IS THE PYLONTECH MANUAL WRONG?

แชร์
ฝัง
  • เผยแพร่เมื่อ 16 ต.ค. 2024
  • The next instalment in our journey with our faulty Pylontech US3000C battery. Can we reinstall it into our off grid solar power system without anything going wrong?
    Why we will never buy \Pylontech batteries again:
    • WHY WE WILL NEVER BUY ...
    We wired our Pylontech batteries wrong (and other misconceptions:
    • WE WIRED OUR PYLONTECH...
    Pylontech found our videos:
    • PYLONTECH FOUND OUR VI...
    Please consider subscribing to join us on our off grid journey.
    Thanks for watching
    Fraser, Rachael, Grace and Albie
    The Off Grid Family
    #offgridsolar #offgridsolaruk #theoffgridfamily

ความคิดเห็น • 132

  • @livingoffgridinscotland
    @livingoffgridinscotland ปีที่แล้ว +6

    I’m so glad I didn’t go down the pylontech route 😂

    • @The_OffGridFamily
      @The_OffGridFamily  ปีที่แล้ว +1

      😂 Hopefully all's well that ends well 🤞

  • @ewalderasmus8384
    @ewalderasmus8384 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    Hi Fraser
    I agree with Stephen's comment below, its the inrush current which is tripping the battery. Rememeber your inverter has large DC Capacitors on its inputs, so as soon as you put a voltage on its input, the capacitors draw a massive amount of current to charge up. This only lasts a few seconds... on some of the big Victron interters you have incrush current well over 200A, I have seen this personally. In your video you can actually hear the battery protect itself and trip, close to 10:37.
    In my opion there are two advisable solutions,
    1-start it up with more units.
    2- use a pre charge resistor.

    • @gf3803
      @gf3803 ปีที่แล้ว

      Wouldn't the fact that he had the units all on with the six batteries connected previously have already charged the capacitors up so that it wouldn't be an issue? Do the capacitors lose charge that quickly?

    • @ewalderasmus8384
      @ewalderasmus8384 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@gf3803 Correct. Also keep inmind that the MPPT's, Cerbo and other parts also have power supplies (with very wide input ranges) so they will drain any stored energy in the capacitors. If you only have the quattro, you can get away with turning on and off the battery quickly and charging up the caps, its a nasty solution but possible (typically after 4 tries it stays on). A precharge resistor is the best solution for starting up on one unit.

    • @gf3803
      @gf3803 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@ewalderasmus8384 I think his MPPTs and other equipment were turned off (the Cerbo would still be on). The Cerbo would still be on so that makes sense that it would drain the caps, I hadn't thought of that.
      I set up a small 48V bank just to power on my units for programming. I used a light bulb to pre-charge the caps, no spark when I connected to the batteries. But after I set up the Lynx and the Cerbo and repeated the process on a different charger, (I didn't have any of that set up the first time), even right after pre-charging I kept getting a spark which I thought was odd. But you have explained why that kept happening, the Cerbo may have been draining the caps right after I pre-charged them. So that makes sense why Fraser was having that issue with his battery for the same reason. Same thing happened when I "pre-charged" and programmed my two MPPTs. All three pieces of equipment I "pre-charged" with the Lynx while the Cerbo was connected....sparked. And I thought that was odd. Now it makes sense.
      Thank you for the education! Much appreciated.

  • @WhittakerMark
    @WhittakerMark ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Set the dip switchs the same as the rest of your stack, Hook up all the batteries, hook up all the data cables. Close the disconnect switches and turn on the inverter and lastly turn on all the battery's.
    You are getting the alarm because of the capacitors in the inverter and MPPT, the single battery thinks there is a short. When you have all the batteries hooked together and powered up at the same time you will not have that error.
    I have added lots of batteries to a stack, new battery's ship with 50% SOC, we had the stack at about 50% added the new battery then allowed to fully charge and top balance with no issues.

    • @opentrail
      @opentrail ปีที่แล้ว +1

      I've not had any issues either adding US5000 to 2x US3000C following the same steps, although my inverter is a LXP not Victron. Infinity Solutions provide support for LXP and know a lot about the Pylon batteries although don't sell them anymore.

    • @gf3803
      @gf3803 ปีที่แล้ว

      Shouldn't the capacitors have already been charged since right before he tried charging the single battery, everything was powered by the six other batteries? Do capacitors lose charge that quickly?

  • @droningmini7448
    @droningmini7448 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    do you need a pre charge resistor with these batteries ?. The bms could be seeing the caps in the inverter as a dead short and switching the bms off. I always use a pre charge resistor when the whole system has been powered down.

    • @nicholashowell
      @nicholashowell ปีที่แล้ว +1

      It's a good point. From personal experience I've not found it to alarm the battery, you just get a large inrush of current to the inverter which can damage the capacitors in the inverter so it's best to use a pre charge resistor. I'm not sure if the US3000 has a pre charge circuit as I don't have one but I think some Pylontech batteries do have that function.

