Hi everyone,
New to forum and fox, I'm having an issue with trying to get my batteries to charge off peak times only from grid, I'll try and upload images to show what I've done on app but as soon as I move from default settings it charges all the time from grid and won't discharge until I rest default settings.
Off peak charging from grid
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Dave Foster
- Posts: 1209
- Joined: Thu Oct 13, 2022 7:21 pm
It's not that obvious from the screen shot what you are trying to achieve,
What you appear to have set in time period 1 is to charge from the grid between 2am and 5am (I assume you are on flux)
In time period 2 you have set what appears to be a time period that starts after it ends starting at 5:10am and ending at 1:59am
The time periods can't overlap and Start must be before End.
If you want to charge between 2am and 5am, time period 1 is correct.
If you want to use your batteries to provide the house load for the rest of the day you don't want any time period set at all in time period 2.
When you set a time period without setting the grid charge switch your are effectively saying don't discharge the batteries between these times.
What you appear to have set in time period 1 is to charge from the grid between 2am and 5am (I assume you are on flux)
In time period 2 you have set what appears to be a time period that starts after it ends starting at 5:10am and ending at 1:59am
The time periods can't overlap and Start must be before End.
If you want to charge between 2am and 5am, time period 1 is correct.
If you want to use your batteries to provide the house load for the rest of the day you don't want any time period set at all in time period 2.
When you set a time period without setting the grid charge switch your are effectively saying don't discharge the batteries between these times.
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Dave Foster
- Posts: 1209
- Joined: Thu Oct 13, 2022 7:21 pm
Your 'minsoc on grid' is set to 99%, that basically means it wont allow the batteries to fall below 99% which is why it will keep charging from and using grid.
The minsoc setting is there to protect your battery so you can't over discharge it - Foxess have set it so you can't reduce it any lower than 10% which is what they provide a warranty for, some people prefer to keep it at 15-20% in winter but right now I would recommend 10%.
The minsoc on grid setting is used if you have installed an EPS - basically that is a protected supply that runs off battery when the grid fails, you would know if you had an EPS installed as it requires a lot more wiring and you would have a critical power source. If it is fitted you normally keep minsoc on grid higher than minsoc so that you have this as a reserve for when the grid fails.
If you don't have EPS fitted it should be set the same as minsoc (10%)
The minsoc setting is there to protect your battery so you can't over discharge it - Foxess have set it so you can't reduce it any lower than 10% which is what they provide a warranty for, some people prefer to keep it at 15-20% in winter but right now I would recommend 10%.
The minsoc on grid setting is used if you have installed an EPS - basically that is a protected supply that runs off battery when the grid fails, you would know if you had an EPS installed as it requires a lot more wiring and you would have a critical power source. If it is fitted you normally keep minsoc on grid higher than minsoc so that you have this as a reserve for when the grid fails.
If you don't have EPS fitted it should be set the same as minsoc (10%)
Sorry for my lack of understanding but how can I get the batteries to charge to full from the grid between 2am and 5 am? And not charge from grid during the day? Thanks for all your advise so far it's really appreciated but as you stated yes Octopus Flux tariff and only want to buy electricity at cheapest rate.
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Dave Foster
- Posts: 1209
- Joined: Thu Oct 13, 2022 7:21 pm
Your almost there, set the times exactly as per your last screen shot but change both of your battery Min SoC (minimum allowable state of charge) settings to 10%Nelly wrote: ↑Fri Aug 25, 2023 4:36 pm Sorry for my lack of understanding but how can I get the batteries to charge to full from the grid between 2am and 5 am? And not charge from grid during the day? Thanks for all your advise so far it's really appreciated but as you stated yes Octopus Flux tariff and only want to buy electricity at cheapest rate.
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Dave Foster
- Posts: 1209
- Joined: Thu Oct 13, 2022 7:21 pm
I think the mistake you are making is not understanding what ‘min soc’ means - it’s actually nothing to do with charging, it is the minimum amount the battery is allowed to fall to before the inverter will stop using them and start using the grid.
When you are charging you simply set the times and charge from grid on, the batteries will then charge at the maximum rate the inverter can deliver until they are full - hopefully that will occur within 3 hours.
A couple of quick questions, do you know how big your inverter is 3.6kw, 5kw, 6kw ? and secondly do you know how big your your battery capacity is ?.
For example if you have a 5kw inverter it can charge your batteries at 5kw, and so if you have 10kw of batteries they will be full after 2 hours.
When you are charging you simply set the times and charge from grid on, the batteries will then charge at the maximum rate the inverter can deliver until they are full - hopefully that will occur within 3 hours.
A couple of quick questions, do you know how big your inverter is 3.6kw, 5kw, 6kw ? and secondly do you know how big your your battery capacity is ?.
For example if you have a 5kw inverter it can charge your batteries at 5kw, and so if you have 10kw of batteries they will be full after 2 hours.