Battery Appears to be off

Hi everyone, sorry I am very new to all of this. We just purchased a house which has a hybrid inverter 3.6 and Giv-Bat 5.2 system attached the the solars. It seems like the battery is off, and the old owner mentioned that this can happen after a period of time not connected to WIFI. However we currently don't have WIFI and might not for another couple of months. Is there a way to turn the battery on? The inverter is definitely on and working as we are already getting exports readings from Octopus. Thank you in advance for you help!

Are there any lights on at the front of the battery?

Have you tried the power button on the side of the battery?

Have you checked the isolator between the battery and inverter to make sure it is on?

Have you checked / searched for any instruction manuals or been left any manuals to read?

Have you checked the cables between the battery and inverter to make sure they are connected securely?

These are a few things I would check...

No lights are on the front of the battery, although there are lights on the inverter. The isolator is definitely on and sadly I can't find any instruction manuals left behind. I will try and find the power button on the side tonight to make sure it is on and will check the cables are connected securely. Thank you for your suggestions!

I am not sure the battery has any wi-fi. It is all controlled via the inverter.
If the inverter was set with a "programme" such as eco, it should just carry on even if there is no internet connection, running on the last "programme". The only thing you would not be able to get any data from it, or change any settings.
If the battery has rundown over winter you may need to get an installer to "jump start" it for you

SteveCook you're correct, the battery has no internet connection, its all via the inverter.

It could well just be turned off, power button on the side as you say

@NickDay Givenergy manuals here: https://givenergy.co.uk/resource-hub/ and look at their youtube channel for how-to guides.

If the battery has been allowed to drain down to empty then it will need a Givenergy installer to jump start it.

Hi all,

I have been in contact with GivEnergy support via email whom I believe tried to jumpstart the battery remotely. They have now stopped replying however, and I have just received an email from the original installer saying they have been referred by GivEnergy and will likely need to come out. However there is a standard call out fee + extra for every 15 minutes over an hour they spend working on the battery.

Considering they were only installed in January 2024 (with a 10 year warranty), should this not be included under the warranty?

NickDay
I guess it will depend on what they find.
I guess they may say "the battery has been turned off and allowed to go flat" and that is not their fault.

NickDay if the battery has gone flat then there's not a lot that GivEnergy can do remotely and it will require the installer to come and effectively add a battery boost to get it going.

Like jump starting a car

Would probably depend on why it has gone flat as to whether its covered by warranty or not so I can understand why the installer is saying there would be a charge.

Okay thanks both. Makes sense if the previous owner just let it go flat I guess! Hopefully the jump start doesn't take too long!

NickDay
Good luck.
Keep us updated please

Installer came out yesterday to fix the battery. Plugged it in and got some power into it although it took 5 hours before it got to 50v and could start charging (looking at around £700 if they aren't happy to put it on the warranty!).

All seemed to be working okay and set it up to charge overnight on the cheap tariff. Then finally managed to update the software this morning. After update inverter was showing as idle so I restarted the system and then the battery suddenly dropped to 0% - anyone seen anything like this?

It should take at least 2 hours to charge a LFP battery to full. Charging faster can be dangerous.

It only charged for half an hour, so I guess it wasn't full. Now it's empty again!

Ignore the % reading, look at the voltage. Below 48V = empty, above 54V = full.

Battery is now working and seems to be functioning okay. I have run a calibration on it too but it only seems to be using about 3.8kWh of its storage. Is it likely that this is now its max capacity - and that the previous owner letting it go flat over the winter has damaged it slightly? Or is this normal? Does anyone think another calibration will help? Thank you!

NickDay you need to look at the individual cell voltages, either the @"Rubikcube Android app or Home Assistant will show you this detail

And if a cell has failed then it should be a warranty claim I would think

When you did the recalibration, did you do it at full rate or did you slow the charge and discharge speed down (to 30% or so). A slow recalibration can help recover dodgy cells

I can't see an option to slow down the charge and discharge speeds? On the remote control section of the cloud it only seems to let me set a calibration time.

I will have a look at downloading the apps you suggest.

NickDay when you kick the calibration off you just change the charge and discharge power levels as normal in the portal