Problems with EG4 6000 Battery settings

[wdwtx2.0]

My question is whether these "back to grid", "back to battery" settings have any affect if you don't have any grid input? The manual suggest that they only apply if Grid power is present.

My understanding is that if it program 20 disconnects at a set voltage, it will shut down your battery output.
When the batteries get back to the program 21 value, it will power up again.
That may be dead wrong though. It may be smart enough to stay on until low battery disconnect with no Grid input.
Mine is off grid too, and I am interested to see which is correct.
My place is a weekend cabin, so it may be a while before I find out.

 

[furkidmom]

My understanding is that if it program 20 disconnects at a set voltage, it will shut down your battery output.
When the batteries get back to the program 21 value, it will power up again.
That may be dead wrong though. It may be smart enough to stay on until low battery disconnect with no Grid input.
Mine is off grid too, and I am interested to see which is correct.
My place is a weekend cabin, so it may be a while before I find out.

We’ll see what SS says, we will test this tomorrow and find out.

 

[furkidmom]

Update: Well, as of now, the low voltage cutoff parameter 19 is now editable with battery set to EG4 and it is retaining the values that I manually input. I'm testing it now to confirm that it actually does kick in and cuts off at 20%. I'm not sure why it is now retaining the manual settings in parameter 19... maybe just a quirk, or one of the other settings changed allowing parameter 19 to be changed? Who knows, go tell. But if it works, I'll be thrilled...

For anyone following this, i tested it this AM, and without being grid tied, settings 20 and 21 appear to be ineffective, and this was confirmed by Ryan at SS. I had the battery type set to "use", and I set parameter 20 to 51V, which is the highest I could set it. When I last checked it, the batteries were showing 50.7V and 16%, and it was still running off batteries, no transfer to a non-existent grid. But, even if it had functioned and cutoff the batteries, this is below the recommendation of 20%, and I can't set parameter 20 above 51V. If I change battery type to EG4, then settings 20 and 21 are fixed at 10% and 30% respectively, and that won't work. So we are back at ground zero.

 

[wdwtx2.0]

Update: Well, as of now, the low voltage cutoff parameter 19 is now editable with battery set to EG4 and it is retaining the values that I manually input. I'm testing it now to confirm that it actually does kick in and cuts off at 20%. I'm not sure why it is now retaining the manual settings in parameter 19... maybe just a quirk, or one of the other settings changed allowing parameter 19 to be changed? Who knows, go tell. But if it works, I'll be thrilled...

For anyone following this, i tested it this AM, and without being grid tied, settings 20 and 21 appear to be ineffective, and this was confirmed by Ryan at SS. I had the battery type set to "use", and I set parameter 20 to 51V, which is the highest I could set it. When I last checked it, the batteries were showing 50.7V and 16%, and it was still running off batteries, no transfer to a non-existent grid. But, even if it had functioned and cutoff the batteries, this is below the recommendation of 20%, and I can't set parameter 20 above 51V. If I change battery type to EG4, then settings 20 and 21 are fixed at 10% and 30% respectively, and that won't work. So we are back at ground zero.

This is the info I was looking for.
I guess I will have to set program 19 to 48V and live with it.
Kind of disappointing.

 

[wdwtx2.0]

What priority do you have in program 1?
I would assume SBU, like I do.
If I really want to shut down the batteries at a higher voltage, I have a 200A contactor I can power through the dry contacts on the 6000.
Kind of an extreme fix though.
When I get both PV arrays built, I should not have to worry too much about it.
If I get low, I will just fire up the generator/Chargeverter.

 

[Travis_signaturesolar]

Can you provide us with a change log for all firmware updates?

Now whenever you download the new firmware there should be a change log within the zipped file! If you would rather as soon as I’m near my desk top I can go head and send you a screenshot of the change log.

 

[DIYPV]

Now whenever you download the new firmware there should be a change log within the zipped file! If you would rather as soon as I’m near my desk top I can go head and send you a screenshot of the change log.

Yes, please post it or PM me the change log.

FYI:
I downloaded the 6000ex mobile firmware and the files seem to be the same as the previously used (63.11) . Also I couldn’t see the change log in any of the folders.

 

[atlantaviking]

I'm watching this thread as I suspect others who are completely off grid are. I have a similar configuration(6500EX inverter though) as the OP and encountering the same issues. Not to beat a dead horse but I really would have thought that, at a minimum, the firmware would allow an off grid setup to just shut down based on user defined parameters as opposed to the battery BMS taking it off line and then requiring a manual switch to be thrown to bring it back on line to recharge.

 

[furkidmom]

Ran some more testing today. I don't remember if I posted in this thread anywhere that we are using this solar system as a dedicated EV charger. So, we've had the Lightning plugged in charging a few times, and it appears that the low voltage cutoff is kicking in. But, I have no way of knowing at exactly what % it cuts off because I don't get a notification..I just have to keep checking the Fordpass app to see if it is charging or not. This last time I'm pretty sure it had kicked off within about 15 minutes of when I checked since I was sitting at my desk checking the app pretty frequently. When I saw it had stopped charging and went out to check the inverter, it was reporting the batteries at 53.1V. The battery LCD was showing 36%. So, the low voltage cutoff is set to 20%.. but wondering how is it calculating 20%....

 

[furkidmom]

Quick update for anyone following. With the new firmware, and battery type set to EG4, I can now set the cutoff voltage to a percentage. I've had it at 20%. At that setting, the cutoff is reliable kicking in, but the battery readout says they are at 35% when the cutoff kicks in. We have no grid. I have found that the power to load resumes when the battery voltage reading on the batteries themselves is at 55%. This is not what I was told by SS, they said that as soon as it gets up to 21-22% power would resume to loads, but this has not happened. Its always at 55%. I have parameter 21 set to 95%, so it is confirmed that setting 21 is moot when grid is not present. There is apparently no way to set a return power to loads when grid is not present... This I think is a terrible flaw for an inverter marketed as an off-grid inverter. If the battery is set to User, I can not adjust the low voltage cutoff above 48V, which will run the batteries down to 0, and isn't an option. I did get a raspberry pi with solar assistant setup, and I am just exploring this, but as yet I'm not sure if this is going to give me any additional options.

 

[wdwtx2.0]

This I think is a terrible flaw for an inverter marketed as an off-grid inverter. If the battery is set to User, I can not adjust the low voltage cutoff above 48V, which will run the batteries down to 0, and isn't an option. I did get a raspberry pi with solar assistant setup, and I am just exploring this, but as yet I'm not sure if this is going to give me any additional options.

Yeah, it doesn't sound like the ideal setup.
Maybe they will be able to fix those problems with a firmware update.
I'm not going to hold my breath though.
I'm looking at the SA route too. Just ordered a Smart Shunt for accuracy.
I just hate being forced to do workarounds.

 

[wdwtx2.0]

I'm watching this thread as I suspect others who are completely off grid are. I have a similar configuration(6500EX inverter though) as the OP and encountering the same issues. Not to beat a dead horse but I really would have thought that, at a minimum, the firmware would allow an off grid setup to just shut down based on user defined parameters as opposed to the battery BMS taking it off line and then requiring a manual switch to be thrown to bring it back on line to recharge.

I guess that's the downside of inexpensive.
Kind off disappointing though.