Signature Solar Customer Support and EG4 6000EX inverter issues

[Zwy]

It seems like it does perform the sweep and every day that I'm at 70% or higher SOC (which is every day) it falls on its face. Today when I ran tons of extra stuff last night and we started at 53% SOC, when it ran it's sweep, it bumbed up to bulk instead of down to float

One more thing, set #11 to more than 60A.

From what you describe, it is similar to the Growatt units. Bulk is hit and the unit idles along until the float setting is hit.

My 6500EX never hits float, it goes up to bulk, slows charge close to full charge setting of 56.6V and basically holds at 100% until the PV power is overtaken by loads or sun sets, then starts dropping.

 

[Zwy]

I really don't want to be floating my batteries at 55v though. The higher you float them the quicker they degrade, but then again the inverter is reporting about .5v higher than a multimeter directly on the battery terminals.

You are not getting balance or absorption with the behavior you describe. I'm assuming you don't have any way to communicate with the BMS so there isn't any indication of balance and absorption ever occurring.

You will degrade them much quicker if you don't achieve balance on a regular basis. Some of the cells will be higher than 3.50V and some may be as low as 2.8V yet the pack will read somewhere in between. That is not healthy for the cells.

You can choose to do what you want. You won't find a solution without trying something other than flipping the PV disconnect daily.

 

[Nomad Mods]

You are not getting balance or absorption with the behavior you describe. I'm assuming you don't have any way to communicate with the BMS so there isn't any indication of balance and absorption ever occurring.

You will degrade them much quicker if you don't achieve balance on a regular basis. Some of the cells will be higher than 3.50V and some may be as low as 2.8V yet the pack will read somewhere in between. That is not healthy for the cells.

You can choose to do what you want. You won't find a solution without trying something other than flipping the PV disconnect daily.

Hahaha. You act as if I haven't tried anything. Its been since Jan 6th trying things. And even just swapped inverters as SS said that would solve it, after saying a firmware update would solve it that never came out, and now that the new inverter is in and doing the same thing, they say a firmware update will solve it.

These batteries have been in my system for over a year as a 12v setup and performed flawlessly with my old dual Outback FM80 CCs. They are now arranged as 48v with a balancer and things aren't acting right. Same batteries, different CC. And the one Outback that is still connected to the system doesn't ever fail, with the same settings as the EG4. It keeps charging away as I screw around with the settings on the EG4

 

[Nomad Mods]

You are not getting balance or absorption with the behavior you describe. I'm assuming you don't have any way to communicate with the BMS so there isn't any indication of balance and absorption ever occurring.

You will degrade them much quicker if you don't achieve balance on a regular basis. Some of the cells will be higher than 3.50V and some may be as low as 2.8V yet the pack will read somewhere in between. That is not healthy for the cells.

You can choose to do what you want. You won't find a solution without trying something other than flipping the PV disconnect daily.

My 12v settings for the batteries were 14.2v bulk and 13.6v float. That would give me a 54.4v float. So I may go that far.

 

[Zwy]

Hahaha. You act as if I haven't tried anything. Its been since Jan 6th trying things. And even just swapped inverters as SS said that would solve it, after saying a firmware update would solve it that never came out, and now that the new inverter is in and doing the same thing, they say a firmware update will solve it.

These batteries have been in my system for over a year as a 12v setup and performed flawlessly with my old dual Outback FM80 CCs. They are now arranged as 48v with a balancer and things aren't acting right. Same batteries, different CC. And the one Outback that is still connected to the system doesn't ever fail, with the same settings as the EG4. It keeps charging away as I screw around with the settings on the EG4

Comparing the Outback to the EG4 is pointless. The EG4 runs different firmware and algorithms.

My 12v settings for the batteries were 14.2v bulk and 13.6v float. That would give me a 54.4v float. So I may go that far.

That is 3.4V per cell, most BMS's do not begin balance until over 3.4V. It is also useless to attempt to balance below 3.4V.

Here was the problem with the Growatt units. The SCC would charge to the bulk charge voltage, then quit charging until the float setting was reached. The problem is most BMS's only balance when the battery is being charged. Once you cut off any charging, no balancing occurs. So if you set the float just at the 3.4V, and bulk was already hit, you won't see any balancing of the cells.

 

[Nomad Mods]

Comparing the Outback to the EG4 is pointless. The EG4 runs different firmware and algorithms.

Correct. Algorithms that don't appear to work.

I have set bulk to 57v and float to 55v. We will see what tomorrow brings.

 

[Zwy]

It might take a few charge cycles to get a good balance. I'd certainly try it for a few days.

 

[Nomad Mods]

It might take a few charge cycles to get a good balance. I'd certainly try it for a few days.

I'm less concerned about the balance in this first test than I am about it actually charging like it should.

 

[42OhmsPA]

You are not getting balance or absorption with the behavior you describe. I'm assuming you don't have any way to communicate with the BMS so there isn't any indication of balance and absorption ever occurring.

