EG4 power pro wall mount battery install video~upgrading my system

In this video I show some of the steps I took to install the EG4 power pro wall mount batteries.
Assistant editor Tabitha Stone
Affiliate links:
Link to the power pro battery
signaturesolar.com/eg4-powerp...
Link to the power pro conduit box
signaturesolar.com/eg4-powerp...
Link to the power pro parallel wire kit
signaturesolar.com/eg4-powerp...
Link to the Victron shunt I’ll be using
signaturesolar.com/victron-sm...
Link to the EG4 18kpv
signaturesolar.com/eg4-18kpv-...
These are the bus bars I use for the system
signaturesolar.com/12-stud-bu...
This is where I got the heavy gauge wire for my system.
www.amazon.com/dp/B01M35S1J2/...
…………………………………………………………………………
Some links on this youtube channel may be affiliate links. this is a DIY channel and the content is for educational purposes only, and is subject to change. Electricity is dangerous. Be careful. Also, don't eat yellow snow.
As an Amazon associate I earn from qualifying
purchases.
#solarpower
#solarinverter
#offgridsolar
#eg4
#signaturesolar
#18kpv

[@GavinStoneDIY]

I mentioned in the video how 3 batteries could attach to one inverter. But that’s referring to EG418kpv with 12kw of output. I suggest reading the Pro battery manual in the link below if you want to learn more about battery configurations. Affiliate link to the power pro battery: signature-solar.com/eg4-powerpro-14kwh-all-weather-lithium-solar-battery-wallmount/?ref=mpmddlkx6M9tPo

[@enwinn]

@GavinStoneDIY Your link is incorrect. Remove the dash between "signature" and "solar" to fix it.

[@easttexascowboy257]

Envious here! Good walk through on setting these up. I'm looking forward to seeing how the whole system performs for you. And by the way, congrats on hitting 11K subscribers! You're obviously doing something right!

[@GavinStoneDIY]

Thanks! You’ll always be able to say you knew me before I was a star. Right after I installed these we had 3 days of rain. I was really glad for that extra storage. So far everything has been working awesome.

[@Panhandlehomestead]

Nice man! Glad 🙂 found your channel enjoy your vids and learning

[@GavinStoneDIY]

I really appreciate that. Thanks for watching.

[@Roll2Videos]

Handyman, Very nice job, buddy. Great video.

[@GavinStoneDIY]

Thanks man

[@minutemanprep]

Awesome video!

[@GavinStoneDIY]

Thanks! This one was a lot of fun.

[@AdamDeLay07]

Very cool! Great idea putting those outside your shop! It worked out great that you could just run them through the wall into your main wireway and connect to your system. Thanks for sharing! Looks like a fun project. You mentioned trying to monitor the consumption of the batteries. The only thing I could think of is if you turn off all loads inside the shop and the heaters kicked on in the powerpro batteries, I would imagine you might see a transfer of power from the batteries inside the shop to the ones outside? Might be minimal, but if all 3 have heaters going…you might see something…

[@GavinStoneDIY]

Thanks. I think it was a good idea also. 😁. I agree about the batteries. I was thinking the same thing. Unfortunately, or fortunately I think we might be just about finished with our terribly cold weather. I was about 3 weeks too late to test it maybe.

[@AdamDeLay07]

@@GavinStoneDIY Well, I guess you just have to pack them up and ship them my way for the test. We usually have at least one more snow/ice/freeze before May.

[@GavinStoneDIY]

@@AdamDeLay07 sounds good. I’ll slap a shipping label on them shortly.

[@danmccoy6164]

I was told you can hook up 5 of the powerpro batteries to the 18k. Going to order the batteries next month. 71.5kw.

[@GavinStoneDIY]

You could technically hook more than that with a main busbar system like I have. The manual shows all sorts of mix and match options. 3 of them can run through the 2/0 wires like I wired it. But you could probably chain 2 more to the other 18kpv battery input. 5 of these batteries would be awesome! I’ll try to make time to show the software interaction between the two. You’ll probably like what they’ve come out with.

