SEPLOS MASON 3.0 BMS (2A) VS JK INV BMS 200A WITH 2A

Hello Guys,
With the recent dip in cell prices relative to a year ago, i am looking at purchasing 2 sets of 16 cells of the EVE LF280K. I am going the DIY route and looking at two options and hoping to get your thoughts especially on my choice either. The two options i am looking at are:
1. The Seplos Mason-48280L DIY Kit with BMS 3.0 with 2A active balancer. I like the standing design as this will fit into the space i have for the battery. I also like the PC Software UI and the BMS firmware is also updatable. My only con is the charging algorithm/software implementation which Andy from OffGrid garage has commented upon. I also don't know how good their balancing function is compared to others.
2. The JK Inverter BMS 200A with 2A active Balancer with screen and case from Luyuan. The JK has undergone a lot of fine tuning over the months as reported here and has a better charging algorithm implementation. I don't like the case which will lie flat on the ground. The App UI is also a bit dated. But overall i will take functionality over eye candy.
So, currently in March 2024, which amongst these two BMS do we think are a better recommendation based your own experiences using any of these two. Thank you

I just bought an EEL 280 box with the JK inverter BMS. I would go with JK all day because I have 1 in use and it has done an awesome job keeping everything balanced. I liked the JK Bms that I have used so much that I bought 2 spares for the future

I recently bought the EEL box with JK inverter BMS because I am hoping it will work in closed loop with my EG4 6000 Xp. In your situation I would bet both of your options would work fine with that tho.

I have 3 Seplos mason kits running V3, 200A bms WITHOUT an active balancer. I have around 60 cycles on my batteries and all of them have cells still within 10mV deviation at full charge. The passive balancer does a great job. I don’t see any reason why additional active balancer wouldn’t do even better.
I run these in closed loop with Sol-Ark15k. I’m planning to add 2 more packs, bringing capacity to ~1500Ah.

a619 said:

I have 3 Seplos mason kits running V3, 200A bms WITHOUT an active balancer. I have around 60 cycles on my batteries and all of them have cells still within 10mV deviation at full charge. The passive balancer does a great job. I don’t see any reason why additional active balancer wouldn’t do even better.
I run these in closed loop with Sol-Ark15k. I’m planning to add 2 more packs, bringing capacity to ~1500Ah.

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Have you had any issues with the closed loop communication with the Sol-Ark 15K? This is what I am considering doing, starting with 2 300AH 48V boxes for backup power and adding in solar at a later date.

dredge999 said:

Have you had any issues with the closed loop communication with the Sol-Ark 15K? This is what I am considering doing, starting with 2 300AH 48V boxes for backup power and adding in solar at a later date.

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No major issues with closed loop comms with Sol-Ark, worked out of box with regular ethernet cable. One downside is, the soc% on these BMS tend to drift from reality if you don't regularly charge your batteries to full. I have found that as long as you charge these all the way once a week or two, the soc corrects itself.

a619 said:

No major issues with closed loop comms with Sol-Ark, worked out of box with regular ethernet cable. One downside is, the soc% on these BMS tend to drift from reality if you don't regularly charge your batteries to full. I have found that as long as you charge these all the way once a week or two, the soc corrects itself.

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I don't think SMA inverters have the drift issue. The drift issue is what everyone wants fixed on Solark.

ArthurEld said:

I don't think SMA inverters have the drift issue. The drift issue is what everyone wants fixed on Solark.

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I meant this in context of closed loop communication, meaning the SOC is being reported by the Seplos BMS. The drift happens at the BMS level as well because of how they stop counting below 6%. This is independent of Sol-Ark calculations, which are only relevant in open loop mode.

Active balance came about from DIY powerwall. It can be a chore to match second-hand cells from different vendors well enough, so it was just a lot easier to have an active balancer. If you are doing new cells the active balance really isn't necessary if you start off balanced and all the cells wear-in together.