    • @obajer
      @obajer ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@nicholashowell Yes, US3000C does have a built-in pre-charge circuit, but it's not very reliable: It works okay if you have a small inverter, but it's not suitable for 10kVA and up, especially when not stacked, as the input caps are too big. Sometimes it works, but sometimes you end up with "MOSFAIL" alarm code, which means that you've burned the Mosfet transistor on the BMS. Therefore, I always start the US3000C's disconnected and then connect them to the inverter using a 230V/40W lightbulb as a resistor first. This charges the caps slowly and after a minute or two it's okay to hardwire the cables directly.

    • @nicholashowell
      @nicholashowell ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@obajer I have a big resistor I use for this purpose.

    • @gf3803
      @gf3803 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@nicholashowell he had six batteries powering his system immediately prior to switching those batteries off and switching to the single battery. So shouldn't all the capacitors have been fully charged at that point? Do they discharge so quickly once power is removed?

  • @AndyM...
    @AndyM... ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Yes, as mentioned does the battery continuously run without any cables plugged in, if so, try connecting the load next, if it runs, then the comms, the comms may be the problem. I notice also the blue comms cable was plugged into a different port to the others. With my BYD batteries the DIP switches are for battery ID, ie every battery has a different DIP switch setting. Good luck !!
    Looking forward to the next video with the remedy !!!

    • @The_OffGridFamily
      @The_OffGridFamily  ปีที่แล้ว

      Thank you, we are all sorted now ☺️ Hope you enjoy part 2!

  • @charlieczw
    @charlieczw ปีที่แล้ว +4

    Going into alarm status because the the Pylontech has no precharge circuit to fire up the capacitors on the Victron Inverter!!

    • @The_OffGridFamily
      @The_OffGridFamily  ปีที่แล้ว

      The inverter wasn't on ☺️

    • @VojtechKurka
      @VojtechKurka ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@The_OffGridFamily That doesn't matter! The capacitors are always connected, even when the inverter is off!

  • @shortbits23
    @shortbits23 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    Crazy. Not buying these now. Why can't they just take the dud battery back and replace it?

    • @The_OffGridFamily
      @The_OffGridFamily  ปีที่แล้ว

      We felt the same, but fortunately its all up and running now ☺️ A new one would have been a lot less stressful though!

  • @ttkddry
    @ttkddry ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Can you repeat the startup procedure with your 'old' (working) battery, hooked up as a single unit to the inverter? Does it startup simulary or is v1.4 much different from the v1.7 firmware?

    • @The_OffGridFamily
      @The_OffGridFamily  ปีที่แล้ว +1

      This is what we did in the end ☺️ That didn't work either so we just put them all back together and hoped for the best!

  • @brotherkith
    @brotherkith ปีที่แล้ว +5

    I certainly won't be using or recommending Pylontech in any of the systems I install or service. Thanks for your pioneer work Frazer.

    • @The_OffGridFamily
      @The_OffGridFamily  ปีที่แล้ว

      Thanks for your comment ☺️ Glad the videos have been useful 👍

  • @nicholashowell
    @nicholashowell ปีที่แล้ว +2

    The first thing I would check is trying to connect that battery via one of the other fused leads, just in case there is a problem with the fuse or wiring to that end fuse holder. That should eliminate that as being the cause of any alarm. I would then see if the battery will power everything without the comms cable pugged in and see if that works. That will eliminate or indicate if the comms is the problem.
    As far as different SOC of the batteries go I think what has been stated is true but could be misleading. Any batteries at different voltages when connected together in parallel will balance to roughly the same voltage given enough time. There will be slight differences due to internal resistance and other factors but as all your batteries are the same age I would expect that to be very minimal. The problem is, if they are too different when connected together a very large current will flow from one to the other which could permanently damage the battery and would certainly have alarm lights flashing.
    The DIP switches should be the same on all the batteries, unless this new firmware version has changed something. Just make sure that the DIP switch itself is the same way up on the repaired battery as on my US5000 it is upside down compared to my US2000 so it looks like the switches are all up when in fact they are all still down.
    The new firmware version might cause an issue for your inverter if it can't understand it, in which case you might have to update your inverters firmware too. I'm not sure if you've reached that point yet though but just something to be aware of.

    • @The_OffGridFamily
      @The_OffGridFamily  ปีที่แล้ว

      Thanks for this Nick - the Pylontech Voice of Reason ☺️ We wondered if the dip switches were put the other way for charging one battery? All the cables etc were working fine.

    • @nicholashowell
      @nicholashowell ปีที่แล้ว

      @@The_OffGridFamily You wouldn't normally fiddle with the dip switches unless you have multiple banks of batteries. It's possible, that where it was being tested, they did have multiple banks on the go. Perhaps they forgot to set the dip switches back to standard when they finished the testing.

