Lux ac battery controller

orrery

chainreaction said:

I use charge priority to stop the battery discharging during the cheap rate period and use AC charge towards the end of the cheap rate period to ensure batteries full at end of cheap rate period....

Wouldn't setting it to Charge for 23.30 to 05.30 and ignoring Charge Priority achieve the same (other than the charge would be at the start of the cycle)?

I'm sorry to sound picky and argumentative (I'm not the latter, but maybe the first!), but I'm completely at a loss to understand what function Charge Priority is intended to serve. The designers must have had something in their minds when they included it -  "Yeah, we need a function that does XYZ". Maybe it is for intermediate cost periods, where you may be happy for load to be provided from grid, but you want to wait for cheap rate to top up the battery. Maybe there is some link with solar PV that I'm not seeing.

Dave_Fowler

I read the 'Charge Priority' time to mean a 'Don't Discharge' time.
As I have solar panels, during the summer months I don't need to charge the house batteries overnight, but I still want to charge the EV during the nightly 4 cheap hour slots. I set the Charge Priority times to coincide with the 4 hours when I'm charging the car so that the Lux controlled house batteries don't get discharged into the car. 
During winter, when the house batteries get charged at night, the car and house batteries are charged at the same time, so there's no need to set the Charge Priority times. 
DaveF 

orrery

Dave_Fowler said:

...I set the Charge Priority times to coincide with the 4 hours when I'm charging the car so that the Lux controlled house batteries don't get discharged into the car...
DaveF 

That works. I've had the grid feed split after the meter with a Henley Block, so the car charger has its own feed - the Lux can't see the load so doesn't try to charge the car.

JPears

Noticed something I haven't seen on the Maintenance Tab - Battery Calibration.

Its just below the Discharge section.

Is this new?

Whats its purpose and how does it work?

Thanks

Alnat1

Don't know how to use it but it's been there around a month.

philologus

My inverter is a Luxpower  model LXP 3.6 Hybrid and it  has EPS capability (or so I'm told). Has anyone used this?

 I have the connector so... do I connect this to an AC breaker and then from that to a double socket so that I can plug the fridge/freezer and some lighting in if there is a power cut?

Does the breaker need to have a fuse?

If anyone has done this I'd appreciate advice.

chainreaction

I have the lux ACS 3600 and use the EPS, mine is wired directly to 1 of my consumer units (it has none of the large loads such as induction hob, double oven etc) no isolator switch. During power cut with household load of 400w it copes with 2.7kw kettle fine. 
Make sure you put your WiFi router on the EPS, then you can still monitor system battery SOC without having to visit your inverter locally 

chainreaction

You just need to enable back up power and the EPS outlet is energised 

philologus

I was advised by Jake at Lux to have a breaker so I think I'll do that and then run a cable from that to a double socket somewhere in the kitchen so that I can run the fridge etc and have a light.

Next question...

Am I correct in assuming that as long as the sun is shining the inverter will power the EPS?  I read somewhere that the EPS only runs off the battery but this doesn't make sense.  I have 14.4kWh battery storage now so would like to think that the inverter is powering the EPS and using any surplus to charge the battery to be used when the sun goes down (If it ever comes up - it has been dismal here lately).

chainreaction

I've seen another post on here for a hybrid and it said that the solar continued to output to inverter and charge battery or cover houseload when on EPS. Jake was at my place when the ACS / EPS was fitted and said the install was fine. As my EPS is wired to consumer unit for the house it's pointless having a breaker between EPS output and my consumer unit. To work on my EPS circuit or consumer board it feeds I turn off the AC isolator to the inverter and unplug batteries.