[@dbarnclay]

Hey Gavin, Great video. I’m receiving my upgrade to the 18K and one power pro in a couple of days. I have a rack of 6 of the LIFEPOWER LL which ran my 6500’s that I am returning. They ran well but always with light flickering in the house. Are you tying your 6 LL’s and power pros into the same busbar to the 18K and the communication hub? Can you talk about open vs closed loop. Find your vids really helpful. Thanks

[@GavinStoneDIY]

I have then all tied together. I have the lifepower 4’s. I can try to show that in my next video on batteries. Which batteries do you have? The lifepowers and LL’s are different models. If you have the LL’s which version do you have? V1, V2 or LL-S?

[@dbarnclay]

Sorry, meant to say Lifepower4's, same as yours. Also have the hub, but haven't installed it yet. Contacted tech support via email at EG4 about an uploader but no response as of yet. Thanks!@@GavinStoneDIY

[@GavinStoneDIY]

@@dbarnclay ahh ok cool. Yeah you can tie them together in sort of a closed loop/open loop blend. That’s how I’m operating right now. But it isn’t recommended. Otherwise things are still in the works to help those different types to communicate I believe.

[@dbarnclay]

Thanks! I would think EG4 would set up a closed loop patch in its hub to allow different strings of their batteries to communicate. I'm considering adding another 18K later to close loop the set of Powerpr to charge an EV in the near future@@GavinStoneDIY

[@GavinStoneDIY]

@@dbarnclay it’s a bit of a challenge because you have different BMS’s, slightly different charging parameters and much different AH ratings. So in closed loop usually one of the batteries will get treated like a step child and never quite fully charge. But hopefully they’ll come up with something. I want to work on an EV charging station at some point also. Of course I need an EV first. ☺️

[@DwellerDesert]

@GavinStoneDIY Getting my 18Kpv system this week and want to have everything ready. I like the idea of spreading the weight across multiple studs instead of just one side of the bracket attaching to a stud. What size bolts did you use to attach the struts to the paneling?

[@GavinStoneDIY]

That’s exciting! Let me know how the install goes. 3/8’s fit perfect. Just make sure you get the corresponding nuts that go with them.

[@DwellerDesert]

@@GavinStoneDIY Thanks for the prompt reply. So 3/8 lag bolts to attach to the studs. Planning on getting the spring nuts also. What size bolt/spring nut for the wall brackets to support the inverter and batteries?

[@GavinStoneDIY]

@@DwellerDesert oh I thought you meant the bolt and spring nut before. Yeah the spring nut and bolt are both 3/8. And the lag bolts would probably be 3/8 also. But I would add washers with both lag bolts, and the other bolts. Washers are your friend.

[@augustorange8868]

What size conduit did you rum between the two boxes? I can't find anything that fits.

[@GavinStoneDIY]

I ran 2” conduit. The knockouts are designed for 1.5” also.

[@mikeg2321]

Hi Gavin ! MikeG here just wondering if you could get Aims to let you test that 9.6 klw high voltage inverter they have new on the market.I would really like to see the efficiency and what it can do.thanks keep the vids coming

[@GavinStoneDIY]

Usually companies have to contact me. I don’t pull enough weight yet. 🙂 so if I contact them they brush me off. I’ll see if I can look them up. Do they have batteries as well?

[@mikeg2321]

​@@GavinStoneDIYyes they have 230 volt rack batteries but there expensive.But you can probably use a DIY battery bank on them.Good luck it would be nice if you can get them.

[@jasongoldenberg973]

Did you get a permit to install these batteries? I am having some trouble in vegas to get them approved. Also the conduit boxes on top are not nema rated as I a see through the knockouts on the sides. Water will leak in. Scary.

