Affiliate links: Signature Solar’s link signaturesolar.com/eg4-chargeverter-gc-48v-100a-battery-charger-5120w-output-240-120v-input/?ref=mpmddlkx6M9tPo&srsltid=AfmBOorxC9mBnvVECWzQBr8mZsWlbMJhYNQrFf-1jvh9Yvodpg0uN0w9 Current Connected’s link www.currentconnected.com/product/eg4-chargeverter-v2-48v-100a-battery-charger/?ref=xhJJBPDS
Thanks for the video. The quick connectors are a good improvement. I would like the option of a 90° connector on the generator input cable at the Chargeverter end.
Thanks for the review....I'd like to learn more how to get my Champion generator to auto start and stop. It's a Champion 7500W with a wireless remote (fob) electric start (auto choke)....so now I've got to figure out how to wire into the start stop capability. Really enjoy learning from your content.
The relay on the chargeverter essentially just works like a light switch. The contact closes when you reach the designated SOC or voltage. So you just have to figure out which contacts to hook to on your generator.
Great video. You may be getting better at this TH-cam thang ... 😀 Nice improvements and you did a good job of covering them. I don't see enough difference to justify upgrading my existing chargeverter, but I have some plans that will likely include adding a second one so this is good to know. Keep up the good work, amigo!
I appreciate that man. Yeah I don’t think it’s worth replacing an older model if you have a working V1. Over all though I really like what they’ve done with the new model. I always admire when companies pay attention to customer feedback to improve products.
FYI, the Chargeverter is auto-voltage sensing so it uses the same two wires for both 120V and 240V. That means that the Neutral wire in the Chargeverter's plug is not used even when connected to a 120V source.
So u should be able to plug it in to 120v and charge ur batteries off the inverter on cloudy days with out a generator just do a loop ... Keep it up brother
Hey Gavin, great video. How did you figure out the 2 wire pin for start/stop on your generator with SOC. I have a Westinghouse inverter generator with the same style connection but I am not sure how to figure out which pins to use. Just a bit worried about breaking something. Love your videos so keep them coming! :)
I used a small wire and connected it to two pins at a time. Because that’s what this relay in the chargverter does. It closes the relay and connects the two pins together.
Great Video Gavin. I have the same generator. The plug is a aviation style GX20A-8P. I have not hooked mine up yet. What pins were you jumping across for the dry contacts? Did the generator have to be in the on position?
That’s awesome. I’ll check that out. Pins #2 and #6 were what activated mine. It does have to be in the on position. But the LED’s eventually shut off.
No use the complete setup you have in the video but instead of generator power I would use an available 120v 15a source in the building next door. The issue is to bring power to the office trailer would cost upwards of 50k. I was thinking the setup you have with the chageverter and it can control a contactor instead of a generator. Any suggestions or other ideas?
That should work yeah. The relay would just be in control of the contractor instead. If you have solar hooked up as well, you may not need to supplement too much from your 120v supply. It all depends on your usage of course.
Looks like an 8 pin aviation connector just check the diameter as they make 2 sizes. Aviation 8 Pins Plug and Socket Wire Cable Connectors - Diameter 0.63" (16mm)
How did you figure out which pins would work for the auto start? We have a different brand generator with a similar auto start terminal. Also , will the chargeverter keep trying to start the generator if it fails to start after a time or two? Thanks for your helpful videos!
I actually touched a small wire to two of the terminals till the auto start kicked in. All the relay is doing is connecting 2 terminals together. That initiates the auto start. So yeah the relay will stay that way on the chargeveter till the generator starts.
Hey @GavinStoneDIY - can you tell me what cables you used to go from the the battery to the bus bar? Did you end up changing the terminals on the power pro?
Can this be used with a small 3600 gas generator with no auto start ports if i manually started and stopped the generator and set the charging amps to an appropiate amount based on generator size. Basically im just looking for a backup solution just in case i run a major deficit on my battery bank after several overcast short december days. Instead of shutting off all non essential loads if i run low it would be nice to turn the generator on and monitor the SOC on the battery and shut if off near full which will give me several more days of power. Also can this be used while the 6000xp is also charging the battery from solar?
@@brocklievsay8262 yes, and yes. You can start the generator yourself and monitor it. Or just wait till it’s finished charging. If your generator is 120v only then you’d need to rewire the plug. Or make an adapter whip. And yes you can charge at the same time as your 6000xp. Just don’t exceed the maximum charging amps of your batteries.
@@ironsales5669 Right, because it's a good idea, but if the choice is to go closed loop on one or the other, it doesn't make sense to have closed loop on a hopefully seldom used charger.
I just tried that, but maybe I should have had everything shut down when I made the changes. Making the changes while on shut it all down. Does that mean it won’t work? or just that I made them while the system was running and it freaked things out?
Great Video! Question, if you have EG4 Lithium batteries that communicates with a EG4 6500EX, how would you incorporate this chargeverter so that the EG4 6500EX inverter can still charge the EG4 Lithium with the close loop communication for the batteries based on SOC?
The manual says the both can't be in closed loop at the same time so I'm guessing you could disable the inverters charger or set the CV to voltage charging. EG4 really needs to clarify all this!
Thank you for replying. Do you think if you use the EG4 LifePOWER4 communication hub, you can connect both the chargeverter and the inverter to it, then to the batteries, would that work?
@@sleemsolar I would think that both the CV & the inverter could be connected to the buss at the same time but only one could be in closed loop. To me, closed loop means that the battery's BMS is controlling the charger.
I don’t have any word on whether the coms hub can be used for this. I’m actually curious about that myself. But I’m assuming the easiest method would be to use voltage for your parameters.
