Pre S/N 2209 Gen1 Inveter firmware Upgrades

My S/N 2208 Gen 1 inverter is in line to have it's firmware upgraded.

As some will know these Pre 2209 inverters were originally identified as possibly needing an engeering visit to enable the upgrade.
However, there is now a test that can be carried out remotely to confirm if the upgrade can be done without an engineer visit. if test passes upgrade can proceed, if it fails engineer visit will be neeeded.

So, another thread of a 2205 GEN 1 has higlighted that the upgrade failed and the system now has a fault which will take weeks to resolve as the GE engineers are very busy.

This obviously makes me very nervous about proceeding now knowing about this failure and wondered if there are any others out there, on a Pre 2209 GEN 1 inverter who have had the upgrade done and what was the outcome?

So, who's had the Pre 2209 GEN 1 inverter upgrade and how did it go?

Don’t think there are that many (and to be fair - FW updates are never going to be 100% without woes no matter which generation/variation so it may well be coincidence)
I believe @makse has some early Gen1s on it (he’s an installer)
I did offer mine up at the very beginning of all this (and I have a spare inverter for the ultimate of F-Ups) but never got taken up on it.

hoggy That's what I was thinking.

If so few have been done then why, unless I have major problems/issues with the current firmware, would I be a giunea pig, and upgrade without any specific support of an enginerring visit if things go wrong!!

I would be happy to proceed if:

1) a number of the upgrades had been completed and had been successful, giving a level of confidence.
2) GE provided the required immediate support (engineering visits) if the upgrade failed leaving me without a system. 3-4 weeks for a visit is not acceptable.

This is the reason for this thread, to find out how many have been attempted.

Stevef1964 Having read the beta test chat thread and @TheDragon (GivEnergy)'s comment that less than 10% of beta testers provided any feedback, I'll will contribute my nothing here. Our two gen 1 hybrids (SD2137...) are working just fine on D0.449-A0.449. We've not experienced any of the inverter issues fixed during the SoC beta testing with failing to observe battery reserve, charge to % etc. nor are we dissatisfied with the inverter response time (although having two, it's sort of reduced by half anyway). We did update the battery firmware to 3012 on both batteries which had been behaving fine before and are still just doing their thing now. I waited a few weeks before updating the battery firmware and wouldn't update the inverter firmware unless 1) it fixed a problem we were experiencing or 2) Lots of others had done it and had experienced no problems.

I'm assuming that with the age of our inverters, we would need a hardware upgrade to be able to use the new firmware, but if that came at a cost, I'm not sure we would particularly want to do that as they are and have been working fine since commissioning (touch wood).

Tim

Thanks Tim.

Ive had the BMS upgrade to 3012 and this seems to have stopped the SoC crashes.

My inverter f/w is D0.499-A0.499 and is working fine, except I have had a couple of SoC drops. This is where the inverter feels the SOC is incorrect and decides to rectify itself. My understanding is that this is corrected with the new inverter firmware.

I was looking to get the firmware upgraded, but after seeing the thread where the upgrade failed, leaving the system down and no visit availbe for a number of weeks, I'm not so sure it is a good idea at the moment.

So, I think I'll live with the odd SoC drop for now unless I can be convinced otherwise.

sadly it feels as if I was used as a guinea pig!

I would probably have agreed to a beta test but would have expected better treatment in case of failure than to find I'm now without 20 panels production & 3 batteries for peak summer ...... and fix so far set for 3 -5 weeks.

Tim Adams it might not be that bad. They said 3-4 weeks for me, but visited exactly two weeks after the fault occured. 🤞

I was one of the earlier adopters with CE2052, I think its amazing that GE actually want to support the early devices.
They must have found a weak component which they don't expect lasting the 5-10 years warranty or they wouldn't have offered to travel the uk and repair issues before they arise. I come from electronics manufacturing and its rare to support products like this, normally they say software version covers ... and retire/cross their fingers until the warranty expires.

Does anybody actually know how the givenergy serial number systems works. I've seen some begining SA some SD and now CE. Not sure what this stands for. Then 4 digits G 3 digits.

I believe SA is 3.6kw hybrid gen 1
SD is 5kw hybrid gen 1
CE could be AC 3 ??
DY is 8.2kwh battery

The 4 numbers could be year and week number G not sure could stand for givenergy and just be to make it easier to read. And then a 3 digits sequential count for each number. ???

CE is AC3

Yes, it's year and week number - manufacturing date I think.

No idea re the G.

