SOK SK48V100 Problems

[stromy]

Hi,

sorry for using this forum as product support, but this seems to be the only place to find any help. All of the official SOK support channels do not help. They do not show any reaction at all! Just ghosting.

About two weeks ago i got my SOK SK48V100 rack battery delivered. Since then i am trying to talk to it via the RS232 port and the config software. All i ever get is timeouts.
First problem was the cable. SOK batteries are sold in Europe via the store at https://www.europe.sokbattery.com/ . But they do not sell the RS232 cable. Currentconnected seems to ship only to the US, so i ended up building my own cable.
The manual does not contain the pinout (WHY?). However somewhere else on this forum, somebody posted the RJ11 pinout. I use 3=TX, 4=GND, 5=RX. Is this the correct pinout? What type of serial signals does the battery expect? Normal RS232? TTL-5V? CMOS-3.3V? Something else special needed?

Both software programs (Protocol-Edit and SOKTools) do not talk to the battery. All i ever get are timeouts, whatever settings i tried.

On the battery, the Dip-switches are set to ID=1 (1-0-0-0). If i plug in the RS232 cable, the battery reacts to it (starts up, LCD on). However no communication.
I checked the cable multiple times with a continuity tester. I tried Windows7 and Windows10. I tried multiple USB-Serial adapters and a physical RS232 port (no USB). I even tried RS485. Multiple baudrates. With admin privs.
I shorted TX-RX and can see a successful loopback with Putty. I connected a different PC via a nullmodem cable and can see the software sending out data. But the battery seems never to answer! All this makes me pretty confident, there is not a problem with my PC/software setup.

Normally i would try to factory reset the battery next. However i could not find any type of "factory reset". Is there any way to do this? Hidden menu?

Then the manual in general seems to be somewhat incomplete:
- What is the purpose and function of the DCT port?
- The RS485A/CAN ports: Do these two ports have the same function (as configured), or is one port RS485 only and one port CAN only?
- Is RS485A/CAN internally terminated or is an external termination needed?
- Is RS485A active all the time, or only when configured?
- Can i use RS485B/C for configuration (with proper adapter, instead of RS232)?

The data sent out by the SOK software to the battery seems to be in Pylontec format. However i could not find the used message identifier in the Pylon docs. Does SOK use the Pylon protocol? An extension? Is there a documentation available?

Any other ideas on how to track down this problem?

TIA
Matthias

 

[spup]

I don't know if this is what your looking for but he does go into the pin outs and all that on the sok data side of things..

 

[stromy]

Hi spup,

thanks for at all replying.

However that YT video (and all the others i have seen) is not helpful. It just says "buy the cable" and "plug it in" and everything works.

SOK does not sell or ship the RS232 cable to me, does not have the pinout in the docs (and also not in YT), and it just does not work. And of course no support.

 

[spup]

Hi spup,

thanks for at all replying.

However that YT video (and all the others i have seen) is not helpful. It just says "buy the cable" and "plug it in" and everything works.

SOK does not sell or ship the RS232 cable to me, does not have the pinout in the docs (and also not in YT), and it just does not work. And of course no support.

from the vid is shows the pin colours at about 4:26 into the vid the rs485b and c are used to link the bats like this
I have seen more vids out there with the full wiring of the plugs if you cant find it i shall have a look for it.

 

[stromy]

My problem is with the RS232 port. That is needed for configuration. And the pinout is not in the docs and not in the videos.
Also the picture from your reply does not show any RS485 terminators. So does the SOK do automatic termination, or is the video creator just lazy?

 

[gdb0701]

I have exactly the same problem, my battery is a SOROTEC 10kw, but the interfaces look exactly the same, dip switch, reset button, etc.. Maybe it has the same BMS, etc.. inside... anyway.
The only thing I found for the pin layout is the following:

rj11 6-pin

Pin 1, 2, 6: NC
Pin 3: BMS transmit; Computer receiver
Pin 4: BMS receiver; Computer transmit
Pin 5: GND

I made the RJ11 to db9 female cable and plugged it into a USB_to_db9 male (Porlific), but cannot make it working, tried several BMS monitor software ....

 

[Anawilliam850]

I have a similar problem

 

[HighTechLab]

I will post pinout but I think your issue is voltage / signal levels of the converter. I got up early today and am going to the shop to check this first thing today.

EDIT: Signal levels are nothing special. Link to RS232 converter below.

Pinout drawing:



Here is also a link to the RS232 converter: http://www.szutek.com/pro_view-89.html

Did you install the drivers for the RS232 converter?

 

[stromy]

I will post pinout but I think your issue is voltage / signal levels of the converter. I got up early today and am going to the shop to check this first thing today.

EDIT: Signal levels are nothing special. Link to RS232 converter below.

Pinout drawing:

View attachment 128860

Here is also a link to the RS232 converter: http://www.szutek.com/pro_view-89.html

Did you install the drivers for the RS232 converter?