@@GavinStoneDIY -- Well the problem with that is what voltage? Bulk, Absorption or Float. None of those values would be acceptable if was applied 100% of the time. I haven't had time to play with my CV yet but I'm guessing in the voltage mode you get one setting.
My Champion generator does not have start/stop feature, but does have push button electric start. Would it be possible to tap into that with the CV dry contacts? If that could start it, how would it stop it?
I don’t think you could tap into it that way no. I think you can add an inline auto start option for your generator. But I’ve just never researched it really.
Yeah you’d need something like the bus bars I showed. The chargeveter connection is ring terminal type lugs. And even if you switched to the quick connect amphenol types, they would be too small to fit on the battery.
The propane generators don’t really require any sort of manual prime? So in theory you could hook this up with a small battery tender on the generators battery and have a fully automatic system?
Thanks for the great video. Was hoping to find a link to the 120V plug that you used on the whip to convert from 240V. I am not having any luck in finding a 120V male plug end that is made for 10 gauge cable, most only accommodate up to a 12-3. Any info is appreciated, thanks.
Great video. The SOC start being at the battery SOC was not very intuitive to me. Nor was the use of the CAN communication between the inverter and the battery while using the RS485 communication between the Chargeverter and the battery. As usual the manual could use some refinement. Thanks for the clarity you bring with your videos.
I was having a hard time just finding a generator with dry contacts that was not a “whole home backup”. Yours seems to work but is quite pricey. Any other recommendations?
You really can’t get much cheaper than the model I have. At least if you want to have the auto start and inverter tech. Honda generators are fantastic. But they are twice the price. There are other brand names that are pretty similar to mine. They are all fairly similar in price though.
Alright, great review but the best question does the chargeverter and inputs on the 6000xp act the same or are they different? And how? Ok so if I have an inverter generator straight to 6000xp but non inverter I need a chargeverter. Thanks for the answer. Edited
That is correct. Even my cheaper inverter generator has a very consistent sine wave. I haven’t tested this myself but I’ve seen multiple videos on it. So that is an option as well. You could find an inverter generator that fits your needs and attach it directly to the generator inputs on the XP.
Hello Gavin, I have a couple of question about the new Chargeverter , 1 does it just charge one outdoor wall mount battery with the 18Kpv system 2 will it charge the 5 battery 18Kpv system thankyou.
It charges at 100 amps. So you could add as many 48v batteries as you wanted. The more batteries you add the more the amperage spreads out between them. So if you charging at 100 amps and had 5 batteries, each battery would get around 20 amps of charge.
@Gavin S. DIY H. Very cool i was thinking of getting one to charge up my 48v battery from a 120v 20amp receptacle, but the max amps i would be able to set is 35amps on the chargeVerter; still putting that on a smart plug would be awesome, with that said can you charge the batteries via the chrageVerter at the same time using the batteries via a 6000xp ?
Yes you can charge the batteries with the chargeveter and use the XP at the same time. Basically the same thing as having an additional MPPT charge controller working as you power your loads.
I have both versions. I have the Yellow Version that I got last year and I have the New Black version that I got last week. Neither one of them will make a hundred amps output. The yellow one does the best at 93.5 amps while the black one tops out at about 89 and a half amps.
How many batteries are you trying to charge? I’ve tested 3 chargeverters, and all of them will push 100 amps. It’s really about the battery voltage more than anything. Then again ideally you’d want to stay around 80-90 amps to stay a bit cooler probably.
Do you need a precharge resistor when connecting the Chargeverter to the 48V batteries? Can you adjust the max current without the generator running. Does the Chargeverter remember its settings if disconnected from all power?
The generator will actually precharge the unit. But either way I haven’t ever used one on it. Probably wouldn’t be a bad idea. But I haven’t seen anything written on it that I’m aware of. You can adjust the current without generator power. The battery can power the unit and allow you to change settings I think. Yes it remembers the previous settings.
With an inverter generator you could. Otherwise there is a potential for issues with the THD on some generators. It could potentially damage the XP. Or at the very least just not power the unit. The chargeveter is usually a better solution.
What are the disadvantages of just connecting your generator to the generator inputs on the 6000xp? It seem that EG4 could integrate the same tech of the Chargeverter into the 6000xp. If that's not gonna be the case then the generator inputs on the 6000xp inverter are pointless if I have to spend another $500 for the chargeverter.
this is an interesting question, does that generator plug act like a chargeverter or is it more sophisticated. That is the question Gavin and EG4 has to answer. they want you to buy both though so I doubt we get the answer we want to here.???
The Chargeverter's power supplies are designed to handle distorted sine wave that most non-inverter generators put out under heavy load. The 6000xp charger is expecting cleaner utility quality sine wave.
@@rpsmith thanx, so if I have a Costco FIRMAN T07571 Tri-Fuel Generator is a 9400-watt trifecta - running on gasoline, natural gas, and propane I need a chargeverter because it is not an inverter generator? Thx
I have a firman generator I have used on the job site for years. It has a terrible sine wave and would not work well for the 6000XP. But your model may be newer and have better components. It’s hard to say. Typically you’d want an inverter generator to hook directly to the 6000xp. They have a consistent clean sine wave.
Hey Gavin, If i have two of the indoor wall mount batteries wired in parallel connected to my 6000xp inverter, what would be the wiring configuration for the Chargeverter ? Would I just connect to the positive and negative buss bars of just one of the batteries ? Or, connect the positive to one battery and the negative to the other battery ? I know on the server rack batteries, when connecting the Chargeverter to the rack buss bars, they are in a "diagonal" configuration. Just not sure the best way to connect to the two wall mount batteries and have balanced charging across both batteries. Thanks for your help in advance.
Attaching to just one busbar would work fine. Because of their design and the wire size the resistance between the two wall mount batteries would be minimal. They should stay balanced without an issue.
