Inverter Error after Electrician cut wire to gem meter

So,

Today I was getting the solar panels updated and the sparky needed to cut the data cable from my battery inverter to the Gem meter.

He extended the cable and reinstated the pairs to the Gem meter.

However my battery and inverter are now not working.
Rubik's app has a bunch of error messages when trying to power up the inverter and batteries. The master battery red lights, but only if connected to the inverter.

No error lights on the inverter.

Errors in sequence as it goes through boot up

BMS voltage high 19.66V
Battery Short Circuit inverter fail
Battery Short Circuit inverter fail
Battery Management Communication
Battery Short Circuit inverter fail
BMS voltage high 19.38V.

Any ideas on what he has done?

My guess that he didn't shut everything down before performing his surgery?

Obviously his issue to solve but I like to know the possible causes to avoid any BS being spouted.

Worse case scenario is a new inverter?

Thanks in advance for any thoughtful responses.

Cheers

That's the error I got when the inverter failed.
battery does a load of clicks and then goes red.

If you switch the breaker between the battery and inverter off and then turn the battery on (via the button) does it boot up OK?

If so search for 'click of death' on here

hoggy Battery fine if isolated from the inverter.

Yeah so it's blown the battery board in the inverter- needs a service visit so erm ..

hoggy I am guessing he didn't power down the system before the cut?

Would that be a likely/ possible cause of the blown board?

He was a young lad and while watching him fault finding he didn't impress me...

You should be able to see in the portal or home assistant if he powered it down or not. If its been sending data the whole time then no its not been shutdown

We don't really know the reason but seems to be mostly after power cuts or power downs to be honest- so maybe he did turn it off and it's just bad luck?

Do you know if a g100 export limit was set on the givenergy system. If it was it may have locked out for 4 hours so resetting in the morning may solve the issue. Basically shut the inverter & battery down for a few mins and then restart.

Above, is the response from the Solar supplier. I will attempt the above but I think the responses previously here are more on the money.

I didn't think it was okay to cut or extend the CT clamp wiring? Doesn't it impact the reliability of the readings?
(Might seem like a minor point now, but worth noting for when it all gets repaired).

M_J I highly doubt it given its doing the clicking thing - it's generally terminal.

TX200 I didn't think it was okay to cut or extend the CT clamp wiring? Doesn't it impact the reliability of the readings?
(Might seem like a minor point now, but worth noting for when it all gets repaired).

I read it that it was the (digital) connection from the meter to the inverter, rather than the analogue connection from CT clamp to meter. That should be okay. (And the inverter ought to work without the CT clamp, though eco mode wouldn't work.)

The RS485 inputs on the Gen 1 inverters have no protection at all (there is provision in the circuit board, but no components). Electrically, they're extremely delicate. I don't know if this was corrected in later versions.

mrand31 Pretty sure nothing much has changed there.

mrand31 sorry protection for what?

Anyway update the installer has contacted GE and GE has contacted me for photos which I have submitted.

I await with interest the dance between GE and the installer.

On the positive side the panels were finally installed this afternoon and I turned on the DC breaker between the new Solar inverter and the two strings.

It seems to be working fine, a bit annoyed that I have commissioned the system rather than some one from the installer being here. I guess get the monkey to do it and they can remotely check it's working...

😉

hoggy We don't really know the reason but seems to be mostly after power cuts or power downs to be honest- so maybe he did turn it off and it's just bad luck?

The error log from Rubik's app would seem to show he didn't shut the system down when working on it.

A bit of a gotcha for the installer as I have clear timestamps when error messages were sent..

M_J sorry protection for what?

The comms from the meter.

On some (all?) GE inverters the components intended to prevent comms chip damage from static/transient voltages weren't fitted. In theory (stretching that a lot) its arguable they're not needed for normal usage.

For the batteries, there's probably no critical need for over voltage/transient protection, since the cables will always be short. For the cable from the meter to the inverter, that can be an arbitrary length (mine's about 25m) and earth voltages can vary by several volts over that distance.
I ended up blowing up two inverters before I investigated and discovered the problem.
The first event was repaired by GE, care of Paul L.
The second time around because of GE's failing support last year, I bought a second hand inverter from fleabay, swapped the control/interface board and added a properly designed voltage limiter network to the inverter end of the cabling. The meters themselves, seem to have proper protection circuits!

The installers sparky just left. The red light of death and clicks stopped, how long for I don't know.

Long story short he boosted both batteries and that seems to have solved it?

I had failed to charge the batteries up before he had shut the system down and his view was that they should never be below 10%.

I just let GE do it's thing and I don't know if the master lost charge since it stopped working until today.

But as I type this both batteries are on line and charging.

He did get through to support in his second attempt. First attempt he got frustrated with talking to the AI agent.

So human support is possible but on a Friday afternoon a bit of a crap shoot if you get it or the AI. You have to say that your an installer...

More later....

M_J should never be below 10

True but the zero percent we see isn't actually zero, the BMS won't expose the the unsafe charge levels or allow you to discharge the battery too low.

As I tried to explain to him...

Not overly impressed, but whatever happened the red light is off, GE support says it is ok and it's charging both batteries....

I will be testing it between 6pm and 7pm to see if I can recoup my expensive charger session...

The key takeaway is that support did answers and were available to the installer... That's good news I think...

Maybe the drop off of installers means those left get a look in. Mind you my chap uses Fox and he is happy with their support. He was cussing about GE...