Overkill BMS (already owned) + NEEY gen 4 Active Balancer -OR- JK BMS w/ Active Balance?

[LydMekk]

Google's app store only has 4.11. Haven't tried the QR code.

 

[tim0shel]

Google's app store only has 4.11. Haven't tried the QR code.

yep verified this also the other day.

 

[Enduro]

4.13 is in the Android playstore but perhaps not yet for all.
Running a pixel 6 on Android 13

 

[DIYrich]

We are developing PC software,

If there are better feasible suggestions, I can implement them.

Has the problem with changing password been fixed?

 

[timselectric]

Has the problem with changing password been fixed?

It was never a problem, if you didn't change the password. lol

 

[timselectric]

Let me rephrase.
No the problem still exists.
The problem being that people think that they should change the password. And then forgetting the new password.

 

[LydMekk]

I changed my password on both my JKs. No issues.
But ofc. I did not forget the new one... ^^

 

[timselectric]

I changed my password on both my JKs. No issues.
But ofc. I did not forget the new one... ^^

My question is why?
Is there a real threat of someone accessing your BMS?

 

[DIYrich]

What's the greater threat:
1) China looking at the data from your Sol-Ark
2) NSA hacking your BMS and using all the wires in your house to communicate with aliens in orbit.

 

[HRTKD]

What's the greater threat:
1) China looking at the data from your Sol-Ark
2) NSA hacking your BMS and using all the wires in your house to communicate with aliens in orbit.

Hey, you never know. Could be both.

 

[_voltmeter_]

What's the greater threat:
1) China looking at the data from your Sol-Ark
2) NSA hacking your BMS and using all the wires in your house to communicate with aliens in orbit.

Nr 2, for me

 

[Jason.Blier]

I have 4 battery packs using a Contactor-Based 200A JBD BMS (16S config) and I also have a 4A NEEY Active Balancer on each pack. The NEEY and the JBD Balance leads are wired into a terminal block which, in turn, is wired to each battery.

I do like having the separate units, they run perfectly together and I basically disable the balancer function on the JBD.

I have it set up so that I charge to 3.4 VPC (then a float of 3.32 VPC) which brings me to 97% SOC on a daily basis. Every few months, the Inverter will bump the voltage up to 3.5 VPC , hold it there for 60 minutes, and the NEEY will kick on and balance the battery to 10mV deviation. The cells don't drift much at all - so this setup has been working great.

The main reason I went with the NEEY was so I could avoid the parallel top balancing BS. I connected the batteries in their final configuration, started to slowly charge each pack separately at a "low" current with the Sol-Ark. Once a few cells started to drift a bit high (>3.55V), I held the voltage and let the balancer work to bring the cells back in line. I then continued to bring the voltage up slowly until I was at 3.5 VPC across all the cells. Once the current tapered off to <3% of the rated Ah of the cells; I call it balanced, shut that pack down and move to the next pack. This worked out really well. it took only 2 days to balance all 4 packs without messing around with cell interconnects, and all that mess.

-Jason

 

[Supermo26]

Hack into BMS and power down the survival shelter. JK.

 

[Tomthumb62]

I would wait with the JK. There have been some issues lately (which I'm working on - see this thread). The big issue is that noone at JK or Hankzor replies to messages anymore. @Nami used to frequent this forum, but she hasn't been here in a while, and the usual contact channels we used seem to have gone away. It's a shame, the JK is a great BMS - I run 4 16s packs on them...

I’ve scrolled through this thread and the other you linked to try to find the answer:

In December 2023, are the JK BMS’s with active balancing stable and worth considering? Did they sort out the issues you referenced?

 

[upnorthandpersonal]

In December 2023, are the JK BMS’s with active balancing stable and worth considering? Did they sort out the issues you referenced?

Yes, stable and about the best you can get in this price range. I'm buying two more for my 30kWh upgrade which I'm doing early next year. The issues with the voltage converter are solved.

 

[Shawn Hayes]

Good to hear that JK have worked out the issues discussed here in. I’ve read this thread, as I just purchased a JK for a small 4s 12v setup to operate items for a shed.
I’m curious as to the active balancer feature. Even if you are NOT charge/discharging and batteries are at rest, will the active balancer still balance? Assuming it would, but this is my first venture with JK. Just curious if the balancer works as needed regardless of charge status.

 

[upnorthandpersonal]

Even if you are NOT charge/discharging and batteries are at rest, will the active balancer still balance?

Yes - you can set the voltage at which the balancer needs to kick in (i.e., 3.45V or above), and the cell voltage delta.

 

[Shawn Hayes]

Good deal. I assume it can only balance one cell at a time. Transferring from high cell to low cell. My assumption is that all active balancers do that? I haven’t done extensive research on balancers or BMS’s with active balancers.

 

[AshleyL]

Good deal. I assume it can only balance one cell at a time. Transferring from high cell to low cell. My assumption is that all active balancers do that? I haven’t done extensive research on balancers or BMS’s with active balancers.

Depends on the construction/design.
Neey, Enerkey 4A - 15A active balancer can only balance one cell at time via time sharing method.
First, the supercapacitor in the active balancer is charged by any cell with highest voltage (one by one, not all cell at same time). Once the supercapacitor is fully charged, the energy will discharged to any cell with lowest voltage one by one. Do note these balancer cannot charge and discharge simultaneously.

Compared to the capacitive (mostly Heltec 5A with a lot of capacitors onboard) active balancer. If you take a look on

, all cells participates in active balancing via voltage difference from each cells simultaneously. The downside is........the balancing current is proportional to cell voltage deviation. In general, 0.100v deviation means active balancing current of 1A. So, to reach full 5A active balancing current, you will need at least 0.500v deviation between your highest and lowest cells.

 

[Shawn Hayes]

Depends on the construction/design.
Neey, Enerkey 4A - 15A active balancer can only balance one cell at time via time sharing method.
First, the supercapacitor in the active balancer is charged by any cell with highest voltage (one by one, not all cell at same time). Once the supercapacitor is fully charged, the energy will discharged to any cell with lowest voltage one by one. Do note these balancer cannot charge and discharge simultaneously.

Compared to the capacitive (mostly Heltec 5A with a lot of capacitors onboard) active balancer. If you take a look on

, all cells participates in active balancing via voltage difference from each cells simultaneously. The downside is........the balancing current is proportional to cell voltage deviation. In general, 0.100v deviation means active balancing current of 1A. So, to reach full 5A active balancing current, you will need at least 0.500v deviation between your highest and lowest cells.

Thanks for the info. I watched several of Andy’s videos from Off Grid Garage as well. Seems to work well if you can control them to work only when needed or at certain voltage levels etc.