Jbd Bms Rs485 address - Guru needed - Solar Assistant

[Joe BoyKey]

There is a similar Thread ( https://diysolarforum.com/threads/growatt-jbd-solar-assistant-monitoring.33583/#post-416581 ) already about this but need some real help from Advanced Users to figure this one out:
Solar Assistant recently added JBD Bms to the Battery monitor section, problem is Jbd doesn't appear to have seperate rs485 slave addresses, tried to change serial # and it took but still gets Crc errors with 2 Jbd on the same Rs485 hub, each Jbd works on hub individually, just not together. Anyone no a way to change/create an address on Jbd Bms? TIA Joe. Here is Pierre's response -

From: SolarAssistant <info@solar-assistant.io>
Sent: Sunday, January 16, 2022 10:09 AM
To: jboykey <jboykey@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: JBD BMS

Hi Joseph

I was hoping the JBD has a mechanism to give an address to it, then when SolarAssistant reads it can request data from a specific address. Since such an address doesn't exist, most likely when SolarAssistant tries to read both JBDs respond at the same time which causes corrupt data which is a CRC error.
SolarAssistant


Here are 4 Gyll batteries on a different Usb port on SA, working together with different addresses:

 

[denarius]

With a protocol such as modbus each device has an address. The read command always contains the address to read from so even if all the devices receive the message, only one will respond. If you look at the JBD read command it doesn't contain a way to specify from which device you want to read. There is an address but it's an address to which data you want to read and not which device:

JBD_REGISTER_MAP.md · master · BMS Tools / BMS Tools · GitLab

GitLab.com

gitlab.com

The end result is any read command will trigger all JBDs to respond which will not work correctly.

Perhaps the JBD is designed to work standalone and not in parallel with more JBDs? Is there a limit to the cells you can add to one JBD?

 

[Joe BoyKey]

With a protocol such as modbus each device has an address. The read command always contains the address to read from so even if all the devices receive the message, only one will respond. If you look at the JBD read command it doesn't contain a way to specify from which device you want to read. There is an address but it's an address to which data you want to read and not which device:

JBD_REGISTER_MAP.md · master · BMS Tools / BMS Tools · GitLab

GitLab.com

gitlab.com

View attachment 80134

The end result is any read command will trigger all JBDs to respond which will not work correctly.

Perhaps the JBD is designed to work standalone and not in parallel with more JBDs? Is there a limit to the cells you can add to one JBD?

ok, thanks -great info - bad news, Joe.

 

[87 Dream]

Hi guys, I have at least a few packs of JBD working in parallel. I also use Pierre's Solar Assistant, but have not connected them as yet using SA. I have other sites using SA with other commercial batteries (Seplos and also Livoltek) What I can say is that on the JBD Bluetooth function, there is a different device name or MAC address and this helps me to interrogate each BMS.

Maybe there is a way using the PC software to have a different name for both, that way there is then a way to somehow tell the two apart. The Seplos BMS has an addressing via the Dip switches. I'm pretty sure there is a way to get these to be split up. These BMSs work extremely well in Parallel. I'm pretty sure if we put our heads together we will get the solution. Too many clever wise heads on this platform.

I will dive into it myself with my team of technical people. I will cross this path with you sooner than later. I have a smart shunt combining the two so VE Direct is used through the SA to give me numbers.

Another way is also possible, but involves a Grafana page and influx DB. Unfortunately, SA is more of an out the box product that works for a said item. I am at a crossroads myself and ultimately may wonder permanently into the world of Grafana as it just gives me a lot more freedom especially when managing a number of Solar plants. It's all about what works for you. Ultimately I'm pretty sure Pierre will get to a solution.

I'm also subscribed to see what comes of this.

87

 

[Joe BoyKey]

Hi guys, I have at least a few packs of JBD working in parallel. I also use Pierre's Solar Assistant, but have not connected them as yet using SA. I have other sites using SA with other commercial batteries (Seplos and also Livoltek) What I can say is that on the JBD Bluetooth function, there is a different device name or MAC address and this helps me to interrogate each BMS.

Maybe there is a way using the PC software to have a different name for both, that way there is then a way to somehow tell the two apart. The Seplos BMS has an addressing via the Dip switches. I'm pretty sure there is a way to get these to be split up. These BMSs work extremely well in Parallel. I'm pretty sure if we put our heads together we will get the solution. Too many clever wise heads on this platform.

I will dive into it myself with my team of technical people. I will cross this path with you sooner than later. I have a smart shunt combining the two so VE Direct is used through the SA to give me numbers.

