Gateway not showing power flow correctly

johnhall6095
johnhall6095 Registered Users Posts: 27 ✭✭
in Advanced Solar Electric Technical Forum #1
My Gateway dashboard does not appear to be showing the correct flow of power between my devices.  Specifically, it is showing a large amount (5.9kW) flowing into the battery, but my clamp meter is showing only 1A (about 520 watts) going from inverter to battery.  The gateway is also showing that I'm drawing a small amount from the grid but the physical inverter display is blinking in "sell" mode (see image below).  I've rebooted the gateway several times with no change.  I never had this issue with my Combox.  And it's frustrating because if the gateway is reading things incorrectly, my historical stats are going to be incorrect as well.  I like the gateway's capabilities and interface better but real/accurate data trumps all else in my book.   Any suggestions on how to get the gateway reading things correctly?


15kW PV, Grid-tie + 1210AH Deka lead acid battery bank, 2 x XW6048, 2 x MTTP60-150, 1 x MTTP100-600, SCP, Gateway
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  • mike760
    mike760 Registered Users Posts: 37 ✭✭
    #2
    Have you updated the firmware?
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  • mike760
    mike760 Registered Users Posts: 37 ✭✭
    #3
    I have also experienced similar inaccurate readings with discrepancies of around 3000W.  I rebooted the inverters but that did not correct it.  I ended up doing a full shutdown of every device and then I brought the system back online and it corrected the problem.  I have seen this happen a few times so far this year even with the latest firmware.  I would still check the firmware though and also try a full shutdown/startup.  I have not found a permanent solution for this so far.

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  • mike760
    mike760 Registered Users Posts: 37 ✭✭
    #4
    Here's mine from yesterday.  15.9 in from PV, and drawing 1.6 from battery which totals 17.5 but it says 18.5 total going to inverter when it only has a demand of 14.8!!!


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  • Dave Angelini
    Dave Angelini Solar Expert Posts: 6,886 ✭✭✭✭✭✭
    #5
    The data is gathered over time. A snapshot is for indication only and the logging of the data is very accurate. The config of battery monitors can be extra error. In the last shot I do not see the power flow direction for the battery. You said it is from the battery right?

    All network cable needs to be installed per the manual also. Did this screen look like this for an hour or more? That would indicate something is not normal to me. Pretty big loads for a house  :'(
    "we go where power lines don't" Sierra Nevada mountain area
       htps://offgridsolar1.com/
    E-mail offgridsolar@sti.net

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  • mike760
    mike760 Registered Users Posts: 37 ✭✭
    #6
    Yes from or power going out from the battery.  This is not a momentary issue.  This will continue until reset.  I'm not trying to hijack John's thread here but I'm just trying to say that he is not the only one with this problem.  The config on the battery is correct, it has been working for a year now and just started this behavior in the last couple of months.  Not sure if it coincides with a firmware update.
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  • johnhall6095
    johnhall6095 Registered Users Posts: 27 ✭✭
    #7
    Thanks for the responses.  Yes, I updated the firmware when I installed the gateway a couple of months ago.  I also checked it today to make sure I"m using the latest.  I haven't tried a full (all device) shutdown yet but will do so tonight and see how it goes tomorrow.
    15kW PV, Grid-tie + 1210AH Deka lead acid battery bank, 2 x XW6048, 2 x MTTP60-150, 1 x MTTP100-600, SCP, Gateway
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  • Dave Angelini
    Dave Angelini Solar Expert Posts: 6,886 ✭✭✭✭✭✭
    #8
    hmmm, what firmware is on the xwp's? If it is 1.11 and you are running XWP's, you should tell Schneider.

     Older XW greaybox inverters in stacks may have oddities as they are 2 generations back and were never firmware updated for current equipment. They are at least 10 years old now. Probably should stay with combox

    The first post is odd to me in that the solar shows 6.1kw coming in. If it is not going to the battery, where is it going?

