I've just had my inverter/battery install performed having waiting several months for the battery to become available.
Now it's here I've noticed it's only an 80% DOD model whereas everything I'm seeing/reading makes me think a 'new' battery should have been a 90% DOD.....am I right ?
Is there any way to find out the battery age (s/n begins BE2231 - which I thought might possibly be "year 22 week 31".
Any thoughts please ?
ianfretwell I beleive that means it is a gen 1 battery not a new gen 2. Just did a quick google and can not see any gen 1 stock anywhere. I am not sure when Gen1 stopped shopping, people are still getting Gen1 inverters so it is possible gen 1 batteries are still around somewhere.
Did you order a gen 2?
THALL At time of ordering I wasn't aware that there were two generations so that's my own fault.
But having been told by the installer that it was the battery they were waiting for I kinda assumed it would have to be a new one.. I've emailed the main support to ask them but thought I'd maybe get a faster response here (and I did - thanks!)
It’ll say on the sticker on the side of the battery what DOD it is (I paid the price of getting in early so I’ve an 80% DOD 8.2)
hoggy Hi, thanks, yes, I know it's an 80%....hence my question in the first place. I'm a bit suspicious that maybe it's not 'my' battery and somebody else has just got a shiny new 90% one and I've got their 80% one.
ianfretwell there’s no “Gen 2” 5.2 (or 2.6 or 8.2) it’s just Midsummer being obtuse as Gen 2 is defined by having that custom plug arrangement.
Given that both 80 and 90 DOD 5.2 still contain 105AH cells I’d discharge it fully to check if it’s not performing fully as a 90 already and ask them to bump it up if not.
(GE has been known to make a bit of a mess of labels - we’ve had Gen 2 inverters with Gen 1 spec labels before)
hoggy That's good to know thanks.
The firmware version on it is 3009 which seems newer than most folks have, so that's the one thing that kinda makes it look 'newer'...
3009? I have 3008 and the newest on the knowledge base is 3007. I think the word BETA fits the GE envrioment rather well.
ianfretwell What does the Manufacturer's information plate say the capacity is? Is that the same as your quote specifies?
Tim Quote was for "Giv-Bat5.2", and that's what it is...but seemingly there are actually 2 variants.
ianfretwell Yes it's odd. The only version for which I can find any data sheets is a 90% DoD. If yours is 80% DoD, it'd seem to be the same vintage as the 8.2kWh which is what we have, installed in January this year. According to GivTCP, ours were 200Ah installed but 160Ah useable. The 80% DoD suggests older stock but that's not necessarily a bad thing as the manufacturer's top and bottom charge stops are just further apart. The current 5.2s are warranted for 52MWh or 10 years, whichever comes first. If you can get unlimited cycles and 10 years, it might be a blessing in disguise.
THALL Yep, 3009 - which had also got me wondering after reading loads of posts on here yesterday and never seeing anyone mention 3009...
ianfretwell You're only the second person to mention 3009 on the forums, and I think the other was via someone on Facebook.
To be fair, even their own brochure (not the data sheets) for 2022 have the 5.2 as 100% DOD.
GE documentation is a mess hence why I’ve tried to help with the wiki but they make it very hard work fathoming out what exactly is inside the magic white box!
hoggy To be fair, even their own brochure (not the data sheets) for 2022 have the 5.2 as 100% DOD
This feels like "smoke and mirrors". Maybe they're trying to reassure potential customers that 100% of the advertised 5.2kWh is available but to anyone with an enquiring mind, it's obfuscation. I'm happy that the actual installed capacity is in excess of the available capacity, reduced by the warranty end-stops. In some respects it's immaterial whether the installed capacity provides an 80% or 90% DoD; it's their call to balance the cost and capacity available to the customer with the warranty they are committing to. But it would be helpful if they were consistent in their use of terms.
So I got a response back from GE support about the battery - it's not helpful in the slightest -
Hi Ian Fretwell,
As we are the manufacturer we do not have any dealings with what stock you receive - if you battery says 80% DOD then that is the DOD of that battery.
Kind Regards,
Dan Maddocks
2nd line Technical Support Engineer
Today I tried the online chat (which worked fine and I only waited a couple of minutes or so) and have been told that my battery - serial number BE2231G092 -
Was produced in week 31 of 2022 and was no. 92 in the batch.
When I asked why the datasheets going back to at least January (managed to find one from January and one from May) both state 90%, I was told to take that up with my supplier/installer.
So in other words they are still supplying 80% DOD batteries despite what the website and datasheets state. This is very disappointing really.
ianfretwell The datasheet I obtained from the website in Nov-21 said that the battery had a 100% DOD! Now waiting for a response from my installer as the battery I have is labelled as an 80% DOD version
Tonycooper Yep, my installer is now seeing what they can find out too