Chargery BMS and CANBus
- Thread starter solardad
- Start date
ArthurEld
Solar Wizard
I emailed Sol-Ark and asked them if it was ok for the BMS to disconnect the battery. Here's their response-
Disconnecting the battery under extreme current (low battery) is very hard on the system. In general, it is a very bad idea to do what you are doing. Please get an extremely power equalizer to balance cells and don't push to charge/discharge extremes.
Here is an excellent one:
https://www.batrium.com/collections/decentralised-supervisor/products/watchmon4-exp-longmon
And we are working on communication with it.
He's saying that I should use a balancer to be sure the batteries never hit the BMS limits. And that Sol-Ark is working with Batrium, hopefully to make communication easier for us. I won't be holding my breath but it is the most promising thing I have heard so far.
I have more research to do. I noticed in the manual they give you the pin layout for the CAN bus but it says Sol-Ark will not be responsible if you damage something by using it.
Disconnecting the battery under extreme current (low battery) is very hard on the system. In general, it is a very bad idea to do what you are doing. Please get an extremely power equalizer to balance cells and don't push to charge/discharge extremes.
Here is an excellent one:
https://www.batrium.com/collections/decentralised-supervisor/products/watchmon4-exp-longmon
And we are working on communication with it.
He's saying that I should use a balancer to be sure the batteries never hit the BMS limits. And that Sol-Ark is working with Batrium, hopefully to make communication easier for us. I won't be holding my breath but it is the most promising thing I have heard so far.
I have more research to do. I noticed in the manual they give you the pin layout for the CAN bus but it says Sol-Ark will not be responsible if you damage something by using it.
Ampster
Renewable Energy Hobbyist
Conceptually this is the same issue I have with my Outback Skybox. I currently have my Orion BMS set up to turn off a contactor as a last resort if an alarm trips on the BMS. I am concerned this will be hard on the system as well. I have documentation from Orion who has sucessfully implemented interfaces to various EV chargers and displays.
I am beginning a dialogue with Outback about the CANBUS interface. I think it is possible with someting like an Arduino. I wish it was possible without extra hardware. All I need is a couple simple commands to reduce charging voltage or Amperage during a charging cycle. I can live with a complete shut down on the low end of the battery voltage if for some reason the Skybox does not calculate the minimum SOC or voltage correctly
Interesting they are working with Batrium. I'm in the market for a Sol-Ark and looking for a BMS that will control the inverter instead of dealing with cheap BMS'. I've spoken with REC-BMS and they can program their BMS to work with it as they can match Pylontech's protocol. Still in talks with them, but at least now they have a US partner which has made things a bit more clear.
Ampster
Renewable Energy Hobbyist
Are you referring to Outback or SolArk?
Sol-Ark as @ArthurEld mentioned in his post above. But it's more like Batrium is working with Sol-Ark.
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ArthurEld
Solar Wizard
I have decided that having multiple batteries will work well enough without using the communication.
I didn't want the BMS to disconnect the battery while charging or discharging but with multiple batteries it doesn't hurt anything if a BMS disconnects one as long as everything is set up right. At least that is the plan until something causes me to change it.
I didn't want the BMS to disconnect the battery while charging or discharging but with multiple batteries it doesn't hurt anything if a BMS disconnects one as long as everything is set up right. At least that is the plan until something causes me to change it.
I know this was about Chargery BMS, but I will update my post above regarding Batrium and sol-ark. I received this email from Batrium this morning:
I'm not sure of your specific reference on the forums but do recall some time ago looking into integrating with sol-ark but we were unable to get the protocol to be able to do this. As such it isn't on the plans with an ETA. If you are able to get us the appropriate information we can see if it is possible What if my Inverter is not on your Compatible List
I'm not sure of your specific reference on the forums but do recall some time ago looking into integrating with sol-ark but we were unable to get the protocol to be able to do this. As such it isn't on the plans with an ETA. If you are able to get us the appropriate information we can see if it is possible What if my Inverter is not on your Compatible List
@ArthurEld When you say multiple batteries are saying you have at least 2 series strings of cells in parallel each with their own BMS? That way as long as both BMS's don't trip off at same time the inverter will still have power?
ArthurEld
Solar Wizard
Yes Rhino, I will have four 48V batteries with 4 BMSs. If one or two fail the others will keep the system running.
Interesting discussion. I have a Sol-Ark 12K indoor connected to three EG4 48V LifePower bats w/RS485 comm.
As you probably know, Sol-Ark does not support RS485 comm to these batteries. Could this be
done by simply replacing the BMS module in the EG4s with one that does work with my Sol-Ark?
Thx for any help....
Tom Fisher EE
TBooneFisher@Gmail.com
As you probably know, Sol-Ark does not support RS485 comm to these batteries. Could this be
done by simply replacing the BMS module in the EG4s with one that does work with my Sol-Ark?
Thx for any help....
Tom Fisher EE
TBooneFisher@Gmail.com