I used a different pinout as described in this thread https://diysolarforum.com/threads/pinout-for-rs232-rj11-cable-for-sok-battery.50506/
Will test your pinout.
I dont think i have any driver problems as loopback and nullmodem test works o.k.

 

[stromy]

O.k. with this pinout, i can connect to the battery and read all status, etc.
However when i try to change the protocol to Pylon-CAN, i get "write error". The protcol display says "paceic".

 

[HighTechLab]

O.k. with this pinout, i can connect to the battery and read all status, etc.
However when i try to change the protocol to Pylon-CAN, i get "write error". The protcol display says "paceic".

what is the serial number of your battery?

 

[stromy]

what is the serial number of your battery?

SK48100P202209something

 

[HighTechLab]

I just posted (this morning) the 2023 version of the PC software that you will need to use for that battery. I'm writing instructions for how to use the new software and should have them done in the next day or two.

https://www.currentconnected.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/SOKTools-2023-Edition.zip

You have batteries newer than anyone here in the US does - this is why I am a bit behind the curve on getting this new software posted and documentation updated.

To change the protocol, open software, on home screen type in password and switch to "system config tab". Change RS485 protocol to Pylon CAN. The rest of the steps are same as before, let me know if you get stuck from there.

 

[houseofancients]

I just posted (this morning) the 2023 version of the PC software that you will need to use for that battery. I'm writing instructions for how to use the new software and should have them done in the next day or two.

https://www.currentconnected.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/SOKTools-2023-Edition.zip

You have batteries newer than anyone here in the US does - this is why I am a bit behind the curve on getting this new software posted and documentation updated.

To change the protocol, open software, on home screen type in password 123456 and switch to "system config tab". Change RS485 protocol to Pylon CAN. The rest of the steps are same as before, let me know if you get stuck from there.

dexter, you go above and beyond.
respect

 

[stromy]

I just posted (this morning) the 2023 version of the PC software that you will need to use for that battery. I'm writing instructions for how to use the new software and should have them done in the next day or two.

https://www.currentconnected.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/SOKTools-2023-Edition.zip

You have batteries newer than anyone here in the US does - this is why I am a bit behind the curve on getting this new software posted and documentation updated.

To change the protocol, open software, on home screen type in password 123456 and switch to "system config tab". Change RS485 protocol to Pylon CAN. The rest of the steps are same as before, let me know if you get stuck from there.

Thanks a lot!
It seems to work.

The battery is connected to a Victron Cerbo+MultiplusII via CAN. On the battery, do you recommend the Pylon-CAN or Victron-CAN setting?
The old software did not have the Victron-CAN option.

It seems i have an additional problem on the Victron side with wrong charging voltages. Will open a separate thread for that.

 

[windview]

I used a different pinout as described in this thread https://diysolarforum.com/threads/pinout-for-rs232-rj11-cable-for-sok-battery.50506/
Will test your pinout.
I dont think i have any driver problems as loopback and nullmodem test works o.k.

For canadians, this cable may work from amazon.ca (it is similar to one listed above with same model number) https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B09YD6LM2J/ref=ppx_od_dt_b_asin_title_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[HighTechLab]

Thanks a lot!
It seems to work.

The battery is connected to a Victron Cerbo+MultiplusII via CAN. On the battery, do you recommend the Pylon-CAN or Victron-CAN setting?
The old software did not have the Victron-CAN option.

It seems i have an additional problem on the Victron side with wrong charging voltages. Will open a separate thread for that.

Victron can has not been debugged. Use pylon can. Victron is implementing the big fix for that in Cerbo version 3.0.0 that is currently in beta testing.

 

[stromy]

Hi Dexter,
the BMS reports the "Full Charge Voltage" via CAN as 56V. Victron seems to use this 56V as a maximum charge voltage and never go higher.
As a result i suspect the battery will never balance as per datasheet it wants >57.6V for that.
Is that the case? What is the recommended fix?

 

[HighTechLab]

Hi Dexter,
the BMS reports the "Full Charge Voltage" via CAN as 56V. Victron seems to use this 56V as a maximum charge voltage and never go higher.
As a result i suspect the battery will never balance as per datasheet it wants >57.6V for that.
Is that the case? What is the recommended fix?

Haven't seen this yet as the batch you are on just arrived a few days ago. I am working on clearing my test bench today so that I can get one of the new units into testing / documentation updates. It's likely a simple setting but let me confirm this first.

You can run the battery at 56v charging voltage for the short-term without hurting it. It's close enough but not optimal.

 

[HighTechLab]

I found the source - the 2023 version of software (batteries production date 2022/08 or newer) has a new field for fully charged voltage. This is defaulted to 56v and needs to be increased to 57.6v.

We are having SOK change this, among a small handful of settings on the batteries to help them balance better in Victron systems, as there is occasionally an issue where the batteries trigger multiple cell imbalance warnings on the Cerbo when they are brand new.

In the meantime, the settings should be changed to match this photo - PM me for the parameter settings password: