Inverter re-purposed but no-one can get it to work

Hi there,

I have a GIV-HY3.6 that was surplus to requirements after my parents were upsold a 2nd complete system. I have had a local electrician install it (physically) in my house along with an 8.2 GE battery that I purchased from a company just down the road(albeit off eBay!). That is about as far as I have managed to get. My electrician started trying to commission the inverter, as if it was new and has no joy from GE in updating any configs or getting it to work etc. (I guess being configured to an active account it needs to be 'Decommissioned' from there in order to start afresh?

I can still see the inverter listed on the account that it was configured to previously, and (until he turned it off) it had been getting updates and changing times with BST/GMT etc.

My naïve thoughts were that it would just need to have the new battery configured to it and we would be laughing having a House battery system. Does anyone have any recommendations of what I can try, or who I can contact to get this system operation.

Any suggestions welcome 🙂

The installer will need to
A) be a Givenergy approved installer
B) get the account moved over to you (the data is recorded in the portal against serial numbers and can't be going to two different owners accounts, so the old one needs removing)

In the meantime you'll find it'll probably work normally locally, using GivTCP or the 3rd party Android app https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=uk.rubikcube.invertermonitor

Rob Stone Any suggestions welcome 🙂

Have the electrician disconnect it, then stick it on eBay. Without doubt the easiest option.

You can try my app, but it can only monitor (and adjust if you have the premium option) a working system. It is not designed to configure a system.

Were you intending to use it with or without a grid meter?

Did the Electrician tell you they could get it working? If they misled you, you are under no obligation to pay.

hoggy They won't move the account to another property, equipment has to stay installed at original location for that. New account required.

I still have the old account and login details so able to change the address etc, and was able to log in via the GE app, It just needed to be configured to work with a new battery. I have smart meters etc, but just looking to charge it up using a night rate, then use it during the day, and reduce my overall bill. not looking to export at this stage. I'm guessing the "put it on eBay" comment is a wry one, as the flipside of that would be what happens when I buy a 2nd hand one from ebay ?! 🙂 #sameboat
I'd be happy if I was able to contact GivEnergy, but is seems even the sparky can't get through to them (working for an accredited company)

For info I was also able to see it on my network (as I have the dongle working) and had it part integrated in Home Assistant.

Further thoughts welcome. 🙂

I mean, if it was commissioned & had the battery before it should just work?
It won't be a very popular opinion but I was of the understanding that the whole 'new battery needs commissioning' thing is more for the portals/apps benefit than the inverter.

Local control through HA - what does ot show and what doesn't?
There is the possibility that the battery comms cable or the Dip Switches in the battery are not right?

I have an old 2nd hand one just as a guinea pig on the bench and it talks fine to Home Assistant even through the dongle in it has never been commissioned to anything.

I've just turned it back on, as the sparky left it turned off.. looking through the portal, I can see
Battery Capacity
10 Ah | 0.51 kWh | (0 Packs)

Although it's an 8.2, and the comms cable isn't connected atm
I'm interested in the dip switches that you speak of though 😉
I'll go and have a peek !

meanwhile from the givtcp log...
"Inverter SA2246G859 which is a Hybrid_gen1 with 0 batteries and 0 meters has been found at: 192.168.4.217"

no meters .. would this be controlled by dip switches too ?

Rob Stone right so couple of things, the inverter reads the bms in the battery to get its AH rating. So if there's no comms cable it won't be doing that hence its locked at 10Ah. This will also screw with your charge and discharge power sliders if your wondering (they'll be locked to something like 250W max) as the max power is a function of the size of the battery. The system won't run off battery without the comms cable in.

Dip Switches- they are in the battery and if its the only battery you have should be set as master (which i think is all set to OFF from memory)

If its anything other than Gen 3 (yours serial starts SA so it's a Gen 1 3.6kW) then it'll never pick the meters up in GivTCP so dont worry about that (it's a feature to read the modbus of the meters directly in some sort of bridge mode through the dongle - but only works on Gen 3)

Ultimately this should all be getting done by your accredited installer really. Albeit they'll be no warranty for any of it.

cheers @hoggy, just checking the DIPs now, I realised after posting that these will be on the battery.
They are all set to master ok ..
I'm not really worried about the warranty at this stage.. lol

Rob Stone I have smart meters etc

Did your electrician install an EM115 or GEM120CT, probably near your Consumer Unit, so that the inverter knows how much to discharge to meet demand. It will use a CT clamp to measure household usage.
I am not aware of any battery system that talks directly to Smart Meters.

pwdst Yes there is a gem120CT meter, It's a case of the inverter not seeing any connected battery or meters at this stage I think.. I'm beginning to wonder if the inverter is up the swanee.
🙁

Have you got the comms cable between the inverter and the battery connected yet?