Idle Battery 70% to 0%

Hi,
This morning at around 7:25am, my battery (f3013) went "idle", dropping all communications:


The inverter is hybrid 5 v2.
Any suggestions?

Just checked it physically, The battery seems OFF, no lights on it. The fuse between the inverter and the battery is in ON position.

Do I hold the ON/OFF button to the side of the battery?

Certainly worth a try.

positor1 I'm worried if it makes it worse somehow...
Had a look at the records, the battery was at 16degC at the point of dropping comms. I did not think that is too bad.

I tried switching the battery ON by pressing the button on the side. It seems to work, the battery lights come on, showing some charge in the battery.

But almost immediately there is a clicking or fast ticking sound. And then it shuts down again.

Strange thing is that the sounds seems to come from the inverter not the battery, but it could be my hearing.

rio911 you do get clicking sounds from the inverter as it changes mode, relays or whatever switch over.

Has the battery turned itself off again? You could try throwing the power breaker switch between the inverter and the battery (for 9.5 these are on the side of the battery), then powering the battery on (press and hold black button) then power breakers back on

Is it gen 1 inverter? Check the BMS cable (thin) from the battery to the inverter is properly plugged in to the bottom of the inverter (mine fell out and the inverter lost comms with the battery)

Otherwise I can’t think of anything further, may need to call givenergy

geoffreycoan Do you mean switch the battery on while not connected to the inverter?

Gen 2 Hy5.0 inverter.

If you isolate the battery from the inverter (via the MCB either near (or in the case of the 9.5 the MCB o the battery) then turn the battery on via the on off button and it stays on then you have your answer.

If the battery still errors and goes off its the BMS.
If the battery stays on its the battery board in the inverter.

Known as the 'click of death' and normally requires a visit to replace parts.

hoggy Whos visit though? As I have just been dropped from both GivE and my installer, either claiming it is not their responsibility?!?!?

rio911 GivEnergy seem to be short of engineers so are relying more on the installers to be hands and eyes for them. My installer wasn’t happy with GE who wanted to do a manual BMS upgrade which he’d never done.
His view was that once it was all installed and working, if the inverter and battery then failed to talk to each other, it was GE’s problem not theirs.

You will probably get a quicker engineer visit if you go through your installer. 6-8 weeks waiting for a GE engineer is not uncommon from what I read of other forum posts.

My view is that it’s the installer’s responsibility. Even though the warranty is provided by GE, your contract is with the installation company, not GE, and its the same as if you bought an oven from Currys and it failed, the existing retail consumer protection laws apply, Currys are responsible not the manufacturer.

hoggy Just for the record.
Tested it: battery OFF, flipped the MCB between battery and inverter to OFF. Battery turns ON and stays on for _3min.
At that point, flip the MCB to ON. The clicking starts. Status on battery goes RED and then switches OFF.

rio911 yep that sounds like inverter click of death.

Officially I think you're supposed to log a ticket with your installer. But they'll probably end up having to replace the entire inverter.

So may as well raise a ticket with GE support and advise them what you've told us.

geoffreycoan Consumer law states that if a fault occurs within the first 6 months then its the retailer/installer's responsibility to repair or replace. After that point its the manufacturer's responsibility to repair/replace. No ifs buts or maybes....

Vestas I'm not sure about the ticket, but I have been on the phone with GivE support, and they have basically told me to get lost. Well not in so many words, but something like you need to pay us to come out, and even if you do it, it will happen in 6 to 8 weeks.

That is extremely poor and I'm considering looking into my consumer rights.
By the way, my system is more than 1 year old.

Vestas Consumer law states that if a fault occurs within the first 6 months then its the retailer/installer's responsibility to repair or replace. After that point its the manufacturer's responsibility to repair/replace. No ifs buts or maybes....

I do not believe that that is correct.
I think that you are confusing manufacturers warranties and Consumer Law here. Warranties/guarantees can add additional benefits over and above consumer law but they do not replace them. If you want to make a claim under a warranty or guarantee then what you said may be correct. however, it can be easier to make the claim under consumer law which puts the onus on the retailer/supplier of the goods not the manufacturer.