    I really have not seen this kind of issue with all new equipment. One thing that may fix weird displays is restoring defaults in the XW's.
    "we go where power lines don't" Sierra Nevada mountain area
       htps://offgridsolar1.com/
    E-mail offgridsolar@sti.net

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  • johnhall6095
    johnhall6095 Registered Users Posts: 27 ✭✭
    #9
    Dave, the XW's are running version 1.07.01bn3.  I would have stayed with the Combox but it would not recognize my new MPPT 100.  I'd have to hook it up again to see what firmware is on the Combox but I updated to the latest I could find and it would never show the MPPT 100... so I bought the gateway for that reason and it seems to be the way forward for SE equipment installations.  My XW's are about 8-9 years old but have been working great so no reason to think about replacing them. 
    15kW PV, Grid-tie + 1210AH Deka lead acid battery bank, 2 x XW6048, 2 x MTTP60-150, 1 x MTTP100-600, SCP, Gateway
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  • mike760
    mike760 Registered Users Posts: 37 ✭✭
    #10
    John,

    How many devices do you have on the gateway?
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  • johnhall6095
    johnhall6095 Registered Users Posts: 27 ✭✭
    #11
    I have 2 x XW6048, 2 x MPPT60, 1 x MTTP100, SCP.
    15kW PV, Grid-tie + 1210AH Deka lead acid battery bank, 2 x XW6048, 2 x MTTP60-150, 1 x MTTP100-600, SCP, Gateway
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  • Dave Angelini
    Dave Angelini Solar Expert Posts: 6,886 ✭✭✭✭✭✭
    #12
    I doubt it will see the newer devices but as I said, try restoring defaults. The XW may be 8 or 9 years old to you but it was 11 years back when they stopped writing firmware because XW+ replaced greaybox XW's. I did field test on all 3 XW models here for offgrid with Xantrex/Schneider. 

    So where is the power going in post 1? Seems to me your current meter measurement was wrong? The 6.1KW has to go somewhere?


    "we go where power lines don't" Sierra Nevada mountain area
       htps://offgridsolar1.com/
    E-mail offgridsolar@sti.net

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  • mike760
    mike760 Registered Users Posts: 37 ✭✭
    #13
    Any luck with the system restart?
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  • johnhall6095
    johnhall6095 Registered Users Posts: 27 ✭✭
    #14
    No, I haven't done it yet... tropical storm Fred is blowing through right now so I didn't want to mess with my system just in case the grid power goes out.  Once the storm passes I'm going to give it a try.
    15kW PV, Grid-tie + 1210AH Deka lead acid battery bank, 2 x XW6048, 2 x MTTP60-150, 1 x MTTP100-600, SCP, Gateway
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  • mike760
    mike760 Registered Users Posts: 37 ✭✭
    #15
    Ok well let us know when Fred is done blowing.  I'd like to see what clears up this problem as I'm having the same problem now almost everyday.
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  • johnhall6095
    johnhall6095 Registered Users Posts: 27 ✭✭
    #16
    Well, hopefully the hurricanes and tropical storms will stay away from FL long enough for me to do a full reboot of my system.  Here's more weird data from a very sunny day today... where is all that PV Input going?  Shouldn't my Grid Output number (sell) be closer to PV Input - Load Output?  Could this be my inverter trying to charge a badly damaged battery bank?  How do you guys test your battery bank health?   

    15kW PV, Grid-tie + 1210AH Deka lead acid battery bank, 2 x XW6048, 2 x MTTP60-150, 1 x MTTP100-600, SCP, Gateway
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  • johnhall6095
    johnhall6095 Registered Users Posts: 27 ✭✭
    #17
    Well, this is finally making some sense!  The only thing I did was reboot the 2 MTTP60's because they were showing "Absorbtion: exit pending" which I've never seen before.



    and now my Load Output + Grid Output is finally adding up to my PV Input:



    I will keep checking this to see if the numbers will, hopefully, continue to make sense.  But I'm still concerned about the battery health so I need advice on how to evaluate that.

    John
    15kW PV, Grid-tie + 1210AH Deka lead acid battery bank, 2 x XW6048, 2 x MTTP60-150, 1 x MTTP100-600, SCP, Gateway
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