  • @matthunt2128
    @matthunt2128 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    I would be calling the testing company asking for their advice. Good to know about linking them up with 100% SOC as I'm about to link up 2 US3000s with a US5000C for the first time and like you, I thought they balanced themselves out.

    • @craigchamberlain
      @craigchamberlain ปีที่แล้ว +1

      I’m literally right now charing my two US5000 batteries and after watching this video I went through to see how they were doing, To my horror I noticed that one battery had 3 LEDs lit and the 4th flashing while the other battery had only 2 LEDs lit and the 3rd flashing. Clearly an imbalance of sorts. However, in the time it took me to walk back through the house to get my phone to video the LEDs, they had both gone to 3 +1 flashing. It’s unreasonable to expect them to transition each threshold at the exact same time since this is “analogue” chemistry at play. However, I will be keeping a closer eye on them in the days ahead.
      I too believed that as long as they started out life in the same SOC ballpark then all would be well. When mine arrived I measured the O/C voltages at the terminals and IIRC they were 49.4V each. That was good enough for me to just connect them up in parallel and start them charging as a pair. If I knew that it was better to charge them each to 100% before use then of course I would have done that. Now I’m wondering if I should split the pair and charge them each to 100% before recombining them again. Pylontech - any advice?

    • @The_OffGridFamily
      @The_OffGridFamily  ปีที่แล้ว

      @craigchamberlain Sorry to hear we caused some anxiety 😩 How's it going?

    • @The_OffGridFamily
      @The_OffGridFamily  ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @matthunt2128 We were really surprised too as we had always thought they balanced themselves. When we got our batteries, they were all at 50% and the lights were all within the same dot so we just connected them together and let them idle for 15 minutes and to be fair all of ours turned out to be completely balanced 👍 All the best with your new batteries ☺️

    • @matthunt2128
      @matthunt2128 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@The_OffGridFamily The company that I bought the 5000 off said to let the 3000s discharge to 50% and then add the 5000 as the master. I think after following your adventures I'm going to slowly charge them all to 100% before I do anything.

  • @leeebbrell9
    @leeebbrell9 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    ive just bought 2 x US5000 units, they are working a dream at the moment. i'm thinking of buying a third to be honest. you do make me smile on video by the way, its the way you say things

    • @The_OffGridFamily
      @The_OffGridFamily  ปีที่แล้ว

      Glad to hear your batteries are working well ☺️

    • @tujuprojects
      @tujuprojects ปีที่แล้ว

      I ordered US5000 too, but still waiting it. I think it’s the best brand at the moment.

  • @EpicWinz
    @EpicWinz ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Hi Fraser.
    My experience of using my US2000B Plus batteries is that I will get alarms on boot unless ALL loads are isolated from the batteries and the batteries are allowed to FULLY run their boot sequence for at least a minute, then I hit RUN and wait another 30 seconds before turning on the inverter charger. Things work fine after this. If I do things in the wrong order, it all goes haywire.
    Hope this helps

    • @The_OffGridFamily
      @The_OffGridFamily  ปีที่แล้ว

      Thanks for this. The inverter wasn't on. We only wanted the battery to run our Cerbo GX and MPPTs 👍

    • @EpicWinz
      @EpicWinz ปีที่แล้ว

      @@The_OffGridFamily Glad it’s all working now 👍🙂

    • @gf3803
      @gf3803 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@The_OffGridFamily even with the inverter or MPPts not on, the fact they were connected to the Lynx means their capacitors were "on" and might have been drawing power. I've seen a bunch of people talking about capacitors being the culprit, but I'm not sure why that would be since you had previously had all the equipment connected to the six batteries. I would think all the capacitors would have been fully charged, and wouldn't think the brief time between then and turning off the six batteries would lead to the capacitors discharging so quickly for it to become an issue with the single battery. Then again, I know even less than you do which is why I watch your videos!

    • @gf3803
      @gf3803 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@The_OffGridFamily I know you didn't get to the step unfortunately, but was your plan to limit the charge to the single battery to 5amp something you would set in the Quattro settings?

  • @Paul-ff8yv
    @Paul-ff8yv ปีที่แล้ว

    How did you organise the bms . Master, slave, and does inverter find master

  • @fje1948
    @fje1948 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

    I have been using 8 pylon batteries since 2017 without any problems - touch wood. I do like the flexibility of pylon batteries!

    • @The_OffGridFamily
      @The_OffGridFamily  4 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Pleased to hear yours are still going strong ☺️👍 Ours are doing okay at the moment (touch wood!)

  • @craigchamberlain
    @craigchamberlain ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Any chance the inverter is sending too much charge current to the (now) single battery when before it had 6 batteries to soak up the current? On my setup I only have two batteries and they are US5000 so can take 80A each or 160A total. My inverter can only charge at 70A so it’s not possible for me to overload my batteries during charging but I imagine with your larger inverter and smaller batteries that might be possible.

