Inverters with remote wire
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Chris61
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I have a 12v 240v 2800w Giandel inverter with the remote switch, had it for a couple of years, never run anything over 2000w. I have ordered an Electrodacus SBMS0. I would like to mainly turn off inverter via the SBMS0 when inverter is inadvertantly left on, and still have plenty of power left in batteries to run essentials, lights, diesel heater. I have never played with arduino before, but willing to learn
gnubie
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It's a lot like electronic leggo these days. Programming an arduino is fairly easy. If you ever played with BASIC you have the skills to learn the simple C needed to write an arduino program. There's buckets of demo code to look at, and endless projects for free on the internet that you can download and look at too. A point of sale guy I know that had zero programming experience managed to google search his way through setting up a simple program to run an LED display board. There are endless 'modules' for them too. You name it, you can get it. Motor driver boards, relay boards, all prebuilt just wire up to the arduino board and start tinkering.
You may well find that controlling the Giandel is already within the SBMS' grasp. All that has to be done is monitor the power LED and pull the button line low to toggle it to suit, timings as per my previous post. I'm sure Dacian would be happy to advise on settings to make in the SBMS if it can do it without an arduino to intervene.
You may well find that controlling the Giandel is already within the SBMS' grasp. All that has to be done is monitor the power LED and pull the button line low to toggle it to suit, timings as per my previous post. I'm sure Dacian would be happy to advise on settings to make in the SBMS if it can do it without an arduino to intervene.
mapguy525
Solar Enthusiast
For inverter ac unit starting with minimal extra headroom for surge -hard start devices are almost always needed.
Do you have any type of hard start device on your primary ac unit? The best and more expensive systems include delay logic to have a lighter electrical load at start. This is one of the most effective delay start systems, but also more expensive.
https://www.microair.net/
Simpler, less cost hard start capacitor kit here:
https://www.supco.com/web/supco_live/products/SPP6.html
Late to the party as well, but this is a good thread. I'm also buying an Electrodacus and looking at controlling inverters with it. Much of the thread is on LF vs. HF. But back to the original question--did anyone ever summarize which of the options you researched could potentially be controlled by an Electrodacus BMS? I.e. by soldering in a control line or small relay, but without resorting to an Arduino for example. And with ability to separately disable charger and inverter, for inverter/charger options (only one I know of so far is Victron Multiplus).
And then on the Arduino option:
I have similar goals as above, I'd prefer to have the BMS making charging decisions based on its unique knowledge of the state of the battery including individual cells. With charger and inverter being fairly dumb remote controlled devices.
And then on the Arduino option:
Could you provide a bit more info on what specific Arduino you used? I'm interested in trying it out, I have some basic C programming experience. I can google and pick something but why not leverage your experience?
gnubie
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I used a UNO because I have a few of them already but any of these sorts of things is more than enough. An attiny would be just as capable of it.
Code:
//
// read through this carefully to make sure it really works
//
#include <avr/wdt.h>
const int SBMS = 12;
const int POWER_LED = 11;
const int POWER_BUTTON = 10;
void setup() {
wdt_enable(WDTO_8S); // enable hardware watchdog, 8 sec timeout
pinMode (SBMS, INPUT); // connected to the SBMS, assume low = on, high = off
pinMode (POWER_LED, INPUT); // giandel on LED, low = on (optocoupler pulls to ground), high = off
digitalWrite (POWER_BUTTON, HIGH ); // giandel button, low = press button
// might seem odd to write before setting output mode, but
// we can set the data out register at any time. we set it before
// configuring pin for output to avoid the pin pulling
// in a direction we don't want when we put it into output mode
pinMode (POWER_BUTTON, OUTPUT);
}
void loop() {
if ( digitalRead ( SBMS ) ) { // high state, inverter desired off
if ( ! digitalRead ( POWER_LED ) ) { // inverter is on, so try to turn it off
digitalWrite ( POWER_BUTTON, LOW); // press button
delay ( 1000 );
digitalWrite ( POWER_BUTTON, HIGH);
}
} else { // low state, inverter desired on
if ( digitalRead ( POWER_LED) ) { // inverter is off, so try to turn it on
digitalWrite ( POWER_BUTTON, LOW );
delay ( 2000 );
digitalWrite ( POWER_BUTTON, HIGH );
}
}
wdt_reset(); // reset the watchdog timer
delay ( 1000 );
}
Last edited:
Chris61
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I have come across an infinite cycle relay with a "once of" feature that may trigger the momentary switch. I think that it could be used to turn off the inverter, though it should not restart it. There are 5v, 12v and 24v versions, surely one should work.
