Chargery BMS 16 strange issues

[Tony]

@Tony you mention battery charger might be damaged if disconnected? I presume you mean disconnecting the charging current. There are other methods of disabling the charger. What type charger do you have? I have an Iota/IQ4 converter which I’ve modified to accept the disconnect signal from Chargery BMS. A relay just switches a small current to reduce charging voltage to a safe level. There are other methods like inserting a disconnect relay at the AC input.

I’ve also had the experience where the Chargery suddenly shows zero SOC. SOC meter displays almost always greater the 90% during my current 8 week camping trip. But suddenly yesterday buzzer started beeping due to low voltage and displaying 0% SOC. The problem I believe is that Chargery current resolution is poor. The AH counter is not accurate due to the dismal current resolution. The BMS reads my motor home quiescent current of 0.7A as zero. Over time the counter gets way out of wack. The SOC meter is useless unless the battery can be fully charged which I presume resets the counter.

I have an Elcon HK-H-H66-25 and yes I mean when disconnecting the charging current. They have two types Enable Switch and CANbus. I have the Enable switch version and use the Chargery charge relay to break the Enable line when the Chargery wants to turn off charging.

Regarding the SOC catastrophic drop to 0, Jason is insisting that I have a bad battery. However, the BMS showed the battery voltage at 53V after the SOC went to 0. My BMS is running so hot that I think it becomes unreliable at a certain temperature. For example, this morning the battery temperature was ~25c while points on the PCB ranged from 39c to 44c with no balancing, charging or discharging. That's with the case removed! I had a fan on the BMS all night. He says removing the case and mounting a fan is essential.

 

[toothy]

I got the following reply from Jason.

hi Roberts,

except all cell connections, disconnect all accessories to BMS. check if all cell voltage is correct. if yes, please operate the BMS according to manual instructions.

the new manual V4.1 is attached. set up battery capacity AH and power wh then calibrate SOC is very important.
any problems, please let me know.

thanks.

I think that means inspect cell connections, done.
Disconnect contactors, done. I don't think he means temp probes, beeper and light.
Cell V sort of agrees with 3 Fluke meters, some minor variations but no biggie, done.
Operate according to manual, is that comedy?

On the next paragraph, I couldn't care less about the SOC reading, I was thinking that pointed to an issue as being symptomatic of some problem. Maybe the new internal resistance screen showing all 0's could mean something also? It just seems stupid to let a $150 BMS possibly tear up $1500 worth of charge controllers and shut off my power for no apparent reason.

I sure am glad that my 8 month old Chargery unit that has been in service for 30 days, all of those 30 not functioning correctly, has a 1 year warranty!

 

[Tony]

I got the following reply from Jason.

hi Roberts,

except all cell connections, disconnect all accessories to BMS. check if all cell voltage is correct. if yes, please operate the BMS according to manual instructions.

the new manual V4.1 is attached. set up battery capacity AH and power wh then calibrate SOC is very important.
any problems, please let me know.

thanks.

I think that means inspect cell connections, done.
Disconnect contactors, done. I don't think he means temp probes, beeper and light.
Cell V sort of agrees with 3 Fluke meters, some minor variations but no biggie, done.
Operate according to manual, is that comedy?

On the next paragraph, I couldn't care less about the SOC reading, I was thinking that pointed to an issue as being symptomatic of some problem. Maybe the new internal resistance screen showing all 0's could mean something also? It just seems stupid to let a $150 BMS possibly tear up $1500 worth of charge controllers and shut off my power for no apparent reason.

I sure am glad that my 8 month old Chargery unit that has been in service for 30 days, all of those 30 not functioning correctly, has a 1 year warranty!

Sorry you are having problems too. He has sent me the manual three times and says I need to calibrate even though I did. The unit runs in the mid to high 40c - with the case removed and no balancing. Even with my fan on it, points on the BMS PCB run 47-49c without balancing. He says fan is essential as he describes the current draw during balancing. I point out he must have taken the current draw and associated heat into consideration when designing the unit and putting it in a case with no vents or holes. He says the fan is essential when you run balancing for 24 hours even though I said balancing was not even running - that I had turned it off in the BMS at that point. I have sent him multiple videos showing balancing is not running. I am learning the warranty does not exist. I am sure he is not happy either.

 

[toothy]

I knew what I was buying and sort of assumed there would be no real warranty.... It would be nice if Jason would offer some sort of warranty replacement for X number of dollars shipping and handling on just the display and main unit. I'm just guessing but probably the main unit is all that would be needed. I just hate buying another at full price, even a not quite fully covered warranty wouldn't leave such a bad taste in my mouth.

 

[Cal]

If the unit overheats, or just gets hot with no balancing activity then it’s defective.

I don’t care for the current resolution, therefore I’ll switch to ElectroDacus or build my own BMS.

It’s odd that the specification makes no word of current measurement accuracy. That’s an important piece of information.

 

[John Simmons]

@Cal,

What Iota model do you have and what modifications did you make to shut it down? I have the DLS-X 55 and I want to be able to also shut it down if the Electrodaucus BMS says it is over voltage?

Any hints would be appreciated. I just posted a new thread in the Marine Forum, as I am on a sailboat, but it looks like the Iota is more of an RV product so I have been poking around in the RV forums. I do NOT want to add a giant relay to turn off the 120V supply to the unit. There has to be some internal low voltage / low power line like a temp sensor that can be used to shut it down gracefully.

I posted this question to Iota tech support, and have been ignored.

 

[Cal]

I don't have the X version, just DLS-55 with added IQ4. I didn't disable Iota charging, just reduced the voltage. There's a voltage adjust pot within the Iota. I lowered max bulk voltage to 14.5V.

My IQ4 cable has 4 wires: red, black, yellow and green. If the green wire is opened then output voltage switches from bulk (14.5V) to float (13.35V).

I'm using a 12V Takamusawa relay (914 ohm coil) to control bulk or float mode. 14V/914 ohm = 15 mA load

The Chargery overvoltage signal is connected to the relay coil. The green wire is cut and connected to the NO and Common relay contacts. A 12V relay coil signal will close the contacts and the green wire has continuity. The coil signal goes to zero volts during over voltage conditions. Relay contacts open, which results in green wire open, and Iota output voltage drops to 13.35V.