Hi Galvin I had 3 48v300ah batteries, connected to 12k inverter, with this chargeverter,i will connect to busbar of these batteries, do i need to turn off inverter or just leave it on( with out communication cable) thank you,thank you.
It’s fine to leave it on. This is just like having a separate charge controller. You can have multiple chargers on the same battery bank without problem.
Question is I would like to use this as a UPS system and have access to a 120 V 15 amp receptacle for charging. This set up is used for a office trailer that only has 15 A available and need to power a 30 amp load split phase. What would you recommend?
It is only rated for 3050W at 120V so that will limit you to around 2,400W (with conversion loss) and the CV running full out! Also, I doubt it is rated for a 100% duty cycle.
The manual isn't clear on this but I believe with two or more EG4 compatible batteries you just connect the Chargeverter's RS485 port to the master battery's RS485 port and daisy-chain the all the batteries "Battery Comm" ports together with Ethernet cables and all the batteries act as one.
Would be helpful to many to have a video where you set up your bus bars. Me and my son both got these same day to charge our power pros and were staring helplessly at the cables wondering how we would make it work. Ended up splicing with electrical tape and heat shrink. 🤷
I’m not sure how you spliced. It would work with bolts and lugs. But it could also generate a lot of heat if it isn’t crimped correctly. My busbars are attached to the spare pair of pro battery cables I had. And from there I attached to the chargeveter. Just seemed like the cleanest way to achieve things.
Could you not just crimp the proper size lugs on the Chargeverter and go straight to power pro bus bar? Also forgive me if I'm wrong but it appears that your generator is an inverter style generator and with the new generator firmware update could you not just go straight to the 6000xp and have the exact same functionality? Thanks gain for great videos.
@@SolarinStarke-kt2lm sorry I didn’t see this till now. The chargveter wires are 2 awg. And the amphenol connectors for that size won’t fit the Pro battery terminals. Yeah my generator is an inverter generator. So it would likely be fine hooked directly to the XP. But a lot of people won’t have that option. So either way I wanted to show people.
@SolarinStarke-kt2lm I cut the lugs off the c.v. and crimp on the powerpro connectors they sell seperately by folding the 2 awg into double size and works great without needing dangerous (for my kids to have access to) external busbars
@@diySolarPowerFunWithRay the propane would probably be more affordable at this point because I don’t need supplemental power very often at all. My meter fee is around $30 a month. But I suppose that’s cheap insurance to pay every month.
Any idea how to get the cumulative total kilowatt hours charge data on this new unit? The first model which was the yellow one told you the total kilowatt hours over its run time so you have an idea how much power was put into the battery. But I can't find that menu or data point on this new unit. So I just take the number from my old unit and double it to account for the new
@@GavinStoneDIY It looks like a feature that was removed on the newer models. I cannot find reference to it in the manual. If it's buried in a menu, I can't find it either!
@@GavinStoneDIY I'm sorry. I'll try and clarify. If you were to use the vehicle to load (V2L) plug from an electric car, these normally have a 3.6kw output via a plug. I was wondering if the cable could be run into the chargeverter to recharge the home batteries.
@@GavinStoneDIY You are a gem. thanks for demystifying a lot of this. I am wondering if I can use the yeti directly through the EG4 6500 inverter to power the batteries without buying the chargeverter?
@@vittoriolacerva9297 you have the EG4 6500ex? If so, yes that would work, as long as you don’t have it set up in split phase mode with a second inverter. Otherwise yes, those are single phase inverters so you could power it directly with the power supply.
I’m trying to figure out how to have the same battery you have connected to the 6000xp so my solar can charge the battery. While still being able to charge the battery with a military surplus 5k generator with the gc chargeverter in this video. Without physically disconnecting the batteries over and over. A DC disconnect would be fine but I’m confused how to set it up. The 6000xp has a generator input I know but it’s safer to have the chargeverter right?
@@ShaMuhmma yeah it would just stay plugged in. There isn’t an issue with having multiple things on one battery bank. So you’d just leave the chargeveter connected via a busbar like I did. And when it’s needed you’d utilize the chargeveter. One of the key things to remember is, you just don’t want to exceed the maximum charging amperage of your battery.
@@GavinStoneDIY I’m just confused how that would all connect together since the battery and the chargeverter gc both have quick connect. Also probably have to do more research on the bus bars… because it still confuses me how to properly have input from solar to the 6000xp to the batteries but also pulls power from the battery to the house. While also using the bus bars to interconnect the chargeverter with the whole thing. If that sounds confusing thats because I’m confused. Thanks for your response and time!
You cannot use the communication feature if your batteries are communicating with your inverter. Since you cannot use the communication feature you cannot use the SOC feature to turn on your generator or stop ChargeVerter charging. Stuck with Voltage just as on the older version. Charge you more for features you cannot use. You should wire a RV 30amp plug if your going to use 120v input.
