sol-ark 12k to EG4 batteries not charging

[DougfromdaUP]

I second Ben's recommendation that you get BMS Test running and see what the batteries think is goin on. You'll get a screen like this

At the very bottom it will tell you if the bms is protecting the battery

 

[cartrydge]

Do they make it for the mac? It just makes no sense how I see 48v at the terminals coming into the sol-ark but, the sol-ark sees 54. Whats weird is it wills tart out like at 10v when i power cycle it then shoot up

 

[BenFromSignatureSolar]

Do they make it for the mac? It just makes no sense how I see 48v at the terminals coming into the sol-ark but, the sol-ark sees 54. Whats weird is it wills tart out like at 10v when i power cycle it then shoot up

Unfortunately it is only compatible with windows

 

[robby]

Sure,

Batt Capacity: 500Ah (number of batteries x100)
Max A Charge: 275A
Max A Discharge: 125A
Max A Grid Charge: 275A
TEMPCO: 3mV/C/Cell
BMS Lithium Batt: Not Selected
Float V: 56.3V
Absorption V: 56.5V
Equalization V: 56.5V
Equalization Days: 30
Equalization Duration: 1 Hour
Rec Shutdown Percentage: 20%
Rec Low Battery Percentage: 30%
Rec Restart Percentage: 40%
Battery Resistance: 9mOhms
Battery Charge Efficiency: 99%
Battery Empty Voltage:47V

We arrived at these settings with an individual using the Lifepower4 batteries and the Sol-Ark 12K. (These numbers did not come from Sol-Ark)

This is not an attack on SS but where did you guys get those setting from?

1) For starters the 12K cannot charge at 275A. It's limit is 185 Amps.
2) Max Discharge is 125A for 5 batteries ?? That is 25A per battery and the Inverter will Trip at less than 6.4KW when it can do 8KW.
3) Your Temperature coefficient of 3mv, where did you get that from?
4) All of your charging voltages are to high.
5) Battery Resistance is to high for 5 packs in parallel.
6) Your Batt Empty Voltage is Low.
7) Some others will question your use of Equalization on LiFePO4 cells.

 

[BenFromSignatureSolar]

This is not an attack on SS but where did you guys get those setting from?

1) For starters the 12K cannot charge at 275A. It's limit is 185 Amps.
2) Max Discharge is 125A for 5 batteries ?? That is 25A per battery and the Inverter will Trip at less than 6.4KW when it can do 8KW.
3) Your Temperature coefficient of 3mv, where did you get that from?
4) All of your charging voltages are to high.
5) Battery Resistance is to high for 5 packs in parallel.
6) Your Batt Empty Voltage is Low.
7) Some others will question your use of Equalization on LiFePO4 cells.

Got them from a user that was having some successes with these settings. If you could post the settings that people should be using, I'm sure they'd appreciate it!

 

[robby]

Got them from a user that was having some successes with these settings. If you could post the settings that people should be using, I'm sure they'd appreciate it!

Batt Capacity: 500Ah (number of batteries x100)
Max A Charge: 185A
Max A Discharge: 185A
Max A Grid Charge: 185A
TEMPCO: 0mV/C/Cell
BMS Lithium Batt: Not Selected
Float V: 54.5V
Absorption V: 54.5V
Equalization V: 55V
Equalization Days: 30
Equalization Duration: 1 Hour
Rec Shutdown Percentage: 20%
Rec Low Battery Percentage: 30%
Rec Restart Percentage: 40%
Battery Resistance: 5mOhms
Battery Charge Efficiency: 99%
Battery Empty Voltage:49V

 

[DougfromdaUP]

Batt Capacity: 500Ah (number of batteries x100)
Max A Charge: 185A
Max A Discharge: 185A
Max A Grid Charge: 185A
TEMPCO: 0mV/C/Cell
BMS Lithium Batt: Not Selected
Float V: 55V
Absorption V: 54.5V
Equalization V: 55V
Equalization Days: 30
Equalization Duration: 1 Hour
Rec Shutdown Percentage: 20%
Rec Low Battery Percentage: 30%
Rec Restart Percentage: 40%
Battery Resistance: 5mOhms
Battery Charge Efficiency: 99%
Battery Empty Voltage:49V

In general these are much closer to mine, but did you switch float and absorption?
Also, my Solark charges to about .3 volts higher than my set point for absorb, depending on rate of charge as it approaches it. I’ve measured the resistance in my leads, and it’s very low, .0007 to .0006 ohms from inverter through bus bar to battery terminal.