    • @AndyM...
      @AndyM... ปีที่แล้ว

      I think he had all the AC loads turned off, so it should be just the inverter and smaller ancillary equipment starting, one battery should be more than capable of that :)

    • @craigchamberlain
      @craigchamberlain ปีที่แล้ว

      @@AndyM... But wasn’t the purpose of connecting it up to charge it to 100% the same as the other six? Then again I guess he’d have to have the genset running since I presume the solar is still isolated and there is no grid.
      I just can’t help feeling that there is something fairly trivial that has been overlooked here but because of the turbulent history of this battery we’re missing that cause in favour of “it’s the demon battery from hell!”
      I really hope a solution is found soon because this is a lose-lose situation for both Fraser and Pylontech the way things are right now.

    • @AndyM...
      @AndyM... ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@craigchamberlain I think he received it back at roughly 100% and charged the other 6 before testing the suspect unit. You would think the repairer would have checked and tested the unit before shipping back, so like you, I think there could be an issue somewhere else ? It'd be great if he tested the battery without the comms cable, just in case the inverter is "commanding" the battery off for some reason....more testing required !!!

    • @craigchamberlain
      @craigchamberlain ปีที่แล้ว

      @@AndyM... yeah exactly, we really need to see what the cause of the alarm is before we can go any further. Whether that’s something Fraser or the repairer can find out is an important question. I know that my batteries have various ports and I think one is labelled “console” which, speaking as a software engineer myself, is a good bet on where to find out what’s going on. Just need to find out what the protocol that port speaks. Even without that, there is probably an alarm registered on the GX device which might give some clues.

    • @The_OffGridFamily
      @The_OffGridFamily  ปีที่แล้ว

      The inverter wasn't switched on - we only wanted to power the Cerbo GX and the MPPTs. It wasn't charging at that point. Once it showed up on the Cerbo GX, we were going to use the solar to charge it slowly, if possible. However, we didn't get that far. We think it might have something to do with the dip switches. Maybe they were down for charging a single battery? It's all working now, so all's well that ends well!

  • @semirauthsala6001
    @semirauthsala6001 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    using many pylontechs. zero issues. by looking at this cabling and how this put together, I feel like there should be something wrong with the setup. but no the batteries

    • @The_OffGridFamily
      @The_OffGridFamily  ปีที่แล้ว

      Interestingly, Pylontech found our videos and have watched them but raised no issue with the wiring or set up and instead immediately arranged to have the battery collected and repaired 😊 we’ve also been featured on the Victron website with our installation so hopefully it should all be fine 👍

  • @fredflintstone1428
    @fredflintstone1428 ปีที่แล้ว

    On the Pylontech batteries, do the connecting leads just push on? How do they lock? Will Prowse always makes a big thing of having everything torqued down. I'm sure that isn't your problem but from this film I couldn't work out how the leads connect?

    • @The_OffGridFamily
      @The_OffGridFamily  ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Thanks for this, and for taking the time to comment 👍 Pylontech have their own special cables and there is a little button on the side that you press and push on or slide off the terminals ☺️

    • @fredflintstone1428
      @fredflintstone1428 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@The_OffGridFamily Interesting. Thanks.

  • @bert1274
    @bert1274 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I thought you bought them from midsummer, or is SWS the company that does their repairs?

    • @The_OffGridFamily
      @The_OffGridFamily  ปีที่แล้ว +1

      We bought the batteries from Midsummer, who were liaising with Pylontech about the problem. However, SWS found our videos and stepped in to repair it quickly 😊

    • @bert1274
      @bert1274 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@The_OffGridFamily who paid for the repair?

    • @The_OffGridFamily
      @The_OffGridFamily  ปีที่แล้ว

      SWS put in a warranty claim so we assume Pylontech did 😊

    • @bert1274
      @bert1274 ปีที่แล้ว

      @The_OffGridFamily seems odd that a company you didn't buy them from would do that? Very odd indeed. Doesn't say much for Midsummer. I shall certainly be pointing anyone who talks about buying or using Pylontech or Midsummer to these videos. Thanks. Sorry you had to go through all thus so that the rest of us can learn from it.

    • @The_OffGridFamily
      @The_OffGridFamily  ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Yeah it was all a bit odd. To be fair to midsummer, they had referred the issue to Pylontech who were supposedly organising for the battery to be collected, and that’s where things were stalling. Our understanding is that SWS do the repairs and customer services for Pylontech in the U.K, and when they found our videos they stepped in to help. We still aren’t exactly sure how Pylontech’s systems are organised. We have however seen the emails between Midsummer and Pylontech, in which Pylontech seemed to be batting the issue away. It was when they found us on TH-cam that the problem seemed to be addressed very quickly…

  • @martillo9437
    @martillo9437 ปีที่แล้ว

    i see they are all the same model ... 3000C . I think you already know but ... the priority of the connection is first battery must be the latest production unit. did you check the production dates of all?

