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Finally found a LiFePO4 BMS with Low-temp Charging Protection

Where do you get the 3/8" and larger terminal rings to attach to the BMS leads? those wires are tee-9-cee! Most of the copper rings i run across are for 10 awg and thicker. I am installing one of the "hookup" BMS's on a Al case prismatic 100 amp battery (Orient Power) and right now I am just winding the lead around the terminal since that seems to work for now.
Thanks,
Pink
 
PfloydBham said:
Where do you get the 3/8" and larger terminal rings to attach to the BMS leads? those wires are tee-9-cee! Most of the copper rings i run across are for 10 awg and thicker. I am installing one of the "hookup" BMS's on a Al case prismatic 100 amp battery (Orient Power) and right now I am just winding the lead around the terminal since that seems to work for now.
Thanks,
Pink
Click to expand...
Will recommends this.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07124B88...eb1148ea256123d8ff9e5e2fd2c082&language=en_US
 
Hi, just an idea that may help anybody who has bought a BMS without low temperature protection and having cells making trouble under 0 degrees, like me :(.

What if one can warm up the cells?

On AliExpress I found this heating pads working with 12v. There are also lots of others there.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000600141719.html

or this here
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32952502523.html

One could combine them with the following temperature-controller platine and program it to 0°C as desired temperature.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32968984417.html

you can even set a working range
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000360853038.html

I'm not an expert in this field, but from my understand it should work and it would be a cheap solution to handle the problem.

What do you think?

Edit: This controller stuff can do even more:

Edit2: Here is a DIY video of a guy doing something very similar:
 
Last edited:
Hey, newbie to the forum, found my way here from the video about this BMS since it seems to fit exactly the need I have: 100Ah capacity, 100A draw.

One question though: for my application, a hard-wired display of battery data (especially state of charge and charge/discharge rate) is more useful than Bluetooth to a phone. Is there any option for that with this bms? Or another model that has the same features (4S, 100A, and low-temp protection)? Or would I need to use a separate device with a hall sensor or shunt to get that?

ETA: oh, and just noticed the app is android only. That's pretty much a deal killer for me - I have an iPhone.... So alternative ways to program this BMS? Or another with similair features?
 
It seems the BMS' that have Bluetooth apps are all android based, haven't seen others with alternate phone apps. These are some "WIFI" ones but I haven't a clue about the apps for them, be it PC, Phone or otherwise. Some folks are using cheap / older android smartphones with BT only just for the use.... tons of android phones on the market (maybe even in your families box of surplus).

Personally, I would be hesitant with BT and apps... how secure is the app, does it expose any issues, must it be connected & active or will work standalone properly. I learned the hard way when tinkering with IoT that it has to be connected to the internet to work and n the case of Samsung's SmartThings, they want full access to everything on your phone (address book, gps, photo's, mail, web browser etc_)
 
Steve_S said:
I learned the hard way when tinkering with IoT that it has to be connected to the internet to work and n the case of Samsung's SmartThings, they want full access to everything on your phone (address book, gps, photo's, mail, web browser etc_)
Click to expand...

Yup. I have a lot of home automation stuff, but I make sure everything I can make so is purely local. Which means 90% of my IoT devices are on wifi, re-flashed with 3rd party FOSS firmware, and they only talk to my locally-running hub software.
 
jgalak said:
Yup. I have a lot of home automation stuff, but I make sure everything I can make so is purely local. Which means 90% of my IoT devices are on wifi, re-flashed with 3rd party FOSS firmware, and they only talk to my locally-running hub software.
Click to expand...
I briefly looked a HASS.IO but, as I only want to have internet up when I want (Off gridder and satellite modem is a pig) so I'm in a lurch there for now.
 
jgalak said:
Hey, newbie to the forum, found my way here from the video about this BMS since it seems to fit exactly the need I have: 100Ah capacity, 100A draw.

One question though: for my application, a hard-wired display of battery data (especially state of charge and charge/discharge rate) is more useful than Bluetooth to a phone. Is there any option for that with this bms? Or another model that has the same features (4S, 100A, and low-temp protection)? Or would I need to use a separate device with a hall sensor or shunt to get that?

ETA: oh, and just noticed the app is android only. That's pretty much a deal killer for me - I have an iPhone.... So alternative ways to program this BMS? Or another with similair features?
Click to expand...

On Wills video he lists a link for install on iOS phones.???

 
Steve_S said:
It seems the BMS' that have Bluetooth apps are all android based, haven't seen others with alternate phone apps.
Click to expand...

I have an IPhone App for the one that came with my battery .... and it has low temp cutoff.

I tried loading software to my PC called BlueStacks that will run Android apps on the PC and loaded the file Will posted for the BMS he is recommending. The software runs the App but won't connect to my battery ..... not sure if its my setup or if it is a different app.

Edit .... Just saw that Will has linked an IPhone app .... gonna check it out and see if it is what I am using.

Edit2 ... That is the same App I'm using for my BMS ..... Not sure why the android app doesn't connect from my PC.
 
