EG4 Battery Rack Issues | Solutions & Safety Measures

In this video, James, discusses the issues that EG4's server rack battery cabinets have recently faced and shares solutions as well as proper safety measures to ensure maximum safety when interacting with your system.
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[@azinfidel6461]

Thank you for the update. Have had a 25 KW system running for a year now and have had absolutely no problems with the equipment.

[@JohnWilliams-junglejohnny]

Got 1 system running I got from them , off grid for 4 months no major issues and the technical assistance from signature solar is Awsome so far .

[@SignatureSolar]

Thank you so much for your feedback!

[@JohnWilliams-junglejohnny]

@@SignatureSolar u should do set up video on comunication hub , from proper wire location and start up and programming it for the egg 4 batteries as well

[@arthurhammeke8296]

I'm still glad I updated my battery bank with these. And will go with these again if I expand my system. I do strongly recommend checking each battery address using a computer as I had one that was slightly goofy. One of the dip switches didn't like working like it should.

[@ToddDesiato]

I turned the side brackets around just like you said. It made sense and was the easiest solution after I realized everything else was welded in place.

[@dangoras9152]

What about the rivet nut coming lose.... We all should just use bolts so we don't have to worry about it coming lose... Keep it up brother

[@pray4Liberals]

Great video! James could you make (or have someone make) a video that explains how to safely connect 2 full racks? do's & don'ts.....thanks

[@SignatureSolar]

Great suggestion!

[@elliotharvey69]

@@SignatureSolar Did you get round to making this video?

[@trumpingtonfanhurst694]

Thank you for the torque specs - I happen to need those right now 😀

[@KyleY675]

Finger tight, Hand tight,arm tight,pipe tight

[@labronallen7133]

They didn't mention that you'll need a longer RS485 cable than what comes with the battery if you're connecting the LL to Life Power 4 batteries. Be sure to get a longer one when you place your order.

[@EL34XYZ]

I am going to take out the riv nuts and install bolts with nuts. I have seen these riv nuts pull out of the buss bar because the bar is thicker that what the riv nut is designed for.

[@googlinstuff8910]

Love this company. Best service I have ever received. I have worked with a bunch of solar, battery, etc companies. They are all good, clearly the competition mandates this. But these guys exceeded all my expectations today. Thank you.

[@SignatureSolar]

Thank you so much for leaving your feedback! We appreciate you so much!

[@markkiedrowski8151]

Thanks for the update James , Keep it going , looks great - Austin TX

[@maeveofthelongbows9552]

Why would the cabinets have ever been designed to not fit the batteries with the handles on?! Seems like poor planning, poor engineering design, and lack of oversight from EG4.

[@tomengel8833]

Please list the torque specs in description.

[@GG-sj2wg]

Please tell EG4 to stop using Pem Nuts on the bus bar. Pem Nuts are not suitable for electrical connections. Besides spinning in the bus bar if over tighten they are proud of the surface of the bus bar. This means the lug doesn’t sit flush on the bus bar rather only touches the Pem Nut. Such a waste of nice giant copper bus bars. BTW the recommended cable size to the server battery rack is 4/0. 4/0 cable lugs come with 3/8” lugs and the Pem Nuts are size 8mm which is 5/16” lug. Makes for a very poor high amperage connection. I chose to pull the bus bars out of my brand new cabinet to drill and tap the copper bus bars with fir appropriate connections. 😢

[@GG-sj2wg]

Otherwise a very nice cabinet.

[@jeffsowers1290]

I agree 100% they should definitely read this comment and make the changes

[@fredbear2648]

Hey James, I have been waiting 3 weeks for a call back from technical support after sending 3 emails with questions, issues and documentation. What does a customer have to get help from signature solar?

[@robinboling9531]

Likewise, more like 1-2 weeks for me though.

[@Bob-hb3qb]

GOOD LUCK!

[@SignatureSolar]

What's your email? I can have someone reach out today.

