Signature Solar EG4 200ah (24 volt) problems

[BenFromSignatureSolar]

nailer,

Have not received cable yet. Also waiting to hear what mmmnnn says about support call.

George

We ended up needing to RMA mmmnnn's batteries. He went through a thorough troubleshooting process with us and still had some issues with cell balance and we could not get the firmware to function properly. He was refunded in full and we covered the shipping since the batteries would not operate as designed.

Sierra Nevada, if you would send us an email with your phone number attached when you get your cable we will be happy to help. mmmnnn's issue with the firmware has been a bit of an outlier as most have run fine with the new firmware.

The tech support email address is tech@signaturesolar.com feel free to reach out to us when your cable arrives.

 

[nailer]

I am looking to update my current system with 24v batteries instead of 12v in series. I just don't want to get into something that is not working great.

 

[BenFromSignatureSolar]

I am looking to update my current system with 24v batteries instead of 12v in series. I just don't want to get into something that is not working great.

That is completely understandable. I can tell you that we have commissioned thousands of these batteries and we have only experienced a handful of these come back not working. Best part about it, is that it is relatively risk free. We are always here to help if they aren't working properly and if you will troubleshoot with us in the event that they do not work, we will replace or refund them for you at no cost the first time if we are unsuccessful in getting them working.

 

[mmmnnn]

nailer,

Have not received cable yet. Also waiting to hear what mmmnnn says about support call.

George

Returned the two batteries

 

[MrThisIsME]

tech@signaturesolar.com = black hole.

 

[KMac55]

Boondocked with my 24 v EG4 LifePower4 pulling 100 amps continuously, no problem, via a waffle iron, hot plate, fans and lights and such this morning, using a 3,000 watt Giandel inverter. It all ran beautifully, including my Keurig which draws 58 amps. Cells well balanced.

Still want to do the update to see if it will run another setup of mine (even if the update works it might not run my other setup for other reasons). Tried once but it wouldn't pull the boot record. Seeking some help from Signature Solar to see if I missed something. No black hole - they've been very helpful and responsive. Hope it works out when I try it again, maybe later this week.

 

[Sierra Nevada]

KMac55
firmware update failed. SS ís working on it. Will let you know when it gets straightened out.

George

 

[KMac55]

Same. I had the wrong cable and am waiting for the correct one to arrive.

 

[mmmnnn]

wrong forum message, unable to delete!

 

[Sierra Nevada]

Finally installed firmware. Did not help with balance problems on batteries. Did not correct overvoltage alarms. What it did do was it changed internally my dip switch settings without me changing visible dip switches. They were set to 11-13-15 and now read 2-4-7 on there eg4 test program. Have not tried a shutdown and restart to see if my resister install is not needed, I will wait for system to shut down on its own. One good thing is it proved to me that batteries 11 and 13 had reverse dip switches. Batteries doing great, but I am worried about the longevity of their BMS's.
George

 

[robby]

Finally installed firmware. Did not help with balance problems on batteries. Did not correct overvoltage alarms. What it did do was it changed internally my dip switch settings without me changing visible dip switches. They were set to 11-13-15 and now read 2-4-7 on there eg4 test program. Have not tried a shutdown and restart to see if my resister install is not needed, I will wait for system to shut down on its own. One good thing is it proved to me that batteries 11 and 13 had reverse dip switches. Batteries doing great, but I am worried about the longevity of their BMS's.
George

Which firmware is this, the one that i think is bypassing the pre-charge resistor?
As for the balancing issue, I hope you find a solution because the only one I have found is manually grid charging the battery pack separately at a higher voltage until all the cells balance out. For a 24V pack that would be 28.5V and then lowering it back to 27.5 and let them discharge a bit.

 

[KMac55]

So, I updated the firmware on my 24v EG4 Lifepower4 and tried to power my 12,000 btu portable air conditioner in my camper. When the compressor started, the EG4 battery voltage apparently dropped, resetting my 3,000 watt Giandel inverter via it's LVD. The battery came back up then instead of requiring a manual reset as before the new firmware. But the key is that the EG4 could not start the compressor of the portable air conditioner in my camper.