SA - G1 3.6 (+ a few flashed to 5kW a few years back)
SD - G1 5.0
CE - AC
EA - G2 3.6
ED - G2 5.0

FD - don’t know but EVMan has one from screenshots of his app (maybe a beta unit or Gen 3)

Batteries have all sorts of letters despite same size, my 8.2 starts BG for example…

hoggy

FA Gen3 3.6
FD Gen3 5kw
CHxxyyGzzz AIO
GW Gateway
TD 3 Ph 11kw
EMS - EMS

xx Year
yy Week No
G no idea
zzz number in batch

Wild stab but G for Givenergy? (SA17020029 is a Prime 3.6 Hybrid)

hoggy yikes thats an old one

hoggy Wow that is old. Do you know what the back story in on these inverters ? Who actually made them in the first place. I saw your post on anougher thread about the all black australian version.

Lab140 yeah in roundabout way, I’m doing a write up on them at the moment on Gen 1 which covers a bit of that.
Note: Gen 2 onwards are (as far as I can tell) not based on anyone else’s or have any clones around (yet)

Lab140 Hopefully this may help, ultimately as far as I can tell it all goes back to JMHing (Givenergy) one way or another (there's a whole drop down section that goes back through them) - https://wiki.terravolt.co.uk/docs/givenergy-gen-1-teardown/

Thread Bump.

It's been a few weeks now and I wondered if anyone else had had their GEN 1 inverter(s) upgraded and if so what was the outcome?

i posted on another thread... but for good order should repeat here. I had engineer visit a week ago...

"Very relieved to get engineer visit yesterday. Some uncertainty over reason for fault but main thing is that it was cured with a replacement board and dongle.

As it turned out I have been out of action for just over 2 weeks - but could've been much worse. So feeling grateful GivEnergy got here when they did!"

I don't think the post 2209 Gen1's have been upgraded yet have they?

Hook Do you mean "pre"?

No post. This thread is about getting the pre 2209's upgraded. But I don't think that will happen until the post 2209 gen 1's are done.

Hook Post 2209 don't need any hardware modifications? Sorry I'm getting confused or do you mean by "upgraded" you mean firmware?

chris_p Yes Chris.

The Battery firmware (BMS) has been done, now waiting for the inverter firmware to be done for Gen 1's that are Pre 2209

Thread Bump.

It's been a few weeks now and I wondered if anyone else had had their GEN 1 inverter(s) upgraded and if so what was the outcome?

Stevef1964 mines been upgraded as it passed the test.
Works just the same as before but with faster response to changes. I am seeing very small soc adjustments every now and then. But only 1 or 2%

anglefire What is the beginning of your serial? Is it newer older one?

I had my inverter attempted to see if it would take the test firmware they use and it failed so mine will need to be modified.
Serial numberSD2148

I'm SA2111 and I think when it was tested for the update it failed, inverter firmware is D0.499-A0.499 so that hasn't been updated?

jqworle yours was one of 3 that day all failed. Must have been a fail kinda day.
Previous day 4 all passed

Im gathering stats on pass/fail, but so far, no obvious trend

Whats the process please?
SD2137G122

Zakalwe I was part of the beta, so it was done a few weeks/months back I think?

My inverter serial number is CE 2142 G 44S the firmware for the inverter is DO.535-AO.535 and the battery firmware is 3007. The system went out 10 January 2023 at that time GE were very busy and not able to conduct site visits the engineer came on the 23 February 2023 together with my installer. A new board was fitted and I was told that any updates would be carried out at the time. In view of the comments on the site I have left the firmware settings as they are and ignored the update button. No doubt at some stage I will be told that as I have not kept the system updated it could be the cause of a future problem. I have a AC3 inverter and 5 x 2.6 batteries( at the time I purchased the system March 2022 that was all that was available) and 21 x Sharp 185 W panels installed in September 2011. I have since had a second CU fitted to allow me to use EPS for limited power use if required, it is an auto changeover and back when the power is restored. I would welcome views on if or not should I bite the bullet and do the updates or stick with what I have and hope that it works fine.

chris_p SA2142. Installed dec 22.

RegHall I have had no obvious issues since install - but updated as and when I could - and the latest update has improved speed of response.
Still no obvious issues.

TheDragon (GivEnergy) is this test something you are able to kick off for our system, or would I need to contact support? Interested to know if we are one of the lucky ones or not.

SD2148G201

mattpdavey it can be done remotely.
It can take an hour of someone's time. So i can. Best email into support. And have it forwarded to me.
So it's in my inbox.
I can go days if busy not coming in here.
My workload spiralling for sure

TheDragon (GivEnergy) ok understood, a bit more to it compared to the FW updates then.

Yes you sure have your work cut out, and I suspect there could be a case of loading up the busiest guy in the room going on too.

