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josh-sipma avatar image
josh-sipma asked

Multiplus 2 48/3000 unexplainable low battery alarm

Really confused by this issue. I have 52.7 V at the multiplus positive and negative terminals. 52.75 V at the battery terminals. System is using two 24 V 200ah victron batteries, controlled by a lynx smart BMS.


The inverter will not even power on, because it instantly gives a low battery error when turned on. When the inverter is turned off via the switch, the system functions perfectly and as expected. VE bus Cable is connected to the VE bus port on a Cerbo. Lynx Smart BMS CAN bus is connected to Cerbo’s CAN bus.


Can’t figure this one out! Any ideas?

Multiplus-II48v batterylow battery warning
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shaneyake avatar image shaneyake commented ·

What do you mean by "When the inverter is turned off via the switch, the system functions perfectly and as expected"? Can you turn it on using inverter switch?

How are you trying to turn on the inverter? Do you have an isolation switch? If so how are your pre-charging the inverter?

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josh-sipma avatar image josh-sipma shaneyake commented ·
When I turn the inverter off via the switch on the bottom, the system works as expected. Using the inverter switch (on the bottom of the unit) is when it goes into low battery mode and won’t turn on.


I’m just turning it on via the physical switch on the bottom. The Lynx BMS has a precharging circuit (AFAIK) and shouldn’t be the issue


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olegv avatar image
olegv answered ·

1678175039635.png

Which settings? 2 * Dyness A48100


1678175039635.png (46.7 KiB)
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ponzoa avatar image ponzoa commented ·
Check the battery configurations on the spec sheet of the battery.


More importantly, if you have an ESS setup, check in the ESS Assistant the Dynamic Cut Off settings, your issue is likely to be there.

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olegv avatar image olegv ponzoa commented ·
No ESS
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ponzoa avatar image ponzoa olegv commented ·
OK, what about the settings in the INVERTER tab. Especially "DC input low shut-down"
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olegv avatar image olegv ponzoa commented ·

Got it, thanks

1678203581843.png


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olegv avatar image
olegv answered ·

+1, the same problem, but 48/5000

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Laurens D avatar image
Laurens D answered ·

Can you post your settings, that might give people an understanding what you did.

To me it seems that the BMS is configured (incorrectly) with a high voltage for alarm, so it'll report the current state.

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myvicrocks avatar image
myvicrocks answered ·

Low Battery has been the bain of my life for the last 5 months - have a look at the list I created here to check for this type of issue - VE.Bus System [276] Low battery: Alarm - drive me crazy - Victron Community (victronenergy.com)


Might help might not but there is a lot of info on things to check on there. I feel your pain I have the same with the inverters just shutting down.

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josh-sipma avatar image josh-sipma commented ·
Thanks for sharing this! Have you found a solution? I read through the thread. Looks like no great news. I have no ESS system set up—so it couldnt be that.
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olegv avatar image
olegv answered ·

Lot of customers with the same/similar problem :(

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philipp-klaehn avatar image
philipp-klaehn answered ·

unbenannt.pngHey Guys,

I have the same issue since a few days. (End of February).

My Victron ESS System with a Pylontech Force battery pack is active since 1,5 years.

I changed nothing and from one day to another a got several alarms per day.




unbenannt.png (97.4 KiB)
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myvicrocks avatar image myvicrocks commented ·
You getting just alarms or is the system shutting down?
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olegv avatar image olegv myvicrocks commented ·

For me - unexpected shutdown

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olegv avatar image olegv commented ·

To be honest, it's not too often for me as on bitmap. My system (3*MP2 48/5000+2*Dyness A48100) lives about a month only, and I got probably 4 cases. Not fatal, but no explanation. Maybe combination of in/out power/SOC/etc, who knows, no idea how to track. The lowest SOC ever - 76%, too far from real "low battery"

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Meine_Energiewende avatar image Meine_Energiewende olegv commented ·
Hmmmm .... 2 x Dyness A48100 for a 3 phase MP2 5000 ? These packs are not able to deliver peaks above 75 Amps as far as i know. Every MP2 5000 needs up to 100 Amps (200 Amps peak). Maybe you have a electrical motor starting (fridge compressor etc) and that causes this warnings ? Dimensioning the battery packs the quite important.


