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Question [Solved] EG4 website - Missing Battery Detail Data

 
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Last Post by teeumup 17 hours ago
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Posts: 15
 dlwittsr
Topic starter
November 8, 2024 9:35 pm
(@dlwittsr)
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18KPV w/ 4 Wall Mount All-Weather batteries using closed-loop communications

Battery detail data is missing from the EG4 monitoring site (monitor.eg4electronics.com).

Examples found online from EG4 as well as assorted 18KPv users installations and conversations show individual battery data displayed in tabular form on the EG4 site. The battery data appears on the Monitor page below the SN data and before the graphs begin.

  • EG4 – Cataloging a Year of EG45 Monitor Center Changes.

The presence of 4 batteries as indicated on the EG4 monitor site which suggests the close-loop communications between inverter and the battery chain is operating, as well as manual calculations verifying the inverter displayed SOC matches our calculation.

image

So, what's going on? Or rather, how does this get fixed?

 

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Monitor All Weather Power Pro 18KPV
37 Replies
Jared
Posts: 253
 Jared
Admin
November 8, 2024 9:39 pm
(@jared)
Technical Solutions Supervisor
Joined: 6 months ago

Make sure that the battery firmware is version Z02T17 or newer, with the CAN protocol set to EG4/LUX and the inverter's Lithium brand setting configured to 1.

image

 

image
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1 Reply
 teeumup
(@teeumup)
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April 9, 2025 2:13 pm
Reply toJaredJared

@jared Well, after much noodling and acumulating all the pieces and parts, here is where I am

Firmware is updated on 3 batteries to Z02T17

The dip switches are in their proper order per the manual's pictures

CAN protocol is set to EG4/LUX, and the inverter's Lithium brand setting is configured to 1

Under configuration/devices, I show 3 batteries, but I will say that any changes to the configuration takes the monitoring software quite a while to pick it up, long lag, but eventually, it does show all 3 batteries, and that is the only place it shows it.  The phone app also only shows 2 batteries no matter what configuration the system is in

A new dongle was installed, which did work partly, and I now see 2 of the 3 batteries.  I replaced all ethernet cables with known "good" ones, but still, only 2 batteries are shown.  I thought maybe the order of the ethernet jumpers between battery RJ45 ports was important, so I have adjusted every conceivable position without effect.  

Are the 2 RJ45 ethernet ports on each battery in some kind of series/parallel loop? and does it matter how each battery is jumpered between them, cause that is all I have left.  What is even more odd, I always have just 2 batteries shown, and I always have the master battery shown, but in one RJ45 configuration, I get master and battery 2, and in another configuration, I get master and battery 3, so the hardware appears to be working.

The manual shows a picture where the ethernet cables go from the 2 RJ45 ports on the master battery to each secondary battery, so I did that, and I got the master and battery 3.  I then tried jumpering from one master RJ45 port to battery 2 and from battery 2's RJ45 port to battery 3's RJ45 port, and I then get only the master and battery 2 shown.  At no time do I ever get all 3 batteries?

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Posts: 15
 dlwittsr
Topic starter
November 8, 2024 10:03 pm
(@dlwittsr)
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Joined: 5 months ago

Thank you. All batteries are version Z02T13 - so they all need upgrading. Where is the file?

I was also advised earlier by S2 phone call to set CAN protocol to P07-LUX. Easy to change once the fw file is provided.

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Jared
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 Jared
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November 8, 2024 10:21 pm
(@jared)
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You can find the firmware file at the following link: Allweather Firmware

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4 Replies
 teeumup
(@teeumup)
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Posts: 11
March 30, 2025 2:24 pm
Reply toJaredJared

@jared Can you link me to either a video or documentation on how to upgrade the firmware on the batteries?

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Joel Brodeur
 Joel Brodeur
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March 30, 2025 4:07 pm
Reply toteeumup
Jared

@teeumup There is an Update guide buried in the zip file in the link provided by Jared.  There are 2 updates in the zip file an RS232 update and an RS485 update.  Both updates are needed.  According to the docs the 232 update is first, then the 485. 

You will need both a 485 cable as well as a 232 cable before starting. 

Sometimes the easiest solution is the best solution.
Sometimes not.

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 teeumup
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March 30, 2025 7:12 pm
Reply toJoel BrodeurJoel Brodeur
Jared

@joel-brodeur Thanks for the direction, I missed that in the file!

Can you tell me if these cables are anything special, or can I get them on Amazon, as they are pretty pricey from EG4, about $40 for 2 cables?

Powerpro BMS Update- RS232 RJ45 Pins (4-Rx, 5-Tx)

Powerpro LCD Update- RS485 RJ45 Pins (1-B, 2-A)

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Joel Brodeur
 Joel Brodeur
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March 30, 2025 10:25 pm
Reply toteeumup
Joel Brodeur
Jared

@teeumup I have read that a few people have built their own.  The pin outs are in the documentation.  Personally, I trust professional built ones, not so much that they are any better but at least you can point a finger at someone if it doesn't work instead of the other way around.

