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I think it is. They call it ‘Negative Temperature Coefficient‘ sensor. It uses a thermister as a temp probe. In a normal resister the ohmic value increases with heat ( PTC ) but with the NTC the ohmic value decreases very precisely and can be used for quite accurate temp measurement.

Oh how I wish for the US to metricate a little faster ! It will be such a blessing if the whole world can be communicating in ‘metric’ . Come on US , you must be one of the last nations on earth to still cling to the old imperial system. I suppose I am going to be lambasted for this.

Time to cycle your battery a few times to test your efforts and then throw a Heltec 5A balancer into the mix. I think we fuss too much about balancing to the last mV. Cell delta under 50mV is quite acceptable. Purists , shoot me now.

How many of you have held the soldering iron tip close to your nose to test if it is warm and then actually touch your nose by mistake - ouch ? it’s still hot ! Surely I‘m not the only one ?

Solar porn ?

Maybe once you join the rest of the world using 240v 50Hz single phase ?

Just to clarify : these ammo boxes may not be the traditional ammo box known to most. These boxes have detachable lids ( 4 x clips ) and are stackable. In ZA these are used extensively for storage in 4x4, offroad vehicles, RVs and for camping etc. These are cheap at about $US15. a Few more...

Do not laugh - I have used strips of Velcro quite successfully. Not quite sure if glue will melt off if BMS gets a bit warm. Alternatively drill mounting holes through the copper pads and use insulated mounting hardware. If mounting against a wood board then no need. Place spacers between the...

Use 2x car halogen headlamp bulbs in series , then use one when voltage gets to about 14,5v.

I have been playing with this BMS for a while now and must must say that I am very satisfied with the performance. All the protection functions work great - the only one that I have not tested is the 'low temp cut off'. This unit has two NTC sensors - the one is on a fly lead but the other one...

On a slightly different note : How many of you installed a proper fire extinguisher , rated for Li fires , near your batteries as well as a smoke detector ?

Go here to watch Will's video on this BMS :

Redundancy , smaller units , thinner cable runs , better placement of PV panels to optimise sun.

i had to do that on the first JBD’s I bought about 4 years ago. The later ones circa 2023 are much more accurate without recalibration.

We all do this from time to time - dropping wrenches ? etc. onto terminals. If you were quick to remove the short you should be o.k.

Victron is big in South Africa. They have regular training tours through the country and they get their official distributors to host the training sessions ( mostly for free ) which can be up to a week in duration. At times Victron would arrange seminars / new product launches / training...

That is why the Victron 30A is ideal and is what I use.

Yes guys , I had to think back a little before I responded - did not want to tell you porkies ! It has a Charge FET and a Discharge FET and it works like Dzl described. I will have to rig it up quickly again tomorrow with the Drok meter for total discharge and the Hall sensor in the charger line...

In this whole saga with keeping batteries healthy my approach is to have a decent programmable BMS hooked up and so far my experience is that normally cells track within close tolerance on the flat part of the curve. The BMS then looks after errant runaway cells at the top and bottom. My power...

Better to source lugs with smaller size holes.

Why don’t you have a chat with Andy @offgridgarage.

Shown here is a 48v 100aH battery built into an ammo box ( ZA version ) The build consists of 16 x A grade LiFePO4 battery cells controlled by a 200A JBD BMS. Only problem at the moment is that I do not have a 48v mains charger , so I charged the battery in 4 x 12v groups with a Victron Blue...

Until recently I have been using Daly Common Port BMS's in my experimental 12v LiFE 100Ah 4S battery pack. Very pleasing results getting in excess of 1500Wh on the discharge cycles. 'Curiosity killed the Cat' and after reading / watching Will experimenting with Bluetooth BMS's I decided that I...

I suggest that you dump the Shine Phone app and get Solar Assistant.

I just clean all the terminals and connection points with the purest Isopropyl alcohol ( normally 99% pure ) I can find. You can spray it on cct boards and brush clean - not harmful at all ( unless you drink it ) , evaporates quickly , does not melt plastic etc. Once the connections are bolted...

I have successfully revived and still using today some 3,2v LFP cells that had low voltages between 0,7 and 1,4 after sitting for a long time.Charge / discharge them slowly a few times and then do a charge / discharge capacity test before you discard . You may be able to save some.

Sorted !! I can now report that the current display is working 100%. All it was is the proper calibration setting in the software of the current measuring shunt resistor value. This is not mentioned anywhere in the 17 page manual and thanks to a post on Hackaday.IO re the calibration of the...

‘Borrow‘ them from your wife’s car ;)

Just received mine ! So far very impressed. Software so easy to install , as well as the driver. Plug and Play. Did a quick short discharge on my one pack - what a pleasure. Now I do not have to take measurements at certain intervals and plot out. Highly recommended.

The cigarette socket current is about 10 amps max and the voltage 13,8 - 14,2 v may be too low for the SCC. The PV panel output will normally be about 17v. You may have to run thicker wires from the vehicle battery to a dc/dc converter direct to the battery terminals.