I bought all of mine Direct from Chargery and deal directly with them. On this forum, we also have
@Craig who has 280AH cells and Chargery BMS' along with accessories and he's in the US which is a bonus for many folks. I do not know if he has TE/Kilovac Contactors or the Dongya DHV series ones either, you'll have to ask him on that. Alternatively, on EBay & Amazon, there are a number of folks that have TE/Kilovac Contactors available (used between $30-80 each) or new roughly between $120-180 pending on amperage.
NOTE: I use ONE Contactor instead of TWO contactors, this is accomplished by an OptoCoupler and in combination with the Energy Saver relays it's VERY FRUGAL. I am also configured for Common-Port with a common DC Bus.
Opto-coupler board info:
There are many brands & types, the ones used in this type of application are 12 Volt ones, they come in 3.3, 5, 9, 12 & higher voltages so pay close attention to that. I used Keyes 2R1B but the LiteGo's have better connectors for the wiring (not pins but screw terminals). They also have Different Amperage Handling Ratings !!! be sure to get a minimum of 10A, higher is good. I bought mine for $5.20 CDN each but the Keyes has PINS so it's either solder wires or uses a connector of some sort... would have been easier with the screw terminals. NOTE: These are typically used for RaspberryPi, Arduino and similar mini computer boards so they are quite common and inexpensive. They are roughly 2"x2" in size.
Google Seach which shows many: Search Result
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I believe that Craig may have a few of these as well but am not certain.
REF on using the OptoCoupler by @onemorebattery here in the forum:
Steve, to clarify, do they conduct when connected in reverse, even when "coil" is de-energized, or are they open when connected in reverse, even when "coil" is energized? If the SSR uses a P-channel MOSFET then there's an inherent diode from drain (anode) to source. That means if you reverse...
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Using an optocoupler requires an external 12V power source, generally, a Buck Converter will work BUT there is an issue if using anything other than Lead Acid Batteries. The Battery Voltages quite often will exceed what the converter is designed for while the batteries are charging. When looking at Stepdown converters, be sure that it can handle the MAXIMUM Voltage that will be seen while charging. 24V system can be as high as 29.2V, for 48V it can be 58.4V if using LFP. I have turned Buck Converters into smouldering piles of Magic Smoke Makers and learned that le$$on.
So if your looking for such, you want 30V to 12V, or 60V to 12V.
I have just heard back from Dongya Corp and the
ElectricCarPartsCompany is no longer one of their vendors. You can purchase the DHV series Contactors as "Samples" from them directly, they accept PayPal and can ship fast. In fact, I am putting two into my Production System this week so I have confidence in them. At present, they do not have a presence on EBay or Amazon but are looking for potential vendors.
Dongya CONTACT INFO:
Https://www.cndongya.com Https://www.dc-contactors.com
Email: emma.chen@cndongya.com
If you contact Emma @ Dongya,
tell her that Steve_S from DIYSolarForum referred you to her for their product, otherwise you'll be treated as a "new contact" and will have to muddle through it all. (we went through a lot of discussion over this stuff). She uses a translator so be easy on the language, nice simple & to the point. They take PayPal too ! small fee for it.
You want: Energy Saver, Bi-Directional, #00A N.O. (Normally Open) Contactor. where # = Amperage required
Read the attached DOC carefully which tells you the numbers & ordering info in detail.
NOTE: I have updated the Chargery Manuals and sent the master doc to Jason who has to do his final touches and such. It's a major redo and so it's taking time. I've attached the
DRAFT BMS8T 4.1 Owner's Manual, this is nearly identical to the BMS16 Manual which has different diagrams in it as well. I had made the suggestion to Jason that we should convert this into One Manual for all models but I don't know if he is doing that at this time. There is more info & detail in this than the current doc's on the Chargery Website, so you can peruse it for reference.
Remember, Chargery only outputs RS232 Data steam for monitoring and logging. You cannot send instruction or configuration data to the BMS. If you desire CanBus, you will need an intermediary to receive the signals, process / convert and send out CanBus data. A RaspberyPi with Node-Red and similar tools could likely accomplish such. There is no software as such for the Chargery BMS'. One of our members here is now cooking up software to interact with the Chargery and much more, so you may want to check out this thread & bookmark it for later.
Im building a freeware realtime software/hardware monitoring solution that provides intimate details and decision making information about a solar system. I intend to be fully off grid in the near future and want to be self sufficient for power. My goal is complete control over every aspect of...
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Good Luck, Hope that answers your questions,
Steve