  • @richardlincoln886
    @richardlincoln886 ปีที่แล้ว

    6:27 - FWIW mine did, appear anyway, to balance themselves out.
    Reading from elsewhere to quickly balance & assuming the charges are close and non 0.
    Initially connecting the power cables between batteries, nothing else, turn them on, start them & the ones with larger charge will charge the lower ones.
    Once everything is stable (as per manual give it at least 15 minutes) - turn off - hook up the comms leads etc and re-connect to the inverter.
    What is the capacity on your inverter that you need 3x +ve and 3x -ve battery connection cables?
    300A+ @ ~50V = 15kW inverter?
    Are you potentially setup to pull 60A+ on the mains side of it?
    (Double check my maths ... could easily be wrong)

  • @markbudz1
    @markbudz1 ปีที่แล้ว

    what does the US3000 lights do when you just turn it on without it being connected to your inverter? I have a US5000 connected to a Solis 5k Hybrid and was working fine for a few days now the battery just ALARMs when it is turned on. Pylontech say the battery is OK as when it is disconnected it flashes a green run light - im still waiting to hear from Solis they seem to be very slow at responding.

  • @fredflintstone1428
    @fredflintstone1428 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    The only thing I can think of, having got to the end of the film, is that the communication between the Victron gear and the 1.7 firmware is incompatible? That would make a lot of sense as that's the only thing different between your other six batteries and this one. You have a lot of Victron gear there and it could be just one of the units being incompatible. If you think of how software between companies is often compromised when one company 'upgrades' its software, that's the only thing I can think of which is different between the service company's setup and yours.

  • @nickbea3443
    @nickbea3443 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Replicate the single battery through 40 Amp fuse but with a known working battery. if that behaves itself then the faulty battery is still faulty?

  • @gerardochiban1264
    @gerardochiban1264 ปีที่แล้ว

    In your test, the battery is going into protection for short circuit.
    The Victron inverter has huge capacitors which behave as a short circuit when discharged even if they are turned off. The battery after turning on, sees the short circuit due to a peak of current going out, and then protects itself. The battery is working perfect and as intended.
    To fix this, you need to pre-charge the capacitors with a resistor during commissioning of the batteries or inverter.
    I acknowledge your diy attitude, but getting advice from an experienced electrician/installer is always a good call.
    In my opinion Pylontech is a good brand!

    • @gf3803
      @gf3803 ปีที่แล้ว

      Shouldn't those capacitors have already been charged up since he had the larger battery bank powering the equipment immediately before he tried to charging a single battery?

  • @waterboy8999
    @waterboy8999 ปีที่แล้ว

    Well done on not completely losing the rag.

    • @The_OffGridFamily
      @The_OffGridFamily  ปีที่แล้ว +1

      🤣 Wanted to throw it out the loft hatch but managed not to!

    • @waterboy8999
      @waterboy8999 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@The_OffGridFamily I'll bet you did! I'm a bit of a bad tempered git when stuff doesn't work so glad it wasn't me......

  • @martinh8904
    @martinh8904 ปีที่แล้ว

    hook up a console cable with
    D9 RJ45
    braun 5 GND - 8
    gelb 2 RX - 3
    weiss 3 TX - 6
    with 115200 baud
    so you can communicate direct with the bms off the system and get an idea of what alarm was thrown.

  • @richardkiernan9582
    @richardkiernan9582 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    The one thing that I would be concerned about is the pre-charge of the Victron inverter as its possible that ever time you power up without solar youre loading up the capacitors with a huge current surge that could trigger an alarm on the Pylontech(?). I use a pre-charge circuit with a resistor and a bench DC charger or if you have solar production then powering on the solar first and then the Pylontech so that the capacitors get pre-charged from the MPPT?
    Alternatively, turn off all CAN communication with the inverter and run it as a system that uses LifePo4 cells externally managed. The Pylontechs each have a BMS and can self-manage themself. I run a couple of 60kW off-grid self-build batteries with multiple BMS' and EVE 280 LFP cells and a variety of inverters with no issues however the one thing that was a nightmare was CAN communication so I gave up and implemented my own cell-level monitoring and used a Victron shunt to measure true battery SoC and let each BMS manage the battery. Simplify and give up on CAN communication it's a nightmare unless your building the end-to-end solution (hardware+software).

    • @The_OffGridFamily
      @The_OffGridFamily  ปีที่แล้ว

      We knew that it's recommended that we use more than one (we think it's 6?) of these batteries, so we didn't switch the inverter on ☺️ We were going to use the MPPTs and the solar, and if that didn't work our inverter has a charger only function and we would have tried that 👍

    • @stevem1863
      @stevem1863 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@The_OffGridFamily It doesn't matter if the invertor is switched off, if it is connected there will be an inrush.