I was using communication with both. You might be talking about the lifepower4 batteries. And yes, those only have one RS485 communication option. The power pro batteries and LL batteries can communicate with both at the same time. Also the older chargeveter model didn’t have a generator start relay. So even if you’re using voltage it you still have that extra option. Honestly I don’t mind using voltage. It still starts and stops at the upper and lower ranges. But with SoC you can definitely get things more fine tuned,
@@GavinStoneDIY Thanks for the clarification! Yes, you are correct, I am using the Lifepower 4 batteries. I don't know why they did not design it to use one of the additional communication ports on the 6000XP to pick up the SOC? Many of us have complained so hopefully they will provide a fix? I have 3 5000w continuous Inverter Generators that don't have elec start. For those of us that purchased 2 or more 6000XP's we cannot use the generator charging feature because we would have to purchase a Huge Generator and on top of that most large generators are not inverter and are not stable enough to keep below 3% THD. We were forced to purchase The New ChargeVerter increasing our budget and we cannot even use the new features. They discontinued the older model. They should have included a true charger like a ChargeVerter inside each 6000XP, 12K, 18K etc. Then you can use normal sized generators, one on each All-In-One and run just one or two etc as needed without any concern about damaging the inverter. JM2C
@@GavinStoneDIY Also, turning on the breaker and powering up the ChargeVerter causes the 6000XP's to shut down and reset shutting down all your loads for a short time and air conditioners must time out to release pressure etc. This is a real problem for Off Grid people and ones running critical items without battery backup etc. One YT Creator said EG4 told him that that is normal. Normal for poorly designed products LOL. Probably capacitors charging in the Chargeverter causing a downward spike on voltage. I don't want to leave my ChargVerters ON ALL THE TIME! I only want to power them up when I need them which is usually on very hot days when clouds and storms arrive and every air conditioner is running at full.
@@GavinStoneDIY The 6000XP has one battery communication RS485. One of my 6000XP's has that used for the batteries and the other 6000XP picks up SOC info from the first 6000XP. So what would happen if I plugged the ChargVerter into the unused battery RS485 on the second 6000XP? I will not try anything like that without info from EG4, just wondering. There are 2 unpopulated RS485's on each 6000XP also? I have to use Voltage to shut off the ChargeVerters, but would be better if I can get the SOC to work.
@@sciglassblower I would probably power up the capacitors with the generator before flipping the breaker on. I haven’t had the issues you’re describing so I may try to replicate it. My XP hasn’t shut down when I turn on the chargeveter. The coms port on the other XP wouldn’t work I don’t think. The SOC is really the best for people have a generator with auto start. You can choose a certain percentage to start. But even then voltage works fine. You can pretty accurately pinout 20% with voltage once you’ve had your batteries running for a bit. I ran my entire system based off voltage for almost 2 years. Given the option it’s nice to have SOC. But it’s not a deal breaker. This chargeveter is more expensive. But often times newer versions of equipment are. This stays cooler, it’s quieter, and it’s easier to change settings. Also has better components. So it’s not all about the communication and auto start. You still can’t get anything brand name with this much charging amperage for near this price.
Affiliate links:
Signature Solar’s link
signaturesolar.com/eg4-chargeverter-gc-48v-100a-battery-charger-5120w-output-240-120v-input/?ref=mpmddlkx6M9tPo&srsltid=AfmBOorxC9mBnvVECWzQBr8mZsWlbMJhYNQrFf-1jvh9Yvodpg0uN0w9
Current Connected’s link
www.currentconnected.com/product/eg4-chargeverter-v2-48v-100a-battery-charger/?ref=xhJJBPDS
Love the quick disconnects and the slow ramp up on the charging!
Solid improvement all round
Yeah it definitely needed those.
Very insightful content, Gavin! Really enjoyed seeing how you took them apart and highlighted the differences. Keep up the awesome videos!
Really appreciate that. I love tech, especially when it’s this nice.
Thanks for the video. The quick connectors are a good improvement. I would like the option of a 90° connector on the generator input cable at the Chargeverter end.
That would be a cool option. Depending on the location that seems like that could be helpful.
As always, a great review Gavin. Thanks
Thank you sir.
Thanks for the review....I'd like to learn more how to get my Champion generator to auto start and stop. It's a Champion 7500W with a wireless remote (fob) electric start (auto choke)....so now I've got to figure out how to wire into the start stop capability. Really enjoy learning from your content.
The relay on the chargeverter essentially just works like a light switch. The contact closes when you reach the designated SOC or voltage. So you just have to figure out which contacts to hook to on your generator.
Great video. You may be getting better at this TH-cam thang ... 😀
Nice improvements and you did a good job of covering them. I don't see enough difference to justify upgrading my existing chargeverter, but I have some plans that will likely include adding a second one so this is good to know. Keep up the good work, amigo!
I appreciate that man. Yeah I don’t think it’s worth replacing an older model if you have a working V1. Over all though I really like what they’ve done with the new model. I always admire when companies pay attention to customer feedback to improve products.
FYI, the Chargeverter is auto-voltage sensing so it uses the same two wires for both 120V and 240V. That means that the Neutral wire in the Chargeverter's plug is not used even when connected to a 120V source.
Neutral is ALWAYS used at 120 volt. It may not be used on a 240 circuit.
Wow 2,800 views already That's awesome You are really getting popular
It all depends on what video I release. 🫠
We purchased ours' - looking forward to using it!
Works amazingly well!
So u should be able to plug it in to 120v and charge ur batteries off the inverter on cloudy days with out a generator just do a loop ... Keep it up brother
Hey Gavin, great video. How did you figure out the 2 wire pin for start/stop on your generator with SOC. I have a Westinghouse inverter generator with the same style connection but I am not sure how to figure out which pins to use. Just a bit worried about breaking something. Love your videos so keep them coming! :)
I used a small wire and connected it to two pins at a time. Because that’s what this relay in the chargverter does. It closes the relay and connects the two pins together.
@@GavinStoneDIY perfect thank you!!!!
Great Video Gavin. I have the same generator. The plug is a aviation style GX20A-8P. I have not hooked mine up yet. What pins were you jumping across for the dry contacts? Did the generator have to be in the on position?
That’s awesome. I’ll check that out. Pins #2 and #6 were what activated mine. It does have to be in the on position. But the LED’s eventually shut off.
No use the complete setup you have in the video but instead of generator power I would use an available 120v 15a source in the building next door. The issue is to bring power to the office trailer would cost upwards of 50k. I was thinking the setup you have with the chageverter and it can control a contactor instead of a generator. Any suggestions or other ideas?
