As always I set the app to import from the grid between 2.00 and 5.00 but the last three mornings it has stopped importing at about 40%.
Can anyone explain (in simple terms) what has happened?
It’s your battery temperature is very low, at 3.9C it will be very close to stopping charging altogether, you need to try and warm them up.
Thank you but it is in the garage so won’t be easy.
I presume it is safe to put a blanket over it.
I presume it is safe to put a blanket over it.
Most have built a housing around the battery to keep it warm, think of Kingspan.
You are supposed to leave 30cm gap around battery, and have ventilation holes, some also add a little heater inside too, ideally with a thermostat that comes when temps go below 10C or such.
You are supposed to leave 30cm gap around battery, and have ventilation holes, some also add a little heater inside too, ideally with a thermostat that comes when temps go below 10C or such.
Thank you for the advice. I think we will just have to wait for the weather to improve.
In answer to your question, yes but you must only do so if you monitor the system temperatures often.
I would also only do this as a temporary measure, and make sure that you don't cover the wiring.
I added a fleece style blanket, like you see on removal vans, it was large, so folded it double and placed over the top/front and tucked it a little underneath. The sides of the battery are totally exposed, so there is cooling surface and the wires are not covered.
Here is a log that shows on the left, an end of a Grid Heating event (ends at 00:50) and at 01:00 it peaks at 16C
The end point is 15C, and usually overshoots like this.
It slowly drops down to a low of 10C by 14:20, where you see the first rise to 11.2C caused by having an electric shower.
By 17:35 it drops very slowly down to 10.9C, and I then turn on the oven/dishwasher/tumble drier in sequence and then temperature rises up as the EV car began to charge making the battery charge at the same time. As I have Intelligent Octopus Go, the EV charged off and on a few times, which gave the rise and falls. It got to a maximum of 19.2C, mainly because it had reached 100% SoC by that point.
Given these batteries live in much warmer climates, I am not concerned about it reaching 19.2C, I think in Summer it maybe got as hot as 27C in the garage.
Here is the morning after for anyone interested, peaked at 19.2C from charging battery to 100%
Dropping to 11C by just before 10am next day
Dropping to 11C by just before 10am next day
Here is a more longer term look at the temperature of the battery.
The 1st peak is the end of a normal heating cycle, 7th Jan 00:50.
The 2nd set of peaks is caused by the EV charging schedules that cause the battery to force charge, hence the off/on schedules seen because of Intelligent Octopus Go. The temperature peaked at 19.1°C just from charging the battery, this is more realistic of my normal system use.
The 3rd and final peak is also caused by the EV charging again on IOG, that charges battery at same time, the battery topped out at 100% SoC/ I don't normally force discharge these days, but I did for the sake of checking the extent of the heat that could build up. So it discharged down to 10% before going back to 100%, and you can see it peaked at 28°C.
I would not usually charge/discharge/charge like this, but as some do, I performed the experiment.
I cannot stress this enough, this is something that you should only do if you are responsible enough to check your battery temperatures regularly, adding a blanket over your battery and forgetting about it for days/weeks/months is going to end badly. This should only be done temporarily in a Winter emergency to get some life out of your battery.
The 1st peak is the end of a normal heating cycle, 7th Jan 00:50.
The 2nd set of peaks is caused by the EV charging schedules that cause the battery to force charge, hence the off/on schedules seen because of Intelligent Octopus Go. The temperature peaked at 19.1°C just from charging the battery, this is more realistic of my normal system use.
The 3rd and final peak is also caused by the EV charging again on IOG, that charges battery at same time, the battery topped out at 100% SoC/ I don't normally force discharge these days, but I did for the sake of checking the extent of the heat that could build up. So it discharged down to 10% before going back to 100%, and you can see it peaked at 28°C.
I would not usually charge/discharge/charge like this, but as some do, I performed the experiment.
I cannot stress this enough, this is something that you should only do if you are responsible enough to check your battery temperatures regularly, adding a blanket over your battery and forgetting about it for days/weeks/months is going to end badly. This should only be done temporarily in a Winter emergency to get some life out of your battery.
I am having an issue at the moment where my battery won’t charge from the grid at all regardless of what schedule I set. The battery temp is currently no higher than 5 degrees. Is it normal for the batteries to just refuse to charge when they are cold then? I have the ECS4100
You may have to wait until the weather improves, then it should start to take a charge again. I am not sure of the cutoff temperature, but checking the forum the 5°C and lower seems to be a possible value when it becomes quite difficult.