Thanks all, missed the ios app. I'd still prefer something that uses a physical display rather than blue tooth.
 
jgalak said:
I'd still prefer something that uses a physical display rather than blue tooth.
Click to expand...

I hear you! Particularly the SOC (state of charge). Having to get a phone out to check on your SOC is a pain.... I would much prefer glancing at the display. If I need to see the other stuff (Voltages, Currents, temps, cycle counts, etc, etc then I am doing something more detailed and getting the phone out is less of an issue)

The board has a communications port. If someone had the protocol details they could probably code a small hobby display to do the job.... but I am not going to try doing that. It is to much work compared to buying the cheap $40 Ali battery monitor.
 
FilterGuy said:
I hear you! Particularly the SOC (state of charge). Having to get a phone out to check on your SOC is a pain.... I would much prefer glancing at the display. If I need to see the other stuff (Voltages, Currents, temps, cycle counts, etc, etc then I am doing something more detailed and getting the phone out is less of an issue)

The board has a communications port. If someone had the protocol details they could probably code a small hobby display to do the job.... but I am not going to try doing that. It is to much work compared to buying the cheap $40 Ali battery monitor.
Click to expand...
I'm thinking about getting the Chargery 8T controller instead. Am I missing some major advantage to this BMS compared to their unit, other than price?
 
jgalak said:
I'm thinking about getting the Chargery 8T controller instead. Am I missing some major advantage to this BMS compared to their unit, other than price?
Click to expand...
Chargery looks like a nice BMS, but I have no first hand experience with it.

My biggest issue with the chargery is that it requires external control for shutting off charge and/or discharge. The default would be to use big relays to cut charge and discharge power (Two of them). Some people have apparently been able to use the relay outputs as signals to other equipment to do the same, but that only works if your other equipment can take the signals. The relays they recommend are supposedly fairly low wattage so it may not be too bad for larger systems, but if you are tight on available amp-hours, this may not be the right thing for you.

If you are ok with the relays, a really nice accessory is their delay module that can be used to set up an automagic precharge circuit for when connecting to the inverter.
 
FilterGuy said:
Chargery looks like a nice BMS, but I have no first hand experience with it.

My biggest issue with the chargery is that it requires external control for shutting off charge and/or discharge. The default would be to use big relays to cut charge and discharge power (Two of them). Some people have apparently been able to use the relay outputs as signals to other equipment to do the same, but that only works if your other equipment can take the signals. The relays they recommend are supposedly fairly low wattage so it may not be too bad for larger systems, but if you are tight on available amp-hours, this may not be the right thing for you.

If you are ok with the relays, a really nice accessory is their delay module that can be used to set up an automagic precharge circuit for when connecting to the inverter.
Click to expand...

I actually rather like the relay thing, as I'm a big fan of there being a physical disconnect somewhere in the system. With 100Ah, I don't think the relay draw would be real significant. If I were to use something with no relay, I'd probably put one in, anyway, with a "master" type switch anyway... Yes, the delay board definitely looks quite nice.

I'd love to use latching relays for this, but they aren't supported by the BMS and all the ones I've ever seen are stupid expensive anyway....

ETA: I can even wire the relay control circuit such that there was a mechanical "Master" switch that prevented the BMS from turning the system back on.
 
jgalak said:
I'd love to use latching relays for this, but they aren't supported by the BMS and all the ones I've ever seen are stupid expensive anyway....
Click to expand...

I've just ordered this driver circuit and this latching relay to use with the Chargery BMS (at least on the discharge end, charge signal will be directly hooked-up to the inverter-charger). If background consumption is an issue for you that's a nice potential solution, the latching relays don't draw anything and the driver circuit will take care of toggling it according to the signal sent by the BMS. The driver circuit itself goes to sleep when not triggered and consumes virtually nothing (35uA according to the datasheet)
 
@jgalak. It sounds like you are good to go. Like I said, I don't have direct experience with it but others on the forum seem to like them.

The fact that the Battery Hookup BMS is out of stock kinda pushes you to the Chargery too.

BTW: In another thread a poster said he was getting a Chargery firmware upgrade to enable low-temp disconnect. If you need this, make sure your version of the BMS has it.
 
Last edited:
astronom said:
I've just ordered this driver circuit and this latching relay to use with the Chargery BMS (at least on the discharge end, charge signal will be directly hooked-up to the inverter-charger). If background consumption is an issue for you that's a nice potential solution, the latching relays don't draw anything and the driver circuit will take care of toggling it according to the signal sent by the BMS. The driver circuit itself goes to sleep when not triggered and consumes virtually nothing (35uA according to the datasheet)
Click to expand...

That's a nice solution! The relay is a little lower current than I would like, but there are others available.
 
Speaking of current draw..... does anyone know the current draw of the battery hookup BMS when everything is stopped (Not charging or discharging). (I am wondering about discharge while storing the battery.)

Along those lines, is there a good way to turn off the BMS while in storage so there is no current draw? I could always disconnect it, but it would be nice if I could flip a switch or press a button to completely shut it off.
 
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