Another way is also possible, but involves a Grafana page and influx DB. Unfortunately, SA is more of an out the box product that works for a said item. I am at a crossroads myself and ultimately may wonder permanently into the world of Grafana as it just gives me a lot more freedom especially when managing a number of Solar plants. It's all about what works for you. Ultimately I'm pretty sure Pierre will get to a solution.

I'm also subscribed to see what comes of this.

87

I also thought about Bluetooth, both my Jbd Bms's have bluetooth to xiaxiang app on Galaxy s21 ultra, Pierre should be watching, sent a link this morning, Joe.

 

[denarius]

Hi guys, I have at least a few packs of JBD working in parallel. I also use Pierre's Solar Assistant, but have not connected them as yet using SA. I have other sites using SA with other commercial batteries (Seplos and also Livoltek) What I can say is that on the JBD Bluetooth function, there is a different device name or MAC address and this helps me to interrogate each BMS.

Good point, with bluetooth each JBD should be readable individually. What software or utilities do you use to read the JBDs via bluetooth? Is it the mobile app, or is there something you are running from a computer or Raspberry PI?

 

[87 Dream]

Good point, with bluetooth each JBD should be readable individually. What software or utilities do you use to read the JBDs via bluetooth? Is it the mobile app, or is there something you are running from a computer or Raspberry PI?

Actually, I found myself in a tight spot trying to get this to work on a site I have zero access to past the time that we have done the installation. My somewhat messy solution, until now has involved placing a cheap Android device on the site and to mirror the device through Android business. It seemed a stop gap at the time but allowed complete access and I mirror the device and maintain absolute control on what's happening. I was an early user of Solar Assistant and at the time JBD was not in the pipeline and so had to make a way. My battery BMS evolution was Ant to Daly and now to JBD. So far JBD has been a home run.

I have enormous confidence in the JBDs. Some of the stuff I observed with Daly's in Parallel was just scary. Basically a runaway train without brakes. The MOSFETs just did not respond accordingly. One was charging the other and so forth. So when ones Charge Fet was closed the discharge Fet of the other would charge. It was a headache. I saw enough and realised Daly is good as stand alone.

Ok, further to a workable solution, we will roll this out on our JBD project: is to add a Pico and RS485 concentrator. This has 2 channels and when added to SA or even an individual Grafana project will allow you to aggregate the data into one or at least see the data. We plan to sometimes have at least 3 or 4 battery banks on some large projects and this works for that too. One will be Master, Slave 1 etc.

Looks like nobody could have seen that the DIY battery builders would have gotten to Parallel packs and I guess this is good for us. We are exceeding expectations ?.

I appreciate the original posters post, it has forced me to find a solution before I got to a head scratching moment.

Please let me know your thoughts on this Ladies and Gents

Maybe someone out there has a more eloquent way to skin this cat.

87

 

[Samsonite801]

I am wondering... I have the JBD 16-20s (200a) BMS, and it says UART on the sticker. I am assuming the UART is the 4-wire connection going to the bluetooth adapter.

I also see a 2-wire connection to the left of the balance lead terminals, they are labeled RXD and TXD... I am wondering if these are for 2-wire RS485, or would work for that.

Top 2 pins on white connector:


Left 2 pins here:


I also did get a set of the Overkill USB to UART adapters (I could use to replace the bluetooth adapters with).

USB Module for BMS – Overkill Solar

overkillsolar.com

I am not even as far as some of you guys are, but I am hoping I can get Solar Assistant to interface with these JBD BMSs. Do your JBD BMSs have something else for RS485, or how are you connecting them to Solar Assistant / Raspberry Pi?

 

[Joe BoyKey]

I am wondering... I have the JBD 16-20s (200a) BMS, and it says UART on the sticker. I am assuming the UART is the 4-wire connection going to the bluetooth adapter.

I also see a 2-wire connection to the left of the balance lead terminals, they are labeled RXD and TXD... I am wondering if these are for 2-wire RS485, or would work for that.

Top 2 pins on white connector:
View attachment 80217

Left 2 pins here:
View attachment 80218

I also did get a set of the Overkill USB to UART adapters (I could use to replace the bluetooth adapters with).

USB Module for BMS – Overkill Solar

overkillsolar.com

I am not even as far as some of you guys are, but I am hoping I can get Solar Assistant to interface with these JBD BMSs. Do your JBD BMSs have something else for RS485, or how are you connecting them to Solar Assistant / Raspberry Pi?

They have an adapter - Uart to Rs85 that works with SA.

 

[Quattrohead]

Yes that is an RS485 connector and I will be trying to use it with a cheap RS485 to USB adapter in the future.

 

[Samsonite801]

They have an adapter - Uart to Rs85 that works with SA.
View attachment 80223

Yeah, I just received a couple of the ones from OverKill to play with.