That should work yeah. The relay would just be in control of the contractor instead. If you have solar hooked up as well, you may not need to supplement too much from your 120v supply. It all depends on your usage of course.
Looks like an 8 pin aviation connector just check the diameter as they make 2 sizes. Aviation 8 Pins Plug and Socket Wire Cable Connectors - Diameter 0.63" (16mm)
Thanks I’ll take a look. It is an 8 pin aviation plug I believe . But I haven’t found the correct size yet.
Can you tell us what pins you used to start/stop the generator?
The cable you are looking for is the GX20 aviation cord 8 pin, it's on Amazon bt it won't let me post the link @@GavinStoneDIY
Is the same cord I have on my Westinghouse 20k, the difference is that mine is 7 pin. Pins 3 and 4 make the start/stop work on mine.
@@isaiasrivera5054 roger that thanks. I just haven’t had a chance to get one and work on this.
Nice. That looks pretty cool! I want one! :)
How did you figure out which pins would work for the auto start? We have a different brand generator with a similar auto start terminal. Also , will the chargeverter keep trying to start the generator if it fails to start after a time or two? Thanks for your helpful videos!
I actually touched a small wire to two of the terminals till the auto start kicked in. All the relay is doing is connecting 2 terminals together. That initiates the auto start. So yeah the relay will stay that way on the chargeveter till the generator starts.
@@GavinStoneDIY Thanks!
I'm looking at exactly this setup. Can you make a video on how you wired all these items together?
Sure. I might try to make a short about it. It’s fairly straightforward.
Hey @GavinStoneDIY - can you tell me what cables you used to go from the the battery to the bus bar? Did you end up changing the terminals on the power pro?
I used the cables that came with the power pro. They send 2 pairs so I had an extra set.
Can this be used with a small 3600 gas generator with no auto start ports if i manually started and stopped the generator and set the charging amps to an appropiate amount based on generator size. Basically im just looking for a backup solution just in case i run a major deficit on my battery bank after several overcast short december days. Instead of shutting off all non essential loads if i run low it would be nice to turn the generator on and monitor the SOC on the battery and shut if off near full which will give me several more days of power. Also can this be used while the 6000xp is also charging the battery from solar?
@@brocklievsay8262 yes, and yes. You can start the generator yourself and monitor it. Or just wait till it’s finished charging. If your generator is 120v only then you’d need to rewire the plug. Or make an adapter whip.
And yes you can charge at the same time as your 6000xp. Just don’t exceed the maximum charging amps of your batteries.
So are you able to run closed loop with the Chargeverter & the inverter at the same time, or is it one at a time?
I am wondering the same thing
@@ironsales5669 Right, because it's a good idea, but if the choice is to go closed loop on one or the other, it doesn't make sense to have closed loop on a hopefully seldom used charger.
You can run both at the same time. It’s hooked into the RS485 port on the battery. .And the closed loop for the inverter is using the CAN port.
I have the inverter plugged into the RS485 port. You can plug it into a CAN port and it will work?
I just tried that, but maybe I should have had everything shut down when I made the changes. Making the changes while on shut it all down. Does that mean it won’t work? or just that I made them while the system was running and it freaked things out?
Great Video! Question, if you have EG4 Lithium batteries that communicates with a EG4 6500EX, how would you incorporate this chargeverter so that the EG4 6500EX inverter can still charge the EG4 Lithium with the close loop communication for the batteries based on SOC?
The manual says the both can't be in closed loop at the same time so I'm guessing you could disable the inverters charger or set the CV to voltage charging. EG4 really needs to clarify all this!
Thank you for replying. Do you think if you use the EG4 LifePOWER4 communication hub, you can connect both the chargeverter and the inverter to it, then to the batteries, would that work?
@@sleemsolar I would think that both the CV & the inverter could be connected to the buss at the same time but only one could be in closed loop. To me, closed loop means that the battery's BMS is controlling the charger.
I don’t have any word on whether the coms hub can be used for this. I’m actually curious about that myself. But I’m assuming the easiest method would be to use voltage for your parameters.
@@GavinStoneDIY -- Well the problem with that is what voltage? Bulk, Absorption or Float. None of those values would be acceptable if was applied 100% of the time. I haven't had time to play with my CV yet but I'm guessing in the voltage mode you get one setting.
My Champion generator does not have start/stop feature, but does have push button electric start. Would it be possible to tap into that with the CV dry contacts? If that could start it, how would it stop it?
I don’t think you could tap into it that way no. I think you can add an inline auto start option for your generator. But I’ve just never researched it really.
Can you connect the chargeverter directly to the battery terminals or do you need to use those bus bars? Just trying to simplify the setup.
Yeah you’d need something like the bus bars I showed. The chargeveter connection is ring terminal type lugs. And even if you switched to the quick connect amphenol types, they would be too small to fit on the battery.
The propane generators don’t really require any sort of manual prime? So in theory you could hook this up with a small battery tender on the generators battery and have a fully automatic system?
Exactly. Once the starting cycle is activated it’ll keep trying till it’s started. The Duromax and other models actually come with a battery tender.
Thanks for the great video. Was hoping to find a link to the 120V plug that you used on the whip to convert from 240V. I am not having any luck in finding a 120V male plug end that is made for 10 gauge cable, most only accommodate up to a 12-3. Any info is appreciated, thanks.
Use a 20 amp 120v receptacle end. I’ll add one to the description.
@@GavinStoneDIY 👍 Thanks!
Hey was wondering if the communication with battery is the chargverter OR inverter or do they both work?
Wondering the same thing
The communication is directly to the RS485 on the battery.
@@GavinStoneDIY does the inverter use the same port? Or are they using two different ports? And thanks for taking the question
@@mattman6199 the inverter uses the CAN port. So both the chargeveter and the inverter can communicate with the battery at the same time.
