System randomly resets - battery or inverter?

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  • bajabig10
    Junior Member
    • Jun 2020
    • 4

    System randomly resets - battery or inverter?

    System: (9) Hanwa QPeak 330W panels in 3S3P, Epever Tracer 10420 150v charge controller, Sungoldpower 6000w 48v inverter, TechDirectClub 14kw 48V Nissan Leaf G2 battery pack (contains four separate 7-pack 48v modules).
    House is a vacation home with an off-grid setup down in Baja California.

    Two years ago (2019) I changed the electrical on the house from a 12v lead acid setup to what I listed above. The house does not get used June-September and someone is there maybe 10 days a month from Oct-May. System had been working fine during those two years.

    A month ago someone was at the house and the power was cycling every 20 minutes. When I say cycle, the whole house loses power for about a split second and then it comes back on. The main power draw is a full size refrigerator, LED 48" TV, and some LED lights and occasionally two ceiling fans. No big power draws like an a/c unit. I thought maybe one of the Leaf modules was bad so I came down to investigate. I have six spare Leaf modules, so I measured the voltage across all 28 modules and all were at 8.33v except five were 8.26v-8.27v. I moved modules around so three of the four packs had 8.33v modules across all seven and with the last pack I added five spares which were reading 7.77v to two 8.31v modules.

    Since I moved modules around and only had three of the four packs in use, the power resets now happen every 1.5 hours rather than every 20 minutes. I thought maybe the inverter was getting too hot so I have a floor fan blowing on it constantly, but it is still cycling. At night, it only cycled twice, once at 11pm and again around 6am.

    I'm trying to determine if I have a bad inverter or a bad battery. I talked to a sales rep at windandsolar.com and he said inverters either work or don't work and if I have a cycling issue, it is likely battery related.

    If all modules measure 8.33v that are in use, how can I tell if it's a battery issue? When a cycle happens and I measure all the modules, they all are at 8.33v.

    In the back of my mind, I wondered how long these used Leaf modules would actually last since they are used. The rest of the system is made of new parts. I thought measuring the voltage would help identify the problem but I've run out of ideas at this point. We spent $3k on the batteries and after talking with windandsolar.com, I'll need to spend $10k for an equivalent ~14kw Simpliphi Lithium setup.
  • Mike90250
    Moderator
    • May 2009
    • 16020

    #2
    Is there any logging on the BMS that can tell you what the battery is doing ?

    With odd power factor loads, inverters can trip and reset with poor power factor, but 1 fridge on a 6kw inverter should be pretty safe.
    Powerfab top of pole PV mount (2) | Listeroid 6/1 w/st5 gen head | XW6048 inverter/chgr | Iota 48V/15A charger | Morningstar 60A MPPT | 48V, 800A NiFe Battery (in series)| 15, Evergreen 205w "12V" PV array on pole | Midnight ePanel | Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV ||
    || Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
    || VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A

    solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
    gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister

    Comment

    • bajabig10
      Junior Member
      • Jun 2020
      • 4

      #3
      There may be logging but I don't have the equipment to read it. We bought it as an entire package and I didn't go through each module to test them before putting it to use.

      In general, do inverters tend to either work or not work? I think the issue lies with the batteries but was hoping others with experience would agree.

      Comment

      • bajabig10
        Junior Member
        • Jun 2020
        • 4

        #4

        I'm not sure if this helps, but here are a few photos of the setup.
        PXL_20211107_160924960_compress18.jpg
        Attached Files

        Comment

        • Mike90250
          Moderator
          • May 2009
          • 16020

          #5
          If those are the connections of the BMS, it's looking real nasty, like someone splattered spray foam all over? What is all that crud ?
          Powerfab top of pole PV mount (2) | Listeroid 6/1 w/st5 gen head | XW6048 inverter/chgr | Iota 48V/15A charger | Morningstar 60A MPPT | 48V, 800A NiFe Battery (in series)| 15, Evergreen 205w "12V" PV array on pole | Midnight ePanel | Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV ||
          || Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
          || VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A

          solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
          gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister

          Comment

          • bajabig10
            Junior Member
            • Jun 2020
            • 4

            #6
            Originally posted by Mike90250
            If those are the connections of the BMS, it's looking real nasty, like someone splattered spray foam all over? What is all that crud ?
            It's a product called QuickCote+. The house is right on the beach and it's to prevent corrosion.

            Comment

            • Mike90250
              Moderator
              • May 2009
              • 16020

              #7
              I still suspect the BMS is sensing something and shutting the battery down. Odd for an inverter to do that on it's own.
              Powerfab top of pole PV mount (2) | Listeroid 6/1 w/st5 gen head | XW6048 inverter/chgr | Iota 48V/15A charger | Morningstar 60A MPPT | 48V, 800A NiFe Battery (in series)| 15, Evergreen 205w "12V" PV array on pole | Midnight ePanel | Grundfos 10 SO5-9 with 3 wire Franklin Electric motor (1/2hp 240V 1ph ) on a timer for 3 hr noontime run - Runs off PV ||
              || Midnight Classic 200 | 10, Evergreen 200w in a 160VOC array ||
              || VEC1093 12V Charger | Maha C401 aa/aaa Charger | SureSine | Sunsaver MPPT 15A

              solar: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Solar
              gen: http://tinyurl.com/LMR-Lister

              Comment

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