SOK batteries shutting off

[Haze]

I have two 48v SOK batteries in parallel, they have started shutting down for no reason. SOC is around 96% and they just turned off for no reason. This started about four days ago and I was thinking they were sitting to close to my AC vent , but it just happened and it’s 80 F In The house and they both went down.

Wondering if anyone has had this happen ? I did buy them from CC so I’m not worried about getting them fixed if something is actually wrong within, but I like to try and fix / troubleshoot before bugging the vendor .

 

[marionw]

Assuming you have the "SK48V100 Server Rack Battery" download the "SOKTool" software from Current Connected. The SOKTool.exe software will allow you with the appropriate RS232 to USB cable look at each battery to monitor the battery(ies) and any error codes or other data.

It is possible that if you did not fully charge the batteries before placing them in service that the batteries are shutting down as a result of over-discharge, the BMS in the battery is protecting the battery.

SOC by itself, and particularly as reported by the inverter (based on voltage) is wildly inaccurate.
by the way; are you operating in "closed loop", that is to say do you have the "Master" battery connected to the inverter?

Use the last link on the below page.

SK48V100 Server Rack Battery Owner & Operator's Manual | Current Connected

Full instruction manual for the SOK SK48V100 server rack battery. Everything you need to know is contained within this document!

www.currentconnected.com

 

[Haze]

I had issues when running closed loop and the BMS wasn’t allowing the batteries to receive more than 56 volts. CC said to run them open loop and this fixed that issue. Now they charge all the way to 57.6 without issue, but this shutting off is new.

I tried putting the com cables back on and now I’m waiting to see what happens, likely won’t be able to get a full charge.

I’ll try and download the files and see what I can find out.

The batteries you linked are the correct ones.

Thanks for the help

 

[Haze]

So I called current connected and spoke with one of their techs Monday, he didn’t really have any ideas but wanted access to my victron system so I gave it to him, I’ve now waited a few days and no update on what they think is causing this issue.

I had to install the system at our cabin and it ran for one day before the batteries shut down again. My wife has the software downloaded to try and see if we can get into the of each battery but she has been swamped at work and hasn’t had time to drive up the mountain yet.

So if anyone else has any ideas I’d appreciate the help…

 

[Haze]

@HighTechLab If you have time next week can you maybe see if you have any ideas why the batteries are doing this.

Thanks again.

 

[HighTechLab]

The only reason the batteries should shut down is if they go without load or charging for more than 24 hours. Usually any system with any amount of solar keeps a shutdown from happening. Could you grab the cell voltages next time it shuts down so we can see if the SOC is correct? Sometimes if you run very very very small loads the BMS can’t measure the current accurately.

 

[Haze]

The only reason the batteries should shut down is if they go without load or charging for more than 24 hours. Usually any system with any amount of solar keeps a shutdown from happening. Could you grab the cell voltages next time it shuts down so we can see if the SOC is correct? Sometimes if you run very very very small loads the BMS can’t measure the current accurately.

They are running internet at the cabin and that’s it while nobody is around. I’ll get the numbers when it happens again on both. I have to physically restart the batteries when this occurs and yesterday one LED light was on, on the primary battery but it had no function till I forced the BMS to restart. This wasn’t a SOC LED light though.

I can actually get the numbers tmrw or late today since I haven’t charged them since this occurred and the camera system hooked to the internet ran all night, after I restarted the batteries.

Thanks for your time. Have a good weekend

 

[Haze]

Number Uno

 

[Haze]

#2

 

[Haze]

Neither battery has been charged since being installed at cabin. We did pull #1 out of the system after it shut down on its own yesterday again, and we are now running on #2 to see if it will run without shutting down. This would hopefully narrow down if one battery is causing.

Obviously it could be something else causing this also. I’m just trying to narrow down at this point.

 

[Haze]

So system is running fine on one battery, not sure how to fix the other battery or why it cause the system to shut down when I put it in paralle.
I guess I will give it a few more days on one battery and if system continues to run without the battery shutting off that will narrow it down to something with the other battery causing this.

If anyone has any other ideas I’m all ears. I’m willing to try anything to keep the system up and running.

 

[Bluedog225]

Following. Hope you get it worked out.

