[RE-wrenches] Fortress Shutdown?

Tue Aug 27 16:43:01 PDT 2024

Just curious what high SoC is?  I set mine for 95% or so and do not 
worry about the last few %.

Have not seen this problem but do not use fortress. Should not have shut 
downs offgrid except LBCO or lightning.

I really think that an SPD should be on the battery as well as AC in and 
out these days,
especially with a 48V BMS.  Tempting the demons!

Dave Angelini Offgrid Solar
"we go where powerlines don't"
    [1]https://offgridsolar1.com/ [2]  [1]
e-mail  offgridsolar at sti.net
text 209 813 0060

On 2024-08-27 4:19 pm, Maverick Brown via RE-wrenches wrote:

> Ray
> 
> I think you are on to something.
> 
> I have multiple eVault MAX batteries on a Radian and I have had 
> mysterious random shutdowns with high SOC before.
> 
> Could be they were off grid at the time or had a big load shut off 
> causing a voltage bounce.
> 
> The batteries are comm'd together but not to the Radian, of course.
> 
> If that is the case, I wonder if there is a newer battery firmware that 
> can over come this or in fact why a LiFePO4 can't go over 55.2 when 
> most have a 58.4V limit.
> 
> Thank you,
> 
> Maverick
> 
> Maverick Brown
> Off-Grid Solar Commander since 2006
> Maverick Solar Enterprises, Inc.
> * Solar Commander Remote Power
> * SunFlow Systems Cathodic Protection
> maverick at mavericksolar.com
> 512-460-9825
> 
>> On Aug 27, 2024, at 5:24 PM, Ray Walters via RE-wrenches 
>> <re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org> wrote:
> 
> Is it possible that a load shut off, and then the controllers over shot 
> the voltage long enough to shut the BMS off?  If so, what's the 
> solution? Lower absorb voltages?  I checked voltage calibration between 
> the various pieces of equipment.
> 
> Ray
> 
> On 8/27/2024 4:14 PM, Jerry Shafer via RE-wrenches wrote:
> 
> High voltage disconnect would do this, is the site monitored
> 
> Fun times
> 
> On Tue, Aug 27, 2024, 2:47 PM jay via RE-wrenches 
> <re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org> wrote:
> I have a buddy in tech support at Fortress.
> 
> I asked him and he said that elevated absorb volts above 55.2 could 
> cause this situation.
> And then the power cycle would reboot the BMS.
> 
> I am presuming its open loop, and the fact you mentioned that there was 
> more PV and then the shut down sure might be connected.
> You might check the charge voltages/time to make sure they are correct 
> and I can't remember if the classic has battery sense wire connections.
> 
> jay
> 
> On Aug 27, 2024, at 2:51 PM, Ray Walters via RE-wrenches 
> <re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org> wrote:
> 
> The SPD was on one of the PV inputs before it came into the house.  
> There were two Classics, each fed with its own PV input and SPD.  It 
> actually caused an underground splice to fail (high resistance) which I 
> replaced the splice and restored full voltage, and both Classics were 
> working fine.  Just seems unlikely ( but not impossible) that the surge 
> would make it past the Classic without damage, but then damage the 
> Fortress BMS in an otherwise imperceptible manner.   That is our 
> current best theory at the moment though.   I added an SPD on the 48 v 
> buss, before this latest total shutdown.
> 
> Ray Walters
> 
> On 8/27/2024 2:35 PM, Dave Angelini Offgrid Solar via RE-wrenches 
> wrote:
> When I have had someone lose an SPD (I assume it was on DC buss) there 
> is often latent damage (shows up later) to many of the devices.  In a 
> Hi Rel mode, it is recommended to replace it all. Most offgrid is not 
> that critical but try telling that to someone with rotten food.
> 
> The freezers and reefers are often full of spoils that smells never go 
> away. YUK !
> 
> Dave Angelini Offgrid Solar
> "we go where powerlines don't"
> [1]https://offgridsolar1.com/ [2]  [1]
> e-mail  offgridsolar at sti.net
> text 209 813 0060
> 
> On 2024-08-27 1:02 pm, Ray Walters via RE-wrenches wrote:
> Greetings All;
> 
> I have Fortress Battery installation with a pair of E Vault batteries 
> set up in a Master/ Slave arrangement.  Its been working fine for over 
> a year, but the customer just had a complete shutdown of the batteries 
> which left multiple freezers, and refrigerator with rotting food.   
> When he rebooted the batteries by turning on/off the main breaker on 
> each, they both come up and showed 100% SOC on the Master, and 98% on 
> the other.    There were no fault codes.   I just recently installed a 
> larger PV array, and so the system has been reaching full charge every 
> morning.
> 
> I have multiple calls in to Fortress, but not hearing anything back 
> from them at all.  We did have a lightning surge event a few months 
> ago, that damaged a Midnite SPD (first ever for me), and took out the 
> control board on the generator.  One VFX inverter has an LED out, but 
> we only use two inverters of the Quad stack, so I just switched to 
> another inverter.  All other equipment appeared fine: Midnite 
> controllers, rest of the Outback VFX quad stack, and never any issues 
> seen with the Fortress batteries.
> 
> The other odd thing, is since he rebooted the batteries, the system is 
> working fine, and recharging to 100%  by 9:30 am as before.    Is it 
> possible the Fortress BMS were damaged and are now having an 
> intermittent shutdown issue?  I did ask him to temporarily disconnect 
> the comms between batteries, in case it is a bad BMS on one, it will 
> isolate it from the other.
> 
> This is a tough one to figure out, since it hasn't happened again, and 
> there are no fault codes.  The Mate 3 shows a low frequency AC code, 
> but that's usually just from the generator shutting down.    Any help, 
> ideas, experiences, would be greatly appreciated.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Ray Walters
> Remote Solar
> 
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