@@GavinStoneDIY thanks .. the way they worded it could have gone both ways and I wanted to make sure
Great video. The SOC start being at the battery SOC was not very intuitive to me. Nor was the use of the CAN communication between the inverter and the battery while using the RS485 communication between the Chargeverter and the battery. As usual the manual could use some refinement. Thanks for the clarity you bring with your videos.
Hello Gavin, I bought the current connected bus bar you posted but doesnt fit any of the cables. The screws are biggers or im missing something?
I probably drilled the cable ends out to 3/8. Apologies, I should have mentioned that. Do you have a step bit?
GAVIN, Which pins 📌 on the Duramax Generator is for the 2 Wire Start/Stop?
I believe it was 4 and 7. But I mentioned it in the video somewhere I think.
I was having a hard time just finding a generator with dry contacts that was not a “whole home backup”. Yours seems to work but is quite pricey. Any other recommendations?
You really can’t get much cheaper than the model I have. At least if you want to have the auto start and inverter tech. Honda generators are fantastic. But they are twice the price. There are other brand names that are pretty similar to mine. They are all fairly similar in price though.
Alright, great review but the best question does the chargeverter and inputs on the 6000xp act the same or are they different? And how? Ok so if I have an inverter generator straight to 6000xp but non inverter I need a chargeverter. Thanks for the answer. Edited
That is correct. Even my cheaper inverter generator has a very consistent sine wave. I haven’t tested this myself but I’ve seen multiple videos on it. So that is an option as well. You could find an inverter generator that fits your needs and attach it directly to the generator inputs on the XP.
Hello Gavin, I have a couple of question about the new Chargeverter , 1 does it just charge one outdoor wall mount battery with the 18Kpv system 2 will it charge the 5 battery 18Kpv system thankyou.
It charges at 100 amps. So you could add as many 48v batteries as you wanted. The more batteries you add the more the amperage spreads out between them. So if you charging at 100 amps and had 5 batteries, each battery would get around 20 amps of charge.
Have there been any generators that have had issues with stopping? I was going to buy a Honda 6500 and its start/stop wiring harness was a three wire.
I haven’t heard of any.
@Gavin S. DIY H. Very cool i was thinking of getting one to charge up my 48v battery from a 120v 20amp receptacle, but the max amps i would be able to set is 35amps on the chargeVerter; still putting that on a smart plug would be awesome, with that said can you charge the batteries via the chrageVerter at the same time using the batteries via a 6000xp ?
Yes you can charge the batteries with the chargeveter and use the XP at the same time. Basically the same thing as having an additional MPPT charge controller working as you power your loads.
@@GavinStoneDIY i see, so what happened if your battery only have one com port? Do you connect the XP to it or the ChargeVerter?
@@fullyelectric you’d probably have set your parameters using voltage instead of communication.
I have both versions. I have the Yellow Version that I got last year and I have the New Black version that I got last week. Neither one of them will make a hundred amps output. The yellow one does the best at 93.5 amps while the black one tops out at about 89 and a half amps.
How many batteries are you trying to charge? I’ve tested 3 chargeverters, and all of them will push 100 amps. It’s really about the battery voltage more than anything.
Then again ideally you’d want to stay around 80-90 amps to stay a bit cooler probably.
@@GavinStoneDIY 48 280 Ah cells. It's 3X 16S with 3 BMS tied in parallel for 840Ah.
Do you need a precharge resistor when connecting the Chargeverter to the 48V batteries?
Can you adjust the max current without the generator running.
Does the Chargeverter remember its settings if disconnected from all power?
The generator will actually precharge the unit. But either way I haven’t ever used one on it. Probably wouldn’t be a bad idea. But I haven’t seen anything written on it that I’m aware of.
You can adjust the current without generator power. The battery can power the unit and allow you to change settings I think.
Yes it remembers the previous settings.
@@GavinStoneDIY Thank you Gavin - good information on your channel, and subscribed!
@@GavinStoneDIY Thank you! I got one and tried it out - it works as you say, with no precharge resistor.
Another great video!
Thanks I appreciate that.
Thanks Gavin!
Why couldn’t you connect the generator to the generator input on the 6000XP?
With an inverter generator you could. Otherwise there is a potential for issues with the THD on some generators. It could potentially damage the XP. Or at the very least just not power the unit.
The chargeveter is usually a better solution.
What are the disadvantages of just connecting your generator to the generator inputs on the 6000xp? It seem that EG4 could integrate the same tech of the Chargeverter into the 6000xp. If that's not gonna be the case then the generator inputs on the 6000xp inverter are pointless if I have to spend another $500 for the chargeverter.
this is an interesting question, does that generator plug act like a chargeverter or is it more sophisticated. That is the question Gavin and EG4 has to answer. they want you to buy both though so I doubt we get the answer we want to here.???
The Chargeverter's power supplies are designed to handle distorted sine wave that most non-inverter generators put out under heavy load. The 6000xp charger is expecting cleaner utility quality sine wave.
@@rpsmith thanx, so if I have a Costco FIRMAN T07571 Tri-Fuel Generator is a 9400-watt trifecta - running on gasoline, natural gas, and propane I need a chargeverter because it is not an inverter generator? Thx
The chargeveter isnt dependent on a clean sine wave generator. The 6000xp would need an inverter generator to operate without issue.
I have a firman generator I have used on the job site for years. It has a terrible sine wave and would not work well for the 6000XP. But your model may be newer and have better components. It’s hard to say. Typically you’d want an inverter generator to hook directly to the 6000xp. They have a consistent clean sine wave.
Hey Gavin, If i have two of the indoor wall mount batteries wired in parallel connected to my 6000xp inverter, what would be the wiring configuration for the Chargeverter ? Would I just connect to the positive and negative buss bars of just one of the batteries ?
