Solis reset problem

[cliffhanger]

Hi
I have the Solis RH1-3 6K-48ES-5G with two 5kw batteries. When the batteries are fully charged power is diverted to hot water via a Solar iBoost+ unit in conjunction with a Megaflo PV tank.
The problem, which can occur regularly, is that when power is diverted the Solis enters alarm mode and then resets itself.
The system still works and I get hot water but the reset can occur sometimes twice in a matter of minutes.
Can anyone shed any light on what is happening here?
I am familiar with the menus of the Solis and use it to charge out of hours. Is there a settling I need to change? My supplier has been of no help as the setup is outside their remit.

Thanks

Cliff McDiarmid

 

[cliffhanger]

I get an error code on the Solis of ILeak-PR001

Thanks

 

[Solar Guppy]

I get an error code on the Solis of ILeak-PR001

Thanks

You can't connect the solar leads in parallel with any other device!. If you want to use both solar for the Solis OR the solar-iboost, you will need to have external switching of both solar array leads.

From this page and using google translate:

Typically this fault is a type of ground fault that occurs when the inverter is running and current is flowing through the inverter circuit (parasitic capacitance). There are several things that can cause this failure which are listed below. This is not a complete list, but rather ideas for troubleshooting.

The DC + or - input of a DC string is swapped with another string in a different position, or a different inverter. If the chain intersects with another inverter strange things can happen, and the leak is likely. It is also possible that you only have one inverter running. If it is traded on the same inverter, it may drop its output and behave strangely.

Minor ground faults are also a cause of leakage, especially if the cable insulation is not broken but reduced in the case of abrasion, or some other action that can cause the insulation to be shortened at a critical point. Water in conduit or junction boxes can also cause leaks. This can include high humidity depending on conditions.

Using long cables to your PV array or transformer can cause I-Leakage if your cables are undersized. Be sure to do the proper analysis of the wire's current capacity for the distance you're running. This can also indicate a problem with the transformer itself.

Poor quality AC conductors can cause this problem, if the cable is not in good shape from being pulled on the cable or has damaged insulation in multiple locations.

The meaning of each alarm code (pro1-pro4) is shown below. This indicates how much current is being leaked from the system.

iLeak-PRO01: 30mA

 

[cliffhanger]

Thanks Solar Guppy

Yeah I'd seen that page or some of it.
Just to be clear.
The whole switching thing is done over wifi. The tank is not connected physically to the solar array. There is a detector fitted to the live cable at the fuse box which is actuated when there is excess current that would otherwise enter the grid. This switches the Solar IBoost on over wifi. Why the leak I don't know. The whole system is 6 months old including tank wiring.

I had read about rising the mA threshold to 60 which can be done in setup. Don't know if this is advisable.

Cliff

 

[Solar Guppy]

I looked up the installation manual and see it loads on the 240V mains, the only thoughts I have are verify the hot, neutral and ground connections on the Solar iBoost+. Also verify the hot, neutral and ground on the inverter.

Something when the heater is on is cause a ground fault ( leakage ), it could also be the heater itself has an issue, all the inverter is seeing is something is cause the current leakage when the heater is on, I would NOT change the safety settings.

 

[cliffhanger]

Thanks

 

[cliffhanger]

One more thing. The tank has a manual override. One can turn it on for up to two hours. No problem here. And it's still talking current from the batteries.

Cliff

 

[cliffhanger]

One more thing. The tank has a manual override. One can turn it on for up to two hours. No problem here. And it's still talking current from the batteries.

Cliff

 

[SeaGal]

Has it always done it since installation? Does the manual override power the full 3kW to the immersion heater rather than the varying about the iBoost will send depending on export power available?

 

[cliffhanger]

Thanks Seagull

No for the first few months it ran fine then the Solis began to reset. Of course it could have reset when I wasn't there.

The manual override is actuated through the iBoost and yes it runs the full 3kw. The tank has two heaters which will be switched when the top of the tank is hot.

 

[cliffhanger]

When on wifi actuation it varies the power input. So one could be inputting 100 w depending on excess

 

[SeaGal]

It's a strange one to be honest. All I could find out about the iLeak error message (apart from it sounding like an insecure Apple phone!) is it is a leakage on the DC side of the Solis, possibly caused by earthing issues or excess parasitic capacitance - i.e. the same as @Solar Guppy already mentioned.

So the two questions, in my mind are:-
a) why does that only happen when the iBoost is active and only when that is running in 'varying power' mode?
b) why did it not happen in the first few months?

Regarding (b)... First question is always... "what has changed between when it seemed to be working and when it no longer is working?". FYI the Solis does keep a log of errors, but they get overwritten if too many more appear (IIRC it holds about 15 pages of 6 or so error messages, so a total of about 100). Or maybe it didn't happen in the first few (winter) months as you didn't have enough sun to activate the iBoost. Again, I think the iBoost keeps track of energy saved over last day / week / month / year, so maybe that can help identify whether it was running OK at some time.?

