New EG4 6500EX and EG4 Battery with Error 61 Alarm,

[TurbineTester]

I have 6 EG4 batteries in the 6 slot EG4 battery rack, no bus bar swapping, no communication setup and two EG4 inverters. There is no PV input, no AC input and No ac output set up yet. I only have the batteries mounted in the rack, and the inverters mounted on the wall with cable run from batteries to the inverters. Upon power up they booted fine and both showed full battery charge, even though the batteries themselves only show 2 LEDs lit for charge status. I only powererd up the inverters to test them out before proceeding onto other wiring. After about 5 minutes the #2 inverter, which is not connected at all to the #1 inverter save through the common 48V battery connection, started beeping with the number 61 on the screen. It showed that the batteries were at a low state of charge, even though the other battery showed full charge. I tested the battery voltage at the inverter connection (with the inverter off) and it was at 52.3VDC. I could not find the error code in the manual, so i came here. All other threads about this issue seem to relate to some communication setup between inverters or batteries. But my error persists even with only 1 of the batteries powered up, and only one of the inverters powered on. So i'm not sure what i need to do from here other than contact Signature Solar, which i'll have to wait till Monday. Any suggestions on what i can do to fix it between now and Monday?

 

[houseofancients]

error 61 means no comms..
setup correct and you should be fine

 

[TurbineTester]

Why do need comms if i only have one battery and one inverter currently connected? Sounds like i need to read the full manual?

 

[Cabin]

Make sure your setting for option #5 is set to USE.

 

[Quattrohead]

Sounds like i need to read the full manual?

Yeah that might be a wise idea

 

[TurbineTester]

Well after reading the manual it's clear they are missing some information. Like how do you put the unit into standby mode? SImply turning the power off gives a delay but it's not long enough to change the setting and save it before it completely shuts off. Will's video mentions putting it in standby mode by diconnecting the battery power with only PV input, but i don't have PV input yet. Further, after connecting the two units using the communication cables, and connecting one unit to the battery bank, the two units apparently don't talk because whichever one is directly connected to the battery bank is the one that shows the correct voltage and doesn't have the 61 alarm. The one not connected will show the alarm and incorrect battery level.

 

[BenFromSignatureSolar]

Further, after connecting the two units using the communication cables, and connecting one unit to the battery bank, the two units apparently don't talk because whichever one is directly connected to the battery bank is the one that shows the correct voltage and doesn't have the 61 alarm. The one not connected will show the alarm and incorrect battery level.

This sounds like a set up issue. please email tech@signaturesolar.com and they can help you out. Being Monday, the phone lines are swamped, so thats probably the best route for a quick response.

 

[FullCircle]

Well after reading the manual it's clear they are missing some information. Like how do you put the unit into standby mode? SImply turning the power off gives a delay but it's not long enough to change the setting and save it before it completely shuts off. Will's video mentions putting it in standby mode by diconnecting the battery power with only PV input, but i don't have PV input yet. Further, after connecting the two units using the communication cables, and connecting one unit to the battery bank, the two units apparently don't talk because whichever one is directly connected to the battery bank is the one that shows the correct voltage and doesn't have the 61 alarm. The one not connected will show the alarm and incorrect battery level.

It seems the inverters have 2 sources of battery status: the direct connection of current carrying cables & the RJ45 battery-to-inverter communication cables, which you described weren't installed. Of those 2, it seems inter-inverter communication only looks at the latter for battery status. You sound concerned about behavior you don't expect when you had not yet finished the build. I think you are ok, except multiple inverters call for 2 or more batteries, which brings us to the seeming resolution of the persistent Error 61 that some customers struggle(d) with after completing their builds...

After reading many similarly titled threads & 6 pages on this thread: https://diysolarforum.com/threads/eg4-6500ex-and-eg4-lifepower4-intermittent-61-error.41438/page-6 ... I'm pretty clear the conclusions reached by both Zapper_77 & 5275_Dude are compelling. Particularly the 4:36pm comment by Zapper_77's on Oct.24: Grounding to earth isn't the issue... Their key point is poorly tightened screws that mount batteries to a rack** can lead to dysfunctional bonding among the batteries which adversely affects the communications between inverter(s) and batteries.

**It would be fascinating to hear the results of unracked batteries with no bonding between their chassis. It is entirely possible that no bond is better than an intermittent bond in the "eyes" of the battery-to-inverter communications subsystem.

 

[Zapper77]

** It is entirely possible that no bond is better than an intermittent bond in the "eyes" of the battery-to-inverter communications subsystem.

Agreed.

 

[TurbineTester]

So now I have the cables all connected and I’m still getting the error, even after all me email with Signature Solar tech support where I made sure all my settings matched their requirements. I can somewhat easily verify/establish a good bond between all 6 battery chassis if I knew what the consensus was in terms of the best solution to prevent an intermittent bond. Do you recall offhand, or do I need to go back and read that referenced thread?

 

[Zapper77]

So now I have the cables all connected and I’m still getting the error, even after all me email with Signature Solar tech support where I made sure all my settings matched their requirements. I can somewhat easily verify/establish a good bond between all 6 battery chassis if I knew what the consensus was in terms of the best solution to prevent an intermittent bond. Do you recall offhand, or do I need to go back and read that referenced thread?

If memory is correct...Check you Dip switches, Flip your main battery breaker off, next remove the battery comm cord at the inverter (after it shows error 61?), reconnect cable to the main inverter and flip the main battery cable back on. Or just use "USR" for battery type and manually set your Charge, Bulk and low disconnect voltage.