Orion Jr.2 BMS thread
- Thread starter hammick
- Start date
The Jr.2 is supposed to be able to stop charging and/or inverting based upon high or low cells and temperature. Orion figured it out but it is not sanctioned by Schneider. Orion sent me a custom profile that was supposed to work but it does not. Orion tech is going to work on it on Monday. But they have made it clear to me that communication with my equipment is no officially supported by Orion and that I need to get a contactor. If I get a contactor why do I need the BMS to control my equipment? It's just on or off. Not fancy current reduction like the Victron. If I had to start over again I would get Victron equipment I think.
So using a contactor there are a lot of other BMS options to consider. I chose the Orion because I was told it can control my equipment. If it cannot, I hope they let me return everything.
I'm fairly certain my Jr.2 BMS is wired to the Xanbus of my Combox correctly.
I connected the BMS to my Combox Xanbus port and removed the other Cat 5 cable that went to my Conext MPPT charger. The Xanbus light on the Combox remained lit. I then changed the Canbus frequency in the Orion software to 500kbs and sent the profile to the BMS then powercycled the BMS per the instructions. The Xanbus light on my Combox went off and stayed off. When I changed it back to 250kbs the Xanbus light came back on. The Conext equipment does not support 500kbs. So unless I am misunderstanding something the wiring is good.
I connected the BMS to my Combox Xanbus port and removed the other Cat 5 cable that went to my Conext MPPT charger. The Xanbus light on the Combox remained lit. I then changed the Canbus frequency in the Orion software to 500kbs and sent the profile to the BMS then powercycled the BMS per the instructions. The Xanbus light on my Combox went off and stayed off. When I changed it back to 250kbs the Xanbus light came back on. The Conext equipment does not support 500kbs. So unless I am misunderstanding something the wiring is good.
So I have another problem. I finally installed the hall effect sensor and the current reading is all over the place. Plus I get an error when I try to zero the hall effect sensor. I even removed it from the battery cable and tried to zero it. Same error. I assume I have a faulty sensor. Has anyone else had this problem? Thanks.
You should be able to verify the sensor output with a multimeter. Supply the sensor regulated 5V and ground. Then put a volt meter on the two outputs and compare to ground. Each will be a voltage from 0.5-4.5V. One is the low current circuit, the other is the high current circuit.
If you are using an inverter or AC charging source as the load/source, the instantaneous current will jump all over the place. This inverters and AC chargers have significant DC ripple current (can be very large if viewing on a high speed scope). The BMS has a value called average current which smooths these pulses a bit. If you put a pure DC load (such as a DC motor, or even some MPPT controllers), the current should be much more stable.
My thought is that shouldn't need to zero the sensor in most applications, as they are calibrated at the factory. Note that negative current is charging, and positive current is discharging. You can reverse the sensors direction in software if you get it backwards by mistake.
You can extend the hall sensors harness, but I suggest using a grounded shield cable, or adding a shield yourself if needed.
Can you use analog or on/off signals with your external equipment? The BMS supports a couple different types of signal that way.
If you need some monitoring, you can use a blutooth OBDII dongle, and wire it to the canbus. Then you can setup the Torque app on a mobile device, and configure a dashboard to view codes, and most live data values. Obviously the more advanced stuff is still serial via the PC app.
If you need some monitoring, you can use a blutooth OBDII dongle, and wire it to the canbus. Then you can setup the Torque app on a mobile device, and configure a dashboard to view codes, and most live data values. Obviously the more advanced stuff is still serial via the PC app.
The Orion current readings vary "a lot" when an inverter is involved due to ripple current. It's not as smooth as, say, a Victron BMV-712. But it's quite normal for it to vary while under load/charge via inverter. I've never tried to zero mine.
Luth can you point me to the "average" setting in the utility. I'm not seeing it. I post a video shortly showing how erratic mine is. To the point that having current information is useless. Thanks.
