Lux ac battery controller

brookfields

Suggest you check the firmware versions on the 3 batteries. Ideally they should all be on the same version but if that can't be done, try setting the battery with the most recent firmware version as master.

philologus

Well, I finally bit the bullet.

I realised that the inverter could be powered by the D/C connection or, if the D/C was off, by the battery if it was properly connected.

I turned the A/C off, turned the battery on and there was nothing on the LCD so I knew the fault had to be  on a connection between the inverter and battery. ( No idea why this didn't occur to me before.)

I'd previously checked the batteries and they were OK but I hesitated to touch the inverter in case it invalidated the warranty. An electrician had been and said that everything was OK and it had to be software related so put the ball in Lux's court. Lux insisted that it had to be a cable issue and to get back to the electrician - so I bit the bullet.

I turned everything off and unscrewed the black lead from the inverter to the battery. I did a continuity test It and looked OK and so I unscrewed the watertight connector to the orange connection on the inverter. It was burnt! The plastic fitting was brittle and disintigrating.

I've sent photo's to Lux and am awaiting their reply but it looks as though it has not been tightened enough and there is moisture in there.

Solarchaser

I'd pretty much guarantee they will blane the fitting not being tight.
Moisture is a strange one though

philologus

Should I disconnect  it? Is it dangerous? Or should I leave it as evidence?

It has been there for four and a half years in the central heating boiler cupboard  (ex- airing cupboard) so nice and warm and dry. No damp in there.

Solarchaser

Personally, pretty much knowing they will blame a bad connection I would disconnect everything, and remove the 4 screws holding the waterproof sleeve, pull it down and basically clean up the area and see how it looks after that.
If you get a decent finish, I'd just stick it back together and expect it to work. 
It's built for high current. So I'd expect a bit of blackening, clean it up with scotchbrite or sandpaper, same with the insert face in the red lead and see where you are at.

But I can appreciate you wanting to wait to hear what lux says.

You have pictures of the fault though, so no need to leave it connected.

propnut

Corrosion like that is often caused by a combination of poor connection, coupled with arcing and accelerated by moisture. I have rebuilt a number of Toyota Prius main EV battery packs and it is a common theme on them. The net result, as you have discovered, is high resistance = poor connectivity. If it were me I would be inclined to cut off the terminal, strip back the wire past where it is discoloured and crimp on a brand new terminal. Plus I would put some vaseline on the terminals after tightening down to repel further possible moisture ingress.

philologus

It's worse than I thought so I think I'll wait to see what Lux and the installer has to say.

1961Nick

philologus said:

It's worse than I thought so I think I'll wait to see what Lux and the installer has to say.

That's definitely a cover off to check for thermal damage inside the inverter & a new cable.

propnut

HAs anyone else noticed that their ACS 3600 never gets down to 10% anymore?? Mine starts to throttle back at around 15% and then slowly discharges to 11%. Previously it would go down to 10% and stop. 

madswitcher

Taking Control,

Call me paranoid if you wish, but with all the stuff going on in the world and the Internet being quite a nasty place, I would like to know if anyone knows how to take control of the LUX inverter and battery system: i.e. not send the data to the LUX servers which I assume are in China and connect to them directly on my home network