I then plugged in my camper's automatic transfer switch to 120v shore power (via a 75 foot cord) and that shore power line took over the camper loads from my Giandel 3000 watt camper inverter and EG4 Lifepower4.

Lo and behold, the portable air conditioner started and the compressor too.

So, shore power will start the compressor when the EG4 will not.

But, the really interesting thing is that my shore power was actually my 2,000 Cotek inverter in the shed of my off grid cabin, running off 315 Ah of flooded lead acid battery. I even turned on my cabin window air and refrigerator and it all ran off that battery.

So, the EG4 Lifepower4 just can't handle the surge.

One more observation. I let the portable air conditioner run for a few minutes on that smaller Cotek inverter and lead acid battery. When I unplugged my camper from that "shore power" the camper loads automatically returned to my camper's Giandel 3000w inverter and EG4 Lifepower4, and this time, after a few seconds delay it started the compressor of my portable air conditioner, and my camper mini fridge, and ran it. But after it cooled and the thermostat turned off the compressor, it would not start again.

 

[Sierra Nevada]

Robby
Sorry it took so long getting back to your question. The updates were.
ys01_sw0207_hw0205_update_for_24v.binc or
ys01_sw030e_hw0207_update_for_24v.binc
One or the other depends what original program that was used on the battery bms.
I charge at 28.5v until the batteries get quite unequal then increase charge to 28.7
until they become equal, then back to 28.5.
George

 

[Sierra Nevada]

Bump in case any body missed this

 

[MTBioGuy]

Thanks for that "bump", George... I've been missing the whole firmware & special cable thread.

So, bottom line, for me, did the new firmware ever solve our inverter-surge battery shutdown problem or are you still pre-charging?

If so, which of the 2 firmware files you listed did the trick? ....and, if so, why didn't SS notify those of us on this thread that a solution was available at long last?

 

[KMac55]

For what it is worth, the firmware upgrade did prevent the total shutdown of my EG4 Lifepower4 battery when starting the air conditioner. But it still would not start it on that Lifepower4 battery. I swapped in my EG4-LL, which is practically the same battery with a different BMS, and starts and runs all my loads including my air conditioner/heat pump, just like my lead acid battery bank does, and it does so on a 2000w Cotek inverter. So, clearly the BMS of the Lifepower4 is the culprit as many have previously identified.

 

[MTBioGuy]

Thanks for that update. Did you have to install BOTH of those firmware files?

What about George... did he ever do the update(s)? Any inverter success?

 

[Sierra Nevada]

I did the update and it did not help with my balance problems. I have not shut down system to try a startup without the charge resister.
I only downloaded the update that refered to the code of the original program. I now charge the eg4 batteries at 28 volts and when they get out of top balance I charge at 28.7 volts for a day. Still get cell over voltage warning when I top balance. I emailed Signature Solar and they asked for a picture of the over voltage warning, I was a couple of weeks getting it to them and have not heard from them. Everybody have great Holidays!

George

 

[Sierra Nevada]

One of my problems
Finally installed firmware. Did not help with balance problems on batteries. Did not correct overvoltage alarms. What it did do was it changed internally my dip switch settings without me changing visible dip switches. They were set to 11-13-15 and now read 2-4-7 on there eg4 test program. Have not tried a shutdown and restart to see if my resister install is not needed, I will wait for system to shut down on its own. One good thing is it proved to me that batteries 11 and 13 had reverse dip switches. Batteries doing great, but I am worried about the longevity of their BMS's.
George

 

[EWesch]

One of my problems
Finally installed firmware. Did not help with balance problems on batteries. Did not correct overvoltage alarms. What it did do was it changed internally my dip switch settings without me changing visible dip switches. They were set to 11-13-15 and now read 2-4-7 on there eg4 test program. Have not tried a shutdown and restart to see if my resister install is not needed, I will wait for system to shut down on its own. One good thing is it proved to me that batteries 11 and 13 had reverse dip switches. Batteries doing great, but I am worried about the longevity of their BMS's.
George

If Signature Solar would install Overkill BMSs, it would resolve all the problems we are experiencing and also give us Bluetooth... just sayin'. I would have gladly paid more per unit to have them function properly. I'm currently using a bank of AGMs to supplement my LifePower4s.