Battery stuck at 100% after firmware update — grid import showing as export?

Hi all,

Since updating my GIV-HY3.6 inverter on Friday evening (9 October), the battery has stayed at 100% and won’t discharge to supply the house. Firmware now shows D0.922-A0.922.

The app and portal show zero house consumption. This evening my smart-meter display showed around 351W consumption, while GivEnergy showed around 347W exporting, with no solar generation and 0W battery discharge.

The Remote Control History has an interesting entry at 19:43:44 on 9 October: “CT Direction” changed from “Unknown (3)” to “Positive”, marked “Written Successfully” via “Automatic Firmware Update”. Could the update have changed how it interprets grid import/export?

Eco mode is enabled, priority is Load First, reserve is 4%, discharge power is approximately 2,600W and the battery is Not Paused. Overnight charging is set to 00:30–05:30. Restarting the inverter hasn’t helped.

I also signed up to Axle around the same time, so mentioning that in case it’s relevant.

Has anyone experienced this or found a fix? CT Direction isn’t available in my account’s controls. I’ve emailed support@givenergy.co.uk twice, but both emails bounced as “recipient not found”. Is there a working support contact?

Thanks,
Chris

Try unclipping the CT and turning it around to the opposite direction, then clip it back on to the incoming mains lead to/from the utility meter.

CShutt Could the update have changed how it interprets grid import/export?

Yes... If it interprets import as export, it has no reason to discharge the battery since there is no consumption to cover.
What happens if you force an export?

CShutt Is there a working support contact?

No, they all got sacked months ago when Givenergy went bust.

DD I set it to “Sell” this morning and the battery started discharging. However, after stopping “Sell”, it is still discharging.

The portal now shows house consumption of 4.7kW, which is definitely incorrect. It shows approximately 2.7kW coming from the battery and 2.2kW importing from the grid, adding up to 4.9kW.

Could the 2.2kW actually be export that’s being reported as import? That would leave roughly 500W supplying the house. The figures don’t quite tally with the displayed 4.7kW consumption, but it seems another indication that the grid-flow readings may be reversed.

mrand31 I think that has worked! Thanks for the suggestion. I’ve turned the CT clamp around and the readings now look correct. It’s showing the house consumption and the battery is supplying it.

The arrow on the clip now points the opposite way to before, although everything was working correctly before Friday’s firmware update. Could the update have changed the CT direction setting?

CShutt Could the update have changed the CT direction setting?

Yes, they always do.

As an aside its a VERY BAD IDEA to do any firmware updates when the company you're getting them from has gone bust months before.....

CShutt Yes, a problem with a reversed CT is that positive feedback tends to push the system to an extreme after any small imbalance - either discharging at max because it perceives a large consumption, or charging at max because it perceives an excess of generation. When it's correctly orientated, the feedback is negative and tries to keep grid activity at a minimum.