Lux ac battery controller

1961Nick

I’d incorrectly assumed that that it was a Lux specific lead  with a Surlok terminal on each end. It appears that it’s a standard Pylontech lead.👍

Looking at the state of that lead I’d suspect that the bolt wasn’t adequately tightened causing higher resistance & heating. The terminal on the inverter may be ok as it’s simply a metal bar with a hole in each end encased in plastic. Cleaning up with some emery & checking the bolt on the inverter side may be all that’s required?

For the price of a pair of pylon leads You could be back in business.

Don’t forget to check the security of the bolts on the negative side.

Heedtheadvice

Apologies if  I have been posting info that is not needed. I thought you had moisture following  your post on the 27th

"There was definitely a lot of moisture in there when I took it apart."

Good you have at least on solution. It seems that you do not have a DC breaker between inverter and battery? Not absolutely essential but it is recommended. Pylons are not a big issue in this respect though as they have their individual on/off switches. Breakers can prevent arcing on disconnection/ connection if individual ( or all batteries )  are not isolated at the time and is really a damage risk reduction action.

philologus

Sorry, I should have made it clear that I found moisture when I split the connection cover - not inside the inverter.

Still good advice.

Heedtheadvice

Hope you are back up running soon.

philologus

From what I've seen on utube this piece comes already fitted to the inverter. The installer just connects the battery lead to the bottom and screws the bottom cover onto it.

Does it come apart so that I can clean the battery cable connection - or am I limited as to how clean I can get it through the holes?

Would adding vaseline to the connection help?

The new cable is arriving early next week.

philologus

Here's the photo

1961Nick

philologus said:

Here's the photo

My feeling is that the plastic cover would need to come off to be sure of cleaning the terminal adequately in view of the high current. The terminal should be removed for cleaning with high grade emery paper placed on a flat surface. If that can't be done, I would recommend fitting a new terminal.

Although... cutting the plastic away up to the 'O' ring might work as long as you fitted a shroud over the terminal after the new cable was bolted on. Filling the shroud with silicon would secure it.

As an aside, it's easy to see how the connection could have failed - any foreign matter in those threads such as metal or plastic swarth, would make the bolt appear tight when the connection was actually loose. The fact that it can't be easily inspected compounds the problem.

Anyway, some food for thought.

philologus

Well..... I'm making progress at last.

The Agent for Lux has said that if I will send the whole converter to them they will fully test it and replace it if found faulty.

My problem is that, as far as I can see, the inverter is working.

It is powering the house and any excess is going to the grid. There is just the issue with the connection to the batteries so

I've looked at their website and, from what I can see, the offending piece (see photo' above) is part of the inverter. ie. the inverter comes with this part already fitted and the installer only needs to attach the cables - in which case I'll get a new inverter.

They are based in Keighley near Bradford and that's only an hour and a half drive from here so I'm going to email them and ask if I can take it , have it checked, and if it is faulty, pick up a replacement all on the same day.

It looks easy enough to remove all the cables, take a few screws out and get it off the wall. I'll see if the installer can do this for me but I could do it myself if I need to.

Sound like a plan?

1961Nick

philologus said:

Well..... I'm making progress at last.

The Agent for Lux has said that if I will send the whole converter to them they will fully test it and replace it if found faulty.

My problem is that, as far as I can see, the inverter is working.

It is powering the house and any excess is going to the grid. There is just the issue with the connection to the batteries so

I've looked at their website and, from what I can see, the offending piece (see photo' above) is part of the inverter. ie. the inverter comes with this part already fitted and the installer only needs to attach the cables - in which case I'll get a new inverter.

They are based in Keighley near Bradford and that's only an hour and a half drive from here so I'm going to email them and ask if I can take it , have it checked, and if it is faulty, pick up a replacement all on the same day.

It looks easy enough to remove all the cables, take a few screws out and get it off the wall. I'll see if the installer can do this for me but I could do it myself if I need to.

Sound like a plan?

Sounds like a good plan as long as you don't have to leave it there & wait forever for them to make a decision.

philologus

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/285164579131?_trkparms=amclksrc=ITM&aid=111001&algo=REC.SEED&ao=1&asc=20160811114145&meid=5fc5c890d47444aeb8df700d74945770&pid=100667&rk=6&rkt=8&sd=144773656777&itm=285164579131&pmt=1&noa=1&pg=2351460&_trksid=p2351460.c100667.m2042

I thought that this might be of some use to members.

I bought the diagnostic cable from him a few years ago and he has 100% feedback.