You will degrade them much quicker if you don't achieve balance on a regular basis. Some of the cells will be higher than 3.50V and some may be as low as 2.8V yet the pack will read somewhere in between. That is not healthy for the cells.

You can choose to do what you want. You won't find a solution without trying something other than flipping the PV disconnect daily.

I tried already... It appears to be a lost cause. Completely agree with you on his cells being out of balance and never getting a chance to balance with the float voltage so low.

Edit, didn't read far enough down.
Good luck @Nomad Mods and thank you for listening when people are trying to help.

 

[Nomad Mods]

I tried already... It appears to be a lost cause. Completely agree with you on his cells being out of balance and never getting a chance to balance with the float voltage so low.

They have worked perfectly as a 12v system for over a year(with numbers that match the x4 to get to a 48v system). And if you read anything, you would see that I am going to try a higher voltage.

 

[42OhmsPA]

They have worked perfectly as a 12v system for over a year(with numbers that match the x4 to get to a 48v system). And if you read anything, you would see that I am going to try a higher voltage.

You missed my edit. I didn't read the rest of the thread before replying.
It stinks you can't communicate with the BMS's to see individual cell voltages.
A perfect example of what I think you would see in the attached photo of a pack I just finished putting together a couple hours ago and didn't do a full top balance on...

 

[Nomad Mods]

You missed my edit. I didn't read the rest of the thread before replying.
It stinks you can't communicate with the BMS's to see individual cell voltages.
A perfect example of what I think you would see in the attached photo of a pack I just finished putting together a couple hours ago and didn't do a full top balance on...

I've lived off of our 1920w 12v system full time for 3 years. 48v is new to me, but it's frustrating when my old equipment (outback CC) works just fine with the same settings as the EG4. And the SS customer service is absolutely zero help. From others I know who live on 48v systems, I have been told that going up to 55v could start to negatively effect the batteries, but they run different batteries. I could care less about the balance at this point as I still need to get the MPPT to function properly. If I don't have to spend every waking second monitoring it, then I will be happy to tweak things to potentially help with top balancing. We will see what tomorrow morning brings

 

[Nomad Mods]

It might take a few charge cycles to get a good balance. I'd certainly try it for a few days.

You missed my edit. I didn't read the rest of the thread before replying.

Hey guys,

So far with only a 1 day sample set, going to 57v bulk and 55v float allowed the MPPT to make it through the voltage jump. Instead of going to float it went to bulk like yesterday's test of having a low SOC. But this morning we were at 80% SOC and it is the first time it has been able to push through.

Thanks for the advice about this inverter and it's oddities

I will obviously continue to monitor how it performs and the real test will be how it does with a spotty cloud cover day.

Had a couple thin whispy clouds that you can see in the PV graph, but it recovered and we are already at 95%

Edit: and it made it through some more substantial clouds that would have definitely dropped it to a float just above the AC loads before. This time it came back to cover the loads and continue to charge the batteries

 

[SkyMo]

Has anyone had any luck returning these units? I was thinking of starting a warranty claim through my credit card as I have not heard back from Signature Solar on any of my issues.

 

[Gavin Stone]

Has anyone had any luck returning these units? I was thinking of starting a warranty claim through my credit card as I have not heard back from Signature Solar on any of my issues.

They will typically warranty them if there’s an issue. Have you talked with Ben or Peyton here on the forum?

 

[SkyMo]

I've called and sat on hold until I gave up, and sent multiple emails and CC'ed Peyton, I get told I am in the queue like everyone else. The lack of response just worries me and if I need to get a different product I want to start that process. I'd be happy to work with them and resolve this.

 

[Nomad Mods]

I've called and sat on hold until I gave up, and sent multiple emails and CC'ed Peyton, I get told I am in the queue like everyone else. The lack of response just worries me and if I need to get a different product I want to start that process. I'd be happy to work with them and resolve this.

I'm 3 months in. Started to buy a replacement inverter, was told to cancel and wait for firmware, waited weeks until I was told to just get another inverter, wasn't charged up front the second time, installed the new inverter, still had the exact same problem, was told to wait for new firmware, and now might have it fixed thanks to members here. You'll be playing the long game with SS it seems. I was on hold for over an hour each time I tried calling, but you have to stay on the line if you want to get through

 

[SkyMo]

I got a little of that up front, part of this is I get what I pay for and I bought what I still consider a mid-range inverter. It's 2K not 8 or 10K so I expect some of this. Same with Trophy Batteries, but when I call or send Dan an email, he gets right back to me even if it's to say they are working on it or gives me something to try. I assume I'll get my inverters working properly eventually, but if that's not the case, might as well bail out now.

At least you are all here to commiserate with me.

 

[SignatureSolarPeyton]

I've called and sat on hold until I gave up, and sent multiple emails and CC'ed Peyton, I get told I am in the queue like everyone else. The lack of response just worries me and if I need to get a different product I want to start that process. I'd be happy to work with them and resolve this.

What's your email? I'll get someone to reach out today.

 

[SkyMo]

Sent you a PM