Primary Battery Failed?

Inverter Model - GIV-HY5.0 Battery Capacity - 16.4kWh (2 packs).

I've got the dreaded red light on my primary battery and this appears to have stopped my system from charging overnight with cheap electricity, plus no solar PV coming through. After a while the primary battery just turns itself off. I've tried restarting everything but no joy. The problem persists. I've reported it to GE support but no assistance yet.

As a short term fix, does anyone know if I can switch my second battery to become the primary (or only battery) so that my system will work with a reduced battery capacity of 8.2kWh? Is there a procedure for this sort of thing?

Hopefully I'll get the problem battery fixed by GE at some point as it's still under guarantee.

Thanks in advance..........

CurlyDownes check my thread on the red light issue.

The quick check to see if it's truly a battery issue or an inverter issue is to disconnect the batteries from the inverter by the isolation switch between the two.

Best to power down the batteries 1st.

Once the connection between the inverter and batteries is broken then power up the batteries and see if the light stays green. If it does then it's an inverter issue. If not it's likely a battery issue.

Yes you can make the secondary the primary but you will need to set the dip switches to do that, it's not just a cable swap.

It took nearly three months for me to get the issue resolved with GE and that was after they caused the inverter to have an electrical smoking incident and me threatening legal action.

Good luck...

M_J

Thanks for your message.

I've checked the batteries with the isolation switch "off" and I get the same problem with the Primary. Powering it on, the status light briefly flashes green then goes red. The Secondary looks ok with just one charge light lit so about 25% charge. So hopefully my second battery and inverter are ok.

I guess GE Support should be back working tomorrow (Monday) so I'll try and contact them by phone. If no assistance from them I'll look at doing a temporary switch of the batteries while I wait for GE to do something with the broken one. (I first contacted GE support on 9th Nov, then with a request for urgent assistance on 20th Dec).

Cheers

I dont know if the Android "Monitor for GivEnergy" app will be able to tell you anything.
I believe it communicates directly with the GivEnergy kit and can "see and publish"" a lot more than the GivEnergy portal and app

SteveCook

Hi Steve,

Thanks, I've got the "Monitor" app and previously it has shown that one of the cells in the Primary battery had a really low voltage compared to the others. The app won't show the battery status now as the primary battery fault seems to be blocking access and the flow of data.

Cheers

Hmmm I seem to remember that the 8.2 batteries might have loose connections inside issue?

I suggest having a search here for the issue, it might yield something useful?

M_J

Thanks M_J, I've read through your long red light post (110 entries to date!) including the bit about the potentially loose terminals on the Inverter - I'll check mine. Glad to hear your system was eventually fixed.

CurlyDownes You could ask about the battery on the GivEnergy Owners Facebook site https://www.facebook.com/groups/1517262158723613/ a couple of GivEnergy staff help out on occasions.

NormC

Thanks NormC, I've just put in a request to join the group...........