New owner confusion
Hi Dave. As per your instructions re: foxESScloud.com, I’m struggling to see the “button under ‘operation’” that leads to the page, the screenshot of which you annotated with red and yellow circles. Please would you send me a screenshot of the preceding screen? 
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Dave Foster
- Posts: 1295
- Joined: Thu Oct 13, 2022 7:21 pm
Ok, yes it's this one
On the left menu, click on Device, then Inverter underneath - it should show you the list on the right and click on the blue 'button thing' where i've ringed it in red
Hello Dave and any other interested parties. Just when you thought you’d heard the last of me!!
Update:
• I’ve been quite ill with bronchitis, on the mend now, still in Spain, holiday has become convalescence
• I’ve had a Wi-Fi extender fitted at home, it’s as near the inverter as possible but the signal strength hasn’t improved.
What do I need to do? If it’s a reboot, can you remind me of the correct way to do it please?
I’ll be happy to get “back in harness” on the PV front, it’s been an interesting voyage of discovery so far.
Update:
• I’ve been quite ill with bronchitis, on the mend now, still in Spain, holiday has become convalescence
• I’ve had a Wi-Fi extender fitted at home, it’s as near the inverter as possible but the signal strength hasn’t improved.
What do I need to do? If it’s a reboot, can you remind me of the correct way to do it please?
I’ll be happy to get “back in harness” on the PV front, it’s been an interesting voyage of discovery so far.
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Dave Foster
- Posts: 1295
- Joined: Thu Oct 13, 2022 7:21 pm
Hi sorry to hear you've not been well - hopefully you are in the best place for it.
The wifi extender is best to be placed half way or slightly over that between the inverter and the router (not close by) - then the important thing is to check that the wifi extender is working ok and has the same name 'ssid' as your normal router.
If someone can get access to the inverter the wifi dongle is sticking out of the bottom downwards towards the middle (with a red light on it) - depending on the type it normally is held in with a screw collar, if you undo that collar and pull the dongle downwards it will unplug - then leave it out for 10 seconds and plug it back in again and tighten the collar. It starts with a rapid red flash to say it isn't connected to your wifi and after a short while should settle down to a slow red flash, with an occasional green pulse (every 10-15 seconds).
Failing that the inverter power down sequence is to open the PV isolator switch, open the AC isolator switch, on the batteries press the power button and wait for the inverter screen to go blank.
The restart sequence is the reverse, so that is press the power button on the battery, then close the AC isolator, then finally close the PV isolator - it will say checking for approximately a minute and after a series of clicks go back to 'normal'
There is a video hereviewtopic.php?t=5 that shows what the various DC/AC switches might look like
Also just to add - even without wifi, you can get to the 'soc' settings if you have access to the inverter front panel, i'll document that process as well.
At the inverter panel press the 'tick' button (second from right), choose 'Settings' and it will ask for a password, that will be 0,0,0,0 (just press enter 4 times) - in the Settings, select the 'Battery' menu and in the battery menu select Min SoC and change it to 10, then select On Grid MinSoc (this is 'battery reserve') and change it to 10 and that's it both settings are now 10% and it should be good to go.
The wifi extender is best to be placed half way or slightly over that between the inverter and the router (not close by) - then the important thing is to check that the wifi extender is working ok and has the same name 'ssid' as your normal router.
If someone can get access to the inverter the wifi dongle is sticking out of the bottom downwards towards the middle (with a red light on it) - depending on the type it normally is held in with a screw collar, if you undo that collar and pull the dongle downwards it will unplug - then leave it out for 10 seconds and plug it back in again and tighten the collar. It starts with a rapid red flash to say it isn't connected to your wifi and after a short while should settle down to a slow red flash, with an occasional green pulse (every 10-15 seconds).
Failing that the inverter power down sequence is to open the PV isolator switch, open the AC isolator switch, on the batteries press the power button and wait for the inverter screen to go blank.
The restart sequence is the reverse, so that is press the power button on the battery, then close the AC isolator, then finally close the PV isolator - it will say checking for approximately a minute and after a series of clicks go back to 'normal'
There is a video hereviewtopic.php?t=5 that shows what the various DC/AC switches might look like
Also just to add - even without wifi, you can get to the 'soc' settings if you have access to the inverter front panel, i'll document that process as well.