    • @coenradmarx5432
      @coenradmarx5432 ปีที่แล้ว

      I agree. Use a pencil with both sides lead exposed to pre charge the caps and connect as quick as possible. This will limit the inrush and prevent over current protection.

    • @gf3803
      @gf3803 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@stevem1863 agreed but he had just previously powered his bus and all the equipment with six working batteries. Shouldn't all the capacitors have been full? Do they discharge that much in the moments from having the six batteries shut off while he put the single battery in place? I wouldn't think so.

    • @stevem1863
      @stevem1863 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@gf3803 having watched it again, it's a bit hard to know how long it took as there are some cuts in the video. Even without that I'd still say yes, especially if you're just connecting a single battery. I find I need to pre-charge even if it's disconnected for about a minute, maybe not as long as a full 'cold' start but I still need to do it.

  • @matthewgreen8454
    @matthewgreen8454 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Looking at the manual for my system (US2000) the first switch controls the data rate of the CAN connection to the inverter, and the other three tells it how many batteries it has.
    It seems to me that when the battery was being fixed, their charger/inverter ran at a higher data rate (hence the first switch being down), also as it was the only one in the stack the other pins were down.
    If switches mean the same thing as shown in my manual, then I'd try it with the first switch up and the rest down (as you're connecting it as a single battery to start with)
    Edit: I've got a stack of 4 batteries in my loft, so I'll go look at their switch setup when I get a moment.
    Edit2: Scratch that, the battery numbering in the stack is based on what CAN cable you've got connected, the switches identify which stack they're in. So it's only useful when you've got multiple battery stacks connected to a CAN switch. Basically, if it was working before, you're right to have them all set the same...

    • @ttkddry
      @ttkddry ปีที่แล้ว

      Hi, mine are in a stack and the first battery has different switch settings compared to the slaves. My master battery has 1, 3, 4 set to off (top) and 2 is On (down). The slaves have everything off

    • @The_OffGridFamily
      @The_OffGridFamily  ปีที่แล้ว

      Sounds like everyone has a different way of setting up their batteries. It's like the Wild West - anything goes 😂 As long as they work, that's all that matters! Ours are up and running so we are happy (for now!) 👍

    • @The_OffGridFamily
      @The_OffGridFamily  ปีที่แล้ว

      @matthewgreen8454 Thanks for this, and for taking the time to share it with us ☺️👍

  • @dreamgarage85
    @dreamgarage85 ปีที่แล้ว

    Sometimes batteries are put into a sleep mode for shipping and they need a small current to wake them up. Maybe putting a small charge current in from the solar, or battery charger

  • @kevinroberts4124
    @kevinroberts4124 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Pylontech please send this man a case of whiskey.😉

  • @leeebbrell9
    @leeebbrell9 ปีที่แล้ว

    i think one of my us5000 is 3% out from each other. i noticed when low, one flashes a red light while other still has the last 2 oe 3 percent. i also noticed the comment in the manual you had on screen. makes sense to charge to 100% first separately before connecting.

    • @The_OffGridFamily
      @The_OffGridFamily  ปีที่แล้ว

      Sorry to hear about the difference in %. Hope you get it sorted ☺️

  • @raymondholyhead720
    @raymondholyhead720 ปีที่แล้ว

    Hi I am having the same problem with one of these batteries the only difference being when the alarm goes off All of the LEDs are flashing and it starts beeping. I have emailed the installer and they are just giving me a run around it would be nice to know exactly what the problem is with these batteries.

    • @The_OffGridFamily
      @The_OffGridFamily  ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Really sorry to hear this about your batteries. Perhaps try this email, as we were told this will get you to Pylontech's UK customer service: service.uk@pylontech.com.cn
      Hope that helps, all the best. We know how stressful this can be 😩

    • @raymondholyhead720
      @raymondholyhead720 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@The_OffGridFamily Hi I have found out what the alarm problem is by accident I unplugged the link port plug 0 on the problem battery and plugged it back in again since then I have no problems. l think this is down to a poor connection and may be due to poor quality RJ45 plugs sockets or cable.