DC5V 12V 24V Infinite Cycle Loop Timer Delay Adjustable Time Relay Switch Module | eBay
Input Power:DC5V DC12V DC24V. MCU watchdog circuit and special reset chip. This module uses MCU as the main chip. Such cycle. T1 and T2 are set by two adjustable resistors, respectively. machine repeat test circuits, such as power 1 minutes on and then power off 1 minutes of ,such a cycle.
www.ebay.com.au
My thinking is it is only required when the inverter has been accidently left on and battery is accidently depleted, not as a way to turn it back on. That could be done manually.
This relay could also be used to turn on/off heat pads when temperature falls below the safe charging temperature i.e. 5minutes on, 10 minutes off, to let temperature slowly warm batteries. Lots of heat pads about, probably need a seperate thread on these though.
What are peoples thoughts, hope the link above works
gnubie
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Infinite cycle says that it sits there pulling in for a period, then release for a period, repeat until heat death of universe or contacts wear out, which ever comes first.
To turn on from trigger being applied you really want a oneshot style operation with a timeout of say 2 seconds. Apply trigger to setup, relay pulls in and 'pushes' button, 2 seconds later, relay releases and inverter should be on.
To turn on from trigger being applied you really want a oneshot style operation with a timeout of say 2 seconds. Apply trigger to setup, relay pulls in and 'pushes' button, 2 seconds later, relay releases and inverter should be on.
Chris61
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The momentary switch needs 2-3 seconds to turn it on, but only a fraction of a second to turn it off. If the timer was set to around .5 second, then off indefinitely it should work. Below is the once mode feature
Once Mode(Jumper OP3):
1. The module Power-on, When triggered the relay is switched on, delay T1, and the relay disconnected.
2. When triggered on the delay process, again triggered, it will immediately interrupt the delay.
I am thinking that an activation of the trigger, the relay could send a current to the "once mode" relay, that would give a .5 sec current to turn off the momentary switch. I have no idea what power consumption would be with the activation of the trigger once inverter was turned off. I am just thinking out loud
I did see a Youtube video by a Danny Jensen, he may be a member on here, that highlighted the momentary switch function at the 1m 45s mark. I did email him and asked him to keep working on a solution, but no reply
Once Mode(Jumper OP3):
1. The module Power-on, When triggered the relay is switched on, delay T1, and the relay disconnected.
2. When triggered on the delay process, again triggered, it will immediately interrupt the delay.
I am thinking that an activation of the trigger, the relay could send a current to the "once mode" relay, that would give a .5 sec current to turn off the momentary switch. I have no idea what power consumption would be with the activation of the trigger once inverter was turned off. I am just thinking out loud
I did see a Youtube video by a Danny Jensen, he may be a member on here, that highlighted the momentary switch function at the 1m 45s mark. I did email him and asked him to keep working on a solution, but no reply
FilterGuy
Solar Engineering Consultant - EG4 and Consumers
FYI: There may be a way of making the Multiplus Compact work: https://diysolarforum.com/resources...or-multiplus-and-quatro-inverter-chargers.61/
gnubie
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You already have a cheap solution, an Arduino board and an optocoupler. $5. Stick a simple program on it, I even wrote one (untested) as a guide and posted it.
I would be interested in buying your Victron if you still have it.
The multiplus is different from the compact. I can't remember what detail the compact is missing, but it won't work.
FilterGuy
Solar Engineering Consultant - EG4 and Consumers
The Multiplus Compact does not have the Auxiliary inputs. However if you take a look at the resource I pointed to, there is a (untested) design for a circuit that might work. The trick uses the remote IO pins to control the discharge and the assistant that repossesses the temp sensor pins to control the charge.
Just wanted to check in and see if anyone ever ended up testing this.
FilterGuy
Solar Engineering Consultant - EG4 and Consumers
I have not. Sorry.
All good, just thought I'd ask. The Multiplus Compact recently jumped onto my radar as it has a very low no-load idle draw for such a capable transformer based inverter. ~10W, compared to ~20W for its big brother the 3kw multiplus, and 25-60W for most other brands of small to medium sized LF inverter.
FilterGuy
Solar Engineering Consultant - EG4 and Consumers
BTW: I have played with the 2-signal BMS assistant on the Multiplus Compact. I can confirm that the assistant will let you use the Temp Sensor input to either control the charge on-off or the discharge on-off. It just won't do both like you can on the regular MultiPlus.
I have not set up the relay to try to control the charge using the remote control inputs, but I see no reason it would not work.
I have not set up the relay to try to control the charge using the remote control inputs, but I see no reason it would not work.
What about the SUNGOLDPOWER 3000W Peak 9000W Pure Sine Wave Power Inverter DC 24V AC 120V with Battery AC Charger Solar Wind Power Inverters LCD Display Low Frequency Solar Converter? It is a low frequency converter and seems to be a good price. The problem that I'm having with inverter/charger is that Electrodacus SBMS0 needs EX IOx wires run both to inverter and charge. Sun Gold Power only has one remote port that is for inverter and nothing for charge. SBMS0 needs to be able to turn off charger once cell hits max charge. Have not figure a way to do that
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