Warning note

can anyone tell me what this means please?

Seeing as your battery SOC goes to 0 during the warnings and goes away when it reads a value again I'd bet on the error being BMS Comms fail.
Check the Comms cable between the battery and inverter hasn't worked loose.

hoggy Thank you. Sorry to sound so thick. Is that the large thick cable with the orange connector to the first battery?

Lorne
No that is the DC power cable.
I think it is a small black cable that goes into a boot/shroud (2 Philips screws) on the underside of the inverter and is a RJ45 type plug without a locking tab. I think they tend to fall out.
I am sorry I cannot help more, but do not want to give you duff information.
I think there are other posts on here about NOT plugging/unplugging comms cables without everything being OFF as it could cause damage to inverter circuit boards

Thanks, I can't see an RJ45 cable. the only cable going to my batteries in the main cable.

Bottom of inverter

I have just photographed mine. There is only a single connection on my battery - the big orange plug, But the other end of the copex a small black wire comes out and goes into the boot/shroud. The gray cable that is behind the dongle is the EM115 connection.
I think the BMS cable must be connected inside the back of the big orange plug.

On gen 3 I think the plug to plug cable goes directly into the inverter (I'm a bit rusty on these)
As that means the BMS cable is in the plug too then maybe make sure all the plugs are pushed in tight.
If there's no seperate little thin cable there's not a lot more you can do other than maybe take the plugs out and reset them again.

hoggy It is a gen 3. Do you know how to pull the plug out. It has some sort of clip holding it in. can't seem to work it out.

I know if I wanted to add another battery to my 9.5 I would need to buy an interconnect cable to go between both batteries. As this cable will also communicate the new battery info to the inverter, I presume the BMS element is built in the orange plug. My inverter is Gen1, and I guess at that time the big cable is a bit of both worlds

Lorne One thing to note: none of your batteries appear to be earth-bonded to the inverter, or to each other. Aside from getting them working again, definitely investigate why this is, and maybe try to get your installer to fit the earth bonding cables.

To release the battery cable connectors: pull the red locking tab out, away from the battery/inverter, until it clicks in place. Then press down on both the 'unlocked' red tab, and the orange release button on the connector, and pull the connector free.

After reconnecting, push the red tab back in.

Lorne to pull the plug out

There is a red locking clip that you pull out first (with a screwdriver?) then the plug should pull out.

Hello Lorne, Seems we have similar systems ... here's a view behind the shroud at the bottom of the inverter, you can see where an RJ45 plugs in from our LAN. I'm not sure what the other RJ45 (DRM) is for though ...

This is the only Ethernet cable apparent - so the network connection to the battery must be via the 'big orange plugs'

Hope this helps - must admit it's taken longer to find out how to include photos here than the chaps took to install the whole thing - sorry if this 'news' is now too late!

If you go exploring - take care not to touch the power connections!

Cheers,
Graham

ectoplasmosis Not earth bonded? This a a big worry. My installer is totally ignoring all contact with me. I am considering legal action due to his unwillingness to service the system. I have even offered to pay him for his time to come out and look at it.

Lorne

I wouldn't bother with the installer and find a competent one instead.

Sounds like you found a cowboy and any decent electrician would be able to earth it.

But finding someone will likely be tough.

M_J But finding someone will likely be tough.

Indeed. Nobody wants to go near GE kit they didn't install - its simply asking for trouble.

Personally I'd issue a letter before action to the current installer and see if that concentrates their mind.

Vestas Just need a regular sparky to make up and fit some 6mm2 single-core earth cables with 4mm eyelets on both ends.

I did this myself when I self-installed a couple of batteries, not much to it.

ectoplasmosis Easy to do yourself but the point is no sparky with a brain is going to go near someone else's GE installation which is already experiencing fault conditions, not even to do earth bonding.

Vestas I have send him several messages, emails and letters. I have been to court a few times over the years due to faulty goods so I am pretty familliar with the process. I have given him 7 days to respond before I start legal action.

M_J Mine is a gen 3. Can you tell for sure from the photos the equipment is not earth bonded?