Sometimes the easiest solution is the best solution.
Sometimes not.

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Posts: 15
 dlwittsr
Topic starter
November 10, 2024 1:18 am
(@dlwittsr)
Eminent Member
Joined: 5 months ago

Thank you for the quick information!

Unfortunately, still no detailed battery data or battery breakdown tables on the monitoring site. 

All 4 batteries now show version Z02T17 on the LCD screens, and the CAN protocol was changed to the first setting of EG4/LUX. The 18KPV was already set to Lithium battery type 1. The inverter reporting is the same as before - it knows the 4 batteries are there and presents a good SOC - just no detailed data broken down by battery,

I was unable to flash the RS232 part - the R232 downloader program reported errors and none of the documented responses helped. Is this something to work on, or is there a Plan B to correct this problem?

Thanks

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19 Replies
Jared
 Jared
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November 12, 2024 3:38 pm
Reply todlwittsr

@dlwittsr I apologize for the delay. Is the RS485 protocol also set to EG4? If so, I would recommend changing this to a separate protocol.

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 teeumup
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March 29, 2025 4:27 pm
Reply todlwittsr

@dlwittsr did you ever figure this out. I have 3 powerpros and a 18kv and I have never had any detailed battery info.  I just added the 3rd battery and I only show 12kw total capacity yet the battery is charging/discharging and I have the capacity to draw from but the app's never show the correct battery info

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 dlwittsr
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Joined: 5 months ago

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March 29, 2025 9:17 pm
Reply toteeumup

@teeumup Yes - Jared solved this. The Wifi dongle vintage is the issue. Older ones cannot read battery information. Maybe the firmware discussion above was important - but changing the dongles enabled battery detail breakdowns on the monitoring website. The WiFi dongles that work here have serial numbers starting with BJ. I also tested a RJ45 dongle - it worked too.

The rest of this is just my opinion developed from testing.

I believe individual battery details are critical for managing parallel (and single) battery packs. That's more for the long-term cell health management. Eventually, when cells begin to fade that data will be available as the cell min/max variation. But the EG4 solution is still lacking - battery detail data is not recorded like inverter data. We cannot analyze historical trends with their tool.

For the short term, individual battery pack data is less helpful for SOC monitoring than hoped. That's because I found the all-weather wall mounts I use are poor at tracking charge. The BMS SOC reports between four parallel packs all lose accuracy over just a handful of cycles (cycles that do not peak at 100%). The error quickly exceeds 30% - which causes unexpected shutdowns when running on the low end of SOC. And again, the lack of EG4 historical data limits my ability to monitor and troubleshoot customer experiences of this "unexpected shutdown" event. EG4's advice to fully charge and hold that voltage until current drops off is necessary not just to balance but more importantly to correct the BMS errors and prevent surprise outages.

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 teeumup
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March 30, 2025 2:29 pm
Reply todlwittsr

@dlwittsr OK  I will by the RJ45 dongle as I pulled a CAT6 to that location

I also noticed that not all of my batteries are the right firmware. Do you have a link to either a video or document that shows me how to upgrade the firmware?  I understand it's not as easy as the inverter and requires a laptop and cable to do it.  I agree that seeing each battery's health is critical data to me.  Glad I like to tinker, as this equipment definitely requires a little bit of management.

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 teeumup
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April 3, 2025 10:21 pm
Reply todlwittsr

@dlwittsr I now show a total of 2 batteries and 560Ah, which would be correct for 2 batteries, but I have 3. I replaced all Ethernet cables between the inverter and the batteries with new CAT6 ones, and a second battery showed up, but still missing one and also missing any separate battery analytics.  So I either have a bad ethernet port of I still have a bad cable.  I have the firmware cables coming tomorrow and the new wifi dongle, so I will see if this changes anything.  There is a mismatch between the firmware, and I do have the wrong wifi dongle, so hopefully, that will fix everything.  I appreciate everyone's help with this problem.  It's something I have been working on for a while, but I was a bit neverous updating the battery firmware in the summer!  In AZ, the summer is the time for stupid utility rates and heat, and I did not want to brick the battery.  Going to risk it tomorrow since it's actually cold in AZ right now.  I do have access to the capacity of the 3 batteries, just not any data

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 dlwittsr
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Joined: 5 months ago

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April 3, 2025 11:52 pm
Reply toteeumup

@teeumup Sounds like you are almost there. Maybe the firmware mismatch is the root cause. At least you can be sure the settings are all correct since two batteries are talking.

I believe we experimentally determined the battery comms were only CAN protocol. At one point we purposely set the battery RS485 protocols to unworkable settings in the BMS and the inverter still communicated fine.

