Epever tracer bn series and lifepo4

[CyBerT]

Hi, I was wondering is it smart to buy a 60A tracer for lifepo charging? It is one of the rare charge controllers that is powerfull suports 48v, is not expensive and is available. Can you program it enough to make it work wit this batteries? Does it stop charging when current goes under the limit? What parameters can you setup. I am planning to have 48v system in a small remote house in the future with lifepo4 battery made from scratch with 16650 cells. I will be using 24v 357w pannels.

Thank you for your ideas.

 

[Don B. Cilly]

They are quite easy to program. I have a 30A AN. I quite like it.
I suggest getting the wifi adapter, I found it quite reliable, the USB cable not really.
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[Browneye]

They are the most popular budget solar controller. All settings and parameters are adjustable to suit lifepo4.
The EPEver 'Solar Station Monitor' software is recommended - load it on a laptop and connect with the proprietary RS485 cable - good to go.
Let's of input here on best settings, but each system is a bit different, so it's best to start from basic default settings and fine tune from there.

The default LI Battery settings are an option in the program.

I have a Tracer Xtra - their newest version - seems to work well. I have a 12V mobile system - in a motorhome.

 

[DThames]

Have purchased 4 of the AN series, 10A, 40A, and 60A versions. Some of the ANs have lower max PV input than the BNs do. The PC interface has given some people fits but if you are careful to follow the instructions, not a problem at all. Connected to a PC, you can configure all parameters very easy as stated by Don C. already. I have used them for both Li-ion and LiFePo4. Can't complain.

 

[CyBerT]

Thank you very much for the info! I will start it slow and expand it along the way.

 

[CyBerT]

They are quite easy to program. I have a 30A AN. I quite like it.
I suggest getting the wifi adapter, I found it quite reliable, the USB cable not really.
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Is the an series the same as bn? bn seems really bulky and robust

 

[CyBerT]

In other words is the an interface the same as https://zhcsolar.com/product/40a-mppt-solar-charge-controller/

 

[GLC]

I have 3 of the Epevers, all work great. I program with mt50's.

 

[Don B. Cilly]

Is the an series the same as bn?

No, BN seems better. But, from what I see, they do sell the wifi box and the USB cable for them, so they're programmable.
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[CyBerT]

Ok if anibody is interested I will keep you posted on progress.

 

[CyBerT]

Ok I bought the charge controller actually it is not a BN series but "IT 6415, it has a built in display and you can set it up witouth software/display.

 

[CyBerT]

What smart BMS brands do you recomend? Wich ones do you use? I calculated I need roughly 40A BMS with 16s 4p 1,8Ah 18650 lifepo4 cells. Now I have A 90Ah Agm battery.

 

[JRF]

Working on several Solar projects (Have selected Growatt for larger and EPever Triron series for regulated DC loads). Question:With the EPever software, does it "log" the data without more hardware/software?

 

[JRF]

With larger systems, seems SolarSignature has great pricing on batteries that have all required communication features for communication and growth. Only "gotcha" I see is that long-term monitoring on most apps go to cloud-based databases (Mostly in China). Being in the computer systems industry for over 40 years as an architect for manufacturing systems, am very leery of systems that aren't local and can change system parameters with a solar energy system (can destroy batteries, shutdown systems, destroy components...).

 

[CyBerT]

Don't know yet, this week I will set up 12v system and will test a few things, will report as soon as I get to it .

 

[Browneye]

Working on several Solar projects (Have selected Growatt for larger and EPever Triron series for regulated DC loads). Question:With the EPever software, does it "log" the data without more hardware/software?

For sure visually, while the program is open and the computer connected. There is a 'log data download' option under 'maintenance' in the Solar Station Monitor Ver1.95, just not sure how much data gets saved or downloaded, never tried it. I suspect it is for the duration that you were monitoring, not a history for a date range.

Users complain about the program, some have difficulty getting it to work, but it's pretty slick and does a decent job, and you can adjust and save all your configuration settings. Not sure about the BN series, the AN series uses a proprietary RS485 to usb cable. The program dowloaded from EPEVER.

 

[CyBerT]

They still havent sent me computer cable and temperature sensor, this might take a while.

 

[Browneye]

They still havent sent me computer cable and temperature sensor, this might take a while.

Note that temperature compensation is not used with lifepo4, only for terminating charging for sub-freezing temps, and your bms should protect you there. Assuming you're operating in a sub-freezing environment.

An oem rs485 cable ships fast from amazon or ebay. We have other users here that can never get their computer connected. [shrug]

 

[CyBerT]

Ok, finaly got cables after 2 months. The software is rubbish I could not get it to work. I will stick to display settings.

 

[CyBerT]

For now