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Valence RT Series Diag Software

User78

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Joined
Feb 10, 2020
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6
Hi all,

I'm quite new to this topic and try right now to get some solar panels and proper batteries in our RV.
I had the chance to get 6 U1-12RT Batteries which have not used much.
First measurement shows a bit over 40ah, which is quite good.

Now I would like to connect to the internal BMS via RS485 and have followed the howto which is here in the forum for the XP Series.
But the Valence diagnostics software does not find my battery.

I use Windows XP 32bit, I start the program with "run as" administraor, The Com port is correct the tx led blinks all the time, rx only to time when the communication starts.


Any hints? is there maybe a dedicated diag software for the RT series?

Many Greetings
Ulrich
 
Last edited:
Hi All,

As more I read and talk to people, I come to the conclusion that nobody has connected the RT series via RS485 to the Valence Module Diag 12.9 and 12.12.
Most owners talk about Valence batteries, but don't differentiate the type or model. It has pointed out that all with working connection have the XP Series.

I have now tried many different operating systems beginning with Windows XP 32Bit, Win7 32 and 64 bit, and Win 10 with four different USB to RS485 converters.

The only sign of live comes when I let the U-BDI connected to the string. With the U-BDI connected I have mostly three sometimes two shadow device ID's which change each time I search. A Read operation to these Modules fails, no details are shown like firmware , serial, ...


I would be still very happy to read out basic statistics, so if anybody can help it would much appreciated.


Many Greetings
Ulrich
 
Hi Ulrich, hi all,

I can confirm that the software doesn't work. In fact it can't work as with the XP series BMS, because the RS 485 interface of the RT-12 battery is only active if the battery is charged or discharged. At least with the two batteries I have. I tried it with a 5V supply voltage on the interface, but that doesn't activate it if the battery is idle.

And when the interface is active, it seems that the protocol is different. I looked at the communication between the Valence display and the battery and it differs from the protocol that is used by some projects on Github to retrieve data from an XP series BMS. I couldn't find a project or tool that retrieves data from a RT-12 battery, so I tried to get some information out of it. I could identify values for SOC, current, voltages and temperatures. Not bad.

Is anyone interested in a partial protocol description or a Python script that retrieves this data?

Cheers
Hendrik
 
Hi Ulrich, hi all,

I can confirm that the software doesn't work. In fact it can't work as with the XP series BMS, because the RS 485 interface of the RT-12 battery is only active if the battery is charged or discharged. At least with the two batteries I have. I tried it with a 5V supply voltage on the interface, but that doesn't activate it if the battery is idle.

And when the interface is active, it seems that the protocol is different. I looked at the communication between the Valence display and the battery and it differs from the protocol that is used by some projects on Github to retrieve data from an XP series BMS. I couldn't find a project or tool that retrieves data from a RT-12 battery, so I tried to get some information out of it. I could identify values for SOC, current, voltages and temperatures. Not bad.

Is anyone interested in a partial protocol description or a Python script that retrieves this data?

Cheers
Hendrik
Hi Hendrik,

That's very informative. I already wasted a bit of time trying to connect to my newly acquired RT batteries. I am interested in your protocol / python script!
TIA

Ipe
 
Hi Ipe, I will upload the script to Github in the next two weeks. I haven't found the time to write the description and documentation yet, but got it working with more than one battery at once. I'll send you a PM now with a link to the script. This is still work in progress. Please don't distribute it before it is on Github.
 
Hi Ipe, I will upload the script to Github in the next two weeks. I haven't found the time to write the description and documentation yet, but got it working with more than one battery at once. I'll send you a PM now with a link to the script. This is still work in progress. Please don't distribute it before it is on Github.
Hi Hendrik,

I have two RT-12s as well and would love to be able to get this interface working. If it isn't too much trouble, please send me details as well.

Cheers,
Randall
 
Hi Hendrik,

a py script and some details would be much appreciated!
A small display with the important values in my RV is something I miss by now, but it could be build quite simple when we know how to get the data from the batteries.

It's also OK, that it is only possibly to read the date when a load is attached or when the battery is chaged, as it would be sufficient to see the last values.

Many thanks and all the best
Ulrich
 
Ok, I didn't want to work on this, but it was raining and the batteries are still near my computer. So I created a software for the ESP32 microcontroller to read the battery data. Nothing fancy, but it works. And I tought it might be a problem to get the RS485 message timing right with just the Python code as documentation.

The software is specific for the Lilygo T-Display, but should be easily portable (just the display and button part is specific). These T-Display modules are cheap, have lots of features (extra Flash; ESP32 => Wifi and Blutooth,), have a nice little display and one was sitting on my desk. Only the power consumption is rather high. For the RS485 signal a TTL convert module is needed. I will put the software on Github soon.

The picture shows values for two batteries (SOC value for second battery is wrong, but that seems to be a problem of the BMS, since the battery works fine; the power values show a rounding problem(?)):

valence_custom_display.jpg

Cheers
Hendrik
 
@User78 @Canyoneer @Ipe

Has anyone been able to successfully communicate with the BMS on the Valence RT series? I am interested in the Python interface to check cell status and other BMS data. I am not a programmer and do not have access to a Python revelopment / runtime environment. Any chance of compiling this to run on a Windows 10 machine using the standard USB/RS485 interface?

I understand the BMS may be CAN. I may be able to borrow a USB / CAN interface and log CAN bus traffic.
 
Hi @sduser

I had no time by now as the batteries are in my RV and I have missed to buy a spare one.

But .... you need not much to run the py script on windows or Linux, you most likely only need to install python which you can get here: https://www.python.org/downloads/

There are also many tutorials available. You would not need much time to install py and run the script and you will learn something.

As Hendrik has pointed out he is working on the implementation on ESP32.

Many Greetings
Ulrich
 
Hi @sduser

I had no time by now as the batteries are in my RV and I have missed to buy a spare one.

But .... you need not much to run the py script on windows or Linux, you most likely only need to install python which you can get here: https://www.python.org/downloads/

There are also many tutorials available. You would not need much time to install py and run the script and you will learn something.

As Hendrik has pointed out he is working on the implementation on ESP32.

Many Greetings
Ulrich

Thank you!
 
I have uploaded the sketch for the T-Display to Github: https://github.com/Canyoneer/ValenceRTDisplay

This is just a POC to get it running, but it should be easy to modify it or port it to other microcontrollers. The T-Display uses about 63mA, which should be fine if it only runs when needed. But to keep it running this would be way to much and it would probably the best option to use a low power module. Maybe nRf52 and use a phone to display the data retrieved by Bluetooth. Or a LCD or even e-paper display? There a lots of possibilities, but I don't have a lot of time to work on this.

@sduser: The interface is not CAN, it's RS 485. And the protocol seems to be a custom one (it's not MODBUS, but it uses MODBUS CRC). It is on Github, documented there and easy to modify. Probably not the best example to learn Python, since those are my first lines of Python: https://github.com/Canyoneer/ValenceRT-DecodingTool
 
I would pay for a software that can read the U1-12RT batteries.
I have 70. I can revive them from dead. and do capacity tests.
Would love to check cycle life through the software interface to access the internal memory.
 
Bringing this back I also have a few RT I would like to examine more closely

Disappointing to think I won’t be able to, ordered the cable already and was looking forward to interrogating the battery bms for clues

My three only seem to come up with 60aH between them and I’m trying to figure out why
 
so i resolved the capacity issue but still would like to talk to my RT's

any progress on any front?
 
I’m trying that now but I’d like to interrogate them via the bms but I haven’t found anyone that has figured out how to connect to the mother ship on the rt series
 
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