1 a try.

It's strange because before I tried to setup the 'Weather Optimize' it seemed to work fine with backup disabled and set to Self Consumption mode.

Much appreciated!

Although I have not tried the weather optimization, I like the idea I am just afraid to with to many other issues swirling around. In addition I seem to recall the weather optimization is hit and miss but I cannot recall where I read/heard that.

My system worked fine for a month configured Type 2 brand 0 but I had very limited loads on it such that I never went down to 20% (I did not have any backup set up at that time). As soon as I started working it and running it down to 20% is when the issue reared up.

I switched mine over to the type 2 brand 1. I would then try setting the SOC cut off to say 2% below where you are at a point that you have no PV likely so you can verify the cut off.

In the monitor you can expand your view to show all battery parameters. I would check that box so you can see that information if you have not already. It may be helpful. With 2 batteries it may not make a difference but with more it seems as though it may take each battery into account but that is where a better manual that tells you how the software works would be helpful.

 

[SignatureSolarJess]

Hello again, buyer's remorse is starting to set in.... Haven't heard back from Signature Solar since my email last Wednesday or my tech support submission though the web site Friday. I'll try calling them tomorrow - maybe that is the best way to get help? Pre-purchase SS was quick to respond but post-purchase not so much.

In addition to the trouble I described above with the batteries draining to zero and shutting down I also having a problem with Grid Sell Back. I have my existing system AC coupled system on Smart Port 1. That does feed back to the grid as expected. The trouble is that the panels connected to the FlexBOSS directly do not push to the grid. As the batteries reach 100% the solar the FlexBoss controls slows down to 24 watts. Basically, because I can't leave it self-consumption mode for fear of the batteries being completely depleted, I have had to leave it set to Backup Mode - meaning the panels directly connected to the FlexBoss are getting very little use because the batteries stay charged at 100% and the PV input stays very low.

I tried just shutting of the breaker for SP1 and then the PV connected to the FlexBOSS does kick-in but because the weather has been bad, I don't know if it will feed back to the grid or not. During my test the house was using more power than the small PV array could create on a during the rain.

I have attached screen shots of all the settings here if anyone would like to take a look.

Thanks in advance for any help and information!

Hi Mike! I'm so sorry for any delay! I’m going to send you a DM to grab your contact info so I can look into this for you!

 

[Mike1999]

Although I have not tried the weather optimization, I like the idea I am just afraid to with to many other issues swirling around. In addition I seem to recall the weather optimization is hit and miss but I cannot recall where I read/heard that.

My system worked fine for a month configured Type 2 brand 0 but I had very limited loads on it such that I never went down to 20% (I did not have any backup set up at that time). As soon as I started working it and running it down to 20% is when the issue reared up.

I switched mine over to the type 2 brand 1. I would then try setting the SOC cut off to say 2% below where you are at a point that you have no PV likely so you can verify the cut off.

In the monitor you can expand your view to show all battery parameters. I would check that box so you can see that information if you have not already. It may be helpful. With 2 batteries it may not make a difference but with more it seems as though it may take each battery into account but that is where a better manual that tells you how the software works would be helpful.

Thanks again! I'll give it a shot and report back how it goes.

 

[Mike1999]

Hi Mike! I'm so sorry for any delay! I’m going to send you a DM to grab your contact info so I can look into this for you!

Thanks! - just sent you a DM.

 

[Mike1999]

I switched mine over to the type 2 brand 1 - so far that has worked (2 days) - thanks Tommytwotone!

Until there is some sort of actual documentation or Signature Solar gets back to me, I'll just leave everything as is. I'd like to get the best out of the setup - like having some backup power with least amount of sending to the grid, weather optimization etc - but it seems to be a very fragile setup so as-is it it for now I guess.

After changing the battery settings I had to wait until early the next morning to see if the battery discharge would stop at what I set because I couldn't change the 20%. Gave me an error - tried again yesterday so I could get a screen shot of the error to post here but it let me change the 20%. Not sure what that is all about. I'm afraid to sneeze for fear of it reverting to allowing the batteries to completely depleted!

Tuesday afternoon Signature Solar emailed me back but didn't have any answers - basically just wanted to know if it was still not stopping the batteries at the set 20%.... I replied right away - we'll see if they have any suggestions.

Thanks again!

 

[EG4TechSolutionsTeam]

I switched mine over to the type 2 brand 1 - so far that has worked (2 days) - thanks Tommytwotone!

Until there is some sort of actual documentation or Signature Solar gets back to me, I'll just leave everything as is. I'd like to get the best out of the setup - like having some backup power with least amount of sending to the grid, weather optimization etc - but it seems to be a very fragile setup so as-is it it for now I guess.