Jens

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olegv avatar image olegv Meine_Energiewende commented ·
Agree that it's not enough, from the battery I can get not more than 75*2*48 = ~7kWt. But it's OK for my 1st priority devices. Initially I planed to have 1 MP2 8000, but waited 2 months without success :(. I'm from Ukraine, and it's critical to have power backup here. No technical problem to add additional battery, but money :)
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philipp-klaehn avatar image
philipp-klaehn answered ·

The inverter (2 Multiplus 3000 in parallel) works all the time. Since the last two weeks I notice the SOC dips. I had a constante load true the night and no heavy peaks. What is bad with this, is that the Multiplus sometime starts to reload the battery pack and then consume a few what hours from the grid. unbenannt.png


unbenannt.png (29.3 KiB)
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Alexandra avatar image Alexandra ♦ commented ·
@Philipp Klaehn

Do you have a battery with comms or is that a BMV?

Since that widget is what is most likely being reported by the battery itself, plugged in via comms, it seems the battery has an issue.

The posts above are related to the VE BUS monitoring, so related to the inverter itself. It can still be a battery related issue though, it depends on how the battery protects itself, it could be disconnecting its output terminals, is one theory.

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olegv avatar image
olegv answered ·

It seems, found source of my problem, but not reason :). It happens when connect Mk3 interface to the system (Cerbo GX), doesn't matter Victron Connect or VE Conf 3 running. After several minutes it says "Low battery voltage" and then "Device switched off"

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myvicrocks avatar image myvicrocks commented ·
Wow you know what -- on 502 Firmware -- I found this over the last few days same thing:

1. Connect MK3 to do some changes - I take my time cause I read and make sure of everything -- all of a sudden Multi II just goes into Low Battery and reboots.


Now that I think of it the last few Low Batteries has been with MK3 connected. What is also interesting is a real Low battery error you hear the contactor in the inverter. This Low battery with the MK3 plugged in the contactor does not activate, but it does shut the inverters off and show Low Battery error.


@Guy Stewart (Victron Community Manager) - Maybe something the team should have a look at?

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olegv avatar image olegv myvicrocks commented ·

I got the following by email, but can't find this comment here


Alexandra mentioned you in a comment on Multiplus 2 48/3000 unexplainable low battery alarm on Questions & Answers:

@OlegV

When you connect the mk3, the gx is disconnected so the discharge and charge signal from the battery is disconnected.

The systen will shut off. This is a safety feature for systems with can connected battery and DVCC as the battery controls the system.

Plugging in the mk3 is the reason.

This happens on pylon systems as well

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olegv avatar image olegv olegv commented ·
It means that purchased Mk3 interface is (mostly) useless :(. Is it in my configuration only? Is it any workaround? I'm trying to setup generator, playing with options etc., but it just stops working.
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giorgos avatar image giorgos myvicrocks commented ·

This has happened to me after upgrading the cerbo f/w to v3,10. The multi will switch off with low battery error although my battery SOC was 35%. after battling for 2 days looking for the problem I reverted back to f/w v3,01 and the problem went away. It was happening when my battery voltage was 51 volts so I suspect there is a problem/bug with the cerbo f/w 3,10


voltage.jpg

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voltage.jpg (420.8 KiB)
ccb avatar image ccb giorgos commented ·

Same issue for me after the installer updated 3.40-10. Fortunatelly, I have only warning and no shutdown, but still it is an issue.

I was running years with previous firmware and no issue.

Any thoughts?

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olegv avatar image olegv commented ·

BTW, there is additional "feature" related to "the battery controls the system": https://community.victronenergy.com/comments/190930/view.html

At least, it looks strange for me. Unfortunately you start to know/understand all details/side effects only using the system in reality, not before purchasing.

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robertsendrea avatar image robertsendrea commented ·

You are a star! This fixed it for me, thanks! I Unplugged the MK3 interface (RJ45 cable) from laptop to Cerbo GX and the inverters came back online in few seconds. (I have 3 48/5000/70 in parallel with 510 firmware). I start panicking as I'm new with these inverters and such posts are very helpful.

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olegv avatar image
olegv answered ·

Now (fw 506) it's much better for me. After using Mk3 (~5min) still there is Low Battery alarm, but output is not disconnected, at least 5+ min.

