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Orion Jr 2 BMS Contactor: 12-24v or 48v?

hwy17

hwy17

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I'm trying to read harder into understanding the contactor requirements of the Orion Jr 2 BMS.

I believe starting on page 21 it is describing that it provides battery pack level voltage signaling for the contactor, so 48v nominal <60:


Evolve Electronics offers the option to order one with an "AEV250" contactor. However their separate listing for the AEV250 alone seems to indicate they stock the AEV250-M model which is a 12-24v/<36 coil voltage contactor.

evolveelectrics.com

Altran AEV250-M

Introducing the new contactor product line from Altran Magnetics. The AEV250 Series is used for charging (pile) station, battery power supply, DC power control, circuit protection and other electric vehicle power switch controls. Also it could be widely used in uninterruptible power supply and...
evolveelectrics.com evolveelectrics.com

Should I be looking for an AEV250-G with a 48-72v coil voltage instead?

 
For that matter, I can't tell if the manual is saying it can only provide 175ma, and then this will need some kind of relay to even power the contactor.
 
To confirm, The Orion Jr can only provide 175ma of power on its contractor output. There is a very good chance you will have to use that power to drive a small relay that In turn drives your main contactor.
 
Thanks ok I will use a relay.

I have read through some previous threads and I believe I have established that I do want a 48v nominal pack voltage driven contactor. Probably the AEV250-G.

@Ampster @willo Any experience with this or ideas on types of relays to use?
 
Ampster said:
Kilovac contactors
Click to expand...
Thanks I will look into those. More specifically, I am wondering if you have used a contactor with an Orion JR2 and did you wire the contactor coil straight to the BMS signal or did you use a smaller relay to send pack power to the contactor's coil.

I'm getting the feeling a lot of people are getting away with driving the contactor's coil straight from the BMS.
 
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hwy17 said:
did you wire the contactor coil straight to the BMS signal or did you use a smaller relay to send pack power to the contactor's coil.
Click to expand...
I was not certain the BMS could handle the current necessary to close contactor so I used a small relay. That kind of defeated the advantage of the economizer circuit on the contactor.
 
Ampster said:
so I used a small relay
Click to expand...
This is the part I'm trying to figure out. Do you know what component you used?
Ampster said:
That kind of defeated the advantage of the economizer circuit on the contactor.
Click to expand...
I'm still unclear what an economizer does so I'll have to research this. Wouldn't the economizer still save on the continuous load from the pack, which is switched by the relay? Or you just mean the small relay's current itself adds to the load?
 
The econimiser reduces the current to hold the contactor once it is closed. The small relay adds some current. I based my relay decision on my original Gen 1 BMSJr and did not test the newer JR2. It may also depend on the details of your Contactor.
 
Fuseholder I am considering using for small relay and contactor circuits:


3.5A fast blow fuses


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