BMS that meets ABYC recommendations, and is reasonably priced.

[wholybee]

I am looking for a BMS that meets ABYC recommendations. In particular, it needs to be able to trigger an alarm before it cuts off. The REC Active BMS does it, but holy ^&* it costs $1000 for the whole BMS system.

Is there anything like an Overkill BMS that has a way to trigger a light or alarm before disconnect?

 

[Bob B]

The Chargery has that feature and the delay time can be adjusted ..... but I think the max delay is 60 seconds.
You may want to check it out whenever they come out with the next generation product which is due to be released soon.

 

[Dzl]

I am looking for a BMS that meets ABYC recommendations. In particular, it needs to be able to trigger an alarm before it cuts off. The REC Active BMS does it, but holy ^&* it costs $1000 for the whole BMS system.

Is there anything like an Overkill BMS that has a way to trigger a light or alarm before disconnect?

What do you mean by 'meets ABYC reccomendations'? Does the ABYC set out guidelines for BMSes? Or do mean more general ABYC electrical guidelines?

If the ABYC comments specifically on BMSes I would be curious to learn more about what they say

 

[wholybee]

Yes, ABYC has a recommendation for Lithium systems on boats, (ABYC TE-13) which will likely become official specification in the future. And with that, insurance companies will require compliance(some already do).

Unfortunately, it costs thousands of dollars for a mortal to see the ABYC document. But there is a lot of information here: https://marinehowto.com/lifepo4-batteries-on-boats/ It is very good reading, but search for ABYC if TLDR.

Notably, ABYC requires an alarm warning of a BMS cutoff before it happens, so the operator can take action to prevent it. The site above accounts an incident of a cutout at a precarious time which caused a boat to crash into a bridge.

 

[SV_Stray_Cats]

Not much cheaper than the REC BMS, but I'm going to use the Orion Jr 2 BMS in a boat with electric propulsion and will only use the warnings, no low voltage cutout - because killing the batteries is cheaper than crashing the boat. In my case, the Orion will talk CAN to the motor controller and hopefully provide an alarm through the existing motor display and alarm. Orion's CAN and other outputs are very flexible so could go to a separate alarm, or access my motor controller's functions like power limiting.

I wonder if a BMS has to have a specific output linked to the disconnect, or if you could set an output to an alarm based on a more conservative voltage limit than the disconnect?

 

[Luthj]

If you are just looking for safety margin, and don't need to strictly meet the AYBC guidelines, then two parallel packs with their own BMS provides redundancy. A simple circuit could be rigged up to trigger an alarm if either pack drops out, and a manual bypass switch could be included for emergencies.

 

[mikefitz]

Vistron Smart Battery Protect, between the battety and some consumers, not the inverter, is programmable and as an alarm output. This is an entirely separate unit to the battery BMS.

Smart BatteryProtect - Victron Energy

Disconnect the battery from non essential loads before it is completely discharged with Victron Energy's Smart BatteryProtect. Find a dealer near you.

www.victronenergy.com

Mike

 

[wholybee]

Vistron Smart Battery Protect, between the battety and some consumers, not the inverter, is programmable and as an alarm output. This is an entirely separate unit to the battery BMS.

Smart BatteryProtect - Victron Energy

Disconnect the battery from non essential loads before it is completely discharged with Victron Energy's Smart BatteryProtect. Find a dealer near you.

www.victronenergy.com

Mike

But that doesn't monitor the cells, and doesn't warn of a BMS disconnect, which could also happen for over current or temperature, not just over discharging the whole pack.

My interest is solely for ABYC compliance, and to see if there is a reasonably priced BMS that is compliant. An alarm should be cheap to implement, but it seems that you can only get it with a BMS system > $500.

 

[Luthj]

You could wire up a delay circuit with alarm to one of the cheaper BMS relay outputs. that would give you X minutes to either bypass the disconnect, or remedy the issue.

 

[mahonrig]

My plan (batteries finally arrive Tuesday!) is to have an Arduino talking to the Overkill Solar BMS. It'll be able to pull cell voltages and watch for conditions getting close to a BMS cutoff. I can wire up an 'ok to charge' and 'ok to discharge' signal, should be able to use it to control inverter power switch, alternator, solar charge controller, relays, etc.