I think we found the RS485 battery firmware instructions buried (pdf file) in the .zip file download with the tool and firmware files. It's been a while, so the details escape me. The firmware download file had two parts, RS485 and RS232. The RS485 software tool worked well with the cable/dongle from Signature Solar. We never could understand or perform the part 2 (RS232) update. 

These types of experiences with the brand caused us to step back from more sites using them. Too many undocumented 'secrets'. We are watching and hoping the company can mature-there is an important opportunity for them.

Good luck!

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 dlwittsr
(@dlwittsr)
Joined: 5 months ago

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Posts: 15
March 29, 2025 9:28 pm
Reply toteeumup

@teeumup I might add - the inverter will report the correct charge capacity (based on number of packs) as amperage - even without showing the details of each pack. That's 600 amps for 3 packs. If not, that may be firmware/protocols/wiring like Jared walked me through. I found my inverters were reading all the packs OK for several protocols and firmware; it was forgiving. I did have a comm cable failure early on.

On website: Configuration->Devices always showed the correct pack count for me.

Screenshot 2025 03 29 172426
Screenshot 2025 03 29 172522

My issue, and the dongle solution, related only to monitoring website information.

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 teeumup
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March 30, 2025 2:32 pm
Reply todlwittsr

@dlwittsr This is the other issue I need to work on. I have 3 batteries, but only one is shown.  This happened when I installed the second battery, and EG4 fixed it remotely. and I don't know what they did.  I have access to the capacity, but the graphics only show 1 battery

 

Screenshot 2025 03 30 073040
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Eric
 Eric
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Eric - Facebook
March 31, 2025 8:20 pm
Reply toteeumup

@teeumup
In order to get battery information on the monitoring website, you need to have a E-Wi-Fi dongle starting with BJ, BG, BE, or DJ and you also need to have either LL-S, Lifepower4- V2 or WallMount batteries. 

If you need further assistance with this, please let me know.

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 teeumup
(@teeumup)
Joined: 6 months ago

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Posts: 11
March 31, 2025 9:31 pm
Reply toEricEric

@eric, my system is pretty new, and I paid for the wifi dongle, and now it's not the right version...my SN starts with BA

so I guess I now have to buy a new dongle to get very basic analytics that everyone should be able to see to track the health of their battery

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Eric
 Eric
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April 1, 2025 5:38 pm
Reply toteeumup
Eric

@teeumup No worries! I can send you another dongle. Please send me a private message with your full name, number and address.

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 teeumup
(@teeumup)
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Posts: 11
April 1, 2025 6:10 pm
Reply toEricEric
Eric

@eric how do i send you a private message

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Joel Brodeur
 Joel Brodeur
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April 1, 2025 6:58 pm
Reply toteeumup
Eric
Eric

@teeumup 

image

Click on red first then on green

Sometimes the easiest solution is the best solution.
Sometimes not.

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 teeumup
(@teeumup)
Joined: 6 months ago

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Posts: 11
April 2, 2025 12:09 am
Reply toJoel BrodeurJoel Brodeur
Eric

@joel-brodeur Thanks, Joel. still working through the subtleties of the forum!

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 [email protected]
(@thomaspugmail-com)
Joined: 2 months ago

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Posts: 9
April 1, 2025 12:17 pm
Reply toEricEric

@eric So what does a person do who has a dongle with older firmware? Surely these can be upgraded?

image

Mine starts with "BC"... so I would guess thats too old and that is why my batteries voltages are not reported? I would really like to be able to display battery stats so I can keep an eye on battery health without needing to hookup my laptop to the battery pack.

Here's what I see on my dashboard:

image

My dongle has a physical LAN connection (no wifi). Are these able to be upgraded?

Paul

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Eric
 Eric
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April 1, 2025 5:46 pm
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Eric

@thomaspugmail-com Which batteries do you have? Also, make sure that the Lithium brand is set to 1

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 [email protected]
(@thomaspugmail-com)
Joined: 2 months ago

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April 1, 2025 6:08 pm
Reply toEricEric
Eric

@eric I have 4 EG4 LifePower4  batteries (48V@100amp)

It could be the battery type. I'll have to double check the manual before I change this setting. Its currently set to "0:EG4"

image
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Eric
 Eric
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Eric - Facebook
April 1, 2025 8:06 pm
Reply to[email protected]
Eric
Eric

@thomaspugmail-com
You need either a LL-S, WallMount or a Lifepower4 V-2 battery.

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 [email protected]
(@thomaspugmail-com)
Joined: 2 months ago

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April 3, 2025 4:18 pm
Reply to[email protected]
Eric

Further info about dongle firmware versions. Timothy from Signature Solar responded to an email I sent asking for more info. He stated that:

All dongles, except those starting with BA, can report detailed battery information. It also depends on which battery model you have. The LifePower4 V1 model cannot communicate detailed information to the inverter.

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