topic Re: Battery fan on a hot day in Solar, Batteries & Electrification

Battery fan on a hot day

Dave — Tue, 17 Oct 2017 23:40:57 GMT

On a hot day the fan in my Sunverge battery cabinet works flat out. Would it help heat removal if I kept the battery door open?

Dave

Re: Battery fan on a hot day

jayden_AGL — Wed, 18 Oct 2017 03:43:18 GMT

Hey Dave,

Welcome to the community!

When it comes to the specifics of your equipment, we find it's always best to seek advice directly from the manufacturer! You should be able to find the information your after in any manuals provided, or alternatively, you could can Sunverge directly.

If you have any further enquiries, please don't hesitate to reach out!

Kind regards,

Jayden.

Re: Battery fan on a hot day

Dave — Wed, 18 Oct 2017 04:26:20 GMT

Hi Jayden,

I have been a member of the community ever since my VPP battery was installed by AGL. In the past, I have had several queries about my battery answered here. I believe it is somewhat difficult to get a direct answer from Sunverge. I would appreciate some input from your technical section.

Regards,

Dave

Re: Battery fan on a hot day

Sar — Wed, 18 Oct 2017 05:30:33 GMT

Ou battery fan is going crazy too. It sounds like a very loud air conditioner.

Re: Battery fan on a hot day

Dave — Thu, 19 Oct 2017 00:36:40 GMT

Sar, it seems to make sense that everything will run cooler if we can leave the door open on a hot day. All we have to do is find out if it is OK to do this.

Dave

Re: Battery fan on a hot day

Sar — Thu, 19 Oct 2017 02:21:02 GMT

Hi Dave,

i agree that seems logical. It was my understanding that if we open the door it sends an open door message to AGL. They have called me and told me they had an open door alarm coming from our battery (although the door was shut at the time). AGL do need to tell us what we can do about this, I can't imagine that the batteries are operating effectively when they are working so hard to stay cool.

Sar.

Re: Battery fan on a hot day

Woodunn — Fri, 20 Oct 2017 00:51:03 GMT

Ours seems to kick in above 30deg. Has done so a few times this week.

A quick search of the manual found this.

"Your SIS unit is equipped to withstand a wide range of climate conditions. A combination of built-in fans and/or heaters keeps the battery and other cabinet components within optimal operating temperatures. The SIS unit will automatically turn on cooling and/or heating as needed. You may hear an audible hum, particularly on colder or warmer days. This sound indicates the unit is working safely and as expected for normal operation."

http://www.sunverge.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Homeowners-Manual_Booklet_2017.pdf

Looking at the placement of the fans, It looks like they are there to pass air over the internal componants. If the door is left open, the designed air flow would be disrupted and the componants would be relying on passive air flow. I would be keeping the door closed as the unit is designed (according to specifications) from -20 up to 50 deg.

Re: Battery fan on a hot day

AndrewP — Mon, 13 Nov 2017 09:50:44 GMT

I was advised suring the insatllation that leaving the door open will trigger an alarm in the control centre

Re: Battery fan on a hot day

Woodunn — Mon, 13 Nov 2017 23:17:00 GMT

Interesting. I was never advised that I could not open the door by the installer. I was advised that it should be padlocked for security.

During the first couple of months, AGL Solar monitoring was down so often that I would check the state of the system by opening the door and eyeballing the battery inverter. I have yet to be told off by AGL yet.

Re: Battery fan on a hot day

BWSS — Fri, 24 Nov 2017 00:18:18 GMT

My question I would have thought was super simple but still awaiting a reply.

'Adelaide is going through a very hot spell and the internal fan does not stop running, 24/7, I do expect it but my question is, there are two fans I can see and feel from the outside, the right hand side one works but the left side may be faulty or whatever but never comes on, ever, should 1 or both be running on days like this?'

When I open the cabinet I don't get a warning or ant contact with Sunverge/AGL as to 'cabinet open', why is this?

Rob

Re: Battery fan on a hot day

Woodunn — Fri, 24 Nov 2017 01:00:06 GMT

Hi Rob,

The fan(s) in mine only seem to kick in in the afternoon when the ambient is above 30deg. I have not looked if one or both are running. I will look next time I hear them. I would expec that one would blow and one would suck but again, I will have a squiz next time.

If you are worried about the fan's run time, have you logged a call with support? 1300 35 63 63 (9:00am to 5:00pm AEST Mon) or used the support tab in your solar command portal? I have had a reasonably good response from the team when I have had questions directly related to the VPP

Regards

Ron

Re: Battery fan on a hot day

BWSS — Fri, 24 Nov 2017 02:34:14 GMT

Hi Ron,

Thanks indeed for helping out, much appreciated. Depending on what you discover I may just log a call with AGL but I will await on you, I have sent an email to our support guy on VPP at the beginning of the week but no answer/reply as yet which is unusual for AGL.

Rob

Re: Battery fan on a hot day

GregA — Sun, 26 Nov 2017 23:05:50 GMT

Hi Woodunn,

Thanks for your Community feedback. The ‘cabinet’ itself actually protects the internals from ambient dust, insects, vermin, rain, etc. and leaving the cabinet door open allows these to get into the cabinet and potentially damage the cabinet internals, so the manufacturer suggests leaving the cabinet door closed. The fan will turn on to cool the internals when required, such as on a hot day.

Hope that helps,

Greg

Re: Battery fan on a hot day

Chris_in_Glynde — Sun, 17 Dec 2017 22:54:09 GMT

Ours sounds like a battleship's boiler room on any day over 30 degrees, which is mad when you consider that it is installed inside a double brick double-car garage.

We often have to turn up the TV volume when it really gets going.

Surely it does not need this much cooling?

Chris

Re: Battery fan on a hot day

Woodunn — Mon, 18 Dec 2017 22:35:57 GMT

I can confirm that when the ambient temperature goes over about 32 deg, both fans kick in. They seem to have two settings.....on and off! The lower fan on the right of the cabinet sucks and the fan on the top right blows, so keeping the door closed will keep the air flowing accross the electrical gubbins as designed and as per other answers, also keeps the unit safe from dust and other environmentals.

Re: Battery fan on a hot day

Chris_in_Glynde — Tue, 19 Dec 2017 03:38:27 GMT

26.8 degrees in the garage, and the fans have been running flat out for hours, and we dread the noise as summer really hits us.

I would NOT have allowed it to be installed where it is, had we known how annoying it is.

I can only hope that the upgraded battery has new firmware that recognises and fixes this problem, as I can't see the need for such air flow, and attendant noise.

Larger,slower fans would help.