Regarding (a)... Can you be sure it has never triggered in this manner when the iBoost is not active? If not, maybe de-activate the iBoost for a week and see what happens? As it doesn't trigger when the iBoost is running at full power on override, that suggest to me that there is no inherent earthing fault in the immersion wiring or insulation of immersion heater to hot water tank - and if that was an issue, I'd expect your RCCB in your CU to trip.

I'm also wondering whether the iBoost could be causing some rectification of the supply, causing d.c. offset on the mains side. Not really my area of expertise ?‍? apart from knowing it's not good. But if that were the case I'd expect others to have reported the issue and for it to have been always an issue. Obviously many people use the Marlec iBoost, so I guess some are also using with with Solis inverters without problem?

Maybe someone else can chip in as I'm a bit stumped, short of being able to swap out the iBoost for a new one - may be worth approaching Marlec about it, assuming it's new and still in guarantee, see if they can lend you a replacement to test?

Do keep us updated... it's a bit of a cliffhanger for me

 

[cliffhanger]

Thanks for a substantial answer.

a) The iBoost WiFi side was disconnected before I started this question and the tank runs fine when actuated manually through iBoost. The inverter reset in the beginning occasionally but I didn't immediately associate it with the iBoost

b) Nothing has really changed. The tank and iBoost were installed in the hot spell last year and gave hot water.

I have now put it in the hands of Marlec. Sent photos etc

Cliff

 

[cliffhanger]

Just looked through warning messages on inverter. Majority are ILeak-PRO01 but some are PRO02

Under DATA we have 0100 and 0200

 

[Tim East]

Hi
I have the Solis RH1-3 6K-48ES-5G with two 5kw batteries. When the batteries are fully charged power is diverted to hot water via a Solar iBoost+ unit in conjunction with a Megaflo PV tank.
The problem, which can occur regularly, is that when power is diverted the Solis enters alarm mode and then resets itself.
The system still works and I get hot water but the reset can occur sometimes twice in a matter of minutes.
Can anyone shed any light on what is happening here?
I am familiar with the menus of the Solis and use it to charge out of hours. Is there a settling I need to change? My supplier has been of no help as the setup is outside their remit.

Thanks

Cliff McDiarmid

Hi
Did you resolve this? I have the same issue

 

[Tim East]

Hi
I have the Solis RH1-3 6K-48ES-5G with two 5kw batteries. When the batteries are fully charged power is diverted to hot water via a Solar iBoost+ unit in conjunction with a Megaflo PV tank.
The problem, which can occur regularly, is that when power is diverted the Solis enters alarm mode and then resets itself.
The system still works and I get hot water but the reset can occur sometimes twice in a matter of minutes.
Can anyone shed any light on what is happening here?
I am familiar with the menus of the Solis and use it to charge out of hours. Is there a settling I need to change? My supplier has been of no help as the setup is outside their remit.

Thanks

Cliff McDiarmid

Hi Cliff, did you resolve this? I have the same problem

 

[Solar Guppy]

Solis inverters, like most hybrid inverters these days are non-isolated from the PV / battery to AC side, so if something is affecting the mains can cause effects on the PV / battery connections and trip the protection monitoring.

From the description, when the water heater is modulating at a high power level, this is tripping the PV protection for ground faults, and I've seen something similar when my instant hot-water heater turns on ( which modulates using a triac ) In my case changing where the inverter and instant water heater connected to the main panel helped ( moved the breakers ). There is also setting under the advanced settings menu -> special Settings -> Special_1 where you can enable / disable and change the filter levels.

For the Solis HVES 5G US, when putting in the code to access the advanced settings it is 2017 instead of the default 0010. Now the UK versions are similar, but different in menus and such but most of the menus are similar. You can also contact solis support and they should help with how to adjust the filter levels ( sensitivity ) the monitoring circuits use.

 

[BXII]

I've had the same issue (RH1-3K-48ES-5G) with 'noise' generated by the water heater tripping out the inverter, usually with a an arc-fault code. This has happened after putting in an electronic 16A circuit timer, which has an internal relay that sounds to be a bit small. More rarely it's another piece of electrical equipment (but I don't know which; fridge or freezer possibly). The household circuits were inspected tested as OK a couple of years ago, so shouldn't be anything to do with wiring etc.
I've not found any adjustability of the inverter filter sensitivity.

 

[Solar Guppy]

I've not found any adjustability of the inverter filter sensitivity.

It is hidden in the advanced setting menu when using the code 2017 instead of 0010 for the HVES 5g ( US model which is High Voltage battery ), if 2017 doesn't work, make a ticket with Solis support and explain you need to adjust the filter settings and ask for the code for your model.

There are other interesting setting here as well, you can disable the mppt tracking and set a fixed ( constant ) voltage, have the two mppt channels work as a parallel pair tracking wise, turn on/off ILeak, PV ground fault arc fault and change the sensitivity of these.

 

[cliffhanger]

Hi Tim

No at moment I have raised the problem with Marlec. And guess what. They are dealing with a similar problem with someone else.
The sales director is contacting me Monday.