@"TheDragon (GivEnergy)"
SA2053G084 current firmware D0.450-A0.451

3 x Gen1 batteries 8.2kw Battery Firmware Version 3012

I've just spotted that my twin 8.2 batteries are now on 3013?
@TheDragon (GivEnergy) Did you reach in and update them? I know that I certainly haven't updated since I moved to 3012 (in fact, no software update button has appeared in My Inverter since I moved to 3012).

confused.com ;-)

Hi anglefire

Thanks to everyone who replied. I did an email to support and was told to go ahead and update. I tried to do it overnight last Thursday the 27th. Not wishing to let all the electricity go to waste I charged the car and put the immersion on to the hot water tank. Next morning quick look in the garage batteries nearly flat, but very hot water and full car but firmware same as before, quick email to support to be told that server down should be back up and running by 31st try again, is this the gods telling me something or maybe a quick email to support on Monday check that server working, then overnight on Monday night try again.
Once again many thanks to all who responded.

@TheDragon (GivEnergy) ....any idea?
My system hasn't performed any calibrations recently either so I am mystified how 3013 is showing.

mattpdavey
TheDragon (GivEnergy)

Hi Paul, so I reached out to support as suggested. Adam insists this is not something they can help with. A bit of to and from since where I explained & asked him to forward on, but was told I would have to request the beta FW directly from you in order to run the test?? If he’s wrong I will go back but wanted to check in with you at this point. Thanks

Zakalwe I did it for you on the 7th July. I would have been asked to do it

mattpdavey I will load the test and see if it passes.

If YES, i cal load, if No, i cant and it will be reverted to latest old Fw.

TheDragon (GivEnergy) appreciated thanks. I will wait with baited breath and fingers firmly crossed!

mattpdavey 15:20. rebooted with test FW loaded. Keep an eye on Notifications in the portal
Once back up, im looking for no Soft Start Fail Error within 20 mins
if its there is USUALLY comes in a couple of mins. But i need to allow 20

TheDragon (GivEnergy) it looks like we got that error after only 4-5mins or so... does this mean our is a no-go then?

mattpdavey Unfortunately I will have to log this as a FAIL on the commissioning page. The internal needs modification

hoggy

Just been going through this thread and noticed the serial numbers explained, any reason why i have an SD2142 serial number but its marked up as a 3.6??

SA - G1 3.6 (+ a few flashed to 5kW a few years back)
SD - G1 5.0
CE - AC
EA - G2 3.6
ED - G2 5.0

FD - don’t know but EVMan has one from screenshots of his app (maybe a beta unit or Gen 3)

Batteries have all sorts of letters despite same size, my 8.2 starts BG for example…

Thanks

Fridgeman There are some edge cases, Sa as 5kw and yours is the 1st SD marked as 3.6kw

FD is Gen3 5kw

mattpdavey

The inverter has gone offline, ive been waiting for a while
Ive emailed you the older FW (one newer than you had), with instruction to local load it to the dongle

TheDragon (GivEnergy)

sorry for being a bit thick, what does that mean? 😃

yours is the 1st SD marked as 3.6kw

Thanks

the first inverter with serial starting SD and is 3.6 kw that he has seen.

Fridgeman SD should normally be 5kw. Maybe they didn't have enough 3.6kw boards, so used 5kw ones and throttled them in firmware

TheDragon (GivEnergy) Hmmm 😃 can it be unthrottled 😎 😆

TheDragon (GivEnergy) Thanks Paul all back up and running after the manual dongle intervention. Shame we don't have a unit that has passed the test, but the not knowing was as bad as anything really. Now can put it to bed until the GE wizards can figure out a suitable solution for us outliers . Cheers 🙂

TheDragon (GivEnergy)

Thank you. I wasn't aware and I didnt see any calibration.

It does seem to be tracking across the two batteries much better now.

Fridgeman Will see what the magic smoke fairies can rustle up

Looking deeper, it has some weird grid code (Certification). You in ROI, or NI? Anyway I've set it to the proper UK code

TheDragon (GivEnergy) No, in Yorkshire 😃 Thanks for all the answers, will await the fairies visiting 🧚 🌩️

@TheDragon (GivEnergy) What’s the oldest you’ve had pass out of interest? Any in the 20s?

hoggy today a 2047.

TheDragon (GivEnergy) so some hope for my 2205 then 🙏 (when available)

TheDragon (GivEnergy) shooting stars oooOOOoo noises
so there really is no rhyme or reason just luck of the draw.

@TheDragon (GivEnergy) Could you check mine with the test firmware please? SA2202G173

Hopefully get a bit more savings, still getting the occasional 10 second read data showing on the portal, this morning from 00:16 right through til about 05:40.

wolf1608 Ok i will give it a go, working a bit later today as in the office

TheDragon (GivEnergy)

Whats the current state of play on the inverter firmware please? you've upgraded my batteries to 3013. The inverter is still on D0.449-A0.449. Is that the latest possible firmware and does it need an engineer vist to check suitability?

SD2137G122

wolf1608

Unfortunately the test failed. In your notifications "Battery Soft Start Fail"
Had this been the real FW, not the test one, it would have caused terminal damage.

