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RESOLVED: EG4 6500EX and 6000EX Lights Flickering FIRMWARE

kurts said:
Thanks for the update, I was really hoping I could just buy a couple of the 6000's and move one from the 6500's. Any idea if growatt is reliable? The two 6500's that I bought in November worked great for 4 days until they blew, after 6 weeks and 4 display units I got power back on but my lights flicker and my power goes off every day or two. I have an Outback inverter running a beach home in Mexico since 2007 with zero issues, I was hoping the new style inverters were going to hold up.
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Sorry, these three EG4 6000 are my only experience. Besides the flicker, once I got everything updated and running right, they are running my whole house except for my 5 ton heat pump. The day mine acted crazy, I made the most KW I have ever made, 52. I am still holding out hope that with firmware updates and when SS gets a handle on the volume of calls into the help desk that I will come out alright.
 
Do you have any current flowing on ground? I'm just wondering if the fluctuation is being caused by current sharing between the ground and neutral? You wouldn't notice this on grid power because the grid doesn't dynamically adjust voltage with a feedback loop, where the inverters are constantly looking at load and adjusting accordingly.
 
PreppenWolf said:
Do you have any current flowing on ground? I'm just wondering if the fluctuation is being caused by current sharing between the ground and neutral? You wouldn't notice this on grid power because the grid doesn't dynamically adjust voltage with a feedback loop, where the inverters are constantly looking at load and adjusting accordingly.
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In my case, I don't have any current or even voltage potential on ground. Checked that as part of installation.

With a pair of inverters, if it was a ground feedback issue, both inverters should go wonky but in my case only one. Doesn't do it all the time either.
 
PreppenWolf said:
Do you have any current flowing on ground? I'm just wondering if the fluctuation is being caused by current sharing between the ground and neutral? You wouldn't notice this on grid power because the grid doesn't dynamically adjust voltage with a feedback loop, where the inverters are constantly looking at load and adjusting accordingly.
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zero current sharing on the ground, per my Klein Clamp
 
Update on the flicker in my system. I removed 2 circuits from the upstairs fuse panel and powered those from the critical loads panel. Flicker has not been present for a week now. I will be replacing that fuse panel today and the feeder cable for it. I did notice last night my bedroom nightstand light has the faintest shimmer to it, there is a freezer on the other side of the wall and it was running. You really had to look for the shimmer, if you weren't aware of the issue, you would not notice it. The original flicker was very noticeable and the inverter output voltage would swing between 111V to 128V. I consider this shimmer to be normal with the freezer running causing the slightest fluctuation in line voltage on that circuit. I think if a separate circuit powered the freezer outlet there would not be any shimmer in that bulb. It may even have shimmered before under grid power, I just never noticed it.

At this point I consider my problem resolved. I put this update out for those looking for a cause of light flicker. In my case the culprit appears to be that fuse panel, my suspicion is there is a hairline crack in the fuse holders on those 2 circuits I removed. I'm quite certain the cause of light flicker is inverter output voltage fluctuating, it tries to maintain the output voltage at 120V, but the cause is a load that causes the inverter to swing output voltage even if only a small delta like 1V.
 
Zwy said:
Update on the flicker in my system. I removed 2 circuits from the upstairs fuse panel and powered those from the critical loads panel. Flicker has not been present for a week now. I will be replacing that fuse panel today and the feeder cable for it. I did notice last night my bedroom nightstand light has the faintest shimmer to it, there is a freezer on the other side of the wall and it was running. You really had to look for the shimmer, if you weren't aware of the issue, you would not notice it. The original flicker was very noticeable and the inverter output voltage would swing between 111V to 128V. I consider this shimmer to be normal with the freezer running causing the slightest fluctuation in line voltage on that circuit. I think if a separate circuit powered the freezer outlet there would not be any shimmer in that bulb. It may even have shimmered before under grid power, I just never noticed it.

At this point I consider my problem resolved. I put this update out for those looking for a cause of light flicker. In my case the culprit appears to be that fuse panel, my suspicion is there is a hairline crack in the fuse holders on those 2 circuits I removed. I'm quite certain the cause of light flicker is inverter output voltage fluctuating, it tries to maintain the output voltage at 120V, but the cause is a load that causes the inverter to swing output voltage even if only a small delta like 1V.
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Glad you were able to narrow things down. In my case, it was specific devices which introduced some kind of “noise” when the inverters was running. No voltage fluctuation at all. Never happened on grid power, only battery.
 
w8dev said:
Glad you were able to narrow things down. In my case, it was specific devices which introduced some kind of “noise” when the inverters was running. No voltage fluctuation at all. Never happened on grid power, only battery.
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Over the weekend I replaced the feeder and the subpanel. In the process with the breaker disconnected in the loads panel, the light flicker was back. Yesterday while hooking the subpanel breaker back up, I had the disco fever with the LED lights in the basement flickering. I turned off the breaker to the upstairs freezer and the flicker was gone. It is possible most of the light circuits in the house are on the other phase and why I did not notice it.