 

[marionw]

Were you able to download the software and run it?

 

[Haze]

Were you able to download the software and run it?

Not yet. My wife is planning to go up to our place this weekend, so hopefully will be able to get the info then.

 

[Quattrohead]

So now run on the other battery only and see what happens. I think Dexter is correct, that your power draw is so low that the BMS is inadvertently turning off on you. I wonder if there is a setting that you can access via BMS tools that can turn off the power save mode the BMS appears to be going into.

 

[HighTechLab]

So now run on the other battery only and see what happens. I think Dexter is correct, that your power draw is so low that the BMS is inadvertently turning off on you. I wonder if there is a setting that you can access via BMS tools that can turn off the power save mode the BMS appears to be going into.

That's why I was asking cell voltages; there are two levels of power save mode. If the cells are under 3.15v it goes into power save after approximately 1 hour of no load. Over 3.15 it should be about 24 hours.

 

[MiSh]

That's why I was asking cell voltages; there are two levels of power save mode. If the cells are under 3.15v it goes into power save after approximately 1 hour of no load. Over 3.15 it should be about 24 hours.

Perhaps you could include that in the manual. I had no idea of the power save modes either.

 

[Haze]

I was at the cabin today and the other battery shut off on us. So the internet and modem pulling around 15 watts isn’t enough to keep the batteries awake it seems. So now I need to find at what power draw will the batteries stay awake since these will be left for 8 months out of the year in an off grid cabin with very little access .

Now I’m trying a light and the internet to see if that will allow the batteries to not shut off. Hopefully we can find a happy medium here with a low load just enough to keep the batteries working.

Once I have the solar panels hooked up I’m not sure how I’m going to keep these batteries from shutting off. This cabin sits for weeks on end even during the summer, then gets pretty heavy usage around holidays or when friends and family want to use it.

 

[marionw]

How do you know the batteries/BMS are shutting down?
What is the status of the On/Off, Run, Alm and SOC Led's. The Run should normally slow blink so at a glance it may appear off

 

[Haze]

There is no blinking and I have to push the reset to get the system to turn back on. Now that I have seen it do it with each battery running the system by themselves, I can confirm it’s not one battery or the other.


The way I can describe it is when you start the batteries from scratch, this is what I have to do every time they shut off, they do not restart on their own.

I’m praying there is a work around to this, since this definitely won’t work for folks like me who let their system sit idle for weeks / months at a time. Now if the BMS would wake up when it sensed a load that would work but they don’t do that, or at least these batteries of mine aren’t doing that.

 

[marionw]

Have you been able to get the SOKTool software up and running so you can see what the voltages are for each cell?

 

[Haze]

Have you been able to get the SOKTool software up and running so you can see what the voltages are for each cell?

No my wife is the only one who can mess with computer stuff and she is out of the country at the moment but hopefully early next week.

I did put screen shots of what the BMS is reporting for each cell.

 

[Quattrohead]

Cell voltage looked fine from the displays, it is purely just going into power save mode. Hopefully soktools will expose a setting you can change to prevent this happening, or you might have to go ahead and set those panels up now.

 

[SparkyJJO]

Seems like a weird feature. Frankly that should be able to be turned off from the battery itself, IMO.

 

[marionw]

I am still a bit confused. The Inverter alone will draw "Idle" power and with any loads would draw more.

I have three SunGoldPower server rack batteries (SOK clones) connected in parallel with six EG4 LifePower4 batteries. These are all connected to a SunGoldPower 10kw inverter that oftentimes sits idle with no grid input, no PV input and no load output. The Inverter "Idle" draw is just over 2 amps spread across nine batteries and yet the three SunGoldPower server rack batteries have never gone to sleep.

Is it possible the inverter is shutting down for some reason that removes all load from the batteries so with no load the battery then goes to sleep?

The photos of cell voltages looks good, what does the battery LCD screen indicate for voltage and current when the inverter is operational.

What does the inverter show for battery voltage and SOC? Since you are in open loop the SOC will be wildly inaccurate as all the inverter has to go on is battery voltage. It might be possible the inverter is incorrectly determining the sate of the battery and the inverter is shutting down