Hi all.
Please could you assist me or point me in the right direction.
I have a new quattro 8000va and 1 x 250/70 smart solar mppt and 1 x 150/60 smart solar mppt and 1 x venus GX. I'm trying to power up everything with a pylontech 3.5kw battery, so that I can configure the settings. I am able to power up the mppt's and venus no problem, but as soon as I try to power up the quattro, it trips the battery alarm. The battery is well charged with about 60-80% SOC.
Many thanks in advance.
Jason
Jason, you need to ensure that the Venus GX is active and booted into running mode. Otherwise the Pylontechs will not start up. Secondly you can use the mppts, if already connected to PVs and active to charge the Quattro capacitors to reduce the inrush current. As already pointed out, one Pylontech will overcurrent with the 8000VA unit.
I used this approach to power up my MPII without major issues. Connected the venus gx and Pylontechs on the one side of the battery disconnects. Started the pylons with the on switch and run button. Let the Venus gx boot up. Connected the MPII with the MPPTs on the otherside of the Battery quick disconnect and start up the MPPT. Once the voltage on both sides of the quick disconnects has stabilized, close the quick connect and start the MPII.
Many thanks @ejrossouw. Yes I did consult with a professional - I actually have 4 x 3.5kw pylontech batteries (14kw nominal) I have no load on the inverter yet, as I am only trying to set it up. I thought that using only 1 battery would suffice, but it seems not (with inrush currents etc.) If I connected 2,3 or 4 batteries would that suffice?
Once again many thanks for your help - and for inserting that helpful link as well
My pleasure. Personally, I would just connect all four batteries to be sure. Indeed as grubsner mentioned, there has to be a keep alive signal on most smart lithium batteries, but that does explain the alarm. I was just thinking, I powered MPIIs up only from the grid to configure it and that may also be possible with the quattro. Maybe someone else knows.
Hi @jasonvanwyk.
For your system the battery is much too small and the startup surge will trip it up for sure.
Did you consult with an installer or qualified professional to size tyour system correctly?
https://www.victronenergy.com/live/battery_compatibility:pylontech_phantom
Good Morning, we are installing 5 x pylon tech equivalent Lithium with an 8kw Quattro right now. You can see the video on Youtube. We run double power leads. We saw a similar situation to your question and solved it by ensuring the CANbus services in Venus are set at 500pbs and the host battery is correctly configured with CANbus to slaves with CAN terminator fitted. We commissioned last night and got everything running well after upgrading the Quattro firmware. We are using the new VE Configure tool. Cheers
Hi Jason
You can power it up with one but it will take some trips. Exactly what you said the inrush current needed to charge the Quattros caps is larger than 100A which is the Pylontechs max output. But if you start with the Quattro and charge the caps with the pylontech, Essentially you will need to turn it on and let it trip, and then turn it on and let it trip after 3/4 trips it should stay on permanently, the quicker you do this the fewer trips you will need to do. If you have the Venus (power supply) connected to the Quattro's input it will take maybe 1 trip more, as the venus drains the caps between trips. Essentially you are slowly raising the voltage level of the caps so that less than 100A is needed to charge them.
Hope this helps.