You need the internals modifying. I will add the inverter serial to the list of failures

FW will be reverted to the latest "Old" i have D499-A499

TheDragon (GivEnergy) thanks for checking. The inverter though is now showing offline and isnt responding to the portal.

Tried a restart, reset to defaults. about to head out to the garage to do a hard restart.

Update!! Its back up and running. By the time I got into the garage it had sucessfully restarted.

Thanks.

Afternoon all, more confused than ever after reading these posts. Does my Gen 1 inverter SD2112 running D0.449-A0.449 (2x Gen1 8.2kwh batteries on 3012) need a hardware upgrade or are GE working on firmware for the old girl?
Apologise I have probably overlooked the awnser already, but I have gone wordblind reading technicals.

derekfairweather It sounds like the only certain way is for GE to do their load of the test firmware. From what has been said previously, the serial numbers don't seem to be reflecting a pattern.

derekfairweather SD2112

This needs checking prior to loading new FW.

Even when its on Auto update in a little while, 2209 or older will not be offered it. It will be on a case by case basis with a test 1st

TheDragon (GivEnergy) Fingers crossed I don't have a 2 year old 'Apple' Luckily it works pretty well as is so shouldn't complain

TheDragon (GivEnergy)

Paul,

from the ones you have done already is there any indication whether the later ones are more likely to pass?

Im asking because mine is 2208

RegHall You say that you have a second CU for the EPS output and 'auto changeover'. I am interested in that. What switch hardware do you have to do the automatic changeover please.

Hi
I am a little confused by all the diferent updates/issues people have experienced.

My system has been installed since Jan 2022 and has appeared to run seamlessly appart from the occasional soc dip.
However, the differential between the two batteries appears to be increasing whilst showing the same voltage - 78% and 89% both 53.5 volts and 24.5DegC. Over the winter they are fully discharged to 4% by day and 100% charged overnight. In summer they rarely go below 40% and are 100% charged in the day by solar.
Will this % disparity be reducing my batteries capacity?
Are there any benefits to be gained from the new inverter and BMS firmwares?

My system is Gen 1 3.6 inverter SA2144 running D0.450-A0.449 (2x 100% 8.2kwh batteries on 3005)

Am I best leaving well alone, or would the new firmwares be advised, bearing in mind that I don't want to be left with a broken system for weeks approaching the winter period.

Thanks

@TheDragon (GivEnergy) Is it possible to be added to the list for the test fw load? SD2142G119 running D0.450-A0.450 with BMS at 3013.

Thanks

666tim666 Hi I have 2 CU the second one the EPS unit is powered from the main CU via a 13A fuse and a contactor, the electrician who fitted the system thought that it would be the easiest to manage as the system looks after itself, in the case of a power outage after about 5 seconds the EPS CU takes over the supply to the minimal circuits we have as battery operated backup (central heating, lights, computer and TV) , when the power is restored the system immediately goes onto the main CU. The contactor was purchased from I.T.S. Technologies the same time as I bought the original battery system in March 2022, at that time product was in short supply it was a case of buy what was available, hence I have 5 x 2.6kWh batteries not ideal but at least we have had batteries working. I hope that helps.

Being a patient type, been burnt too many times upgrading quickly, am I ok to update SD2148G073, or should I wait a wee while longer?

@TheDragon (GivEnergy) is there any more information when those of us with a Gen 1 that needs modification will start getting these mods?

I'd honestly just assume you won't get it. I really can't see what benefiy it would bring to GE who are already stretched for engineers to implement this as opposed to just not letting old inverters upgrade to faster firmware.
Cynical me would suggest they are hoping it gets forgotten about to be honest.

I also think that might be the case @hoggy. I have a problem where I have been told that Gen 1 old flavour firmware isn't G100 compliant, which is a problem for my installation. I wasn't actually told whether the new style firmware is compliant. I did, however, get a certificate, signed by a director of GivEnergy stating that it was compliant at the time of install.

I am one of the unlucky ones with a dual inverter system installed when GivEnergy said it was ok to do so (they've subsequently advised not to do this I believe) and one inverter is pre 2112 (the other one has been replaced under warranty so is a newer model).

The advice from tech support was "I would have to officially say you should turn one off, from a DNO perspective until we have proper support for this type of setup". I didn't find that answer very satisfactory, and feel like us earlier adopters are being left behind as the products develop. My system has been in for almost exactly 2 years now.

They haven't done post 2209 firmware updates yet, so I doubt they'll have a process for the pre 2209 inverters yet.

hoggy
This is exactly what I am thinking, but also its really not great to promise something you are not going to do... its just reduces the trust of the company.

@TheDragon (GivEnergy) is there any more information when those of us with a Gen 1 that needs modification will start getting these mods?