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/somethings-gone-wrong-with-a-purchase/claim-using-a-warranty-or-guarantee/
https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/advice/what-do-i-do-if-i-have-a-faulty-product-aTTEK2g0YuEy#who-is-responsible-for-the-fault

If you wish to make a claim under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 then the claim is made against the retailer of the goods or service NOT the manufacturer.

rio911

rio911 By the way, my system is more than 1 year old.

That is irrelevant. Under the Consumer Rights Act goods have to be Fit For Purpose and last a reasonable amount of time. 1 year would not be a reasonable amount of time to expect such a device to last.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/consumer-rights-refunds-exchange/#faulty

Zakalwe I'm not confusing anything 🙂

The rules are simple -

1) Product fails within 1 month then consumer has an absolute right to refund;
2) Product fails between 1 and 6 months then fault assumed to have been present/caused during manufacture. Repair/replace/refund by supplier or manufacturer if consumer agrees;
3) Product fails after 6 months - manufacturers warranty applies as the fault is not considered to have been present at the point of sale/manufacture.

Oh and "reasonable amount of time for product to last" claims are always with the manufacturer, not the supplier. They also require a small claims case to be brought in most instances, waiting time for those is about 2 years where I am, maybe the courts aren't as broken where you are?

Vestas

What you are saying is in direct contradiction with the Consumer Rights Act which show that the consumer has the right to make a claim against the trader. (Section 19).

Here's the legislation.
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/15/part/1/chapter/2/crossheading/what-remedies-are-there-if-statutory-rights-under-a-goods-contract-are-not-met/enacted
Can you please point out the sections that details what you have claimed?

I will hit pause for a bit, as the installer is coming in Monday to have a look.

Will let you know what happens.

rio911
Hi,

This looks very similar to what I had twice over last 1.5 mths (new installation). Gen 3,, 3.6kWH inverter and 9.5 kwh battery gen 2

My battery drained also to 0% and then switched itself completely off. Holding the on/off button on side doesn't help in that case. The battery cannot be brought to live without a technician opening the box.

In my case technician had to come out 2x.

In the end GE admitted that the 3013 BMS firmware was to blaim. Communication between inverter and battery is not working as supposed and this basically in some case makes the battery drain completely.

GE has since pulled 3013 and is reverting to 3012 (you will see that you can no longer upgrade your firmware).

It looks very much that your problem might also caused by the 3013 firmware and there will be no other solution than to get technician out and downgrade firmware. It could of course be something else, but with all the 3013 issues I'm voting for this.

When did you download 3013 ? Can you check your inverter dashboard and verify that you still have the right type and capacity of battery ? In many cases 3013 has been overwriting the type (lead acid vs lithium) and also the capacity settings which contributes to the failures.

@JMA I did update to 3013 some time in Aug. The portal says 27th, which sounds about right.

I had the very same issue a few months ago. Inverter and battery BMS replaced under warranty. Giv said it might be up to 4 weeks, but an engineer came out in a couple of weeks.

Capt_Rich Then I'm screwed. I sent a video to GivE support with the problem. They just came back with a statement, that there is an issue with the breaker between the battery and inverter, which will "void the warranty"?!??! I'm on the phone with my installer trying to figure out what is going on!

Weird because the MCB is a Giv branded breaker. I had the same clicking and they realised it was an inverter issue, so they replaced it. Battery still kept turning off after, so they replaced the BMS. My installer had originally tried replacing the MCB, but it made no difference. All been fine since. I really hope you get it sorted.

Just to update/close this thread:
Fault occurred: 28 Sep 2023
Fixed: 23 Oct 2023. GE replaced the inverter after investigation of the fault was carried out by my installer on the 3rd Oct 2023.
Weirdly, the new inverter failed to connect to my WiFi network. GE installed an external USB WiFi dongle to the inverter, which connected almost immediately.
It is all working fine now. Just went through my account with Octopus and was surprised how much it cost me. £43.96 of import. But also a payment of £18.73 for PV export. Because I did not have the battery, I exported a lot (also Octopus increased their rate to 8ppkWh). But I also used a lot of peak electricity at _45ppkWh, because of no battery