Inverter not seeing the battery?

15 comments started 2023-01-16 last 2023-02-20
GivEnergy ProductsBattery
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#1 Brianclarke

Hi, hope someone can advise me. Seems that the battery is no longer detected by the inverter?
Have tuned the system off and restarted it, but no change.
Battery via the inverter panel shows 9 volts, so it look like it knows its there, but not for charging?
Currently waiting up to 5 days for a supplier response...

Regard Brian.

#2 THALL

Brianclarke I would hope onto givenergy.co.uk and use the chat button bottom right and ask them to take a look asap.

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#3 TX200

Are you chasing your installer or GivEnergy. Probably needs to be your installer.

First thing to check though, has the DC breaker cut out? (If so, might want to know why - e.g. poor wiring from the installer).

Have any circuits on your consumer unit tripped, including the one for the energy meter?

Is the energy meter actually showing things changing like is total actual import increasing or the same value all the time. Etc.

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#4 Tim

TX200 has the DC breaker cut out?

The battery voltage is measured by the BMS and sent to the inverter over the Modbus interface. This means that you can't tell whether the battery isolator is open from the portal; itself an issue.

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#5 Brianclarke

Thanks both for quick reply... Will try givenergy web site shortly.
Am waiting EON,

No trips, energy monitor shows all working nicely, but battery symbols greyed out! No charging or discharging taking place.

#6 THALL

Brianclarke EON are pretty good and quick at responding. My first battery was installed by them but I tend to go straight to givenergy support now if I have an issue.

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#7 Brianclarke

Thanks all, it was a trip, being new I had not realised down was tripped, don't know why it tripped. I will keep an eye on it.
Thanks again.

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#8 TX200

Bad wiring is one reason for such a trip. If they caught the sleeve, so not a good contact. Best to get someone to check it. Don't want it shorting out!

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#9 Brianclarke

Its a long time since last reply but I now have put two and two together and realised that my wife is causing the trip! If the oven is on, and she boils water and uses the microwave, these can all be on at the same instant... out comes the battery trip!
I would have expected a limiter to come in to prevent this? Does any one else have this issue?

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#10 Tim

Brianclarke If you have a gen1 inverter, there will be a DC MCB between the battery and the inverter. This should be rated at either 80A or 100A. If it is this that keeps on needing to be reset, it may be that it is either faulty (not allowing the full current to be drawn from the battery) or it is below the necessary value for the installation. You can check the writing on the front to see what rating it is and ask your installer to give it a once-over.

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#11 Brianclarke

Tim Thanks for that will look into it..
Regards
Brian

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#12 Brianclarke

Thanks 100A? I will chase supplier, thanks for you help.
regards
Brian

#13 Riscy

Tim If you have a gen1 inverter, there will be a DC MCB between the battery and the inverter

Ah, this is interesting. Does that mean the gen2 hybrids don't need an MCB?

My gen2 install is a bit "gen1" in nature. It even had the external dongle originally, til I asked them to remove it and use the internal wifi instead. So seeing your comment I'm wondering if this is also superfluous.

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#14 Tim

Riscy I don't know the answer to that. I thought of the DC MCB as a means of isolating the inverter from the battery so that if the inverter internals needed to be worked on or if the inverter needed to be replaced, all the sources of energy could be isolated using manually operated isolators. There is an isolator on the underside of the gen1 (and I presume gen2) but using that to isolate the battery would only be effective for internal work, not for a removal from situ. These DC MCBs/isolators have been the source of failure and I assumed the new Batt9.5 and gen2 inverter didn't use them as a means of reducing installation problems.

#15 Simon_C

The Gen2 9.5 kWh battery has the DC MCB built-in, so the electrical installer does not have to provide one, or wire it up badly. It is on the left hand side, near to the socket for the pre-made orange cable.