At the inverter panel press the 'tick' button (second from right), choose 'Settings' and it will ask for a password, that will be 0,0,0,0 (just press enter 4 times) - in the Settings, select the 'Battery' menu and in the battery menu select Min SoC and change it to 10, then select On Grid MinSoc (this is 'battery reserve') and change it to 10 and that's it both settings are now 10% and it should be good to go.
Hi Dave.
I managed to improve the signal strength to the inverter, and tried again to set those 2 parameters as you described earlier.
You previously said “Also double check that you have no charge times set.” I assume you were referring to the settings shown in my screenshot 1? The one setting that was already there was the lower one, and I added the upper one. Did I do this right? I assume so because I then saw that the Quick Settings had changed to what you said they needed to be.
That was yesterday. Today I looked and the 2 settings are back at 0% (screenshot 2)!! Why did they reset?
Also, just now I looked at the app and it’s still drawing on the grid although the panels are generating more than enough (screenshot 3).
I’m getting very discouraged
I managed to improve the signal strength to the inverter, and tried again to set those 2 parameters as you described earlier.
You previously said “Also double check that you have no charge times set.” I assume you were referring to the settings shown in my screenshot 1? The one setting that was already there was the lower one, and I added the upper one. Did I do this right? I assume so because I then saw that the Quick Settings had changed to what you said they needed to be.
That was yesterday. Today I looked and the 2 settings are back at 0% (screenshot 2)!! Why did they reset?
Also, just now I looked at the app and it’s still drawing on the grid although the panels are generating more than enough (screenshot 3).
I’m getting very discouraged
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Dave Foster
- Posts: 1295
- Joined: Thu Oct 13, 2022 7:21 pm
I think the reason they are at 0% is the same reason as before, it was unable to read the battery settings from the inverter.
If you have installed a wifi extender, depending on the make it will usually create a new network called {whatever your old one was)_EXT - unless it was changed by the person that installed it.
If the datalogger has not been connected to the new _EXT name, it will still be trying to connect to your router which probably explains why it's failing.
But looking at your charge time 1, that's the reason why your battery isn't being used - it has been set to 00:00-23:59 (all day) but the charge from grid switch is disabled and when set with a time period like that the battery will neither charge or discharge.
The rules for Charge Periods are -
If you do not want to charge your battery from grid on a low tariff but want to use the battery normally it must be showing 00:00-00:00
If you do want to charge your battery from grid on a low tariff, it should be set for that time period and the charge from grid switch enabled.
If you do not want to charge your battery from grid, or discharge your battery you set a charge period with the grid switch disabled.
i.e. you do not need to set any charge periods to charge your battery from solar, it will do that anyway if it is in the workmode 'Self Use' which yours is.
If you have installed a wifi extender, depending on the make it will usually create a new network called {whatever your old one was)_EXT - unless it was changed by the person that installed it.
If the datalogger has not been connected to the new _EXT name, it will still be trying to connect to your router which probably explains why it's failing.
But looking at your charge time 1, that's the reason why your battery isn't being used - it has been set to 00:00-23:59 (all day) but the charge from grid switch is disabled and when set with a time period like that the battery will neither charge or discharge.
The rules for Charge Periods are -
If you do not want to charge your battery from grid on a low tariff but want to use the battery normally it must be showing 00:00-00:00
If you do want to charge your battery from grid on a low tariff, it should be set for that time period and the charge from grid switch enabled.
If you do not want to charge your battery from grid, or discharge your battery you set a charge period with the grid switch disabled.
i.e. you do not need to set any charge periods to charge your battery from solar, it will do that anyway if it is in the workmode 'Self Use' which yours is.
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Dave Foster
- Posts: 1295
- Joined: Thu Oct 13, 2022 7:21 pm
Just a quick follow up, I was on a quarterly update call with Fox last night and it was mentioned they are looking into a problem that is showing the battery soc's at 0% for some users - so this could well be a bug either in their cloud or the app - i'm not sure which yet, but I thought I best mention it as it's probably driving you nuts.