It's in the Live Text Data tab; I don't remember if it's in the first pulldown option or not. Cycle through the pulldowns - there's a LOT of information you can see there.
So I graphed the pack current and average pack current. Are you guys seeing such a huge variation as I am? If so I'll forget about the HES and move on to my Canbus issues. As you can see my HES is around three stacked Basen buss bars which are attached to my 500a shunt for my battery monitors. Maybe the shunt is causing a lot more ripple than normal. I can put the shunt below the HES if needed.
Anyone willing to shut off all current to their HES and see if they can zero it?
BTW I installed the beta firmware and still no go on controlling my Conext equipment. We shall see what Andrew can do on Monday. I am 100% certain the BMS is connected to my Conext Combox. I reversed can high and can low this morning and the Xanbus light turned off. Put them back the way they should be and the Xanbus light came back on. Assuming Andrew gave me a good profile, hopefully it's a simple as going back to an older firmware on my Conext equipment. Of course Schneider took the old firmware down. They used to have all of the old one's available. Their customer service has gone from exceptional a couple years ago to non-existant.
That looks typical of when I am running my inverter or other switching load.
The ferrite rings can help reduce RF noise. You can try putting them around the bus bar, but I don't think you are having a RF noise issue, I bet your current is just fluctuating at high frequency. As a test you can take the sensor and put it around a wire with a pure DC load (light bulb, motor, coil heater) on it. Or if you can turn off any noisy or switching loads (inverter etc), that can help.
Most inverters are switching the DC load on/off at high frequency, so it jumps from zero to max often. Same goes for PWM solar controllers. The Orion BMS shows you the raw and semi-filtered value, as its design for a EV application where real time data is important. Since the bms is sampling at a high frequency, it catches the current at various places in its switching cycle.
Most battery monitors and current meters apply an averaging method, either software or hardware, to produce a human friendly value.
The ferrite rings can help reduce RF noise. You can try putting them around the bus bar, but I don't think you are having a RF noise issue, I bet your current is just fluctuating at high frequency. As a test you can take the sensor and put it around a wire with a pure DC load (light bulb, motor, coil heater) on it. Or if you can turn off any noisy or switching loads (inverter etc), that can help.
Most inverters are switching the DC load on/off at high frequency, so it jumps from zero to max often. Same goes for PWM solar controllers. The Orion BMS shows you the raw and semi-filtered value, as its design for a EV application where real time data is important. Since the bms is sampling at a high frequency, it catches the current at various places in its switching cycle.
Most battery monitors and current meters apply an averaging method, either software or hardware, to produce a human friendly value.
Thank you. You answered my next question about why my shunt based battery monitors only vary by a few tenths of a volt.
To confirm your current is changing, view your live cell voltages. If they are jumping around, that indicates there is significant DC ripple in your current.
The Orion uses internal averaging to calculate cell over/under voltage, and pack overcurrent. So this type of variance in current won't cause it trouble. In fact the Orion Jr is quite tolerant of noisy environments.
The Orion uses internal averaging to calculate cell over/under voltage, and pack overcurrent. So this type of variance in current won't cause it trouble. In fact the Orion Jr is quite tolerant of noisy environments.
Also as a note, your signal wiring (shunt etc) should never run parallel to AC wiring. It can cross it (45-90 degrees). Don't pass it through the same knockout/hole as AC wiring. If they must run parallel, several inches of separation is suggested.
I forgot to mention my inverter and CC are still connected to my Trojan L16 batteries so the Orion HES is seeing the current in and out of the Trojans. The Orion is being powered by and the cell taps are on the 16s Lischen cells. Not sure if they would contribute to the RF noise.
I'm waiting on my custom made buss bars before I make the switch.
I'm waiting on my custom made buss bars before I make the switch.
Thanks. I will double check everything before I button it up. Until today the shunt was on the negative battery post but I couldn't take the shit wiring show anymore. 18 cell taps wires are shit show enough for the new enclosure.
Similar threads
