Multiplus II 48/5000 and Pylontech US5000 cells unbalanced

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gianluca asked May 11, '23

Multiplus II 48/5000 and Pylontech US5000 cells unbalanced

Dear sirs,

I am writing to report a problem with the US5000 series batteries in combination with Multiplus II 48/5000.

System installation details are as follows:

N. 1 Victron inverter model: Multiplus II 48 V 5000 VA

No. 1 MPPT Victron model: Smart Solar MPPT RS 450/100

N.2 Batteries Pylontech model: US5000

We had the following problems starting from 25.04.2023:

- during the day N. 5 inverter shutdown vith interruption of VAC OUT with no apparent reason (see state OFF of VE Bus)

- at 19:40 the inverter signals "LOW BATTERIES" but the SOC was 97% and the Maximum and minimum cell Voltage was 3,32 V

- from this moment untill 08.05.23 we have no longer shut down of the inverter but from the following day (27.04.2023) we have noticed an imbalance in the cells:

Maximum cell voltage 3.51V

Minimum cell voltage 3.35V

and SOC did not rise above 97% while before was reaching 100%

Starting from 08.05.2023 we have again many other shutdown of the inverter with VAC out interruption:

From the 08.05.2023 one of the batteries, when the system is full charged, did not light up the last green led while the other batterie have all the green leds on

The interpelled Victron distributor told me that's a Battery problem, the battery distributor tell me that there is an issue between all the Multiplus II and Pylontech US5000 and is reccomending not to use the US5000 but only the US3000C with Multipluss...

So as per evidence we are in the middle, somebody can help us?

Multiplus-II Pylontech

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Answer 1 · 2023-05-12T12:59:24Z

ponzoa answered · May 12, 2023 at 12:59 PM

It sounds similar top a problem I had with US3000C batteries. I solved it updating the battery firmware and imagine this is what will need to be done by th ePylotech distributor.

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Answer 2 · 2023-05-13T11:31:25Z

gianluca answered · May 13, 2023 at 11:31 AM

Thank you for the information, has you done the firmware update by yourself or the distributor has done for you?

How can I handle, do you have acces to firmware updates, software and connection cables for the batteries?

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ponzoa commented · May 15, 2023 at 08:00 AM

I don't have it for the US5000, only the 3000C which can be found here. The cable and software used to update it is the same

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1TCyrFXALgZdh50h9w0IbLDzBCqKaM3te?usp=share_link

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ponzoa commented · May 15, 2023 at 08:31 AM

I don't have firmware for the US5000, only the 3000C which can be found here. The cable and software used to update it is the same

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1TCyrFXALgZdh50h9w0IbLDzBCqKaM3te?usp=share_link

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gianluca ponzoa commented · May 15, 2023 at 01:20 PM

Thank you for the support

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gianluca ponzoa commented · May 15, 2023 at 01:22 PM

I’m trying to contact pylontech support but no answer from 10 days. Do you have other channels to get support on their batteries?

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ponzoa gianluca commented · May 15, 2023 at 02:30 PM

Your distributor should do this so please contact them.

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dayandnight ponzoa commented · May 15, 2023 at 07:19 PM

Hello!

I agree totally with @ponzoa ! That's the job of the pylontech dealer. In case something wents wrong during update you will left alone with a non functional pylontech unit.

Anyway the first and most important task,before updating will be to set both batteries to same SOC level. I use for "pre"-balancing always an external power supply/battery charger like this one.

I didn't do it, but I think the suggestion of @sharpener "Possibly running ESS in Keep Batteries Charged mode for a few days will allow/force the cells to re-balance and that might fix it." will work, too.

I suggest additional to get the right interface cable and battery view software to check manually real SOC level.

Wish you success! Keep fingers crossed!

Servus - DayAndNight

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Answer 3 · 2023-05-13T11:36:04Z

nickdb answered · May 13, 2023 at 11:36 AM

Couple of things, have you ever left a mk3 usb device connected to the system while still connected to a GX? This can't be done, the mk3 must be removed for the system to work properly.

Also, not getting to a 100% is well documented behaviour, it is in the config document and will resolve as batteries balance.

Pylon have a process to make sure all batteries are balanced before using them - it is in their installation document.

Mixing new/newer packs with different levels of charge will also cause this.

All things easily rectified by following all the documentation.

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gianluca commented · May 13, 2023 at 03:21 PM

The mk3 usb has been removed after installation, the system has been working without any problem for more than 2 months after the installation, reaching gradually the 100% until the 26.04 when the first shutdown series happened

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gianluca commented · May 13, 2023 at 03:23 PM

The 2 Pylontech batteries where new

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Answer 4 · 2023-05-13T17:15:35Z

sharpener answered · May 13, 2023 at 05:15 PM

<Maximum cell voltage 3.51V

Minimum cell voltage 3.35V>

The difference of 160mV strikes me as quite a lot. With 2 Pylon Force-L2 modules which are similar technology I saw a maximum of 20mV, and after I added another module it is 30mV.

So as the system was working OK previously I wonder if you have a defective cell. If you use Remote Console to look at the State of Health what does it say (mine is 98% after 1 year)?

Possibly running ESS in Keep Batteries Charged mode for a few days will allow/force the cells to re-balance and that might fix it.

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gianluca commented · May 15, 2023 at 07:20 AM

Hi, I isolate the unbalanced battery, connected alone to the system keeping batteries charged from remote console and limiting the maximum charging current to 1 A. The battery is in this condition from 15 hours and the difference on the cells remain the same and the SOC doesn’t move from 89%

The state of health is 100%

If you have any suggestion..

Thank you

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Guy Stewart (Victron Community Manager) ♦♦ gianluca commented · May 16, 2023 at 04:14 AM

Hi @Gianluca,

1A will not be enough to balance the battery, try for 10A, and if that is too much and causes problems, then try for 5A.

Regards, Guy

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gianluca Guy Stewart (Victron Community Manager) ♦♦ commented · May 19, 2023 at 07:42 AM

Hi, I set the maximum charge current to 10 A, in 3 days i got the lower cell rising of 20 mV.. Maybe in 15 days I will have the cells balanced?

Thank you for the support

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gianluca Guy Stewart (Victron Community Manager) ♦♦ commented · May 19, 2023 at 07:57 AM

In VRM the status of battery is continuosly bouncing from charging to idle and dischargin, loock like that when the highest cell reach the maximum voltage the system try to discharge to decrease the tension and then try to charge again maintaining this loop

Regards,

Gianluca

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Answer 5 · 2023-05-15T08:50:14Z

daza answered · May 15, 2023 at 08:50 AM

Are you on the grid? If so Run the inverter in charge mode for a couple of days in order to rebalance the batteries.

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gianluca commented · May 15, 2023 at 10:42 AM

Yea I’m on grid, and the battery is on “keep battery charged” from yesterday, I wil see if any improvement happens. Thank you

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dirk-s gianluca commented · May 16, 2023 at 03:36 AM

Csn you See that the battery is balancing? Meinst die lifestyle cell voltage goes Up with voltage abd the highest hieß down a litten bit? Is the Status in VRM or Console still "charging"?

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gianluca dirk-s commented · May 19, 2023 at 07:55 AM

Hi, I'm keeping batteries charged from remote console set the maximum charge current to 10 A, in 3 days i got the lower cell rising of 20 mV..

In VRM the status of battery is contimuosly bouncing from charging to idle and dischargin, loock like that when the highest cell reach the maximum voltage the system try to discharge to decrease the tension and then try to charge again maintaining this loop

Maybe in 15 days I will have the cells balanced?

Thank you for the support

Regards,

Gianluca

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