[@GavinStoneDIY]

I believe these have certification to pass inspection. What are they giving you a hard time about? The batteries themselves are weatherproof. I don’t have any splices or anything in the actual boxes other than the wire itself . But I imagine they would still shed water. I may test it and see if I have any water intrusion.

[@jasongoldenberg973]

@@GavinStoneDIY the conduit boxes are not nema rated. They need their own cert.

[@jasongoldenberg973]

They need their own datasheet that shows that. The knockouts already disqualify for most outdoor nema ratings. There Is no sealing on the sides. I spoke to a few inspectors and code compliance companies. They deny all use of these batteries until eg4 provides this data.

[@GavinStoneDIY]

@@jasongoldenberg973 ok yeah gotcha. I suppose you could always add your own nema 3 rated boxes, but that would be sort of a pain probably depending on how many you needed.

[@gregthompson5078]

Would you consider making a video on how to check if the battery was delivered with the heater firmware installed and if not...how to update this battery with the new firmware? I recently purchased this same battery and I'm struggling to get tech support from EG4 on how to do this....

[@GavinStoneDIY]

Eg4 does have a video on updating the heater firmware. I’ll see if I can get an idea on how to identify the specific batteries firmware. The regular firmware does have a pretty detailed guide folder in the firmware package you download from the eg4 website. I’ll try to throw some of those details in the next video I make on these. In the meantime maybe try calling EG4.

[@gregthompson5078]

Thanks for the quick reply and yes EG4 has a video and detailed instructions but they don't match perfectly and have not worked for me. For example video shows DIP in ID:1 but instructions show DIP in ID:0 (They don't actually show what ID:0 is but I assume they mean ID64) and when you get into the firmware, it says ID should be set to "ON"....I think if you follow the instructions you might find the same issues and for whatever reason mine fails at the flashing point in the instructions. Thanks for the consideration@@GavinStoneDIY

[@GavinStoneDIY]

@@gregthompson5078 it may be the cable you have. Are you resetting the BMS? That is the part that they didn’t mention is the directions that I saw. When you reset the BMS the lights stay off. So it looks like the BMS hasn’t reset yet.

[@ScheldonR]

Is this battery the same as Big battery rhino 2

[@GavinStoneDIY]

I think it’s more accurate to say the Rhino 2 is the same as the EG4. 😉 and yes, I believe they are exactly the same, other than some minor BMS tweaks.

[@jsauerii]

6:40 that is incorrect, they are made for the 18K not the 6000XP. It can be used with modifications but they are not the designed fit of the 18K

[@GavinStoneDIY]

The original wireways weren’t. The newer models come with knockouts for both inverter types.

[@jsauerii]

@@GavinStoneDIY I just verified with both a 6000Xp and a new box fresh manufactured that there is not 1 single hole that will match up between the two units. Had I realized how bad it was I would not have wasted the $100 on the box.

[@GavinStoneDIY]

@@jsauerii you’re correct. I was wrong. I need to make a community post about this when I can take a picture.

[@jsauerii]

@@GavinStoneDIY I grabbed that box for various reasons as i think it is a good idea but it is ultimately flawed as hell. They say its waterproof but that would require every single knockout being punched and filled with one of the included connectors and then have a pipe installed in it. Even then water resistant, not proof. Then you consider the plugs for the top that stick up so far. Not pretty by any means. I think for the 18kPV its great, anything else not so much. maybe they should make a different box for each model or better yet redesign the box to have a swappable sealed top that has the specific holes for your model. Use foam like in the door or something else and a few screws, have far less holes in the side and use the plugs in the side unless you are connecting multiple batteries. FWIW

[@paulbaker3144]

We just ordered these conduit boxes for the 6000xp. I get that the conduit box is designed for the 18kpv but $99 isn’t a bad price for a box that big. I’ll make it work on the 6000xp. As Gavin said at a wiring trough raceway is a hell of a lot more.