hwy17
Anti-Solar Enthusiast
I am hung up on some specific wording in the Orion Jr2 BMS operating manual.
On one hand, we have a quote somewhere else on this forum from Orion, stating that for ESS applications, it is common to supply power to the BMS only by it's Charge Power connector, so that balancing is always enabled. This makes sense, our charging sources are always connected, unlike a car, whether they are active or not, and we want our batteries to continually balance each time they rise above the balancing start voltage. This is the standard operation for bidirectional FET BMS as well.
But then, this:
If I read this correctly, supplying Charge Power initiates a one time balancing event, and when that event is complete, no balancing will be attempted again, until Charge Power is removed and re-applied.
That would mean that I need to devise a way to regularly remove and reapply Charge Power. Ideally if I could get my MPPT (Schneider 100-600) to send some kind of wake up signal when it starts generating in the morning, this would provide a daily signal cycle. But if I can't get some kind of 5-60v or dry contact active signal from the MPPT, I read this as implying that I need to set up some sort of timer myself, to regularly remove and reapply Charge Power to initiate a new balancing cycle.
Other than a timer, the only simpler option would be to wire a manual switch for the Charge Power, and then manually cycle it once in a while as needed.
The alternative to this thought process, is that this section is misworded or outdated, and the current software does include continuous balancing. But the Orion is built on tedious specificities and the manual is not written to repeat or highlight important information. So I have to take this sentence at face value until proven otherwise.
@hammick @Ampster
On one hand, we have a quote somewhere else on this forum from Orion, stating that for ESS applications, it is common to supply power to the BMS only by it's Charge Power connector, so that balancing is always enabled. This makes sense, our charging sources are always connected, unlike a car, whether they are active or not, and we want our batteries to continually balance each time they rise above the balancing start voltage. This is the standard operation for bidirectional FET BMS as well.
But then, this:
If I read this correctly, supplying Charge Power initiates a one time balancing event, and when that event is complete, no balancing will be attempted again, until Charge Power is removed and re-applied.
That would mean that I need to devise a way to regularly remove and reapply Charge Power. Ideally if I could get my MPPT (Schneider 100-600) to send some kind of wake up signal when it starts generating in the morning, this would provide a daily signal cycle. But if I can't get some kind of 5-60v or dry contact active signal from the MPPT, I read this as implying that I need to set up some sort of timer myself, to regularly remove and reapply Charge Power to initiate a new balancing cycle.
Other than a timer, the only simpler option would be to wire a manual switch for the Charge Power, and then manually cycle it once in a while as needed.
The alternative to this thought process, is that this section is misworded or outdated, and the current software does include continuous balancing. But the Orion is built on tedious specificities and the manual is not written to repeat or highlight important information. So I have to take this sentence at face value until proven otherwise.
@hammick @Ampster
