SL being silicon labs?
Yes. Some devices also need to be explicitly set in RS-485 mode, but not sure if that's the case with this device. It's still worth a look at the device manager just in case.
SL being silicon labs?
Jblance seems to also have a bms module.No software, I have only just wired it. JK said to use Serial Debug Assistant, but so far I'm unable to get any data out of it, it opens the port but nothing happens. Grafana was also mentioned and I'll take a look at "jblance" though it appears to be for talking to the inverter. I'm wanting to talk to the BMS.
For what it's worth, the RS232 cable I got appears to be shitty, I managed to get watch power to "see" the inverter once briefly and not since then, I have rebooted the machine and also the inverter without success - but the RS232 USB adapter is a cheapo, the RS485 cable for the BMS was a decent DSD-Tech one.
Full disclosure, I've done heaps of IT (20yrs+) but almost nothing with Com based devices beyond sending basic commands to dial up modems back in the day and accessing Cisco routers CLI which just "works" as far as the Com component goes.
@upnorthandpersonal would your script be able to work with a BLE device? it might show up as a hidraw or a com port device.. if not, how hard would it be to modify it to do the same?
Not without building myself a box, which honestly I CBF doing as time is precious here.Any chance you can test with my code on a Linux system like a Raspberry Pi? I can't duplicate your issue here, but I also don't have the exact same converter you have...
@DIY-Dan in my case i decided not to go for the RS485 cable because I realised the RS485 was just going to be a tethered version of the built-in BLE.. if the phone app can do it why use a cable... I'm waiting for my new BT-BLE USB dongle to arrive which cost just as much as the RS485 anyway and I'll be connecting to my 3 BMS's via BLE instead. the protocol is the same just gotta add pairing.
@upnorthandpersonal would your script be able to work with a BLE device? it might show up as a hidraw or a com port device.. if not, how hard would it be to modify it to do the same?
Also JK's documented protocols are very light on the details.. there are tonnes more settings in the app that's not documented in the protocol spec... but it's not necessarily hard to guess them, they already documented a few commands like 0xF2, 0xF4 etc... that's why I was working with jblance to see if I could capture the BLE data packets to find out what each of the commands do - I got as far as a massive dump with hundreds of packets... Thanks for the heads up about the Grafana project too - i signed up but it's mostly a dashboard. what I'm really interested in, is being able to programmatically alter the parameters on the fly...
that's what gave me the nasty jolt https://diysolarforum.com/threads/heltec-jk-200a-smart-bms-with-2a-active-balance.17831/post-263586.... but no actual damage. my 12V is only a tiny one and it's still working fine, BMS was fine, pack is fine, inverter was fine...Cold starting BMS.
1) Wire a 9v battery between the battery main pos and the output side of the BMS (which is on the neg side) with a moment switch in-line so I can push button restart the BMS (given we need to see a solid 5v+ on the output side of the BMS this should give me 60v+). I don't think the BMS needs to see current on the output side to start, just voltage so there should be no draw across the 9v battery as far as I understand it. Can this be done or is this is a recipe to blow up the 9v?
I thought the correct connection of the 9V battery was as follows:that's what gave me the nasty jolt https://diysolarforum.com/threads/heltec-jk-200a-smart-bms-with-2a-active-balance.17831/post-263586.... but no actual damage. my 12V is only a tiny one and it's still working fine, BMS was fine, pack is fine, inverter was fine...
In hindsight I think my jolt was because the inverter caps were not charged, so the moment I introduced the 12V to it and "woke" the BMS, a lot of current got sent to the inverter to precharge the caps - even if it were milliseconds worth... The 12V's internal BMS probably protected itself very quickly but nonetheless resulted in a spark. The spark probably wouldn't happen if I used a proper switch or contactor though. YMMV
Connect the positive side of the 9 volt to the negative end of the cells, the B- lead of the BMS. Then connect the negative side of the 9 volt battery to the P- lead of the BMS.
Should be, I think I copied that directly from YOU!That is correct.