Or, connect the positive to one battery and the negative to the other battery ?
I know on the server rack batteries, when connecting the Chargeverter to the rack buss bars, they are in a "diagonal" configuration. Just not sure the best way to connect to the two wall mount batteries and have balanced charging across both batteries. Thanks for your help in advance.
Attaching to just one busbar would work fine. Because of their design and the wire size the resistance between the two wall mount batteries would be minimal. They should stay balanced without an issue.
@@GavinStoneDIY
Thanks Gavin. Just got my system installed and up and running. Just wasn't sure about the connections of the Chargeverter...
Hello, how did u connect the wire from nema female connector to 110 male plug? Thank you
The online manual has a wiring schematic that explains how to wire it for 120v.
Hi Galvin
I had 3 48v300ah batteries, connected to 12k inverter, with this chargeverter,i will connect to busbar of these batteries, do i need to turn off inverter or just leave it on( with out communication cable) thank you,thank you.
It’s fine to leave it on. This is just like having a separate charge controller. You can have multiple chargers on the same battery bank without problem.
Thank you Gavin,do I need to have communication cable connected 3 together like server rack although all 3 connected to same busbar.
Could I use this with the G4 18k. Thanks
Question is I would like to use this as a UPS system and have access to a 120 V 15 amp receptacle for charging. This set up is used for a office trailer that only has 15 A available and need to power a 30 amp load split phase. What would you recommend?
It is only rated for 3050W at 120V so that will limit you to around 2,400W (with conversion loss) and the CV running full out! Also, I doubt it is rated for a 100% duty cycle.
Use this in lieu of a battery you mean?
What if you have two (or more) EG4 batteries? Does the chargeverter have to be connected to both, or does it automatically load balance?
It will just communicate with the master battery. The current would balance between all the batteries.
The manual isn't clear on this but I believe with two or more EG4 compatible batteries you just connect the Chargeverter's RS485 port to the master battery's RS485 port and daisy-chain the all the batteries "Battery Comm" ports together with Ethernet cables and all the batteries act as one.
Would be helpful to many to have a video where you set up your bus bars. Me and my son both got these same day to charge our power pros and were staring helplessly at the cables wondering how we would make it work. Ended up splicing with electrical tape and heat shrink. 🤷
I’m not sure how you spliced. It would work with bolts and lugs. But it could also generate a lot of heat if it isn’t crimped correctly.
My busbars are attached to the spare pair of pro battery cables I had. And from there I attached to the chargeveter. Just seemed like the cleanest way to achieve things.
Could you not just crimp the proper size lugs on the Chargeverter and go straight to power pro bus bar? Also forgive me if I'm wrong but it appears that your generator is an inverter style generator and with the new generator firmware update could you not just go straight to the 6000xp and have the exact same functionality? Thanks gain for great videos.
@@SolarinStarke-kt2lm sorry I didn’t see this till now. The chargveter wires are 2 awg. And the amphenol connectors for that size won’t fit the Pro battery terminals.
Yeah my generator is an inverter generator. So it would likely be fine hooked directly to the XP. But a lot of people won’t have that option. So either way I wanted to show people.
@SolarinStarke-kt2lm I cut the lugs off the c.v. and crimp on the powerpro connectors they sell seperately by folding the 2 awg into double size and works great without needing dangerous (for my kids to have access to) external busbars
So, do you have grid out to your property or are you fully off grid?
I have grid power available. I just have the grid breaker turned off.
@@GavinStoneDIY nice. So when your batteries get low do you find it is more affordable to charge them with a propane generator or with grid?
@@diySolarPowerFunWithRay the propane would probably be more affordable at this point because I don’t need supplemental power very often at all.
My meter fee is around $30 a month. But I suppose that’s cheap insurance to pay every month.
@@GavinStoneDIY cool. thanks
Could I run the 120 to an inverter in my vehicle so I could charge while driving? And if so what’s size?
That could work yes. Are you saying you’d have the battery in a camper and inverter in your vehicle?
My work truck that I’m in 8 hours a day would have the inverter. I’d probably have a cart for a 5 or 10 kWh battery
When using the Chargeverter, do you need to use an inverter based generator?
No. But I would.
No, it really has no issue with generators that have dirtier power. I have tested this before on an another work site generator I have.
Any idea how to get the cumulative total kilowatt hours charge data on this new unit? The first model which was the yellow one told you the total kilowatt hours over its run time so you have an idea how much power was put into the battery. But I can't find that menu or data point on this new unit. So I just take the number from my old unit and double it to account for the new
This is a really good question actually. I hadn’t considered this. Let me see if I have time to take a look tomorrow.
@@GavinStoneDIY It looks like a feature that was removed on the newer models. I cannot find reference to it in the manual. If it's buried in a menu, I can't find it either!
Do you think you could use the V2L output from an EV to power this inverter?
It’s hard to tell what you’re asking.
@@GavinStoneDIY I'm sorry. I'll try and clarify. If you were to use the vehicle to load (V2L) plug from an electric car, these normally have a 3.6kw output via a plug. I was wondering if the cable could be run into the chargeverter to recharge the home batteries.
@@007silverwings so use the output of the EV to power the chargeveter in order to charge your home batteries?
@@GavinStoneDIY yeah, that's right.
Not ideal with conversion losses, but a good backup.
could this work using a Goal Zero yeti 6000X power station? My EG4 inverter has a short and needs to be replaced, cannot receive PV power.
It could yes. Since that’s a 120v power station you’d have to rewire the plug like I described.
@@GavinStoneDIY You are a gem. thanks for demystifying a lot of this. I am wondering if I can use the yeti directly through the EG4 6500 inverter to power the batteries without buying the chargeverter?