The voltage fluctuation on the inverter is present when the flicker occurs. I have another freezer on the same leg in the basement with the basement lights on that circuit. I never get the flicker when that freezer runs. I might move one of the circuits to the other leg and see if anything changes.

I'm quite certain the flicker is due to the voltage fluctuation. It is possible the inverter can not maintain a steady output voltage with some inductive loads running.

Interesting side note, the freezer that appears to cause the flicker is newer, a Frigidaire. About 5 years old, the other freezer is a Crosby and at least 12 years old.
 
Zwy said:
Over the weekend I replaced the feeder and the subpanel. In the process with the breaker disconnected in the loads panel, the light flicker was back. Yesterday while hooking the subpanel breaker back up, I had the disco fever with the LED lights in the basement flickering. I turned off the breaker to the upstairs freezer and the flicker was gone. It is possible most of the light circuits in the house are on the other phase and why I did not notice it.

The voltage fluctuation on the inverter is present when the flicker occurs. I have another freezer on the same leg in the basement with the basement lights on that circuit. I never get the flicker when that freezer runs. I might move one of the circuits to the other leg and see if anything changes.

I'm quite certain the flicker is due to the voltage fluctuation. It is possible the inverter can not maintain a steady output voltage with some inductive loads running.

Interesting side note, the freezer that appears to cause the flicker is newer, a Frigidaire. About 5 years old, the other freezer is a Crosby and at least 12 years old.
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So far I've narrowed my disco flicker to the HVAC blower motor and my deep freezer.

My freezer was iced up and the compressor was running nearly nonstop. The defrost strip formed a nice hollow ice cavern. But the fins and water drain passage were completely iced over with a solid block of ice 2" deep, 30" wide and 6" tall. After defrosting the kWh consumption dropped by 1.5 or nearly 50%.
 
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Zapper77 said:
So far I've narrowed my disco flicker to the HVAC blower motor and my deep freezer.

My freezer was iced up and the compressor was running nearly nonstop. The defrost strip formed a nice hollow ice cavern. But the fins and water drain passage were completely iced over with a solid block of ice 2" deep, 30" wide and 6" tall. After defrosting the kWh consumption dropped by 1.5 or nearly 50%.
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Furnace draft inducer motor and blower never cause it. I've narrowed it down to this circuit and the freezer on it. Just asked my wife and she said there isn't much frost buildup in it. Frigidaire built the Crosley back in the day but in 2018 GE started to supply Crosley but that would not affect me as I had the Crosley long before the Frigidaire. The Crosley was always low Kwh usage, I'll have to run the KilloWatt on both and see if there is a difference in load. The only other difference is the Crosley is in the basement and the Frigidaire is on main floor. Both are the same cubic foot.
 
Zwy said:
Over the weekend I replaced the feeder and the subpanel. In the process with the breaker disconnected in the loads panel, the light flicker was back. Yesterday while hooking the subpanel breaker back up, I had the disco fever with the LED lights in the basement flickering. I turned off the breaker to the upstairs freezer and the flicker was gone. It is possible most of the light circuits in the house are on the other phase and why I did not notice it.

The voltage fluctuation on the inverter is present when the flicker occurs. I have another freezer on the same leg in the basement with the basement lights on that circuit. I never get the flicker when that freezer runs. I might move one of the circuits to the other leg and see if anything changes.

I'm quite certain the flicker is due to the voltage fluctuation. It is possible the inverter can not maintain a steady output voltage with some inductive loads running.

Interesting side note, the freezer that appears to cause the flicker is newer, a Frigidaire. About 5 years old, the other freezer is a Crosby and at least 12 years old.
Click to expand...
I work for a new home builder and we have been putting off grid systems in our homes. What you are experiencing is common. What we've done is isolate all lights, dryer, bedroom outlets to one of the inverters. Fridges, freezer, washer, kitchen outlets, bath outlets, and garage on the other. 2 pole breakers you have to deal with but a soft start on the AC unit helps with that one. We've been looking at the MPP Solar LV6548V which claims they don't flicker. Will know soon enough as we've ordered 2 of them to try out. Will report back how they do for those interested.
 
The most used lighting circuits are one leg in the panel, there are a few such as basement, basement steps on the other leg. I've worked thru quite a bit of this early on moving breakers to get the lights on the main floor separated from most inductive loads. Also replaced a subpanel upstairs and the feeder line for it as part of the process.

It is voltage regulation related. I have my scope on the freezer circuit and when the strobe occurs, it is fluctuating voltage, frequency is rock solid.
 
SignatureSolarJames said:
The idle wattage is confirmed at 80-85W (1.8 amp), if anybody sees more please use a shunt meter and share with us.
We may improve with firmware soon
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Please take a look at this video the self consumption seems way to high. And customer service wouldn't get back to me
 

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I did see I received an email from SS support the other day regarding my support ticket. Was told the firmware update would fix the voltage regulation problem. The question now is whether to update to the latest firmware (after the cable needed arrives) or just install the firmware that addresses the voltage regulation problem. I know some developed new problems after a firmware update.

@Zapper77, what version are you running?
 
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