[@TRYtoHELPyou]

Good growing pains for the company and customers I say. Make the fittings be able to take 100ft lbs of torque would be the only way to have people avoid the issues *entirely*. Warning, use torque wrench labels everywhere, over every hole... That may do it too.

[@benkanobe7500]

Put a simple sticker on each cabinet that states the required torque for each bolt. Do it like a Warning Label, Easy, Cheap, Fast (you usually don't get all three).

[@KenKnowledge]

I really enjoy batterystuff. But as an mechanic your terminology seems really off. The torque specifications for an M6 and M8 steel bolt in a normal steel nut is Greater then the numbers you are mentioning. If the thread is made in the copper bar itself it might be right torque since copper is much softer then steel. But then you say rivet in the video, and then i suppose there are rivet nuts nuts inside the copper bar, and those are made of aluminium. If you drill a hole in the copper bar you need a traditional nut on the backside of the copper bar for the bolt. And then that is another torque value. And regarding the torque wrench, you never store them with out loosening the tension out of the handle. But it might just be me as a Swede who doesent keep up on the lingo here..

[@AnthonyBove]

These videos are a great help

[@andrewhofmann5453]

I took all 6 sets of handles off of my V2 batteries in that same cabinet. Other than that, been loving them.

[@SignatureSolar]

Very cool!

[@clarencewiles963]

Thumbs up 👍 good information and good advice, thanks.

[@SignatureSolar]

Glad it was helpful!

[@tomengel8833]

Which Bolts class is used? If it is 8.8, then the torque for the M6 is 10 Nm or 7.4 ft lbs. For the M8 is 24 Nm or 17.7 ft lbs.

[@APatchworkCanvas]

Thanks. I broke one at 10 ft lb. I have a calibrated digital wrench with live read out. At 8 ft lb it felt like I was going to break every other bolt with a slight turn.

[@fred100053]

Are the 'casters' on welded cabinet strong enough to be ALWAYS on the wheels? Looked like they were about to pop out a bearing after all 6 batteries loaded. I'm now guessing you intended the 'foot' to be only way to leave the cabinet after positioned. Don't think this can roll around 100% of the time. But wanted to see what SS says.

[@onthelevel6932]

All tools can be borrowed or rented from a local hardware store or auto supply shop

[@4windsfarmstead]

Thanks for the update

[@guyfreeman656]

Evidently, I have a V1 set of LL (4port) batteries and 4ea Lifepower4. What is the correct interconnect wiring between the 2 types?

[@browsedeweb8834]

Do these racks need to be grounded? If so, from where to where...and using what gauge wire?

[@Lasutiu]

The manual for both LL and Life Power batteries says the torque is 60 in-lbs, you mentioned 18-20 ft-lbs which would be 240 in-lbs. That's quite a discrepancy. Not sure which is correct.

[@jh-lp7cg]

Ok, so both cabinets have 400 amp bus bars? (not an expert, please bear with me). If the circuit breakers on the LLV2 is 125A and/or max discharge is 100A and you have 6 of them in a cabinet, how will that not overcurrent the bus bar if you lose the BMS? I guess I would have to have a short circuit on the wire to the inverter for that to exceed the load to the inverter? That seems like 600 amps on the bar

[@ericmatthews7264]

Steer clear of signature solar. I bought their V2 EG4-LL batteries. Could not get the batteries to read on the BMS Tools software. The software was horrible, the tech that tried helping me gave up after a week and ghosted me. Would not return my emails or phone calls. Now that I have my batteries hooked up to a Sol-Ark 15k I can't get the protocol screen up on the batteries. Emailed Signature solar. Their customer service sucks. They really have no quality control of what's coming out of the plants in China. They have no control of the software either. They rush things out and give up on you when they can't figure it out. Totally undependable. I left a bad review on their website about the order and batteries and of course the review never got posted. Only good reviews get through I guess. Horrible company.

[@meilyn22]

Signature solar. What's your response to this?

[@MichaelHigginsJR]

Got a link to the door? I got the covid cabinet missing half the parts.

