Battery not charging to 100%

[TimB100]

I have my battery set to charge to 100% between 2am and 5 am. The issue is that today it only charged to 82%.

This my settings for that time section

02:00 - 04:59
Force Charge
Min. SOC 12 %，
Max. SOC 100 %，
FCPwr 5000 W，
FCSOC 100 %，

How can I force it to charge to 100%

Thanks Tim

[nrb501]

What inverter and battery do you have?
If your battery is outside that it is charge rate limiting due to low temperature such that there is insufficient charging time in your forced charge period for the battery to reach 100%

[TimB100]

Thanks

The inverter is a H1-5.0-E-G2-WL Battery is EP12

I think the temp thing matches up. The charging issues seem to be related to the temperature. I need to build a case around it, while not exposed to the rain it is in the cold.

Tim

[MaterialBarracuda48]

@nrb501 has hit the nail on the head.

You can see from Will's video that the temperature will affect the charge rate.


Make sure that you have if possible 30cm of clearance around the battery for your enclosure, leaving some ventilation system for Summer (or ability to remove it entirely)

Does your EP12 have the heater function? It could have a WARM sticker (or maybe they finally added the H to the label)

[nrb501]

All of the EP12 that I have found for sale have the heater so yours should have, you do need to enable it through the app though.
The temp/charge rate thresholds do seem to have changed with the latest firmware update, I've observed the following charge rate limits on my system:
below 6°C - 2A
6 to 10.9°C - 5A
above 11°C - 10A
so it seems we may be back to the old algorithm noted in Will's video
Above 90% charge the rates reduce again.
Can't comment on the rate limit at higher temperatures as it's not got that warm yet.

With your inverter if the battery is above 15°C then it should charge at the maximum rate possible from the inverter (approx 13A), although a 10A rate charge will be enough to fully charge from 10 to 100% in 3 hours. The battery will heat up through charging, more so at higher currents.

[MaterialBarracuda48]

All of the EP12 that I have found for sale have the heater so yours should have, you do need to enable it through the app though.

I was thinking also that they probably all come with heating these days, hopefully OP can find and enable the setting (pending possible FW update)

[nrb501]

The following from the EP12 manual helps understand how the warming logic works, what it doesn't say is how the temperature thresholds can be changed from the cloud (v2) app (certainly for the EP11 but hopefully for the EP12 as well), the default settings are 1°C and 10°C

5. Warm Up
In low-temperature climates at high altitudes or latitudes, particularly during winter, the charging and
discharging performance of batteries can significantly decline due to cold temperatures. To address this,
Fox ESS has introduced a "Battery Warming Up" feature, enabling the battery system to operate
effectively at extremely low temperatures. This feature is exclusively available in the heated versions.
5.1 During Full Warm Up
When the battery temperature is between -25°C and 0°C, the system will warm up the battery to 10°C.
Warming up will stop once this temperature is reached, but if the battery temperature falls below 1°C
again, the warming up system will reactivate.
The warming up system prioritizes energy from the photovoltaic (PV) system. If PV power is insufficient, it
will draw energy from either the battery or the grid, depending on the state of charge (SOC) of the
battery.
- If the battery SOC > 40%, energy will be drawn from the battery, following the priority order.
PV > Battery > Grid.
- If the battery SOC < 40%, energy will be sourced from the grid, with the following priority order.
PV > Grid > Battery.
5.2 During PV Warm Up
If there is no energy left in the PV system, the battery warming up can be set on the inverter LCD.
5.3 Warm Up Time Slot
Main page→Setting→Battery→Battery warm up→Control (Enable or Disable)
- Time 1: Start Time 0:00, End Time 0:00
- Time 2: Start Time 0:00, End Time 0:00
- Time 3: Start Time 0:00, End Time 0:00

Important Notes
1. The battery can only discharge when the battery temperature is above -10°C. It can only charge when
the battery temperature is above 0°C.
2. Please ensure that the wiring is properly connected and that all batteries are the warm versions;
otherwise, the warming up function will not operate.
3. Warming up control is based on the internal cell temperature of the battery, rather than the ambient
temperature. Typically, the cell temperature will be higher than the ambient temperature under normal
operating conditions.
For further assistance, please contact an authorized personnel or Fox ESS for further instructions.

Note: The three time segments may overlap but cannot be mutually exclusive. Any time outside these
segments will utilize PV energy only for warming up.

[TimB100]

Thanks

I'm looking for any settings to change but I just checked a few things. As of Now 12pm the battery is at 2.4oC

The Parameters say min Bat temp is 2.4oC

So it may be it heated its self as it was -1 overnight but stopped at 2.4oC

I include an image of the charging today

Thanks

Tim

[MaterialBarracuda48]

Heating is an option in the Fox Cloud 2.0 app, under quick settings.

[TimB100]

I'm not finding any heating options in V2 quick settings

[nrb501]

Its in the phone app, not on the web cloud v2 access.

[MaterialBarracuda48]

[jonathanb48]

I have had 4xEP12 batteries installed and an 6kw inverter (g2 h1) for about two weeks and also do not have any even greyed out temperature management on the app and indeed by batteries have been charging outside of the charge schedule and have now stopped charging all together and are also not discharging so in effect this is a piece of technology that is simply not working. The one piece of information I have is that the cell temp is -1.5c and battery charge is at 60%. And glow green the installer have advised that everything is perfect !

[TimB100]

Thanks for the help

It seems the default setting for battery warmup is OFF.

Followed the video and its on now.

Tim

[MaterialBarracuda48]

Here is a video of the battery heater function when working, you should see the animation.
viewtopic.php?p=10871#p10871

I have my min temp set at 9C, this is the ON value, the high temperature you can choose, I set max 15C, though you could go a little lower if you wish.

Also, what firmware is in your EP12?
In the Fox Cloud 2.0 app, you can press directly on the battery, then click on it's serial number. I assume the EP12 needs minimum version of 1.009 to work (as we found out in the linked thread above)

[jonathanb48]

That’s helpful, my software is version 1.007 and the battery warming item in the app is disabled and is not able to be changed.

[MaterialBarracuda48]

That’s helpful, my software is version 1.007 and the battery warming item in the app is disabled and is not able to be changed.

If the option to even use battery heating is greyed out, then maybe your inverter needs a FW update (mine was until I upgraded that)

And as you have probably read too, you need min battery firmware of 1.009, so you might need a full system upgrade.