@@vittoriolacerva9297 you have the EG4 6500ex? If so, yes that would work, as long as you don’t have it set up in split phase mode with a second inverter. Otherwise yes, those are single phase inverters so you could power it directly with the power supply.
Any idea if I can plug into an Ethos battery system with a EG4 18k?
As far as communication? I believe they can communicate with those yes.
Actually I meant battery hookup, would I have to disconnect anything or just run the battery wires into the grid connection on the EG4 18.
What bus bars did you use?
I meant to add them to the description. I’ll put them there now. They are great little busbars from Current Connected.
You need an 8 pin microphone plug for cd mic
Check AliExpress for that connection.
I think I may know which one it is now.
Where did u connect the ats wire ?
On the chargeveter? There is a labeled Rs232 port. And each generator has a different ATS location. So yours might be different.
@GavinStoneDIY thank you for the reply. My predator generator inverter doesn't have ats.. Where do I connect the rs233?
How do you keep your eg4 indoor 14k plugged into your inverter and your eg4 gc?
I’m not sure what you’re asking.
How do you keep your battery plugged into your inverter while connected to your chargeverter?
I’m trying to figure out how to have the same battery you have connected to the 6000xp so my solar can charge the battery. While still being able to charge the battery with a military surplus 5k generator with the gc chargeverter in this video. Without physically disconnecting the batteries over and over. A DC disconnect would be fine but I’m confused how to set it up. The 6000xp has a generator input I know but it’s safer to have the chargeverter right?
@@ShaMuhmma yeah it would just stay plugged in. There isn’t an issue with having multiple things on one battery bank. So you’d just leave the chargeveter connected via a busbar like I did. And when it’s needed you’d utilize the chargeveter. One of the key things to remember is, you just don’t want to exceed the maximum charging amperage of your battery.
@@GavinStoneDIY I’m just confused how that would all connect together since the battery and the chargeverter gc both have quick connect.
Also probably have to do more research on the bus bars… because it still confuses me how to properly have input from solar to the 6000xp to the batteries but also pulls power from the battery to the house. While also using the bus bars to interconnect the chargeverter with the whole thing.
If that sounds confusing thats because I’m confused.
Thanks for your response and time!
You cannot use the communication feature if your batteries are communicating with your inverter. Since you cannot use the communication feature you cannot use the SOC feature to turn on your generator or stop ChargeVerter charging. Stuck with Voltage just as on the older version. Charge you more for features you cannot use. You should wire a RV 30amp plug if your going to use 120v input.
I was using communication with both. You might be talking about the lifepower4 batteries. And yes, those only have one RS485 communication option. The power pro batteries and LL batteries can communicate with both at the same time.
Also the older chargeveter model didn’t have a generator start relay. So even if you’re using voltage it you still have that extra option. Honestly I don’t mind using voltage. It still starts and stops at the upper and lower ranges. But with SoC you can definitely get things more fine tuned,
@@GavinStoneDIY Thanks for the clarification! Yes, you are correct, I am using the Lifepower 4 batteries.
I don't know why they did not design it to use one of the additional communication ports on the 6000XP to pick up the SOC? Many of us have complained so hopefully they will provide a fix?
I have 3 5000w continuous Inverter Generators that don't have elec start. For those of us that purchased 2 or more 6000XP's we cannot use the generator charging feature because we would have to purchase a Huge Generator and on top of that most large generators are not inverter and are not stable enough to keep below 3% THD. We were forced to purchase The New ChargeVerter increasing our budget and we cannot even use the new features. They discontinued the older model.
They should have included a true charger like a ChargeVerter inside each 6000XP, 12K, 18K etc. Then you can use normal sized generators, one on each All-In-One and run just one or two etc as needed without any concern about damaging the inverter.
JM2C
@@GavinStoneDIY Also, turning on the breaker and powering up the ChargeVerter causes the 6000XP's to shut down and reset shutting down all your loads for a short time and air conditioners must time out to release pressure etc. This is a real problem for Off Grid people and ones running critical items without battery backup etc.
One YT Creator said EG4 told him that that is normal. Normal for poorly designed products LOL. Probably capacitors charging in the Chargeverter causing a downward spike on voltage. I don't want to leave my ChargVerters ON ALL THE TIME! I only want to power them up when I need them which is usually on very hot days when clouds and storms arrive and every air conditioner is running at full.
@@GavinStoneDIY The 6000XP has one battery communication RS485. One of my 6000XP's has that used for the batteries and the other 6000XP picks up SOC info from the first 6000XP. So what would happen if I plugged the ChargVerter into the unused battery RS485 on the second 6000XP? I will not try anything like that without info from EG4, just wondering. There are 2 unpopulated RS485's on each 6000XP also? I have to use Voltage to shut off the ChargeVerters, but would be better if I can get the SOC to work.
@@sciglassblower I would probably power up the capacitors with the generator before flipping the breaker on. I haven’t had the issues you’re describing so I may try to replicate it. My XP hasn’t shut down when I turn on the chargeveter.
The coms port on the other XP wouldn’t work I don’t think.
The SOC is really the best for people have a generator with auto start. You can choose a certain percentage to start. But even then voltage works fine. You can pretty accurately pinout 20% with voltage once you’ve had your batteries running for a bit. I ran my entire system based off voltage for almost 2 years. Given the option it’s nice to have SOC. But it’s not a deal breaker.
This chargeveter is more expensive. But often times newer versions of equipment are. This stays cooler, it’s quieter, and it’s easier to change settings. Also has better components. So it’s not all about the communication and auto start. You still can’t get anything brand name with this much charging amperage for near this price.
Thanks, I really like this c.v. compared to the eye sore yellow predecessor lol
Yeah man. I felt like I needed sunglasses with the last unit.