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thanar avatar image
thanar asked

System Shutdown (control: OFF) for no apparent reason

Hi.

All of a sudden, an ESS system consisting of 1x Multiplus-II 5kVA, 1x SmartSolar, Cerbo GX and a BMS-enabed LFP battery just shut down. More specifically, according to data from the VRM, it was the Multiplus that shut down. Power draw at the time of the inverter shutdown was under 200W, grid was OK, battery was full, no warnings whatsoever.

Despite no issues at all, the system shut down at 16:01, as per the attached VRM data.

2024-02-25-shutdown.png

Upon visiting the installation, it looks like the system was switched to "OFF", however there is no event log on how and why that happened. How can I further debug this issue?

System URL, in case someone wants to take a deep look: https://vrm.victronenergy.com/installation/278343/share/f53e777c

Multiplus-IIESSshutdownpower loss
2024-02-25-shutdown.png (611.0 KiB)
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thanar avatar image thanar commented ·

there is nothing on the event logs that would indicate that someone connected via the VRM and switched the system to "off" through the VRM Inverter control. There are however lots on "installation settings update" while the system was offline, as per the screenshot.

screenshot-2024-02-25-at-211749.png

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screenshot-2024-02-25-at-211749.png (291.5 KiB)
thanar avatar image thanar commented ·

I have disabled Inverter/Charger Control through VRM's General settings, in case this occurrence was due to me turning off the inverter by mistake. However, this would have been logged in the events log, same way my switching on the system on 21:03 did. Still waiting for any insights on the matter.

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nickdb avatar image nickdb ♦♦ thanar commented ·
iirc, there is a confirmation required after selecting off on vrm to avoid accidentally turning it off. It would be logged. So that is unlikely the cause.
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thanar avatar image thanar nickdb ♦♦ commented ·
Indeed; What could have forced the system to shutdown then? No errors, no warnings, nothing in the VRM activity logs... Are there any other logs hidden in the system that I could have a look into?
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nickdb avatar image nickdb ♦♦ thanar commented ·
Any chance the little wire loop in the remote port is loose?
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2 Answers
Matthias Lange - DE avatar image
Matthias Lange - DE answered ·

Did you try to restart the unit via the remote console?

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thanar avatar image thanar commented ·

I had no access, due to loss of internet. As soon as the premises was switched to grid-only, I was able to revert the system to "on".

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nickdb avatar image
nickdb answered ·

Technically, every shutdown has a reason. You just haven’t found it yet ;)

Can you add the DCL limit to the chart, as well as min/max cell voltage. Thanks.

Posting a zipped config file would be enormously helpful.

Any alarms logged on vrm/gx?

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thanar avatar image thanar commented ·

The system is back online, premises set to grid-only through the main switch. The battery gave no errors, it's still at 99%. Looks like the system was SET to "off", maybe through the VRM? I don't see any such activity in the event logs, though. Any more ideas?

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nickdb avatar image nickdb ♦♦ thanar commented ·

State and alarms cannot be literally interpreted. There are so many external conditions that can generate a misleading alarm, state or error.

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thanar avatar image thanar nickdb ♦♦ commented ·
I would generally agree with your statement, however on this case there was no alarm or error whatsoever. It was just the VE state the was switched to "OFF", and I still don't know how and why that happened.
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