 

[cartrydge]

Where can I download this BMS tool?

 

[robby]

In general these are much closer to mine, but did you switch float and absorption?
Also, my Solark charges to about .3 volts higher than my set point for absorb, depending on rate of charge as it approaches it. I’ve measured the resistance in my leads, and it’s very low, .0007 to .0006 ohms from inverter through bus bar to battery terminal.

Good catch, I forgot the 4, it should have been 54.5V
It's been corrected.

It is always best to double check those voltage with a volt meter right at the battery terminals and compare them to what the Inverter is reading. There is always a bit of loss in the wire depending on length and Gauge. The resistance that you measured was based on how many of what model of battery? I don't have 5 EG4LL to actually test so I basically used my one EG4LL and did the math on what five would be.

 

[DougfromdaUP]

Good catch, I forgot the 4, it should have been 54.5V
It's been corrected.

It is always best to double check those voltage with a volt meter right at the battery terminals and compare them to what the Inverter is reading. There is always a bit of loss in the wire depending on length and Gauge. The resistance that you measured was based on how many of what model of battery? I don't have 5 EG4LL to actually test so I basically used my one EG4LL and did the math on what five would be.

I have 5 eg4 LiFePOwer4. The resistance was that of the cable and connections only, not battery. I basically diddled grid charge until I got a stable current on each battery of 30 amps and measured the voltage, then calculated resistance. The positve and negative leads summed are around 1.4 milli ohm. I haven't attempted to measure the batteries internal resistance. When I called Signature to ask them, they said "less than two ohms." I asked if they meant less than two milliohms, the person asked his supervisor and said "no, our official specs say less than two ohms." I told them that I had an IQ less than two million and that didn't sound right to me. I don't know if he got it.
I think the voltage overshoot when my Solark charges is tied to the battery resistance setting. When I called solark about it they suggested trying 8 milliohms (I had been using 4) and it seemed to help that day, but I haven't tried to chase it down. I've given up trying to get perfection.

 

[cartrydge]

Here is the output from the BMS tool. Any suggestions? Sol-ark has no solution it appears to the problem.

 

[BenFromSignatureSolar]

Here is the output from the BMS tool. Any suggestions? Sol-ark has no solution it appears to the problem.

View attachment 123628

Will the battery accept a charge from a battery charger when isolated from the inverter?

 

[cartrydge]

I don't have a battery charger to even try. ALl i have is a small lipo battery charger for some RC planes

 

[DougfromdaUP]

It looks like the battery is fine then, and it just won't charge with the SolArk? Can you give solar power to the sol-ark to charge them?

 

[DougfromdaUP]

I guess I should ask, have you looked at all the batteries? Don't forget you have to change the addresses if you want to monitor them all at the same time. If I remember correctly, some of the batteries had the address bits in a different order than the picture in the manual, i.e. left to right to increase versus right to left, but they were labeled correctly. I used addresses 3 through 7, since it's easier to get them into BMS_test that way.

 

[cartrydge]

yea thats the problem the sol-ark has plenty of PV coming in but, won't charge the batteries cause it sees the batteries fully charged even though they are not

 

[DougfromdaUP]

yea thats the problem the sol-ark has plenty of PV coming in but, won't charge the batteries cause it sees the batteries fully charged even though they are not

I have to wonder if your Sol-ark settings and mode are all correct. Have you called their customer service?

I have operated mostly off-grid, and have not had any problems, once I figured out what the proper settings are. If you haven't checked that, I would be happy to go over settings which have worked for me. I have to say, though, that Solark's help has been very good with specific tasks like this.

I think that it would be prudent to configure your Solark to only charge batteries, and not use any power from them, and then connect only one battery (one that looks good) and see what happens. You haven't said if you've checked all the batteries for problems.

I assume that you're not having a problem powering your ac devices, that it's just not charging the battery.

 

[cartrydge]

Yea I've tried only one battery talked with sol-ark numerous times and no joy

 

[cartrydge]

It starts like this won't produce any solar watts and after about 2 minutes will jump to 54v showing fully charged batteries even though at the terminals it shows 45v. Of course I ask for a return and they want to hit you with all the restocking fees and shit. Man what a mistake going to sol ark I thought I was paying for a good product my growatt at least worked.

 

[DougfromdaUP]

Here is how I'm configured.