NB: you do still need to remove that charge period for your batteries to discharge correctly.
NB: you do still need to remove that charge period for your batteries to discharge correctly.
Hi Dave. Thanks for the update. I don’t think I’ve got a problem with the router signal strength at the inverter, it’s showing 3 bars on the app.
I know what you mean about the SSID business, but I’ve got a “mesh” setup, and the new bit of kit is called a “node”, it isn’t an extender and the SSID stays the same, so mobile devices just latch onto the node(router) with the strongest signal as you move around. At least, that’s my (limited) understanding of the technology.
I have to say that the app wording is confusing anyway. The Grid Charge Setting says “charge from grid disabled” all the time, whether the toggle is off or on
. I assume it needs to be on but
when I switch it to “on” (and see a “success” message), if I switch away from that screen then go back again, the toggle has reset itself to the “off” position
I know what you mean about the SSID business, but I’ve got a “mesh” setup, and the new bit of kit is called a “node”, it isn’t an extender and the SSID stays the same, so mobile devices just latch onto the node(router) with the strongest signal as you move around. At least, that’s my (limited) understanding of the technology.
I have to say that the app wording is confusing anyway. The Grid Charge Setting says “charge from grid disabled” all the time, whether the toggle is off or on
. I assume it needs to be on but when I switch it to “on” (and see a “success” message), if I switch away from that screen then go back again, the toggle has reset itself to the “off” position
Hello Dave. Been back a week and finally got round to checking the inverter settings directly, using your instructions. I found them to already be at 10%, so I assumed nothing more needed to be done. (For what it’s worth, the app settings are still showing 0%. You mentioned the possibility of Wi-Fi connectivity issues but the app seems to otherwise provide an accurate snapshot of usage/demand).
From the attached screenshot you will see that when the PV supply is more than enough for the load at the time, the grid is still supplying some. In the final analysis this latter amount is very small, so I’m not too bothered, but I’d like to understand why.
I have also now seen that when the load increases to more than the available PV supply and there is enough charge in the battery, it kicks in, but there is still a small residual demand on the grid. It makes me wonder whether this by design.
This will almost certainly be the last time I ask for your advice on this topic (you’ll be relieved to know
) and thank you again for the advice and help you have provided since I started this thread.
From the attached screenshot you will see that when the PV supply is more than enough for the load at the time, the grid is still supplying some. In the final analysis this latter amount is very small, so I’m not too bothered, but I’d like to understand why.
I have also now seen that when the load increases to more than the available PV supply and there is enough charge in the battery, it kicks in, but there is still a small residual demand on the grid. It makes me wonder whether this by design.
This will almost certainly be the last time I ask for your advice on this topic (you’ll be relieved to know
) and thank you again for the advice and help you have provided since I started this thread. - Attachments
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Dave Foster
- Posts: 1295
- Joined: Thu Oct 13, 2022 7:21 pm
There will always be a small residual power flow on the grid, the inverter is grid tied which means that it meets the house load by pushing just enough power back into the grid to balance the load it measures on the CT clamp.
When a load changes quickly such as switching a kettle on, the grid instantly provides the power and the inverter provides enough battery power to meet it (which takes a fraction of a second), likewise when the appliance turns off the inverter needs to turn the battery power down it will feed the balance into the grid but again only for a fraction of a second.
As you’ve seen the bias current is very small, usually less than 11 watts, and so even when on battery you are likely to see a small amount of power taken from the grid each day (~0.3kwh).
During the summer when it is exporting most of the time the bias is in the opposite direction so the power used from the grid is much lower on good production days.
When a load changes quickly such as switching a kettle on, the grid instantly provides the power and the inverter provides enough battery power to meet it (which takes a fraction of a second), likewise when the appliance turns off the inverter needs to turn the battery power down it will feed the balance into the grid but again only for a fraction of a second.
As you’ve seen the bias current is very small, usually less than 11 watts, and so even when on battery you are likely to see a small amount of power taken from the grid each day (~0.3kwh).
During the summer when it is exporting most of the time the bias is in the opposite direction so the power used from the grid is much lower on good production days.