  • @firefox7530
    @firefox7530 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Balancing is about milivolts balancing the cells. Not about e.g. 15% SOC difference balancing. Such a high SOC difference can not be balanced. They WILL balance but only on cell level in milivolts range so for example 3,234v and the other cell has 3,230V Then balancing will work but not if one cell has 2,898V and the other 3,234V. Balancer are NOT chargers in the common sense. I guess there the misconception is coming from that balancing means charging....
    The pylontech will balance themselves via the BMS. You can see that yourself on the cerbo GX looking at the individual cell details or by reading out the data from them directly.
    So the answer from this guys are also not fully correct. They will balance themselves but not charge themselves interconnected!
    An individual US5000C can not be connected like that without pre-charging the inverter! The rush of amps the Quattro will use when turning on will send the battery into protection mode as too many amps are out-rushing to the Quattro! There is a reason why Victron states that for certain sizes of inverters you need a MINIMUM SET of batteries as the share the load! The bigger the inverter, the bigger the caps and components demanding the power instantly, it is not only about the input and output. The system has to be viewed inclusive and not as single parts.
    If you really want to add the battery like that you have to disconnect the positive lead from the battery from the bus bar and then in between use a 25W resistor so Positive lead connecting tot he resistor leg 1 and the resistor leg 2 touches the Bus bar in the lynx after you have turned on the battery. This will give a controlled charge to all the devices on the bus bar without too much amps pulling out of the battery! You only do this for 3-4s, no need for longer time period. The goad is to charge all capacitors in the devices. You will also notice then that you can screw on the positive lead again to the bus bar and it will NOT arc!!! The reason is that there is almost no ampere running through anymore as all caps are charged up!
    The more batteries you have in a set the more this initial rush of amps will be shared and therefore the internal protection circuit will not be triggered. Such outrush amps can easily go over 200-300A! The battery however will not allow that and go straight into alarm mode.
    Inverter off also does not mean that the amps are not running back to the DC side of the inverter. Only its power generating logic is off but the DC caps are still charging as soon as you turn on the batteries!

  • @serhii-ratz
    @serhii-ratz ปีที่แล้ว

    Just wonder how bad support from PYLONTECH is in fact.
    No clear guidance, not software, nor way to analyse status, etc... Need to dig and search...
    Thank you for the video

  • @MrPeterheritage
    @MrPeterheritage ปีที่แล้ว

    I feel your pain! I have been having a similar problem with a Sofar inverter I had a Voltacon E-Box-48100R connected to the inverter via CAN cable and all works great, so I ordered another one the same, unfortunately a Pytes-E-Box-48100R turned up I have been told it’s exactly the same battery, so I wired them as instructed, but after a few minutes get a fault on the inverter then it goes into a 60sec test loop ending with a red fault light, so I try the new Pytes on its own I get the same fault loop if I then just connect the original Voltacon it works perfectly again, I have spent a few mornings now talking to Pytes in China great guys they can talk directly to the battery they have updated and down graded the firmware and it’s still not working, apparently the inverter is reporting to high a voltage on the Pytes battery but if I meter the contacts the voltage is 52v on both, they are now talking to Sofar but I can’t see it’s an inverter fault when the voltacon battery works great! I will be very interested when you get yours sorted!

  • @leeebbrell9
    @leeebbrell9 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    seems very weird for a testing company to soak test the battery charge it up and then it not work. is all of your system powered up is the device connected to the CAN port powered up and running before you connect and turn on the battery.

    • @The_OffGridFamily
      @The_OffGridFamily  ปีที่แล้ว

      We still aren't entirely sure what the problem was. Maybe the dip switches needed to be put back to just use one battery to make it work? That's perhaps why they sent it back that way...?

  • @LancashireProClean
    @LancashireProClean ปีที่แล้ว

    Fraser I feel your pain although I don't have these batteries ( I build my own) I do have experience with the little dip switches. There purpose is when you have multiples of something to tell it where it is in the pecking order in this case the BMS. The master battery the dip switches would be in one position. Slave 1 battery would be in a different position. Slave 2 would be in a different position and so on. It should say in the manual how to do this if not I would email the people who repaired the battery and ask them about dip switch positioning. If everything else fails switch on the flux capacitor

  • @mviertel
    @mviertel ปีที่แล้ว

    I've been observing the same behavior (with respect to the charge balancing) with my three US5000. I saw the same instruction in the manual, but no matter how long I left the stack to balance (no load, no charge), the SOC did not change between them. It's clearly necessary to manually balance the stack first.
    As for the error on the single battery, I have seen no such behavior at all. It doesn't make sense to be the capacitors, if it works fine on one battery, and not on another. The only thing that is different here is the firmware.

  • @Songomx
    @Songomx ปีที่แล้ว +3

    You're cursed, Fraser!!!😂😂🤣🤣

    • @The_OffGridFamily
      @The_OffGridFamily  ปีที่แล้ว

      It feels that way sometimes! 😂

    • @Songomx
      @Songomx ปีที่แล้ว

      @@The_OffGridFamily But it's finally fixed, right??!!!

    • @The_OffGridFamily
      @The_OffGridFamily  ปีที่แล้ว

      Yes at the moment it’s looking good 😊

  • @pauljenkinson1452
    @pauljenkinson1452 ปีที่แล้ว

    Pylontech is a good advertisement for developing a gravity battery.