[@JBoy3210]

Same. Need doors!

[@kambyfreeman4891]

If safety was so important why have my doors not been sent? covid

[@davidkettell5726]

How can i protect my solar setup from an EMP ? Now that would make a good video ?

[@jamesshowalter6362]

looking for a nuke to prove we did it right....

[@gregrymelnechuk4791]

I own 2 of the old style, I bought one of the new style but the communication link are 2 short. I phoned you to get a longer communication link. Although, you showed the new link cable as sent. It never was. The new EG4's are poorly designed.

[@brandonwhiddon2534]

at 10:40 you said that you have added mbs communication between the LL and life power 4. I would like to know what I need to do to make mine communicate please.

[@kahrlozt]

I got news that the small battery rack will not be carried anymore?

[@APatchworkCanvas]

You can’t get 10 ft lb torque on the supplied bolts. I snapped one off and every other one felt like it would break. Better off to free hand so you can feel when it’s tight.

[@user-ym4yq6no5c]

need a door and a top

[@SignatureSolar]

Can you email our customer service team? Their email is [e-mail]

[@McDIY]

We have 12 of the Lifepower4 48v server rack batteries in SoCal working great. We are putting together an off grid home in San Felipe Baja California Mexico. It gets rather hot there and wanted to know if you would recommend these batteries in this scenario or do you recommend a different chemistry of battery?

[@sValen]

133F is the highest Temp for storage and 122 F is highest for charging

[@pompanomike8704]

It would have been nice to see you install a battery from start to finish.

[@SignatureSolar]

I'll pass that information on to our team, maybe they would be able to shoot something in the future.

[@Shadoww-lv5bj]

One mof my questions is what is the best practice to use when connecting to server racks together?

[@SignatureSolar]

External bus-bars!

[@evanwindom3265]

He kept saying "foot pounds". Wasn't his table in Nm?

[@keything8487]

nice video.

[@user-ib4oc7xn6t]

Can I put these batteries on one battery bank?

[@SignatureSolar]

Yes

[@GranitePropServices]

Can you wall mount the rack or is it floor mount only?

[@ambtipsandtricksbyfritz]

You could if you put in on a shelf. Loaded with 6 batteries is almost 500lbs. Better to keep it on the ground.

[@ceaserkalunga3301]

What size of battery cables do you need to use for two batteries

[@SignatureSolar]

Could you clarify which cables you are referring to please?

[@SignatureSolar]

All of our batteries come shipped with the appropriate sized cables. It's important to ensure that the maximum charging current from the inverter does not exceed the current rating of the battery cables.

[@chrislewis9345]

Can I run a pair of growatt 5000es while using INDEPENDENT battery banks and still have them as master/slave on the 240 ac side?

[@taser1984]

Growatt manual says you need to use one bank for all paralleled inverters or they will fault.

[@douglasmurphy5770]

Maybe a good battery system but the company is unreliable. I ordered 15 days ago and still not shipped customer service hung up when I tried to cancel my order. Still waiting for a response from management.

[@johnsemrau6412]

We shouldn't have issues if your products were right when we bought them??

[@stibbs11]

Wow, what a wordsalad, did you study with kamella? "Hi amps" was said 12 times, where are real details?

[@jeffsowers1290]

Rivet nut are sorry to begin with why not use your a thicker busbar and thread it

[@adler-pr6jm]

150 sq mm busbar can only carry 180 amps not 400 amps.

[@ruffoutdoors8987]

You’ll shoot your eye out kid…. 🤣

[@Soleimpala77754]

I'm using these bad boys for an electric hydraulic station😂 wish me luck Update: they don't work

[@johnsemrau6412]

Stop giving us solutions and fixes! And make it right! Why I'm looking at Rixou instead of you!!!

[@Ramjet7777]

Why can't those batteries be wired in parallel without the stupid bus bar? Seems really silly to me! Other batteries can be! Someone enlighten me please.

[@SignatureSolar]

Using the battery racks, you are not required to have an external bus bar.