USB Module for BMS – Overkill Solar

overkillsolar.com

Assuming these are the same thing you are showing above, mine look just like that. They just say on there they are USB to UART, don't make mention of being RS485 or anything. Wasn't sure if that works for SA, since they show the beta support for JBD as being USB via RS485 support. So just trying to figure out what I need in order to get all this stuff going.

Thanks...

 

[87 Dream]

Very interestingly enough guys. Having had a very interesting discussion with my technical guru. Looks like we will employ the JBD in a Bluetooth environment exclusively. We make use of a Rock PiS and it has Bluetooth and has been available in our market. The JBD has a unique device name for each pack over Bluetooth. So we will interrogate the BMS data via Bluetooth and it displays the data exactly the same as a serial port.

I will update once we implement over the next coming weeks. Must admit this makes for a much more wireless solution and no need for an extra device.

I will get him to share details soon. It's not my forte and he can explain it best.

87

 

[Joe BoyKey]

Yeah, I just received a couple of the ones from OverKill to play with.

USB Module for BMS – Overkill Solar

overkillsolar.com

Assuming these are the same thing you are showing above, mine look just like that. They just say on there they are USB to UART, don't make mention of being RS485 or anything. Wasn't sure if that works for SA, since they show the beta support for JBD as being USB via RS485 support. So just trying to figure out what I need in order to get all this stuff going.

Thanks...

Plug in uart adapter to jbd bms, plug in usb cable to uart adapter and SA and change battery settings under config tab.

 

[Raj35]

@Joe BoyKey hi what version of SolarAssistant do you have? I have tried but cannot find USB to JBD RS458 on mine. I have 2 modules RS458 and Uart to RS458.

 

[Samsonite801]

@Joe BoyKey hi what version of SolarAssistant do you have a I have tried buy cannot find USB to JBD RS458. I have 2 modules RS458 and Uart to RS458.

You have to upgrade to the Beta version.

Ref:

SolarAssistant Beta Program

How to join the SolarAssistant Beta program.

solar-assistant.io

 

[Raj35]

@Samsonite801 thanks, did you get it working with SA.

 

[Samsonite801]

@Samsonite801 thanks, did you get it working with SA.

BTW, where did you get that JBD-RS485_tools interface? Is that ..to USB, or ..to Ethernet (on that adapter)...

I saw that 2-pin connector to the left of the balance leads on my JBD BMS and thought that was for 2-wire RS485... Your pictures look like they confirm that.

I did buy another little USB to 2-wire RS485 adapter to try out so I may not need the other one like in your picture, was just curious where you got it...

Amazon.com

I did upgrade to the beta on SA, however, I still have not plugged my Raspberry Pi into any inverter or my JBD BMSs yet... I've only started to mess with the SA install and such. I do see the USB JBD RS485 option there now since upgrading to the beta though...

 

[Raj35]

BTW, where did you get that JBD-RS485_tools interface? Is that ..to USB, or ..to Ethernet (on that adapter)...

I saw that 2-pin connector to the left of the balance leads on my JBD BMS and thought that was for 2-wire RS485... Your pictures look like they confirm that.

I did buy another little USB to 2-wire RS485 adapter to try out so I may not need the other one like in your picture, was just curious where you got it...

Amazon.com

I did upgrade to the beta on SA, however, I still have not plugged my Raspberry Pi into any inverter or my JBD BMSs yet... I've only started to mess with the SA install and such. I do see the USB JBD RS485 option there now since upgrading to the beta though...

Hi I bought it from AliExpress JBD store .It's RS458 to USB. However you BMS has it on the right mine has a space so it's connects on the left see attached pics

 

[Samsonite801]

Hi I bought it from AliExpress JBD store .It's RS458 to USB. However you BMS has it on the right mine has a space so it's connects on the left see attached pics

Ahh, I see... What are those pins labeled as on the board, that your connector is occupying? A/H B/L ...I assume..

I wonder if they would work since my board is technically a UART model (mine didn't advertise as having RS485), and yours is a UART&RS485 board...

I don't suppose I really need the RS485 option on mine anyways, since Joe BoyKey indicated his works using the OverKill USB-to-UART adapter (which is my default option), but I just wondered if I could get the RS485 to work on other pins, then I would be able to leave the bluetooth modules connected (not sacrificing the bluetooth option)... It's not that big of deal though, SA is fine, don't really need the bluetooth too I suppose...

I just now noticed your BMS on the aluminum part above those 2 pins it shows 485 A and 485 B, which my BMS doesn't have on it.

I probably won't try to mess with RS485 on this since I have bigger fish to fry elsewhere...

 

[Raj35]

Hi All

So I have connected to the RS458 port and SA connects to the BMS. So I have both, I can still view via Bluetooth and SA.