SteveCook You are correct. The system is not earth bonded to the three batteries. I'm not an electrition and i am dumb to these matters so I don't know how dangerous is this? should I turn the whole system off? Could the lack of earth bond be causing the BMS issues?

Ok it's not an urgent safety issue unless your circuit has a problem then it can be a serious problem.

If you don't touch the batteries during a serious breakage you will be ok.

It really should be earthed but it won't prevent batteries working if not. Its a safety measure in case of other problems...

From a quick Google question the following might help...

Prevents Electric Shock: In the event of a fault, electricity can make metal pipes, radiators, or taps "live". Bonding ensures these parts stay at earth potential, protecting occupants from touching a live surface.

Forces Circuit Protection to Trip: Bonding ensures a low-resistance path, allowing for high fault current flow, which triggers fuses or circuit breakers.

My installers missed out part of my earth bonding as well, they did the original inverter battery but forgot to earth bond the second battery when they fitted it.

I just made my own earth bond cable up, crimped some ring eyelets onto a section of earth cable and job done.

M_J Thanks for that. My concern is that surely any qualified installer would have earth bonded the system. This makes me question the other work he has carried out during the installation. I regularly got power spikes (sometime 264v) so I had him install a voltage optimiser on the incoming mains. I'm at the point that i do not trust any of his work and don't even trust him to fix the system.

Tell him you are going to get another electrician to look at the earthing and check the rest of the system and if it is "bad news" you will report him. May get some action

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Lorne I regularly got power spikes (sometime 264v) so I had him install a voltage optimiser on the incoming mains

I have thought about a voltage optimiser as well as I get high voltage when its sunny and local solar pushes the voltage up, but the DNO should be fixing it as its outside of legal limits.

How well does the optimiser work when you are trying to export excess solar? If your grid supply is higher than your home supply I'd think this would stop you exporting??

Lorne My concern is that surely any qualified installer would have earth bonded the system. This makes me question the other work he has carried out during the installation.

I had the same issue with mine, it wasn't earthed but when I had an additional battery installed the new sparky noticed and did the earthing himself.

It should be done but many just don't bother as it's very unlikely to bite them until they are long gone.

I got my local sparky to check the system out and he spotted some minor issues at the CU and tightened loose connections which would have potentially become a more serious issue.

I deducted his bill from what I owed the original installer. But of course I had a stronger bargain position than you.

It's really tough for you to find someone to check things out... Good luck...

SteveCook I'm taking him to court. He will lose. TBH, I'm am not sure if the optimiser is working correctly. I am still getting power spikes because my local UPS under my desk keeps kicking in to protect my PC.

Lorne
I would think reporting him to NICEIC would be far bigger problem than the court. What "loss" have you suffered? He may have to pay someone to put the things right that he should have done, but no big loss to him. Being removed from registration would be far more painful

SteveCook I've been through small claims courts a few times now. The fact he has shown no desire to try to fix his poor workmanship makes me confident he will lose in court. I want to try and get my 10k back first mate. After that, who knows.

Lorne I've given up with my UPS as the high voltage kicks the UPS on so often that it flattens the battery so much it can't recover and I have to take it apart to recharge the UPS on a car battery charger.

You should be able to see what voltage your inverter is seeing in the givenergy portal, or many smart plugs can monitor grid voltage.

I reported my high grid voltage to my DNO, they came out pretty quickly, said they'd need to install a voltage monitor, I waited 5 weeks for that to be installed, chasing a few times, then they said they didn't need a monitor as they could see the high voltage from my smart meter. They've come up with a remediation plan and I'm waiting for landowner approvals for the work then hopefully they can get on with it

geoffreycoan I reported the voltage spikes to Northern power grid. They put a monitor on my house for a few days. The power spikes always happened only on sunny days between 12 noon and 4pm. Sods law it was dull and raining on the few days the monitor was installed so they did not record any abnormal readings. I showed them a print out of the power spikes recorded on my inverter but that said that could not use that data as it was not 'official northern power grid' data. So right now I am snookered.