    • @The_OffGridFamily
      @The_OffGridFamily  ปีที่แล้ว

      Yes, maybe throwing it out of the loft hatch would generate more energy 😂

  • @lievenstrobbe4483
    @lievenstrobbe4483 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I had the same experience. Pylontech manual is crap, the US3000C bms is crap. Indeed not good enough and definitely not for off-grid applications. Finally, I built my own 14.4Kw lifepo4 battery with a JBD smart bms. Now I can monitor and control what is happening inside [app]. Costed less than half the price of 10.5Kwh Pylontech misery. .

  • @richardlincoln886
    @richardlincoln886 ปีที่แล้ว

    Bad comms/ethernet cable?

  • @jimbosun2
    @jimbosun2 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    I've monitoring the outcome of this and my decision will be made on pylon techs response to this. Not acceptable. These batteries are alot of money and this battery should be replaced by pylon tech. Faulty goods. Feel very bad for you guys. The stress levels caused to this family is totally unforgivable. Disgraceful customer service.

    • @The_OffGridFamily
      @The_OffGridFamily  ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Thank you for your support - we really appreciate it ☺️ Things seem to be working well now so cross your fingers for us - hopefully that's the end of it 🤞

  • @michaelansell9203
    @michaelansell9203 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Unbelievable! Why not request supplier to come and install it and to bring a new one with them and if it still will not work to just install the new one? If they refuse I think you'd be entitled to reject the faulty battery.

    • @livingoffgridinscotland
      @livingoffgridinscotland ปีที่แล้ว +4

      I think they’ll blame installer error because it’s an diy install and they’ll demand an electrical installation certificate…. This happens a lot with off grid stuff as most is diy installs so the warranties on off grid kit is pretty much worthless - that’s speaking from many years of experience!

    • @The_OffGridFamily
      @The_OffGridFamily  ปีที่แล้ว +1

      This is very true - being a diy system makes things more complicated. Plus, they didn't want to give us a new battery when battery no 8 wouldn't turn on when it was fresh out of the box. We had to send it back and get a refund, as they wanted to repair a battery we had never even used 😩

    • @livingoffgridinscotland
      @livingoffgridinscotland ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@The_OffGridFamily this is sadly why I buy secondhand equipment mostly off eBay etc, although I’m a qualified electrician!

  • @kroozer5215
    @kroozer5215 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    You have my kinda luck mate - no luck, just bad luck, have to say my language would have been a little more colourful than yours

    • @The_OffGridFamily
      @The_OffGridFamily  ปีที่แล้ว

      We got there in the end! As for the language, you should have seen the unedited version 🤣

    • @kroozer5215
      @kroozer5215 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@The_OffGridFamily LOL

  • @mackay250
    @mackay250 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    I wont be getting them!!

    • @The_OffGridFamily
      @The_OffGridFamily  ปีที่แล้ว

      They seem to be working well now, but it's been a stressful journey 😩

    • @WhittakerMark
      @WhittakerMark ปีที่แล้ว

      You have to be smarter than the battery's. Any battery with an integral BMS and short circuit protection will have that issue.

  • @VojtechKurka
    @VojtechKurka ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Just precharge the capacitors, before connecting the fuses. th-cam.com/video/ZlrtmJRfSP8/w-d-xo.html

  • @pauljenkinson1452
    @pauljenkinson1452 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    This is looking very bad for Pylontech. We can see how hard you are trying when other people would have given up.

    • @The_OffGridFamily
      @The_OffGridFamily  ปีที่แล้ว

      Thank you ☺️ We've managed to get it sorted now 👍

  • @tiredofeverythingnew
    @tiredofeverythingnew ปีที่แล้ว +4

    I'm going to be up all night worrying about what happens next; please don't do that again :-) - On the other hand, these Pylontech batteries seem to be complete junk.

    • @craigchamberlain
      @craigchamberlain ปีที่แล้ว +2

      I’m running a pair of US5000 batteries right now and they are performing really well so far. I am of course watching this saga with keen interest because Fraser is no fool and knows what he’s doing. We should also consider that his other 6 batteries seem to be working well and although 1/7 is still way to high as a fault rate, I don’t think it’s fair to judge Pylontech as a product (customer service maybe different…) until we hear the final outcome.

    • @The_OffGridFamily
      @The_OffGridFamily  ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Now that we've overcome the problem, things seem to be working well. It is actually 2/8 batteries - when we first installed the system we had one that wouldn't turn on at all, so we asked for a new one to be sent out. They refused, and wanted it to be repaired so we requested a refund instead 😩
      Glad yours are running well 👍

    • @The_OffGridFamily
      @The_OffGridFamily  ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @tiredofeverythingnew Sorry if we caused any loss of sleep 😂

  • @jmpcrx
    @jmpcrx ปีที่แล้ว

    Just send the lot back and build your own. All these bought batteries are just a complete ripoff. Get some grade a eve's from fogstar uk.