OutBack Power Technologies User Forum

I made a post yesterday requesting help regarding my Outback inverter system. Can you please approve it so that someone who might be of help will see it? Your post appeared yesterday afternoon here (edit -- it was probably written then, but it's here now): https://forum.outbackpower.com/viewtopic.p...

gpearce52 wrote: ↑Thu May 05, 2022 11:21 am Anyone have a source for refurbished/used Outback inverters and charge controllers?

https://www.ebay.com/b/OutBack-Power-Al ... n_71608706

In my rural setting there's also the issue with power outages. Whether it's wildfires in the summer or snow (or just wind!) in the winter, PG&E uses any excuse to declare a Public Safety Power Shutoff, which can last well over 24 hours. Many days I can't go that long without heating or cooling. ...

Is your inverter set up to feed power back to the grid? If so, I believe that's not compatible with Global Charger Control:


Otherwise, no ideas here...

It would be great if there was a solution that could be done from Optics. So far all these ideas (breaker resets, force float, et al) require hands-on intervention at the FM. If you're out of town when you discover the problem ....

Of course, being asleep would still be an issue

raysun wrote: ↑Wed Apr 27, 2022 12:06 pm Has anyone tried power cycling the FlexMax when this occurs?

Not me, but that's a good idea -- PV off, batt off, batt on, PV on? If it happens again someday I'll try it.

raysun wrote: ↑Tue Apr 26, 2022 2:55 pm Charge controller is properly calibrated (via hardware), correct?

In my case, I didn't adjust the pot inside, just from Optics. If it happened more, I'd get more serious .

raysun wrote: ↑Tue Apr 26, 2022 2:37 pm I figured.

It hasn't been stated, but I assume the battery voltage is actually dropping below the Float Voltage, correct?

Correct.

Its an interesting issue. Here's what the manual says about Charged status: Screenshot_20220426-100057_Word.jpg The FM enters the "charged" state after absorb ends, and then gets stuck there, without any other charging source running. It's a rare bug, which I haven't seen more than 2-3 ti...

raysun wrote: ↑Tue Apr 26, 2022 11:20 am How is an FM80 discharging the battery? That isn't really possible. Do you mean, the FM80 is not adding charge to the battery?

Yes, it's the loads that are discharging the battery. But the FM just stops harvesting any PV until you notice and fix the problem.

However, that issue with the FM80 going into 'charged' mode isnt due to battery issues. I suspect it is a bug in its software that causes it to do that sometimes instead of returning to float after it finishes absorb. Once it starts doing that, it can be difficult to get it to stop. What I do is sh...

We have a 4kW array, but with snow reflection in February, and clear days in the late fall or early spring, we can achieve 4.7kW, which comes out to just under 100A and seems to trip the charge controller circuit breaker, very frustrating to lose production for a half hour or more until it's discov...

Mike Curran wrote: ↑Fri Apr 08, 2022 9:05 am I have the -01 model and it has an HBCO setting.

Good to know :-)

I think it's even worse than just FX vs FXR. I have a VFXR3524A and it doesn't have an adjustable HBCO. Maybe the A-01 would, but I only have LBCO.

Mike Curran wrote: ↑Wed Apr 06, 2022 8:04 am
Provo - How do you reach your (daily) absorb setpoints without having auto grid-tie control enabled?

That was pss, not me -- I never sell...

Generator mode seems to draw less AC input current and deliver less DC charging current, relative to Support. I've not done any careful calculation to derive the conversion efficiency of each mode. That would be an interesting exercise. Yes it would be :grin: ..... Just out of curiosity, do you sti...

In another thread (https://forum.outbackpower.com/viewtopic.php?t=17294), raysun wrote the following: "'If the inverter operating Mode is Generator, the charger uses a different algorithm than in Support, and seems to draw less input current." I had heard that Support used a more efficient...

Mike Curran wrote: ↑Thu Mar 31, 2022 12:54 pm I have not noticed having to log in to see most recent posts. FWIW

Thanks for the reply -- good to know. It's only on a couple threads, so maybe just a weird glitch.

I should know this by now, but do I have to be logged in to the User Forum to see the latest posts? Clicking on Active Topics (under Quick Links) doesn't bring up several recent threads unless I login first.

I don't think it always worked that way (?)

I notice the recommended charge voltage is 14.2-14.6V. You might want to set absorb at the low end of that range. SimpliPhi recommends 6m at 28.2V for absorb (it's the same chemistry) which would be equivalent to 14.1V for a 12.8V LiFePO4 battery.

14.2V might be a bit less stressful than 14.6V.

Currently have 2-24V banks with 4-6V AGMs 220AH, Off Grid, and contemplating an upgrade to increase storage capacity from 440AH, say to 880AH +-. Do not wish to change to 48V system. Would appreciate advice from anyone with similar experience. So you have two parallel strings with four 6V 220Ah AGM...

jainsw wrote: ↑Mon Mar 28, 2022 10:59 am I suppose so. Anyway, the CCs are set lower so we will see how that works out.

Why not just drop the inverter float V to the lowest you can go? Then you don't have to worry (as much) about those "mysterious settings changes" that seem to happen occasionally ...

twistedtree wrote: ↑Sat Mar 26, 2022 3:18 pm
The inverters keep disconnecting with "Island Detect" as the reason. It works OK on grid power.

From the VFXR Manual:


Pretty vague...

raysun wrote: ↑Sun Mar 27, 2022 7:38 am
Empirically, switching from Support to Generator with no other parameter changes reduces inverter charging current by about 1/3.

That's significant! So I assume you still use Support mode with the EU7000, since it works. It also works with my EU3000 the rare cases when the grid is down...

• The OB support technicians will pretty much insist on using Generator mode. I followed this guidance to get through debugging the issue I was addressing, but I didn't care for charging being throttled. Could you explain the charging being throttled a bit more? I remember you saying Generator mode...