After changing the battery settings I had to wait until early the next morning to see if the battery discharge would stop at what I set because I couldn't change the 20%. Gave me an error - tried again yesterday so I could get a screen shot of the error to post here but it let me change the 20%. Not sure what that is all about. I'm afraid to sneeze for fear of it reverting to allowing the batteries to completely depleted!

Tuesday afternoon Signature Solar emailed me back but didn't have any answers - basically just wanted to know if it was still not stopping the batteries at the set 20%.... I replied right away - we'll see if they have any suggestions.

Thanks again!

We apologize for the delayed response. When using a WallMount battery, the correct protocol to use is Lithium Brand 1. We noticed you made the change, which helped it work better.

If you need any further assistance, please let us know. We understand you are working with Signature Solar, and we don’t want to interfere, but we are here to assist.

 

[Mike1999]

Anyone want to buy some newly installed EG4 equipment? Ok, just kidding - sort of.

Signature Solar still hasn't responded to my question(s) and last night one battery went to 0% and disconnected. The other battery stopped at 20% like it should. I can call/email again but at this point I'm wishing I had gone with someone else's batteries. Maybe someone that has documentation?

This is after working fine for under 'self consumption' for the last week or so.

I don't know if there is a setting that is incorrect or there is some hardware problem etc.

Anyone have any idea why one battery would go to zero?

 

[Mike1999]

By the way, I turned the zero SOC battery off for a minute or two and then turned it back on and now it is charging....

 

[SignatureSolarJess]

Anyone want to buy some newly installed EG4 equipment? Ok, just kidding - sort of.

Signature Solar still hasn't responded to my question(s) and last night one battery went to 0% and disconnected. The other battery stopped at 20% like it should. I can call/email again but at this point I'm wishing I had gone with someone else's batteries. Maybe someone that has documentation?

This is after working fine for under 'self consumption' for the last week or so.

I don't know if there is a setting that is incorrect or there is some hardware problem etc.

Anyone have any idea why one battery would go to zero?

I'm so sorry you're still having trouble, Mike!! I've reached out to the team again to ensure we're still getting this addressed!

 

[CaySol]

Anyone want to buy some newly installed EG4 equipment? Ok, just kidding - sort of.

Signature Solar still hasn't responded to my question(s) and last night one battery went to 0% and disconnected. The other battery stopped at 20% like it should. I can call/email again but at this point I'm wishing I had gone with someone else's batteries. Maybe someone that has documentation?

This is after working fine for under 'self consumption' for the last week or so.

I don't know if there is a setting that is incorrect or there is some hardware problem etc.

Anyone have any idea why one battery would go to zero?

BMS not calibrated properly I think. I had my bank drop from 30% to 0% but it was at 47 volts. So it was actually at 0% about.

 

[Tommytwotone]

By the way, I turned the zero SOC battery off for a minute or two and then turned it back on and now it is charging....

Did you look at voltage? Is the battery reporting a voltage that matches the expected SOC. Did both batteries charge to the same voltage and SOC?

Are your cables the same length?

I can only imagine how frustrated you must be.

 

[Mike1999]

Thanks, all, I just shut off both batteries off because Battery 0 was down 17%, Battery 1 was at 37%. Tomorrow I'll charge the 17% battery to the same 37% level of the other so at least they'll be the same again. I've never seen them more than 1 or 2% different since I first powered them up.

I still haven't heard anything from Signature Solar support - but thanks for trying Jess.

These batteries are not of much use as they are. If I can't just leave them running without having to check every night that one or both are going below 20%, there isn't much point to having them. I have no doubt that as Battery 1 dropped to 20%, Battery 0 would have gone to zero again.

I hope I haven't lost years of life on these because of this.

God knows what kind of damage is happening when the batteries go to zero. Both have gone to zero in tandem twice and then only one went to zero last night.

There is one set of cables going from the Battery 0 to the FlexBOSS and parallel cables connecting Battery 1 to Battery 0. Battery 0 is the one that went to zero last night.

The lowest voltage battery voltage I have seen is 47 volts. Earlier in the day yesterday (before one hit zero) both batteries had charged to 57%... Rainy, cloudy day most of the day.....

Thanks for any suggestions - all my settings are pictured in my previous posts above although it doesn't make much sense that a setting would only cause batteries to not stop discharging at 20% once in a while does it? Hmm...

Thanks again.

 

[CaySol]

Thanks, all, I just shut off both batteries off because Battery 0 was down 17%, Battery 1 was at 37%. Tomorrow I'll charge the 17% battery to the same 37% level of the other so at least they'll be the same again. I've never seen them more than 1 or 2% different since I first powered them up.

I still haven't heard anything from Signature Solar support - but thanks for trying Jess.