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yann avatar image yann commented ·

mk3 is not meant to stay connected to the inverter permanently, but used only the time needed to upgrade/setup.


If you want the inverter to work without turning off on low battery, first disconnect from your GX device/BMS then reboot. Then you can connect the mk3 and it will work based on the programmed shutdown voltages only.

When using mk3 is done, unplug it, replug the vebus from the GX, and the DVCC control will resume.

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olegv avatar image olegv yann commented ·
Yes, sure, not permanently. But when I'm playing (played that time) with generator, 5 min definitelly is not enough to change several params and see results.
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yann avatar image yann olegv commented ·
Sure. So when you disconnect the GX device from VEbus, juste reboot the multi to disable BMS control.
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gordonsetter avatar image
gordonsetter answered ·

I had the same low battery voltage issue when I first turned on my MP2/Pylontech system. With a high load (3kW) the inverter also switched off. I’m running ESS and realised that I had not set the dynamic cut off settings in the ESS Assistant to the 46V advised by Victron/Pylontec. I had mistakenly thought the problem lay with the DC voltage settings in the Inverter tab on VEConfigure which are ignored in ESS.

Too much reading but not enough learning!!

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offgridvoltage avatar image
offgridvoltage answered ·

Thanks for this post..... I've just spent a few hours scratching my head with the exact same issue. I think you're 100% correct about the MK3 erratic influence.

Brand new system .... Quattro-II 48/5000/70 (FW 498) setup completely stand-alone offgrid connected to a Cerbo GX (FW 3.31) via VE-Bus along with a MPPT 150/60 v2 (FW 3.15) with 2x parallel BSL 100Ah 48v LiFePo4 connected via CAN-Bus.

No ESS assistants installed....pretty much a new default system that's been working text book with zero issues since installation a week ago. All hardware is brand new from Victron, except the batteries of course.

I started getting several "Low Battery - Warning" through VE-Bus that coincided with small dips in Battery Voltage whenever my water pump turned on. Strangely these warning’s happened when these small dips had the battery voltage above 52.75v with lowest cell voltage at 3.3v. No BMS warnings at all, and BMS was functioning fine without any alarms, warnings or protect actions. It should be noted average loads are under 300 Watts with maximum only 800 Watts for a few seconds with water pump running.

Upon investigation using VE-Configure with the MK3 plugged into the Quattro VE-Bus (at the same time as the Cerbo GX) I noticed the Input Low Pre-Alarm settings in the "Inverter" tab appeared a bit high at 52.5v, however, the DC Input Low Shutdown was set to 48v.... So i guessed this wasn't the cause.

Then without warning the relay clicked and the Quattro shutdown with the Low Battery red light on..... All power to the house was shutdown, and the Quattro reported that is was 'Blocked' when examined in the VRM portal. It did NOT come back online, and stayed offline for 32 minutes until I manually turned it off and on using the main switch. The battery voltage was fine at all test points around the system (Batt terminals / Quattro etc)

Every time I connected the MK3 again via the laptop as above, it did the same thing several times after random time frames of up to 10 minutes..... but the these shutdowns were NOT coinciding with any large loads, voltage changes or power events whatsoever.

Has never happened without the MK3 interface being plugged in.....

Any thoughts moving forward how to prevent this ?? It could be a disaster under different circumstances in some commercial settings.

Have un-terminated VE-Bus or VE-Can ports ever cause this ? Is it a known firmware bug ? I'd love to hear Victron's opinion of this, as it appears numerous people are now experiencing this strange anomaly.

Cheers.

@Guy Stewart (Victron Community Manager)




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dr00p avatar image
dr00p answered ·

Hello everyone, New here. Sorry for bumping this thread. I just wanted to add that I experienced the same issue. Low battery warning. In combination with a JK BMS (pb1a16s15p). For me a new system, that is starting to run since this last weekend. Already did a lot of the above. And in my case it was something silly:


After playing around, I forgot to turn on "Charge" and "Discharge" in the Control tab, of the JKBMS' menu itself.


Upon turning on it started to work immediately.


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Related Resources

MultiPlus-II Product page 

MultiPlus-II Manual

Multiplus-II GX Online Manual

MultiPlus-II 230V Datasheet 

VE.Bus Error codes

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