If you check your energy graphs, did any energy go into the battery?
If you check your energy graphs, did any energy go into the battery?
A very small amount went in yesterday when the sun was out, but talking 1-2% and I can’t be sure if the battery temp at that point. Can’t see a graph on mine to show me the battery temp.
If I set any of the force charge from grid schedules it appears to do nothing. Not even watts into the battery. I have been force charging my batteries overnight for the best part of two years and this is the first time I’m noticing this problem, but I can’t see any other issues.
If I set any of the force charge from grid schedules it appears to do nothing. Not even watts into the battery. I have been force charging my batteries overnight for the best part of two years and this is the first time I’m noticing this problem, but I can’t see any other issues.
What is your current temperature?Eddee24 wrote: ↑Sun Jan 11, 2026 1:25 pm A very small amount went in yesterday when the sun was out, but talking 1-2% and I can’t be sure if the battery temp at that point. Can’t see a graph on mine to show me the battery temp.
If I set any of the force charge from grid schedules it appears to do nothing. Not even watts into the battery. I have been force charging my batteries overnight for the best part of two years and this is the first time I’m noticing this problem, but I can’t see any other issues.
Can you set a force charge for 15mins and check graphs was referring to the energy graphs in Fox Cloud 2.0 App (swipe left on home page, and scroll down)
Current temp is 5.1C.
I’ll set one now but last I checked, zero went into the battery!
I’ll set one now but last I checked, zero went into the battery!
You might be stuck until it can gain a few degrees, but worth a try.
The weather should be milder tomorrow, so it could start to take a charge late afternoon if you are GB.
So image attached is current state. I’ve set the period of 1340 until 1410 just straight in the grid charge setting and enabled charge from grid. Currently 0w entering the battery and graph shows the same 
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It does look like you are going to have to wait for the battery to heat up sadly by the looks of that.
Ok so I have no idea what is going wrong. I’ve managed to get the battery now up to 10.7C yet it still won’t charge from the grid.
See screenshots of the app. Any ideas?!
See screenshots of the app. Any ideas?!
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Does your quick launcher show Mode Scheduler as Enabled?
It could be your Inverter software is bugging out, and needs a reboot of the system.
It could be your Inverter software is bugging out, and needs a reboot of the system.
I’ve rebooted the whole system including the batteries twice now.
Yes the mode scheduler is enabled.
I also tried turning that off and setting a half hour slot via the grids charge instead, and still nothing.
Yes the mode scheduler is enabled.
I also tried turning that off and setting a half hour slot via the grids charge instead, and still nothing.
You may have to create a support ticket with Fox, the temperature seems fine, you have tried reboots and no effect.
Scheduler is enabled and you tried grid charging.
All out of ideas currently.
If you've had a recent firmware upgrade, it's worth checking to see if that has reset your import power limit, check that at your inverter panel, in Settings (password =0,0,0,0), on-grid, Export Control and see if you have an item called ImportLimitPwr - if you have what is it set to ? (should be at least 6000 watts)
I was just typing up part of what Dave wrote, it's probably good to check the installer settings look logical.
Always on the ball
Always on the ball
Dave Foster to the rescue. That did it!
Now what’s odd is I haven’t had any firmware updates so how on earth has that changed itself! It was set to 24w?!
Now what’s odd is I haven’t had any firmware updates so how on earth has that changed itself! It was set to 24w?!
I’ve got a greenhouse heating mat underneath our stack of batteries. ECS 4300 x 7. ( 29kw ) They’re wrapped in Sheepwool
Insulation in the barn, and refuse to charge unless they are over about 10 degrees - currently at 15.5 deg and charging / discharging. Any attempt to change reserve or soc settings results in a ‘unsupported function code’ message and nothing happens. Would love to know why ? Just wrapping insulation round them doesn’t work - you NEED heating mats to have a fighting chance in winter. They don’t cost a lot to run.
Insulation in the barn, and refuse to charge unless they are over about 10 degrees - currently at 15.5 deg and charging / discharging. Any attempt to change reserve or soc settings results in a ‘unsupported function code’ message and nothing happens. Would love to know why ? Just wrapping insulation round them doesn’t work - you NEED heating mats to have a fighting chance in winter. They don’t cost a lot to run.
It's because you have a schedule set, any active schedule will lock you out from changing the min/max soc's, even if you try through the inverter front panel.