Thanks Cinergi! I was looking for a setting to change it in the live cell view.
Orion Jr.2 BMS thread
- Thread starter hammick
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haideralibaig
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Hi @hammick and @cinergi. I am also currently debating between REC and Orion Jr, I have received quotes for both. Wanting to build a 28kwh bank using 32 EVE/LISHEN Cells. Wanted to ask you both a few basic questions (and please excuse the ignorance):
1. Would you recommend building a 2p16s pack using one Orion Jr. or have two individual packs with their own Orion Jrs. I am expecting between a 150-250 amp load on the battery pack when there is no Solar/Grid available
2. I have been trying to read up and follow both your experiences and I am going to be using victron equipment. @cinergi have you been having a lot of issues connecting with the victron equipment? I see that you mention having issues with setting up the charge profile you want, is that because its something you are trying to do something out of the ordinary or the BMS is lacking something important?
Again, apologies for my lack of experience and if my questions seem basic. But would appreciate any guidance in the matter. Thank you both for your time and all your posts as well.
1. Would you recommend building a 2p16s pack using one Orion Jr. or have two individual packs with their own Orion Jrs. I am expecting between a 150-250 amp load on the battery pack when there is no Solar/Grid available
2. I have been trying to read up and follow both your experiences and I am going to be using victron equipment. @cinergi have you been having a lot of issues connecting with the victron equipment? I see that you mention having issues with setting up the charge profile you want, is that because its something you are trying to do something out of the ordinary or the BMS is lacking something important?
Again, apologies for my lack of experience and if my questions seem basic. But would appreciate any guidance in the matter. Thank you both for your time and all your posts as well.
I am new at this stuff. I think Cinergi and others on this forum are the experts. My pack is just 16s so nothing complicated. I have been intrigued by parallel pairs then put into series. Had never seen that before in the lead acid world.
Hello!
1. Ewert Energy pushes paralleling cells over paralleling batteries. Plus there's the obvious cost of two Orion Jr's and related equipment. I also don't know how well the Victron system will handle two batteries providing guidance on charge/discharge limits etc. It might take the lower of the two batteries but I don't know.
2. If you turn on CAN Bus control, I'd classify it as a deficiency in the Orion BMS because the BMS doesn't have a 3-stage charge profile. All you can do is set the max voltage - so that means 1 voltage for CA, CV, and float. Unless you want a very high float, you're not going to have a great charging experience. I've been able to achieve a good charge profile using beta features and an undocumented feature which I'm not allowed to document. I hope this gets integrated into a publicly-available release soon (I will push them on this, plus I want to publicly document it). But, I'm sure if you ask Orion support for help, you'll get it, like I did.
I was going to go with REC but the US sales team literally ignored all my requests, so they lost me as a customer. But it may be less complicated than the Orion. The Orion is pretty complex. It's designed for an EV, not stationary ESS.
Once I get my battery reassembled into a 2p16s pack, I'll thoroughly document the Orion setup on my YouTube channel -- so if you're worried about setup, I should be able to provide what you need.
Hope that helps!
haideralibaig
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Wow. thank you guys so much. I might get both the REC and Orion and document my experiences just to try and give back to everyone here.
haideralibaig
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@haideralibaig I'm tempted to get REC to do the same lol.
I'm not using Lynx. Just Blue Sea bus bar and MRBF fuses
I'm not using Lynx. Just Blue Sea bus bar and MRBF fuses
If you look in the bms manual it lists the OEM part number for the sensors. Then you can pull a spec sheet with the internal diameter.
I know the 500A sensor will fit over 4/0 marine cable (not the lugs though). If/when I am in my spare parts bin I can pull my 200A sensor and see if it fits. Not sure when that will be though.
If you have the sensor on hand it should be trivial to measure the ID with a caliper.
I know the 500A sensor will fit over 4/0 marine cable (not the lugs though). If/when I am in my spare parts bin I can pull my 200A sensor and see if it fits. Not sure when that will be though.
If you have the sensor on hand it should be trivial to measure the ID with a caliper.
Thanks. I found the datasheet online but it is really hard to read (crappy scan). I think it is 2.25cm Pretty sure it will fit. I meant to bring my digital caliper with me but forgot it.
Last edited:
shorawitz
Solar Enthusiast
So I've been playing with my Schneider equipment using ModBus and the Conext Gateway. I can write Python code, so I am using the pyModbusTCP module and am able to query/control my equipment from a simple Python script. It took some playing around and reading the Modbus spec sheets for all of the Schneider gear, but it is doable now. Now I need to see if I really want to spend the $$$ on a BMS that isn't meant for Solar or just go the DIY route now that I know I can control the equipment myself. 
I'm still having issues with my Orion Jr. and Victron.. The Orion seems to keep getting stuck over night and won't allow charging in the morning.. Resending the current battery profile fixes it. It really just seems overly complicated and would not use it for another battery bank. It would help if the app were more intuitive and all the options were documented. My current hope is with the diyBMS.. the next iteration of it will have CAN bus built-in so technically should be able to talk to the Victron equipment. Here is the message outlining what the next iteration is supposed to be: https://community.openenergymonitor.org/t/diybms-announcements/15515/7
Is there any way to configure your system so the BMS only turns off charging on a high cell fault? That is how the Jr.2 works with my Schneider equipment. I will set my CC to a voltage to keep SOC at a max of 85%. The BMS shutting off charging or inverting will be a failsafe setting.
I have the Jr.2 It has a "charge safety relay" wire and a "discharge relay" wire. Both are digital relay outputs that duplicate their signal over the CANBUS which controls my Conext XW5048 and Conext MPPT 60 150 over the Xanbus. I have nothing connected to these relay wires. I could connect these wires to a battery terminal contactor for a third layer of protection.
My buss bars finally arrived so I'll be connecting my 16s Lischen pack tonight to my system. What should I do to get my Coloumb counting on my Jr.2 setup and accurate? Do I need to fully charge the batteries at first to get the Coloumb counting accurate? I plan to keep the batteries between 85% - 15% SOC
Thanks for any advice.
Thanks for any advice.
The orion will default to a certain SOC when connected. I think its 100%, but not sure. From there it will just start counting AHs. You have the option of configuring "drift" points. Where the BMS will move the SOC to a specific value over 30 seconds or so. The simplest version of this is a 100% voltage trigger (whatever you plan to regularly charge to).
In that same menu you can also set charged/discharged SOC which is only used to run pack state of health calculations.
With regards to the relay outputs, you can disable them, and just use the BMS to report data to your charger and inverter.
In that same menu you can also set charged/discharged SOC which is only used to run pack state of health calculations.
With regards to the relay outputs, you can disable them, and just use the BMS to report data to your charger and inverter.
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