These batteries are not of much use as they are. If I can't just leave them running without having to check every night that one or both are going below 20%, there isn't much point to having them. I have no doubt that as Battery 1 dropped to 20%, Battery 0 would have gone to zero again.

I hope I haven't lost years of life on these because of this.

God knows what kind of damage is happening when the batteries go to zero. Both have gone to zero in tandem twice and then only one went to zero last night.

There is one set of cables going from the Battery 0 to the FlexBOSS and parallel cables connecting Battery 1 to Battery 0. Battery 0 is the one that went to zero last night.

The lowest voltage battery voltage I have seen is 47 volts. Earlier in the day yesterday (before one hit zero) both batteries had charged to 57%... Rainy, cloudy day most of the day.....

Thanks for any suggestions - all my settings are pictured in my previous posts above although it doesn't make much sense that a setting would only cause batteries to not stop discharging at 20% once in a while does it? Hmm...

Thanks again.

I changed to ac charge with volt control and set max at 58 volts. Signature solar told me that this would calibrate the BMS to a true 100%. After doing so I was able to discharge below 20% without any sudden drops. Discharging to 47 volts shouldn’t harm this battery chemistry. But 47v is about 0% so if your BMS is showing that as a higher SOC then it needs to be calibrated.

 

[Tommytwotone]

Thanks, all, I just shut off both batteries off because Battery 0 was down 17%, Battery 1 was at 37%. Tomorrow I'll charge the 17% battery to the same 37% level of the other so at least they'll be the same again. I've never seen them more than 1 or 2% different since I first powered them up.

I still haven't heard anything from Signature Solar support - but thanks for trying Jess.

These batteries are not of much use as they are. If I can't just leave them running without having to check every night that one or both are going below 20%, there isn't much point to having them. I have no doubt that as Battery 1 dropped to 20%, Battery 0 would have gone to zero again.

I hope I haven't lost years of life on these because of this.

God knows what kind of damage is happening when the batteries go to zero. Both have gone to zero in tandem twice and then only one went to zero last night.

There is one set of cables going from the Battery 0 to the FlexBOSS and parallel cables connecting Battery 1 to Battery 0. Battery 0 is the one that went to zero last night.

The lowest voltage battery voltage I have seen is 47 volts. Earlier in the day yesterday (before one hit zero) both batteries had charged to 57%... Rainy, cloudy day most of the day.....

Thanks for any suggestions - all my settings are pictured in my previous posts above although it doesn't make much sense that a setting would only cause batteries to not stop discharging at 20% once in a while does it? Hmm...

Thanks again.

Mike1999 you mentioned battery 0 and battery 1. I believe the master battery should be battery 1 and the second battery should be battery 2. Please verify this with EG4 or SS but I am almost 100% and am including a manual screen shot.

I THINK you could be running into an issue as the batteries would not communicate correctly if they are set to 0 and 1. I am not sure how it would impact communication but....

If you have them as 1 and 2 already I am really perplexed.

 

[Mike1999]

Thanks!

Maybe the SOC / Voltage settings are the trouble.

Battery 0 is actually Battery_ID_01 and Battery 1 is Battery_ID_02.

Just got an email and a call from Signature Solar so hopefully we can get everything behaving later today .

I'll keep you posted.

 

[SignatureSolarJess]

Thanks!

Maybe the SOC / Voltage settings are the trouble.

Battery 0 is actually Battery_ID_01 and Battery 1 is Battery_ID_02.

Just got an email and a call from Signature Solar so hopefully we can get everything behaving later today .

I'll keep you posted.

So so glad! I'm so sorry for the delay! Please let me know if you need any more assistance from me moving forward.

 

[Mike1999]

Hello again, apparently Signature Solar isn't going to be able to help. I'll give EG4TechSolutionsTeam a try.

SS tech was going to call me Wednesday afternoon but then could not because of a 'meeting' and only had 10 minutes left before the end of the shift. Said they would call Thursday morning but haven't heard from them since.

I cannot leave my system in 'Self Consumption' mode because one or both batteries are likely to be completely depleted. The last 'depletion' problem was one battery at zero and the other at 20%. Now they won't stay 'in-sync'. They are easily 15-20% apart after either being equal at 99/100% or if I turn off the lower level battery and let the 2nd one drain down to match.

Because the documentation is useless and there are no 'recommended' settings etc that I am aware of, I'll have to rely on forums like this and others and just play around and babysit the batteries to make sure they don't get completely depleted while I try different settings.

Seems pretty safe in 'Backup' mode but once the batteries are charged to 100% the solar panels controlled by the FLEXBoss just shutdown and don't feed back to the grid. My ac-coupled solar continues to feed back to the grid. Probably a setting but maybe this is some stupid design issue that ends up wasting solar energy by shutting down once the batteries are charged?

