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diy solar

Pylontech Nightmare, does not play well with Studer.

Joined
Sep 14, 2023
Messages
2
Location
Kaitaia, Northland, New Zealand
I posted this on another thread but feel it should stand on its own...

Pylontech, A word I have heard too often for my liking...

Here is my tale of woe...

Here in NZ we have few suppliers to choose from, about ten years back I chose AA Solar and built my system, who I will refer to as It, That, Them and Those ^&*&%$*.

Back in October 2023 I enquired about the Pylontech US3000c, did a bit of reading and decided to order 4 of them, with a full set of brackets and cables and a Studer VT-80 solar controller to match up nicely with my Studer XTM 4000 and the 3Kw of panels I had on my roof, I also ordered another 6 panels to bring the system up to 5Kw, all up, about $20,000.
My intentions were pure, my knowledge, more than adequate, then my delivery arrived, all good until I unpacked the last box, it contained a US 3000, not a 3000c.
I called them, they said sorry and replaced the battery with the correct one.

On connection, the number 2 battery decided to go to sleep, just one flashing green light, idle mode.
I called again, They said sorry, again, and replaced the battery under warranty.

On connection, as the new master battery the new number 2 battery went into idle mode, a few hours later the number 3 and then the 4 went into idle mode, leaving just the warranty replacement running the whole house. I am totally off grid and I started to worry about no power at all.

I called them again, they said, it's ok, they will come on line when needed because they were fully charged and just resting, just having a kip, shagged out after a long squawk, or something and I shouldn't worry, all was fine... Or was it?

A couple of days later I still had 3 "resting" batteries.

I called again, this time I got to talk to an engineer, he asked "How have you set up the XCom?"
"Xcom?" I queried.
I had read all the manuals and read the entire internet, no mention anywhere about using this XCom device.
He said, "Oh, you have to use an X Com."

The next day I jumped into the car and drove for 4 hours to pick up the device...
When I got there they had the XCom ready to go, I asked "Will this connect me to the Studer portal for remote control?"
"Ah, no. You need the XCom Lan for that."
"So, do I still need the XCom?"
They said no.

So I got back in the car with a nice shiney XCom Lan, and drove the 4 hours home.
It did nothing to help the batteries, I called again.
"No, you still need the XCom"
Grrrrrrrrrr
I ordered one...
Got it, Plugged it, used it.
Still the batteries were clinging to their perch, having a long rest, I thought.
In "good faith" they offered to sell me 3 more batteries at cost, $7000 because I had destroyed the batteries and they would not warranty them.
I put the batteries and accessories in the car and...
Called my Lawyer. Installed my old batteries.

And that is how it stands today.
An interesting point, that they refuse to take on board, is that all the batteries that failed had consecutive serial numbers, the warranty replacement one was from a different batch and remained fine.
The only thing I did wrong was on the monitoring side, I set the Xtender (XTM) to the values required by the batteries, which they told me was not necessary as the BMS in the batteries will do all that, they commited suicide instead.
The batteries, not AAsolar, shame.
 
Pylontech is in the interesting position of seemingly having pioneered the solar server rack battery market, with many of us still using their comms protocol today, and yet I mostly only hear bad stories about them.

Open the originals up, check the cell voltages, and then add a DIY BMS?
 
Pylontech has an interesting history with a fair share of Ups & Downs.
There is unfortunately a GOTCHA with their battery packs. Instead of the Normal & Expected 16S configuration they use 15S for a 48V Pack which makes their voltage curve a little weird. This also adds complications if you do want to use another pack with a standard 16S configuration.

My only suggestion is to GET A REFUND + Legal Expenses (if they get that dumb).
If you bought in October - 6 Months is almost up - after 6 months they'll fight refunds etc...
 
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