Anyway - really starting to regret ever spending all the $$$ on this setup when I could have just gone with a 'proven' setup with support for not much more money. Don't get me wrong - I expect trouble here and there with this kind of thing but the lack of documentation and lack of after-sale support was something I didn't realize I would have to deal with.

Thanks for listening to my whining - any suggestions much appreciated. My first attempt will be to play with the SOC vs Voltage settings/limits to see if the batteries will maintain something close to the same level of charge.

-Signed, Regretting-My-Purchase Mike

 

[Tommytwotone]

Hello again, apparently Signature Solar isn't going to be able to help. I'll give EG4TechSolutionsTeam a try.

SS tech was going to call me Wednesday afternoon but then could not because of a 'meeting' and only had 10 minutes left before the end of the shift. Said they would call Thursday morning but haven't heard from them since.

I cannot leave my system in 'Self Consumption' mode because one or both batteries are likely to be completely depleted. The last 'depletion' problem was one battery at zero and the other at 20%. Now they won't stay 'in-sync'. They are easily 15-20% apart after either being equal at 99/100% or if I turn off the lower level battery and let the 2nd one drain down to match.

Because the documentation is useless and there are no 'recommended' settings etc that I am aware of, I'll have to rely on forums like this and others and just play around and babysit the batteries to make sure they don't get completely depleted while I try different settings.

Seems pretty safe in 'Backup' mode but once the batteries are charged to 100% the solar panels controlled by the FLEXBoss just shutdown and don't feed back to the grid. My ac-coupled solar continues to feed back to the grid. Probably a setting but maybe this is some stupid design issue that ends up wasting solar energy by shutting down once the batteries are charged?

Anyway - really starting to regret ever spending all the $$$ on this setup when I could have just gone with a 'proven' setup with support for not much more money. Don't get me wrong - I expect trouble here and there with this kind of thing but the lack of documentation and lack of after-sale support was something I didn't realize I would have to deal with.

Thanks for listening to my whining - any suggestions much appreciated. My first attempt will be to play with the SOC vs Voltage settings/limits to see if the batteries will maintain something close to the same level of charge.

-Signed, Regretting-My-Purchase Mike

Have you considered running with Voltage (Set to Lead Acid) vs SOC in control? I know I ran in Lead Acid for a period, a couple days I think, at SS suggestion. I believe there are some balancing aspects and I think they said it can help "reset" things. Either way it may allow you to run your system in the best mode without the batteries going down to a dangerous level as voltage is voltage.

SS may tell you to run them down to 47v which in my case would cause a shutdown as my batteries do not want to go anywhere near that low. So something over 50v but you can scroll around here on DIY for a good number or suggestion.

I am assuming your cableing is equal length? As I had an issue and had to add a cable to tie my banks together (basicly just two bigger batteries if you will) are your cables the same resistance? I cannot phathom that they would be different but since you are having this issue....

A few photos of how the wiring is run are unlikely to reveal anything but SS or Eg4 will want a boatload of photos. See the bottom of this post for what all they will want if you have not gotten to that step with them I cannot recall if you mentioned getting that far with them. Now do not laugh when it sais they will work promptly.

Have you looked to see if you have any individual cells within the batteries are way out of range?

Have you done a soft reset IE powering it all down, letting it sit for 5 min and then powering it up. That was on the list of things we did. Makes sense as that is a routine computer first thing to do if they act up and tech support had me do that.

If you have done that have you considered doing a hard reset on the Gridboss and Flexboss. My systems seems to be behaving at the moment but when it was all sideways that was a point we looked at. IE doing a reset to factory and then going through the initiaion process and reloading the current firmware. I have NO idea if that would have fixed my issues or not but unless your or my problem is hardware related, and assuming there are many people without issues, then perhaps a reset might fix some hidden corrupted software or whatever.

So sorry you are dealing with this. I am hoping mine is going to continue behaving but after having issues myself who knows.
Just spitballing here as it may help...or may not.

To assist us in diagnosing and troubleshooting any issues, we kindly request your cooperation in providing detailed photo documentation of your system configuration. Please capture the following images:

Please take pictures of:

• Wide shot of overall system installation
• Main Panel
• Subpanels
• How AC input is connected to inverter
• How AC output is connected to the inverter
• How PV is connected to inverter
• How Batteries are connected to inverter
• Inverter S/N

Please take pictures of voltmeter readings from terminals on the inverter(and what terminals you are testing):

• PV voltmeter readings
• Battery DC readings
• AC output readings
• AC input readings

Please ensure the images are well-lit and clear, and if possible, label or annotate each photo for clarity. Once you have collected all the necessary documentation, kindly reply to this email with the attached photos. Our technical support team will promptly analyze the information and guide any troubleshooting steps required.